Eben Britton at 37
Eben Britton
Height/Weight: 6'6"/309
Position: OT
College: Arizona, 37 Starts
My Take: Scouting so many picks has its rewards. Sure, most won't ever be Seahawks, but most will play in the NFL, and many will eventually play against Seattle. There's also the individual stories: I'm curious to see how Jamon Meredith develops. I'm interested in what kind of pro Mike Thomas makes. Then there's the few I really root for like Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackson and Brian Brohm and Michael Bush and Zach Miller and Justin Blalock. But it can become tedious, for sure.
The draft is all but impossible to predict. Part of previewing players is guessing who will be available at Seattle's respective picks. That assumes that Seattle doesn't trade, which they will, and that all 32 teams value each player more or less the same, which they don't. That guessing can lead to blind spots. Players that make a ton of sense but you don't think will be available or valuable for that pick. That happened last year when Seattle selected Lawrence Jackson. Despite my spending weeks previewing potential draft picks, he had slipped through the cracks.
The SBN Mock Draft brought another potential pick to my attention, Eben Britton. I would be amazed if Britton slipped to the second in the real draft, but I wouldn't be amazed if Seattle traded up to draft him if he slipped to the later half of the first.
Britton started 37 games at Arizona State. His first two seasons he started at right tackle, but moved to left for his junior season. Rudy Carpenter and his happy feet improved from a man-sized sack rate of 13.6% to a dainty, girlish 9.7%. Yeah, David Carr thinks Carpenter needs to get rid of the ball earlier. That's, actually and honestly, probably not all that much about Britton. Some farcical thing, witchcraft maybe, informs me that performances at the extremes tend to regress towards the mean without it really meaning anything, but damn did Britton step in and stop twenty sacks! That line is going to be garbage next year!! Britton's gonna knock twenty sacks of the SHawks and this team's SBowl bound SBitches!
Britton is the rare human being that is both tall and wide, and, and athletic, and though he's step a below Eugene Monroe and Jason Smith in overall value, and a step below Andre Smith and Michael Oher in potential, he sits at a nice middle ground where there's good value, good potential and less risk. Britton has a broad base of skills, less risk because of character and injury concerns, and should he not meet his potential and simply become an above average right tackle, little is lost. Seattle has three starting caliber tackles on its roster. After undergoing microfracture knee surgery, Walter Jones' career may be over; it may be effectively over; or it may just be nearly over. Sean Locklear has the footwork and kick slide to play left tackle, or so it seems. Seattle should at least let him prove he can't, because Locklear at left, even if he's just average, is excellent value. Ray Willis is Seattle's newest utility lineman, joining the venerable ranks of Floyd "Trichinosis" Womack and Tom SmAshworth. Willis is a lot like Britton, in that they are both tall men with large belt sizes. Scouts ensure me Britton is more of a technician, while Willis is more of a scrambler than pocket passer. Should Locklear take over at left, Willis is the right tackle in waiting. That might not be good. In limited touches, Willis looked like a very able run blocker that could handle the pass rush, except for the really fast pass rush. That was hard.
Britton frees Willis to sub or convert full-time to right guard. The two would make a massive and surprisingly agile right side for an offense that's implementing some sort of zone-blocking scheme. Britton is also left tackle insurance should Locklear be injured or ineffective. The upside for Britton is not, to my eyes, Joe Thomas like I've occasionally read, but Michael Roos. Both are monster offensive tackles with excellent strength and technique, but only good athleticism. Britton has a 52" chest, roughly Chase Daniels' wingspan, and good size and muscle development through his core and legs. He's a good student and fits Seattle's Sunday School criteria for roster construction. Britton would throw his jacket across a puddle for a little old lady rather than, say, blow his leg off searching for his snooter. A guy like Britton needs only a couple skills to develop to become very good, and the non-injury downside is stomach-able. Seattle needs line talent, so there's an outside need here, but mostly, I just think Britton is a first round talent that's fallen too far. And whether Seattle can find a place for him to play right off, or Seattle figures that out over the next couple of years, this is when drafting best available talent is the one right rule to building a contender.
40 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I was already high on Britton
and I also didn’t think he would drop to us in the 2nd (which is why I’ve paid more attention to Beatty and that other tackle.
