The Most Unexciting Drafts Turn Out To Be The Best

It is common football knowledge that receivers and running backs tend to be the fan- favorites, but these players would be worthless if it were not for the big guys up front.

Millions of fans wait hours to see who their team will draft in the first round. Many fans pray that their team will draft the speedy receiver from the SEC, or the stud franchise running back from the Big 10.

But how often does a fan hold their breath in hopes that their team will choose the pass-blocking Offensive Tackle, or the road-grading Offensive Guard?

When a team does make the wise decision to draft the offensive lineman many fans will groan, "I just wasted my entire Saturday afternoon for this!" And wrongly so.

Despite the attractiveness of the pick, the offensive linemen are the main reason the skill position players are able to showcase their talent. Football games are won and lost in the trenches.

If a quarterback does not have the time to complete the 50-yard pass to the star receive,r or holes are not available for the running back to break off the 60- yard run, the skill position players are not worth the first-round pick.

Over the past 10 years, there has been a trend that teams have set to covet the franchise tackles and spend early picks on the massive guard. The teams that have bought into this idea have seen great success.

Two teams that come to mind with this drafting mindset are the recent Superbowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the annual runners-up, the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Steelers and Eagles have made it a priority to use their early picks to upgrade their offensive lines and acquire capable backups. They tend to pass up the "sexy" pick and take the sure thing—the offensive linemen.

Having secured and chosen their linemen early in the drafts, these two teams decide to use their late round picks on capable skill position players that can do the job. The skill players may not be household names, but the are dependable and do the job adequately.

The Eagles have been Super Bowl contenders since choosing Andy Reid as their coach; a firm believer in building the offensive line, and passing up on the stud skill player. The Steelers have won two out of the last four Super Bowls with the same style of drafting.

Having seen the success of the two teams, many other teams have followed suit.

The linemen warrant the high draft picks because they enable the skill position players to do their jobs and score the points, which is what the fans notice. The number of lineman drafted in the first round has been steadily increasing and most reaches teams decide to make are over offensive linemen. The same will happen in this upcoming draft.

The offensive linemen will never win the MVP award. They most likely will never win the Super Bowl MVP, either. But if you ask Santonio Holmes who he gives the most credit too, he will definitely say his offensive line.

Simply put, if the Steelers Offensive line did not give Big Ben time to survey the field, he would have never been able to give Santonio Holmes the chance to be named Super Bowl MVP.