Tyson Jackson = Marcus Spears

Pantherhare — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:20:03 -0000

This 6'4" 298 lbs. player was a force on the defensive line of the LSU Tigers defensive line. He's very versatile, but isn't a freak pass rusher off the edge, lacks top end speed, and didn't put up big numbers in college. Reminds people of Richard Seymour.

Sound familiar?

The description above, or some variation of it, was written back in 2005, describing Marcus Spears. Back then, I actually thought the Chiefs should draft him as a nice complement to Jared Allen (Eric Hicks was done) if they couldn't get Derrick Johnson. Spears has gone on to have a solid career as a role player for the Dallas Cowboys.

That's right, role player.

And that's what I suspect Tyson Griffin will end up being. LSU linemen have a history of underperforming in the NFL (Pioli even drafted one such underperformer in the second round in 2004, Marquise Hill, who met a tragic end in 2007). As the third overall pick in the draft, I think there's already an overly high bar set for Jackson.

I hope that Jackson proves me wrong, but I think the Chiefs made a mistake picking him up so early.

SB Nation User Blog: Pantherhare

Tyson Jackson = Marcus Spears