The OL draft drought
posted by LW, Friday, April 23, 2010
Was talking with NFL Draft guru Mike Detillier the other day when the topic of Clemson's offensive line drought in the draft came up.
Detillier has some crazy knowledge and recall, and he knew off the top of his head how long it's been since the Tigers had an offensive lineman taken in the first three rounds.
"Joe Bostic, 1979," he said. "Amazing, isn't it?"
Amazing indeed.
We've covered this topic in the blog before, but it takes on additional relevance with the draft upon us. Assuming Thomas Austin does not get selected in the second or third round -- and there is no reason to think he will be -- the drought will extend another year.
Before we go any further, it should be noted that having linemen who are highly regarded by the NFL is not a prerequisite for fielding a solid, and even dominant, offensive line in college. Danny Ford proved that; the highest a lineman was drafted under his watch was center Tony Berryhill, who was selected in the ninth round of the 1982 draft (Guard James Farr was selected by the Raiders in the third round of the 1984 supplemental draft of USFL players).
As Detillier noted, linemen under Ford tended to be smaller and were not NFL prototypes. But they were fast, physical, and masterful in their execution of Ford's schemes. That, coupled with dominant defense, was the foundation for all those wins and championships under Ford.
But when you've gone 31 years without having an offensive lineman selected in the first three rounds, and a draft analyst knows the statistic off the top of his head, it's rather glaring.
How many other ACC teams have gone that long without having an offensive lineman drafted in the first three rounds?
Zero.
Here are the numbers from 1980 to now, excluding this year's draft:
Boston College: 11
Miami: 8
North Carolina: 7
Virginia: 6
Florida State: 5
N.C. State: 5
Georgia Tech: 3
Maryland: 3
Virginia Tech: 3
Wake Forest: 2
Duke: 1
Clemson: 0
And here's the rundown on Clemson's offensive linemen who have been drafted over that stretch:
1982: C Tony Berryhill, ninth round; G Brian Clark, 12th round
1983: G Bob Mayberry, 11th round; G Brian Butcher, 11th round
1989: T Ty Granger, 10th round
1991: G Eric Harmon, 10th round; T Stacy Long, 11th round
1992: C Curtis Whitley, fifth round
1994: T Andre Hewitt, seventh round
1998: G Glenn Rountree, sixth round; T Jim Bundren, seventh round
2007: C Dustin Fry, fifth round
2008: T Barry Richardson, sixth round
So two fifth round picks are the pinnacle of the NFL Draft for Clemson's offensive linemen since 1979.
And the fact that the Tigers went nine years (1998-2007) without having an offensive lineman drafted at all is a telling indicator of just how mediocre their offensive lines were over much of that stretch.
Which brings us to the present. Dabo Swinney made offensive line a major priority upon taking over as head coach. He devoted a second assistant, Danny Pearman, to overseeing the OL with longtime coach Brad Scott. He tried to institute measures that would foster more physicality and nastiness -- traits that were lacking in the later years under Tommy Bowden, when an inability to produce in short-yardage situations played a major role in the Tigers' failure to win their division.
Swinney was happy with the progress made last year. The Tigers' rushing average improved from 111 yards a game in 2008 to a 170-yard clip.
Heading into 2010, Swinney has a solid core returning. His top six guys should be good, and potentially very good. They just have to avoid injuries that would expose the paper-thin depth beyond the top 6.
I have not had the opportunity to ask Swinney about the offensive line drought in the NFL Draft, but I'd assume he would agree that one of the big keys to continuing to improve on the offensive line is recruiting more NFL-type offensive linemen.
I'd also assume Swinney would say they've done a better job of that in recent years.
Chris Hairston is far from an NFL prototype, but he's athletic and could be in the mix to be in the top three or four rounds of next year's draft with a really good senior season.
It's way premature to say Antoine McClain will be a high pick, but he has the physical makeup. So does Dalton Freeman. So does David Smith. So did J.K. Jay before he suffered a career-ending back injury. Incoming freshman David Beasley has NFL size.
I'm not projecting those guys to be high draft picks. Just saying that Swinney could, and probably would, point to them as examples of the improved OL recruiting. He would probably also say they need to continue bringing in those type of guys, while cutting down on the number of misses.
On to some links...
