







Quarterback Tom Brady tried his best, unsuccessfully, to talk former New England Patriots left tackle Matt Light out of retiring.

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The question is how much Light's presence truly mattered.

As the NFL moves further into the era of wide-open passing attacks featuring quarterbacks who either get rid of the ball quickly (like Brady) or create time with their scrambling ability (like the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers), an interesting trend is developing:

The left tackle's importance is decreasing.

A position once known for graceful athletes and a spot Bill Parcells once considered part of his "holy trinity" of building a team (to go with quarterback and left cornerback) has become like lighter fluid at a barbeque. You could use it, but you can get by without it.

To wit:

• Of the top four scoring teams in the NFL last season (Packers, New Orleans Saints, Patriots and Detroit Lions), only the Lions featured a former first-round pick at left tackle (Jeff Backus). And Backus is hardly a great player. In 11 seasons, he has never made a Pro Bowl. Light has retired, Chad Clifton (Packers) was released in April and Jermon Bushrod (Saints) is a former fourth-round pick most often described as "solid" by NFL personnel men.

• Only once in the past 11 seasons has the starting left tackle for the Super Bowl champion been a first-round pick. That was Tarik Glenn for the Indianapolis Colts in the 2006 campaign. In fact, former fifth-round pick David Diehl, a converted guard who lacks the prototypical lateral quickness viewed as necessary for the position, has helped the New York Giants win two of the past five Super Bowls.

[ Related: David Diehl apologetic following DWI arrest]





• Of the 11 offensive tackles taken with top-10 draft picks from 2004 to 2011, only one has helped his team get to the Super Bowl. That was Levi Brown of the Arizona Cardinals, and Brown started at right tackle in the championship against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the '08 season. Conversely, highly regarded left tackles such as Jake Long and Joe Thomas of the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns, respectively, have mostly been relegated to watching the postseason from afar.

In short, there is ample reason to question the value of a position that once seemed essential. Over a four-year span from the 1997 to 2000 seasons, the Super Bowl was won by teams featuring some of the greatest left tackles ever. Hall of Famer Gary Zimmerman (a supplemental first-round pick in 1984) helped the Denver Broncos to back-to-back titles ('97 and '98 seasons). He was followed by Orlando Pace (the No. 1 overall pick in 1997) when the St. Louis Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV and finally by Jonathan Ogden (No. 4 overall in 1996) with the Baltimore Ravens a year later.

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