A few weeks ago Malcolm Gladwell posted a review of The Blind Side, the latest book by Michael Lewis. Lewis has written several wonderful books, but is perhaps most famous – at least among sports economists — for Moneyball, the story of the improbable success of the Oakland A’s.
The latest offering from Lewis focuses on football. Specifically, the increasing importance of the offensive tackle. Okay, let’s be real specific. Lewis focuses this book on the rise of the left offensive tackle, or the player charged with protecting the blind side of NFL’s quarterbacks (who for the most part are right handed).
Lewis actually weaves together two stories in The Blind Side. The first story is about the importance of left tackles. As Lewis notes “ By the 2004 NFL season, the average NFL left tackle salary was $5.5 million a year, and the left tackle had become the second highest paid position on the field.”
Why are these players paid so well? Because the highest paid player is the quarterback, and a defensive end hitting these players from the blind side can end a signal caller’s career. And if that happens, teams not only lose a great deal of money, but coaches and general managers can lose their jobs. The job of the left tackle is to stop the sack artists employed in the NFL, and ultimately, reduce the likelihood that a quarterback will perform badly or be taken out of action.
But the importance of the job is not the only issue. The dimensions of a left tackle are scarce, and as students learn in economics, scarcity tends to increase value. Why are quality left tackles scarce? Not only must the player be big – 300 pounds is a minimum weight requirement – but also agile. If you eat enough you can get big. But to maintain athletic ability when you add size, that is a trick few people can pull off. And those few that do – Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden, Walter Jones, Willie Roaf, Michael Oher – get paid, or will get paid, quite well.
NFL fans might know the names of Pace, Ogden, Jones, and Roaf. The story of Oher is the other tale Lewis tells. Oher is currently a sophomore at the University of Mississippi. As his bio indicates, Oher is 6’6” and weighs more than 300 pounds. He is also is considered an incredible athlete. It is his rise from extreme poverty in Memphis to prized college football recruit that truly makes The Blind Side a compelling read.
In Gladwell’s comment on this book he made the following observation about Lewis: “I’m not sure how to describe (Lewis), which is part of the genius of his books. It’s not even clear to me that his books are about sports in the end, even though he takes sports as his subject.”
My sense is that Lewis is much like a sports economist. Lewis sees markets in everything. For example, the rise of the passing game in the NFL is described in The Blind Side in terms of market returns. Now if Lewis simply wrote about markets – when they work and when they fail – it might be interesting for some people (like economists), but perhaps not compelling reading for many. By using sports as his canvas, though, Lewis can paint a picture about the wonder of markets without his readers always knowing that this is the story being told.
And that is the essence of sports economics. The field of sports economics is not about sports, but economics. When we conduct our research and teach this class, it is the story of economics that we are really trying to tell. Sports are just a medium we use to convey our message.
Like Moneyball, one expects the latest from Lewis to further inspire sports economists. For example, if the story Lewis tells about left tackles is true, then one would expect left handed quarterbacks to perform worse than right handed signal callers. Because right tackles are less skilled, left handed quarterbacks should be less protected and therefore less able to produce. One wonders if this is true. Well, I went looking for a list of left handed quarterbacks but was unsuccessful (okay, I only tried for two minutes). Perhaps if someone could send me a list of left-handed quarterbacks in the NFL, then maybe I can provide a first glimpse into the answer.
– DJ
Wages of Wins Journal 
Lee J. Cockrell
October 20, 2006
Currently, Mike Vick and Matt Leinart are the only two left handed NFL QB starters I’m sure of.
http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/release.jsp?release_id=1413 Left handed QBs of the past.
In college, Jameel Sewell of Virginia is left handed.
dberri
October 20, 2006
Dennis Coates, one of my fellow contributors to The Sports Economist, noted the following:
A google search turns up Steve Young, Boomer Esiason, Ken Stabler. I also found this quote on the Patriots website (dated last year): Jim Zorn, former Raider Todd Marinovich, Washington’s Mark Brunell, former Lion Scott Mitchell, Chicago’s Bobby Douglass, current Tampa backup Chris Simms and of course, current Falcons standout Michael Vick. Also, Seattle rookie David Greene and current Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart of USC are lefties.
I was hoping for a bigger sample of left-handed quarterbacks. But judging from what Lee and Dennis have found, and from my own search, I think testing what Lewis is saying in The Blind Side might prove difficult.
Kevin Pelton
October 20, 2006
Dave, I’m not sure we would expect them to perform worse, for a couple of reasons.
First, as Lewis points out in the book, the imbalance isn’t limited to left tackles versus right tackles — defenses also tend to use their best pass rushers on the blind side. So it’s weakness on weakness for a left-handed quarterback’s blind side, though it is easier for a defense to move around its personnel than an offense.
Second, if a team has a left-handed quarterback for a number of years, presumably they’ll spend more on their right tackle position than their left tackle position. So I think the only place you’d find a big issue is a situation like the Cardinals this year, where righty Kurt Warner was expected to start but was replaced by lefty Leinart.
kjb
October 20, 2006
Pelton just made the exact comments I was about to make.
By the way — Mark Brunell is also a left-handed starting QB. He might be an interesting case to study because he was a long-time starter in Jacksonville, and presumably they’d have acquired a higher-quality right tackle to protect him.
When he came to Washington, he replaced right-handed QBs. Since then, Washington has not changed their tackles.
dberri
October 20, 2006
Kevin (both of you),
Something to consider is how easy is it for a left tackle to switch to right tackle. My sense is that defensive ends can easily switch sides but tackles cannot.
