NFL Draft Challenge: Jake Long a Poor Pick

When I think about this year’s NFL Draft, I think about a potential top three pick.

I think about an offensive lineman from the Big Ten who stands 6’7” tall and was a four-year starter.

An absolute beast, this guy had great technique in college and used his great athleticism to his advantage.

The point of drafting this perennial Pro-Bowler would be to solidify a weak offensive line that didn’t have a solid starting quarterback to block for.

That’s right, coming into this year’s NFL Draft, I’m still thinking about Robert Gallery and how big of a bust he has been since drafted second overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 draft.

Now for some stats about Jake Long, potential top-pick this year by the Miami Dolphins:
--Offensive Lineman
--Dominated in Big Ten
--Six feet, seven inches tall
--Great technique and athleticism
--Could be forced into a weak offensive line to learn on the job blocking for who knows at quarterback

Sound familiar?

Look, I understand that Jake Long could be the biggest thing to happen to Miami since Will Smith partied in the city where the heat is on.

The fact of the matter is, however, offensive linemen are difficult to come by, and Long compares too much to Gallery for me to call him Joe Jacoby quite yet.

I’ll agree that Long possesses a certain nastiness that Gallery lacked coming out of college, but Pacman Jones possessed nastiness coming out of West Virginia, Tank Johnson takes nasty to a sizeable level, and rumor has it the Cincinnati Police Department has started a new branch for the nastiness of the Bengals.

There is no clear number one pick in this year’s NFL Draft, so you can’t fault the Dolphins for making an attempt to fill a glaring hole on the offensive line.

The team has no solid quarterback, no healthy number one running back, and inexperienced receivers, so even if Long is successful, it may not show and the criticism will begin.

You heard it here first. Draft Day Bust 2008: Miami Dolphins, Jake Long.

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