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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HardRightEdge" data-source="post: 658659">Mandarich had the obvious steroid issues, of course.  I've also heard it said that the sheer volume of his college pancake blocks was also attributable to a couple of poor classes of Big Ten DEs, though I have no first hand recollection of that.Regardless, there a cautionary tale to be told.  You can grade a guy play-by-play, but if the guys he's playing against are not all that good, he's going to look a lot better than he is.  Level of competition cannot be underestimated.Mandarich looked stiff for a guy taken at #2, even if he was wanted to grade roads in an era when running the ball had a much higher priority. This indicates the level-of-competition issue may have some validity.The issue speaks to looking past the numbers to simply how a guy moves.  And it's not just OTs; it's everybody but kickers and holders.  For example, guys can look faster on tape than they actually are if they're running with slower players.  The splash play you see might not have been made if the CB covering the play was bit faster or the OG had NFL quickness to get out to the second level to make the block.  This is why they run 40's and shuttles and cones at the Combine.  It's also why they run drills that are not timed and reported.  And it's why, when looking at tape, you have to look past the outcome of the play to how it was achieved; how the guy moves is a big part of the assessment.</blockquote>

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