The first offensive lineman to hear his name called Thursday was Utah’s Garett Bolles when he was picked by the Denver Broncos at No. 20 overall. It was the longest NFL teams have ever ignored offensive linemen on draft day.
NFL draft slide of Cam Robinson, Forrest Lamp sets up big day 2 for offensive linemen
Day 1’s historically bad day for linemen could mean the second day works out well for teams building the trenches.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Before Thursday, the last time the NFL draft even went 10 picks without an offensive tackle coming off the board was 2005, although the run ended at No. 13 when the New Orleans Saints took Jammal Brown.
Another six years before that John Tait was the first offensive lineman off the board in 1999 when the Kansas City Chiefs scooped him up at No. 14. After Tait, four of the next seven picks in the 1999 NFL draft were offensive linemen.
No such run happened Thursday night. The only other offensive lineman taken in the first round was Wisconsin’s Ryan Ramczyk with the final selection.
It was a historically bad first round for offensive linemen
In 1965 no offensive linemen went in the first round of the NFL draft. At the time, there were just 14 teams in the league and among the first-round selections were three players listed as halfbacks, two as fullbacks, and another two as backs.
At least three linemen have earned a spot in the first round of every NFL draft since. That was until Thursday night.
With at least two offensive linemen in the top 10 of the last four drafts, including a whopping five in 2013, it’s hard to imagine this is a larger trend. Protecting quarterbacks and creating rushing lanes is still as important as ever — 2017 just didn’t provide a group that teams were excited to parse through.
But with just two gone from the crop, the second day of the NFL draft looks like a feeding ground for teams in need of help up front.
Offensive line slide left a lot of talent on the board
Most projected Alabama’s Cam Robinson and Western Kentucky’s Forrest Lamp to hear their name called Thursday.
Robinson, a 6’6, 322-pound mountain of a man, was a former five-star recruit and dominant at times for the Crimson Tide. But he was inconsistent in his three seasons, bursting on the scene as a star in 2014, having a subpar season in 2015, and emerging again as an All-American in 2016. Robinson dominated at times and was a false start machine at others.
Lamp was a four-year starter for the Hilltoppers, earning first-team All-Conference USA honors in his final two seasons as the team’s starting left tackle. But at 6’4, Lamp’s lack of length likely means he gets slotted at guard and the impending transition may have made teams wary of investing a first-round pick.
But in the second round, both Robinson and Lamp present tremendous value.
They also push down the next wave of linemen, including Temple’s Dion Dawkins, Indiana’s Dan Feeney, and Troy’s Antonio Garcia.
While 30 of the first-round picks were used on other spots, there is no shortage of teams in need of help up front. And all of those franchises are better positioned to fill those spots in day two.
Near the very top of the second round are the Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars — owners of picks 33 and 34, respectively — and both are very much in need of offensive line upgrades. The Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, and Cincinnati Bengals are just a few of the teams that could also dip into the market.
Thursday may have been a bad night for offensive linemen, but it looks to have set up a field day for teams looking to build in the trenches Friday.
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