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How can we assume Jake Long won't be another Robert Gallery?

Both were pretty hyped going into the draft, and Gallery has yet to live up to his top-5 selection......

long isnt as hyped as gallery, there were some people that had gallery at #1 and said he'd change the lineman position yada yada, longs not even the consensus best tackle

long hasn't had the hype gallery has, but then that doesn't mean he won't live up to his draft spot either, guess we won't know until he plays

Well, on that note, how do we know that every prospect isn't going to bust?

Gallery was a much more highly rated prospect, particularly in pass protection. I dunno wtf his problem is.

i think poor coaching has something to do with robert gallery.

NO-KG-AI wrote:Well, on that note, how do we know that every prospect isn't going to bust?

The bazillion $ question. Dun Dun Dun.

Gallery was a much more highly rated prospect, particularly in pass protection. I dunno wtf his problem is.

Lack of motivation maybe?

Flash3 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Lack of motivation maybe?

playing for the Raiders seems to give alot of players lack of motivation. I.E. Randy Moss, Jerry Porter, Robert Gallery, Lamont Jordan, basically almost the whole team except for a few players.

And to stay on topic I think Long will have more of a Joe Thomas type of impact rather than a Robert Gallery type of impact.

How can we assume Matt Ryan isn't the next Tim Couch?

How can we assume Darren McFadden isn't the next Ki-Jana Carter?

How can we assume Vernon Gholston isn't the next Keith McCants?

How can we assume Chris Long isn't the next Courtney Brown?

etc. etc. ad infinitum.

I should add: not only can there be busts at any position, but I would say offensive line picks have a significantly lower chance of being busts than most other positions. Other than Robert Gallery and Mike Williams, who hasn't panned out? People keep talking about Tony Mandarich -- that was almost 20 years ago now.

Look at offensive linemen who have been picked in the top 10 since then: Walter Jones, Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden, Willie Roaf, Chris Samuels, Richmond Webb, Willie Anderson, Tony Boselli, Joe Thomas, Lincoln Kennedy, Jordan Gross, Bryant McKinnie, Leonard Davis, Kyle Turley, Chris Naeole. On that list, every single player, except (I believe) Gross and Naeole, has been to at least one Pro Bowl (and Gross came close and has now been franchised, just as an indicator of how much his team values him). Every one of them has had what I would call a highly successful career, and there are several future Hall of Famers on the list. Naeole has been a mild disappointment, I guess -- although he's still an active player and a starter, which is more than can be said for the player drafted just before him (Tommy Knight) or the player drafted just after him (Michael Booker). Boselli's career was cut short by injuries, but he was a budding superstar until then.

In that time, how many linemen picked in the top 10 have been busts? Gallery, Williams, Mandarich, Ray Roberts, Charles McRae, Antone Davis, that's about it.

So if you draft an offensive lineman in the top 10, it's unlikely you will have a bust, and very possible you will get a flat-out stud.