Great writeup JM, I’m sold. I’m also beginning to think that I’d be the worst juror out there. When an argument is presented to me, 60% of the time it works, every time.
I'd be a horrible juror as well.
But that’s one reason I love draft time – I almost always wind up being stoked about the picks we do make. Oh sure, I have my pet preferences and get a little bummed when they don’t happen (Phillips last year, Crabs this year) But I’m almost always able to talk myself into the guys the team gets
the text under the Plaxico picture…Snooter? Is that a reference to a small nose-drug snorting device that I know under the name Bullet? Or is it refering to the act itself, as in " God Damn iz is cold, need me another snooter up in this piece"!
Thank you John, I can stop my quizzacle wheels from spinning. Me, I just saran wrap a vanity mirror and simply peel back as needed. Honey, if you are blogging right now, I am refering to the past.
I see Philly nabbing Britton at 22.
He’s surely a first-round talent, and could very well go sooner than the bottom 1/3 of round one.
Same.
I think both OT and DT will be taken earlier than expected. Everyone has Jerry to the Colts, but I think some team reaches on him and takes him in the low 20’s.
Stay tuned for noon tomorrow!
Who will GM JM take in Mockingthdraft?
Duke Robinson, Jame Laurinaitis, and Alex Mack are all taken but there are still some god picks out there.
Eben Britton? Patrick Chung? Brian Robiskie? Max Unger? Maybe we’ll be tossed a curveball, who knows?
I'm going to guess it's Britton since in real life
We expect Chung, Robiskie and Unger to be there. If Britton were off the board, how much consideration would you give to Pettigrew? I love 2 TE sets (in Madden), and we could give him the nickname ‘Peter’.
Haha,
didn’t mean it like that. I meant something extra to look forward to in the morning. I’m loving the dose of ABender in the morning and JM in the afternoon right now though. The random surprise of a Doug F insight is great as well.
One of these guys are going to drop
Unger, Robinson, Britten, Beatty, Hood, one or more of them has to be there at 37. Robiskie and Chung are probably more likely than not to be there. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m more interested in what shakes out for Seattle’s second pick than their first.
I’m loving the capsule breakdowns.
I have Britton going to the Lions at #20 overall.
Can’t see him falling much farther than that.
And for a second I thought the Plax picture was Britton, to which I was going to exclaim how…thin he looked.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
At first I was concerned with my real age
but after careful consideration I decided Britton could be ok despite being Saxon.
How do you feel about an Offensive Lineman's arm length?
I have seen some interesting stuff on it, and hadn’t seen you mention it? Does Britton’s smallish arm length bother you at all?
Bring Your Game, Leave Your Name.
I like a tackle with long arms
but 32 1/2" isn’t too, too bad.
by John Morgan on Apr 10, 2009 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions
I agree... do you think...
That Eben’s arm length makes him a more natural right than left? I’m slightly fearful of a LT with shorter arms UNLESS the starting QB is a lefty.
Bring Your Game, Leave Your Name.
I think he's a right tackle
his arms contribute, but so does his agility. I think he could be a great right tackle on a run first team.
by John Morgan on Apr 11, 2009 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions
So he's comparable to Jeff Otah?
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Apr 11, 2009 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Like others I doubt Britton drops past the mid 20's
I would love to see us trade up to nab Alex Mack. I’m just not sold on our Center talent and if we’re going to run the rock more, I think we need better play at Center, as well as a replacement for Wahle for all the same reasons we are thinking we need to consider tackles with Jones career winding down. Guard is easier to platoon and plug than left tackle, but with Locklear and Willis on the roster, tackle is not as pressing a need in my mind as Center and Guard in order to win now with Hasselbeck. If Britton falls, great, but given the choice I’d rather land Mack.
To add to that train of thought
We know we’ll likely be starting a new young QB in the not too distant future, and I’d feel a lot better about their chances if we have an established, young, talented O-line before that happens.
The Mock Draft thread that had a bunch of recs went away.
Can one of you guys with the power to do so put it back up?
Either that or give me the power.
I’d make some serious changes to this site if I could. More perverted, more flashy, less substance, less football knowledge, less football in general.
by SeaTownBlueDevil on Apr 10, 2009 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
The trichinosis thing put me over the edge.
Well done.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

by 






























