Take Two: Should interior linemen be ranked as high as OTs?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

MORE TAKE TWO: Is Miami's 2019 class lacking star power | Why so few 2019 commits? | What happens with UGA's two 5-star QBs?

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Notre Dame offensive guard Quenton Nelson said this:

"You have guys dominating the NFL right now in Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins, Fletcher Cox, that have been working on interior guys. You need guys to stop them. I'm one of those guys."

Nelson, a former five-star offensive tackle out of Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic, is widely expected to be the first offensive lineman taken in the NFL Draft. He’s also expected to stay at offensive guard, which raises the question: In evaluations and rankings, are offensive guards overlooked in favor of offensive tackles even with the importance of interior line play?

Since Rivals.com started in 2002, there have been 62 offensive tackles rated as a five-star prospect in the final rankings. Only 14 offensive guards have earned that highest status and two centers, including Oxford, Ala., prospect Clay Webb in this recruiting class.

That is a wide disparity between offensive tackles and interior offensive linemen but it follows suit as to first-round draft picks in the NFL. Since 2010, there have been 34 offensive tackles taken in the first round. During that same period, only 14 offensive guards or centers were first-round draft picks, none of them coming in last year’s NFL Draft. Only running backs and tight ends were drafted less during that time period.

Are offensive tackles so much more valuable and rare that they deserve far higher grades when it comes to potential first-round draft picks?

“I think Nelson's comments are pretty valid. To combat the NFL being an extremely quarterback/passing driven league at this point, teams seem to be moving away from the big space-eaters in the middle and are instead going for smaller, more explosive interior pass rushers. The lighter and more explosive defensive tackle theory is even trickling down to the collegiate level where Ohio State utilizes a "rushmen package" on passing downs featuring four defensive ends. Guys who have versatility like Billy Price who can play guard or center, and can hold up against these interior pass rushers are probably being undervalued at this point.”

“We go based on the value assigned by the NFL. Sometimes, cornerbacks are more valuable than safeties but safeties are starting to make a large comeback. Offensive guards are doing the same thing.

“The thing about a guard, the assumption is he’s too short or not athletic enough to be a tackle so those guys don’t get ranked as high. Nelson was ranked as a tackle and I think he can play tackle, they can plug him right in at tackle, and he would be awesome.

“I don’t think we devalue them based on the fact that there are so many good defensive tackles these days. There are still many good outside rush ends as there ever has been so tackles need to be evaluated and rated a little higher.”