SportingGurus.com

The SG 50 so far:

1. Tom Brady, QB Patriots
2. Peyton Manning, QB Colts
3. Ben Roethlisberger, QB Steelers
4. Tony Romo, QB Cowboys
5. Carson Palmer, QB Bengals
6. Joe Thomas, OT Browns

According to Justin, pick #7 in the SG 50 is the first legitimately tough choice. After being on the clock all night racking my brain, I agree — I’m still torn between a couple of elite players, but I believe I’ve finally made my decision. The five best quarterbacks in the game are gone, and the league’s most monstrous left tackle is now under Justin’s control for the next five years. Some of you, particularly the fantasy-heads who are used to the Larry Johnsons and Jamal Lewises flying off the board at this point, may be wondering when a running back will be taken. You’ll have to keep waiting, because with the seventh pick in the SG 50, I select…

Osi Umenyiora, DE, New York Giants

If you want to know how good this guy really is, just ask Matt Light and Tom Brady. Light’s one of the better left tackles in the NFL, with technique that’s unsurpassed by just about anyone. It takes a total monster of a defensive end to beat him on a regular basis… and in Super Bowl XLII, Umenyiora beat him on a regular basis. Only the most casual fans and die-hard Eli supporters believe that Eli actually deserved to be the MVP in that game — Osi and Justin Tuck both had much stronger cases for the award, but Tuck’s two sacks and forced fumble were mainly the result of Umenyiora completely disrupting the left side of the Patriots’ line on just about every single play, causing Brady to move more to his right — which put him directly in the path of Tuck. Even with the help of Logan Mankins, which was enough to neutralize Dwight Freeney in seasons past, Osi continued to either go around or through Light. That’s the kind of game-changer you get with Umenyiora — what Joe Thomas does for his offensive line, Osi Umenyiora does for his defensive line.

Osi is physically built like a pass-rushing end, like a Freeney or a Michael Strahan, and he’s equally good with the speed rush around the edge and the bull rush. That is where the similarities end, though, because unlike the Freeneys and Strahans of the NFL, his run-stuffing ability is second to none. Football Outsiders puts the Giants’ defensive line at 6th in the league last season, with a pristine 2.97 Adjusted Line Yards per carry, in terms of stopping runs around left end — versus 22nd (4.45 ALY) around right end, where Strahan, a pure pass rusher, lined up for the majority of snaps. The Colts’ line was 14th at containing left end runs, so you might think to yourself “6th isn’t THAT much better than 14th, what the hell are you smoking?” The difference is Freeney was backed by a better linebacking corps that was built around speed, and they covered up his run-stopping flaws pretty frequently. Umenyiora’s LBs were good but not spectacular, so that statistic is pretty much a direct result of his dominance. He makes life much easier for the other 10 defenders on the field because he draws so much attention, and any player who can basically single-handedly disrupt the game plan of an 18-0 juggernaut is well worthy of the #7 pick in my book.