bill and tom's excellent adventure
(the only draft that matters)
((to us))
(((part five)))


day five: left tackle

chris: It comes as no surprise that I am taking Anthony Munoz as my left tackle. Considered the greatest offensive lineman to ever play them game, I like my chances of him holding off Reggie White. Pretty sure Anthony wasn't afraid of the dreaded "head slap".



11 time Pro Bowl selection
Offensive Lineman of the Year 1981, 1987 and 1988
Ranked 12 on the NFL's top 100 greatest players of all time (#1 lineman)
Hall of Fame 1998
1980's all decade team
NFL's 75 Anniversary team
7 rec for 4 touchdowns on the "Eligible Tack Play"..........You know how Tom likes the trick plays!

when in doubt, go contemporary. taking nothing away from anthony munoz, i would argue that players at every position this generation are bigger, stronger and faster than those of previous generations. munoz dominated his position in such a way in his twelve years in the league that it's hard to argue that he wasn't the greatest of all time. after all, no other left tackle in the 80's was worthy of challenging his throne.
 
but, what if two left tackles came along and played at the same time, challenging each other for first team all-pro every year of their career? what would munoz's stats and resume have looked like if he played in the league at the same time as walter jones and my left tackle selection, jonathan ogden?
 
things, likely, would have been different. both jones and ogden were dominant. every bit as dominant as anthony munoz. both mountains of men, ogden was something different altogether. standing 6-9, ogden weighed in at 345. he equaled munoz's 11 pro bowl selections and made first or second team all-pro 9 times. he made the 2000's all decade team and was the cornerstone of the line that allowed jamal lewis (ed: read that again...jamal freaking lewis) to rush for over 2,000 yards in 2003. 
 
ozzie newsome, himself a hall of famer, is quoted as saying, "there's not a player i've seen in my 30 years in the league play his position better than ogden played his."
 
another note, newsome's browns played in the same division as anthony munoz's bengals.

chris?

chris: ...

(ed: we move on.)