Kudos to NFL guru Mike Mayock, who correctly predicted C.J. Spiller to Buffalo.
About an hour before the Bills selected, I received a press release from The NFL Network in which Mayock accurately predicted the Bills would select Clemson running back C.J. Spiller.
I immediately called my best friend and said the Bills were picking Spiller.
That's because Mayock is the E.F. Hutton of draft experts and his accuracy rate dealing with the Bills is especially high in his final mock draft.
In the past five drafts, he predicted the Bills would pick Donte Whitner in 2006, Leodis McKelvin in 2008, Aaron Maybin in 2009 and now Spiller in his final mock draft.
Clark Judge says there's no room for Marshawn Lynch in Buffalo.
This Buffalo columnist doesn't like the pick.
With his first big pick, the new GM repeated the folly of the previous regimes, ignoring the Bills' need for big men on both sides of the ball and grabbing the shiniest toy instead. Nix went to a position of modest need by taking C.J. Spiller, a dynamic running back out of Clemson.
And later...
Spiller is a rare talent, but the NFL is an unforgiving league. The kid will get a rude awakening trying to run wide behind an offensive line with no proven tackles. Nix says the Bills need some excitement. Part of the fans' excitement will be watching the rookie running back run for his life.
NBC analyst Tiki Barber loves the pick.
Bart Wright weighs in.
For a team that thrives so much on the passion of its fans, Lynch was not a good fit. Spiller will be perfect for them.
He’ll go to Buffalo with a great attitude and make a positive impact as a rookie, however odd his appearance there may seem. Spiller has been defying convention all along, so his fans ought to see this selection as fitting right in with the mosaic of his young life.
And how about this quote from Jon Gruden:
"C.J. Spiller will be the rookie of the year. He is, by far, the most talented player in the draft."
No, not feeling like much of an idiot for my Spiller Heisman vote. He was the best player in college football last year. Period.
Over an 11-year stretch, Georgia Tech had one player (Calvin Johnson) selected in the first round. The Jackets got two last night.
In the Independent-Mail, a healthy John Hinson is thriving in the middle of the Tigers' batting order.
So the NCAA Tournament will only expand to 68 teams. I'll take it.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Was talking with NFL Draft guru Mike Detillier the other day when the topic of Clemson's offensive line drought in the draft came up.
Detillier has some crazy knowledge and recall, and he knew off the top of his head how long it's been since the Tigers had an offensive lineman taken in the first three rounds.
"Joe Bostic, 1979," he said. "Amazing, isn't it?"
Amazing indeed.
We've covered this topic in the blog before, but it takes on additional relevance with the draft upon us. Assuming Thomas Austin does not get selected in the second or third round -- and there is no reason to think he will be -- the drought will extend another year.
Before we go any further, it should be noted that having linemen who are highly regarded by the NFL is not a prerequisite for fielding a solid, and even dominant, offensive line in college. Danny Ford proved that; the highest a lineman was drafted under his watch was center Tony Berryhill, who was selected in the ninth round of the 1982 draft (Guard James Farr was selected by the Raiders in the third round of the 1984 supplemental draft of USFL players).
As Detillier noted, linemen under Ford tended to be smaller and were not NFL prototypes. But they were fast, physical, and masterful in their execution of Ford's schemes. That, coupled with dominant defense, was the foundation for all those wins and championships under Ford.
But when you've gone 31 years without having an offensive lineman selected in the first three rounds, and a draft analyst knows the statistic off the top of his head, it's rather glaring.
How many other ACC teams have gone that long without having an offensive lineman drafted in the first three rounds?
Zero.
Here are the numbers from 1980 to now, excluding this year's draft:
Boston College: 11
Miami: 8
North Carolina: 7
Virginia: 6
Florida State: 5
N.C. State: 5
Georgia Tech: 3
Maryland: 3
Virginia Tech: 3
Wake Forest: 2
Duke: 1
Clemson: 0
And here's the rundown on Clemson's offensive linemen who have been drafted over that stretch:
1982: C Tony Berryhill, ninth round; G Brian Clark, 12th round
1983: G Bob Mayberry, 11th round; G Brian Butcher, 11th round
1989: T Ty Granger, 10th round
1991: G Eric Harmon, 10th round; T Stacy Long, 11th round
1992: C Curtis Whitley, fifth round
1994: T Andre Hewitt, seventh round
1998: G Glenn Rountree, sixth round; T Jim Bundren, seventh round
2007: C Dustin Fry, fifth round
2008: T Barry Richardson, sixth round
So two fifth round picks are the pinnacle of the NFL Draft for Clemson's offensive linemen since 1979.
