KANSAS TOWN, Mo. (AP) a Playing on the offensive line is approximately as unglamorous as it gets in professional football. No body pays much attention to the inventors in the trenches until flags are flying. They spend Sunday afternoons finding hit, expelled and placed to the turf, their fingers broke and their face masks turned a' not forgetting whatever continues at the bottom of these heaps. The best unpleasant handle will never be as valuable as, say, the best quarterback, and seldom does one of the people up front stoke the passions of a fan base tired of losing. Therefore perhaps it is no real surprise that because the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, only twice has an offensive lineman been chosen first overall in the draft a Orlando Pace in 1997 and Jake Long in 2008. The Kansas City Chiefs could make it three on Thursday evening. In a draft without a top-end talent at quarterback and no clear-cut No. 1 possibility no matter place, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is anticipated to call out the name of just one of two offensive tackles a Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M or Eric Fisher of Central Michigan a after Kansas City hands in its selection at Radio City Music Hall in Nyc City. "Last year, people picking at the very top of the draft were searching for quarterbacks. And luckily, they certainly were there," said former NFL coach Jon Gruden, now a specialist with ESPN. "If in 2013 you're looking for a left tackle, you're a happy guy." The Chiefs insist that they're not necessarily looking for a left tackle; they are looking for the best available player, and Joeckel and Fisher occur to fit the bill. Nonetheless it helps the cause of equally Joeckel and Fisher a' or maybe even Lane Johnson, an tackle from Oklahoma a that Kansas City might be unsettled at the position by draft evening. The franchise tag was placed by the Chiefs on remaining tackle Branden Albert, and he's closed the sore worth about $9.3 million for next period. However they also have granted the Dolphins permission to consult with Albert's representatives, and it's becoming increasingly likely that the trade can happen. That would make the selection of left tackle an obvious choice. "What I have to complete is what is best for the Kansas City Chiefs," said normal supervisor John Dorsey, who helped come up with some of the Green Bay Packers' best drafts but is calling the shots from the GM seat for the first time after being used in January. "I will explore every option and available thing," he said, "and then you'll being to weigh those decisions, and you've completely up until that last minute." It didn't come down to the final minute a year ago. The Colts unmasked on Tuesday of draft week that they were choosing quarterback Andrew Luck first general, and that allowed a few of the dominos to begin dropping. The Redskins traded as much as nab quarterback Robert Griffin III, and the draft was running and off. That will not function as case in 2013, partly because there is no QB worth the No. 1 pick. Players at the game's most important place have been chosen first total four straight years, and 10 of the last 12. And the Chiefs probably would have made it five right if there is someone worth the pick. As an alternative, they exchanged with San Francisco to get Alex Smith this offseason. Therefore, every thing seems to be circling back again to a blindside protector. The St. Louis Rams determined in 1997 that Pace was a much better choice than anybody in a forgettable quarterback class that included famous brands Jim Druckenmiller, Danny Wuerffel and Pat Barnes. Speed became a All-Pro and made seven straight Pro Bowls in his 13-year career. Long, who the Dolphins picked first in 2008, also became an and has produced four Pro Bowls in his five-year career. But betting contrary to the quarterbacks that year didn't pay off almost as well for Miami a Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco were chosen later in the first round. One of the benefits to choosing an offensive tackle is the relative risk. The position is usually simpler to evaluate, and project, than some of the ability positions, and rarely do linemen taken high in the draft completely clean out. Joeckel won the Outland Trophy because the nation's top interior lineman after defending Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel so successfully last time. Fisher was a All-American who shot up draft boards by having an eye-opening efficiency at the NFL's scouting mix. "With Joeckel, the ground is incredibly large. I can not imagine him to arrive and being a bust," said ESPN university soccer analyst Todd McShay. "Fisher is not as theoretically sound. You also do not see regularly the record against top competition. That is nothing that Fisher did. He can only play who he can play. But I just think Joeckel to me has the floor of the three. "Who understands what Kansas City thinks," McShay said, "but to me that seems to function as the right pick, since there is very little breast potential in regards to Joeckel." Dorsey and new Chiefs coach Andy Reid have refused to offer any sign of who they may possibly decide Thursday evening, assuming they still have the No. 1 collection. The one thing they have clarified is that they intend to choose whoever they think is the better player. "It may be the first pick in the draft," Dorsey said. "I look at it as a positive because what it is, is you get a shot at the best person in the draft." ___ Online: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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