NFL Draft 2011

NFL Draft 2011

Traditionally, an interior offensive lineman is not a position you'd be looking for in the top 10. For the most part the value simply isn't there as there's not much drop off from a first round guard or center to a second or third round guard or center.
That may change this year with the Dallas Cowboys. They're drafting ninth overall and Florida G/C Mike Pouncey has already publicly predicted he'll be going to the Cowboys.
Peter King of SI.com brought up an interesting point when talking about taking a guard or a center that high -- if you think he'd be great, why not pull the trigger?
Last year, the 8-9-10 picks were Rolando McClain (eight, Oakland), C.J. Spiller(nine, Buffalo) and Tyson Alualu (10, Jacksonville). Maurkice Pouncey went 18th, to Pittsburgh. I'd argue Maurkice Pouncey was the third-most impactful rookie in the draft last year, behind Ndamukong Suh and Sam Bradford. He certainly was a better rookie -- starting from the third day of training camp at center and making the Pro Bowl -- than McClain, Spiller or Alualu. Maybe those three will pass Pittsburgh's Pouncey, but clearly the Steelers got an excellent player at 18.
There's no such thing as a sure-thing in the NFL draft but interior offensive lineman are close. Those that are picked in the first round generally do pretty well (but there are always exceptions). So I wouldn't knock the Cowboys too much if they decided to defy tradition and go with someone like Pouncey in the top 10.
Sources: http://www.sbnation.com

NFL Draft 2011