OT: Who is Number 1?

That seems to be the question these days. There's a quartet of highly-talented offensive tackles in this year's draft: Alabama's Andre Smith, Virginia's Eugene Monroe, Baylor's Jason Smith and Mississippi's Michael Oher. All four tackles should be first round picks. But who is the top of the class?

It's an interesting question. Let's take a look at the tale of the tape for these four stars.

Name	Height	Weight
Andre Smith	6'4-7/8"	341
Eugene Monroe	6'5-1/8"	310
Jason Smith	6'4-1/2"	300
Michael Oher	6'5"	330

They're pretty comparable in size, with Smith being the smallest of the four. But size isn't the only thing when judging offensive tackles. Robert Gallery was 6'7" and roughly 325 pounds when the Raiders drafted him, and he has not been the model of consistency on Oakland's offensive line.

So who gets the nod at #1? Andre Smith was the early favorite, but Monroe has moved into that position, with Jason Smith also seeing some play in the top slot. At this moment, I'm going to give Monroe the slight edge. His injury issues have been documented, but he is a powerful force who combines speed and strength. His agility at the position is incredible, and can start from day one.

Both of the Smiths are viable options and cannot be discounted. However, I think the MCL injury sustained by Jason last season, and the bowl-game suspension of Andre could scare some teams off. In terms of sheer physicality, Andre gets the edge. But Monroe's combination of size and speed is striking.

Oher is also a fine player, and his life story is an incredible one. But his speed is not as good as the other three, and thus will most likely be the fourth offensive tackle off the board.