And the fact that the Tigers went nine years (1998-2007) without having an offensive lineman drafted at all is a telling indicator of just how mediocre their offensive lines were over much of that stretch.
Which brings us to the present. Dabo Swinney made offensive line a major priority upon taking over as head coach. He devoted a second assistant, Danny Pearman, to overseeing the OL with longtime coach Brad Scott. He tried to institute measures that would foster more physicality and nastiness -- traits that were lacking in the later years under Tommy Bowden, when an inability to produce in short-yardage situations played a major role in the Tigers' failure to win their division.
Swinney was happy with the progress made last year. The Tigers' rushing average improved from 111 yards a game in 2008 to a 170-yard clip.
Heading into 2010, Swinney has a solid core returning. His top six guys should be good, and potentially very good. They just have to avoid injuries that would expose the paper-thin depth beyond the top 6.
I have not had the opportunity to ask Swinney about the offensive line drought in the NFL Draft, but I'd assume he would agree that one of the big keys to continuing to improve on the offensive line is recruiting more NFL-type offensive linemen.
I'd also assume Swinney would say they've done a better job of that in recent years.
Chris Hairston is far from an NFL prototype, but he's athletic and could be in the mix to be in the top three or four rounds of next year's draft with a really good senior season.
It's way premature to say Antoine McClain will be a high pick, but he has the physical makeup. So does Dalton Freeman. So does David Smith. So did J.K. Jay before he suffered a career-ending back injury. Incoming freshman David Beasley has NFL size.
I'm not projecting those guys to be high draft picks. Just saying that Swinney could, and probably would, point to them as examples of the improved OL recruiting. He would probably also say they need to continue bringing in those type of guys, while cutting down on the number of misses.
On to some links...
Kudos to NFL guru Mike Mayock, who correctly predicted C.J. Spiller to Buffalo.
About an hour before the Bills selected, I received a press release from The NFL Network in which Mayock accurately predicted the Bills would select Clemson running back C.J. Spiller.
I immediately called my best friend and said the Bills were picking Spiller.
That's because Mayock is the E.F. Hutton of draft experts and his accuracy rate dealing with the Bills is especially high in his final mock draft.
In the past five drafts, he predicted the Bills would pick Donte Whitner in 2006, Leodis McKelvin in 2008, Aaron Maybin in 2009 and now Spiller in his final mock draft.
Clark Judge says there's no room for Marshawn Lynch in Buffalo.
This Buffalo columnist doesn't like the pick.
With his first big pick, the new GM repeated the folly of the previous regimes, ignoring the Bills' need for big men on both sides of the ball and grabbing the shiniest toy instead. Nix went to a position of modest need by taking C.J. Spiller, a dynamic running back out of Clemson.
And later...
Spiller is a rare talent, but the NFL is an unforgiving league. The kid will get a rude awakening trying to run wide behind an offensive line with no proven tackles. Nix says the Bills need some excitement. Part of the fans' excitement will be watching the rookie running back run for his life.
NBC analyst Tiki Barber loves the pick.
Bart Wright weighs in.
For a team that thrives so much on the passion of its fans, Lynch was not a good fit. Spiller will be perfect for them.
He’ll go to Buffalo with a great attitude and make a positive impact as a rookie, however odd his appearance there may seem. Spiller has been defying convention all along, so his fans ought to see this selection as fitting right in with the mosaic of his young life.
And how about this quote from Jon Gruden:
"C.J. Spiller will be the rookie of the year. He is, by far, the most talented player in the draft."
No, not feeling like much of an idiot for my Spiller Heisman vote. He was the best player in college football last year. Period.
Over an 11-year stretch, Georgia Tech had one player (Calvin Johnson) selected in the first round. The Jackets got two last night.
In the Independent-Mail, a healthy John Hinson is thriving in the middle of the Tigers' batting order.
So the NCAA Tournament will only expand to 68 teams. I'll take it.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.