By John Turney
For offensive linemen the only real stats are their honors, i.e. the All-Pro selections and Pro Bowl selections that they garner in their careers.
Since the early 1990s Stats, LLC., though, as kept tracks of penalties linemen are flagged for and the sacks they allow. These stats, like many stats, are subjective and differ some from the coaches stats but they can give some indication.
Here are Thomas's career average compared to four recent Hall of Fame tackles—Willie Roaf, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace and Walter Jones:
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| Source: Stats, LLC. |
Like Orlando Pace, he had an issue with false starts but his holding calls were just 1.5 per season. He allowed an average of 3.6 sacks per season which is lower than the other four but 1.5 to 2 sacks per season.
The following table shows the "honors" of all the Hall of Fame tackles and where Thomas falls in relation to their honors—
Thomas falls near the top, ahead of all the recent tackles with the exception of Anthony Munoz.
Certainly, we cannot predict what will happen in 2013 with regards to the Hall of Fame Selection Committee and how it votes, but we feel Thomas stands out as much as any player and we tend to think it will result in a first-ballot election to the Hall of Fame for Thomas. The only potential "negative" would be he played for a franchise that struggled and didn't get a chance for post-season play and additionally playing just 11 seasons is on the lower end of the spectrum. However, those things are far outweighed by the "positives".
I think now is a good time to list our top offensive tackles of all time and where Joe Thomas fits in. This is mine right now. Tell me what you guys think.
ReplyDelete1. Ron Mix
2. Art Shell
3. Bob Brown
4. Forrest Gregg
5. Mike McCormack
6. Anthony Munoz
7. Rayfield Wright
8. Roosevelt Brown
9. Jackie Slater
10. Mike Kenn
11. Jonathan Ogden
12. Walter Jones
13. Dan Dierdorf
14. Willie Roaf
15. Gary Zimmerman
16. Joe Thomas
IMO Shell too high, Walter Jones too low. McCormack too high
ReplyDeleteShell did have more pass blocking issues than I would like after seeing about 40 of his games. His run blocking was so strong though which I liked.
ReplyDeleteI was too tough on Jones I think.
McCormack was my nod to history. I never really saw anything more than highlights. Paul Brown said he was the best though so that weighs heavily.
I saw about 30 of Yary's games and he is a bit overrated. Not as great a run blocker as you would think.
ReplyDeleteanyone else agree that Mike Kenn is seriously underrated?
ReplyDeleteyou have got too be kidding me my profile pic says it all !! all this talk about tackles and jim parker name doesn't come up ? he was the 1st full time offensive lineman inducted into the hof , kept unitas clean , a few championships , and dr z did a poll with old timers 25 I think and he was regarded as the best ever. and he excelled at guard 6 straight 1st team at tackle 1957-1962 then 1963 to 1965 1st team guard .
ReplyDeleteI'm reading other articles that say Walter Jones gave up 23 total sacks in his career. That is way lower than 5.13 a year.
ReplyDeleteThat is the number according to Stats, LLC, now Stats Perform. The total your are finding is likely according to coaches---which are always lower than what Stat companies find.
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