I recently read a wonderful book from Michael Lewis called The Blind Side. The book gives some fascinating insights into the real story of a kid in Memphis. Michael Oher has changed/dropped/kicked out of numerous schools in his 10 years of official studies. When he comes to Briarcrest Christian School, he is at once identified by the school football coach as a great find. Michael is 330 pounds and 6ft 6''. NMore than that, he has some natural athletic ability.
The book then talks about how a particular position in offensive line became extremely expensive since Lawrence Taylor(LT), defensive end of New York Giants started mauling quarterbacks from their left side in 1982...or as it is called " The Blind Side". As football evolved from a predominantly running to a passing game in 70s, quarterback became the focal point of any NFL offense. What LT did was to scare the crap out of a quarterback. He would rush to kill them...no half measures and Joe Theismann of Redskins to his peril found that out in 1987 when LT sacked him. Joe had at least 2 seasons left but all of that would end after LT's attack. The coaches in the league quickly realised that they needed someone to tackle these monsters from the blind side of the quarterback if they wanted to have any chance. And so evolved the left tackle position. And when free agency came to NFL, after quarterback, the next most expensive position in the league would be for a player who would protect the quarterback.
What are the characteristics of a left tackle? Massive body, long hands and speed( Michel Oher at 330 pounds does 40 meters in 4.9 seconds). No wonder, when Hugh Freeze saw Oher, he saw a scarce commodity. Michael last year was #19 in overall high school picks and plays for Ole Mississippi right now. Another 2 years and he is expected to be a top pick in NFL.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding high school recruiting and American football in general.
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