Monday, April 12, 1999
DRAFT PREVIEW: OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
BYU's Tait best of seven possible first-rounders
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There's no Anthony Munoz or Tony Boselli casting a huge shadow on this NFL draft, but there is a deep complement of offensive linemen that could secure as many as seven picks in the first round.
TOP OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
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1. John Tait, T, Brigham Young
2. L.J. Shelton, T, Eastern Michigan
3. Aaron Gibson, G-T, Wisconsin
4. Solomon Page, T, West Virginia
5. Damien Woody, C, Boston College
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They will be led by Brigham Young's John Tait, a 6-foot-7, 290-pounder who is the closest thing to Jacksonville's Boselli. Tait isn't the run blocker Boselli was coming out of USC, but he is the finest run blocker a pass-happy school has produced maybe ever.
The next guy to go will be Eastern Michigan's L.J. Shelton, son of former NBA player Lonnie Shelton and the man who protected Charlie Batch's blind side. After his junior year in high school, he gave up football briefly to focus on basketball and he's retained some of those athletic moves despite being 340 pounds.
Georgia's Matt Stinchcomb might not be next because his stock has free-fallen recently. Maybe what they're whispering in the Bengals' draft room is what's buzzing league-wide. Cincinnati sees a Kevin Sargent clone, a smart, technically sound player with a slight lower body who's not very physical and tends to get nicked up.
Tait, Shelton and Stinchcomb are the draft's natural left tackles. But if it's power and punishment you want, take Wisconsin's 388-pound Aaron Gibson. Gibson has a 20-inch neck, size 19 shoe and a 47-inch reach to go along with a 31-inch vertical leap that will make someone a right tackle or guard for the next dozen years.
“I doubt very seriously if another player his size will come along who possesses so much natural ability,” says ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
But natural ability can only take you so far. West Virginia's Solomon Page has all the skills to play left tackle, but his intensity and attention span have been questioned enough that he could fall out of the first round.
On the other hand, Notre Dame's Luke Petitgout, a high school tight end who projects to an NFL right tackle, has rocketed up the charts with a scrappy reputation and the ability to bench press 225 pounds 33 times.
The best of the non-tackles is Boston College left guard Doug Brzezinski, but because of the fixation with tackles he won't go until the second round. His teammate, center Damien Woody, could go in the first round because of his 5.1-second speed in the 40-yard dash and a frame tailored for the middle.
Eastern Kentucky's Tyrone Hopson is a dark horse who may end up just a horse. He's spent the last two weeks flying up draft boards from the bottom of the draft to where he'll most likely go in the third or fourth rounds.
“He's a guy who could play both guard and tackle,” said Jerry Jones, author of the draft analysis “The Drugstore List.“He's got good size, and he's versatile.”
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