Where would Tyron Smith rank in this year's draft?

[BAT]

He'd probably be 3rd or 4th, and I'm basing that primarily on his lack of experience on the left side.

Agreed. He would be the 4th LT in this draft. People are just being homers. The better question is where would JJ Watt be ranked in this draft.

 

[perrykemp]

Just dawned on me who Tyron Smith reminds me of.... a young Lomas Brown.

Lomas Brown always seemed like a skinny kick butt LT to me.

In Lomas's first two - three years he was considered something of a disappointment vs where he was drafted (6th overall) but he eventually become one of the premier tackles in the league.

I'm not saying Tyron has been a disappointment per say but I do see some parallels in their body types (adjusted for today's era), athleticism, both of them not quite being quite as good as expected early on.... eventually Lomas put it all together and became a stud. I see that happening with Tyron this season.

 

[lane]

we get Lane Johnson........... we are set for many years.

Tyron and Lane would be awesome.

 

[Eskimo]

The only problem with having two great tackles is that you couldn`t afford both of them once contract renewals came up.

I`d be happy to get a second round type RT except for the fact that I think Parnell can man the position better than a rookie next year and still shows tons of upside for the future. I think the Cowboys brass played him so much at the end of the season because they were planning on releasing Free and wanted to get a peak at how Parnell would fare at RT.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Number one tackle probably...

 

[Risen Star]

Agreed. Higher ceiling than the other guys, and when your drafting that early, potential is important. And while I don't know whether or not teams take this into consideration, he was also super young coming out. That extra year or two to develop before hitting prime age makes a huge difference to me. Give me the 21 year old with a ton of potential over the guy who can come in and be solid from day 1 but is 23 every time.

Kiper said in his most recent chat that he didn't think there was a true top 10 talent in this draft. I agree with him. But Tyron was. I wouldn't even question putting Joeckel or Fisher ahead of him. Or Lane Johnson, and I'm an OU fan.

 

[xwalker]

Johnson is 22 and turns 23 after the draft.

Did you find an accurate birthdate?

I saw one website that had it a January.

The best I could find is that he graduated HS in 2008. That corresponds to 22 or 23 as you indicated.

 

[xwalker]

Tyron benched more than Joeckel, Fisher or Johnson while having longer arms and being at least 1 year younger than any of them.

 

[Eskimo]

I think Tyron would have been the first OT off the board in this draft.

I think he showed in his first year that he can be a dominant RT and graded out as the second best RT in the league on PFF, FWIW. This year he struggled a bit in the transition to LT but you could see he was much better by the end of the year than at the beginning. It is true that teams would have had to project him to LT at the draft but the athletic skillset was there for LT and that is what teams are most worried about. Most people can flip flop from one side to the other, it is just a matter of reps to reverse the footwork required.

Tyron showed back in his draft year that he had all the tools and some were practically off the chart. He also had very good speed and agility to go with great size and length. Then you add great strength on top with all those reps with the 36.5 inch arms and 11 inch hands and he is a no-brainer top 10 picks when you add his impressive highlight film. The biggest question from what I recall was whether he was big enough to play OT with rumours of him weighing 275 pounds but those were answered when he showed up at 307 pounds. You have to remember that he was only 20 in his rookie year. Next year he will be 23 which is the same age as some of the rookies going in this draft. You had to include projection in there for improvement in technique and strength just on the basis of age given he was two years younger than most of the other draftees.

Having said that, I`d love it if Lane Johnson were to fall into our laps but I think someone will trade up for him if he falls outside of the top 10. I was just mesmerized by the way he moves out there on the field at his size. What a pair of book ends we could have.

 

[perrykemp]

Tyron Smith would have been drafted before anybody in this year's OL class, however. Matt Kalil (last year) was the best LT prospect of the past three years.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Agreed. He would be the 4th LT in this draft. People are just being homers. The better question is where would JJ Watt be ranked in this draft.

JJ Watt would be top 5, possibly top 3 pick if he was in this draft.

(based on his rankings when he was drafted, not his production in the NFL)