I would add that if it is the case that left tackles are different from right tackles, spending more on right tackles would not be very helpful. If right tackles had the skills to play left tackle, then they would have been made a left tackle in the first place.
The point about Leinart is quite good. The game last Monday turned when the right tackle failed to pick up the end. The result was a Leinart fumble and the beginning of the Bears comeback.
TK
October 20, 2006
Just a correction to the above post:
Leinart isn’t the current Heisman Trophy Winner; Reggie Bush is. Of course, if Bush’s various scandals cause him to have to give up the Heisman, then Leinart may become the “current” one again due to his win two years ago.
TK
October 20, 2006
My sense of it is the same as dberri’s — that people capable of playing tackle could mostly play either side and end up sorting themselves out. The better ones become left tackles because that’s where the money is. The lesser ones become right tackles.
Another example of this market at work is the free agent signing of Mike Wahle by the Carolina Panthers a couple of years ago. He had played left guard for the Packers, but was widely considered both big enough and fleet of foot enough to play left tackle. As a result, he signed a free agent contract that was more lucrative than one would have expected for a guard. The Panthers likely figured that in a pinch, they would have a backup plan for their QB’s blind side. In an era of $100M QBs, that couple of extra million for a guard who could pitch in makes sense.
Kevin Pelton
October 20, 2006
Yeah, Dave, that was what I was implying with my comment that it’s easier for the defense to shift personnel than the offense.
I’m not sure how you’d quantify the issue — maybe salaries? — but I’m sure there are some right tackles in the league better than the weaker left tackles who could play left tackle but don’t because of inertia or because their team already has an anchor left tackle.
That, in turn, raises a good question. How many NFL right tackles played left tackle in college?
TK
October 20, 2006
Can’t answer that one, but it’s worth noting that it’s not just the offense that has to adjust because of a left-handed QB. The defenses usually put their strongest rusher on their right (QB’s blind side for righties) and have their schemes tilted toward applying pressure from the right.
So the offense may be in a quandry about whether to shift their left tackle over to the right.
But the defensive coordinators trying to scheme against a lefty would have to make the same adjustments. It’s not obvious to me that this would be a clear advantage for either team — both would be playing with either substandard personnel on the new blind side or top-flight personnel playing out of position.
Jason
October 20, 2006
I think Lewis simplied things quite a bit. I enjoyed the book nonetheless.
It’s not always that the best linemen specialize to become left tackles as that teams place their best linemen in the position. For much of his career, Steve Young was protected by right tackle Harris Barton. Lewis made a point about how much the 9ers paid Steve Lewis, but much of the time Barton was paid as much 0r more than Wallace. If I recall correctly, the same article that Lewis said in part inspired him to research the left tackle position mentioned Barton, noting that he was in the similar position of guarding the “blind side” when Young was throwing.
Lewis mentions Tony Boselli in his list of freakish left tackles, but for almost all of his career, he wasn’t a ‘blind side’ defender for lefty Mark Brunell. Since he was the initial draft choice of the Jaguars to anchor their inagural line, it’s curious that they put him at left tackle when their inagural QB threw with his left hand. Perhaps it’s not easy to make the switch for everyone or, and I haven’t ruled this out, perhaps the people who make decisions in professional sports aren’t always the sharpest tacks in the pack.
Players *can* move, though some are more adept at new positions than others. Winston Justice played on the right side at USC when Leinart lined up under center, but is projected to move to the left end of the line as a pro. He’s likely getting his first start there this weekend if Tra Thomas is still out of action.
However, linemen aren’t always moved to correct the ‘blind side’ problem, even in the post-Lawrence Taylor era. Anthony Munoz anchored the left tackle position protecting right hander Ken Anderson, but didn’t move to the right side when lefty Boomer Esiason replaced him.
kjb
October 23, 2006
Many years ago, the Redskins traded Jay Schroeder to the Raiders for left tackle Jim Lachey. The Skins promptly moved him to right tackle because they already had Joe Jacoby on the left side. Lachey was okay on the right, but hardly the Pro Bowl quality guy he’d been for the Raiders. Lachey compared it to learning how to drive with the steering wheel on the right instead of the left. Lachey later moved to LT (and Jacoby moved to guard), and my memory says Lachey ended up in the Pro Bowl for a season or two before he messed up his shoulder.
dberri
October 23, 2006
kjb,
This anecdote is consistent with what I am reading about this position. Defensive ends can switch sides, and can do so within a game. But tackles cannot just switch sides whenever they want.
Perhaps we could test this by looking at substitution patterns. If Lewis is correct, the left tackle is the most important. Assuming a team is playing its best two tackles, when the left tackle is hurt or taken out the team should move its right tackle — the team’s second best tackle –over to take that important spot. I sense, though, that teams have back-up left tackles who practice that position. And these back-ups are preferred to the existing right tackle.
If this is the substitution pattern, then this tells us that a player has to practice left tackle to play left tackle. Experience at right tackle is not a perfect substitute.
MJBowman
November 26, 2006
I collect autographs from left handed quarterbacks. I have gotten over 22 and still need the following names.
Allie Sherman
David Humm
Frankie Alberts
Jim DelGaison
Shedrick Bonner
Hope this helps
MJB
MJBowman
November 26, 2006
Click on my name and you can see my collection
charlie
February 14, 2007
What effect does using the SHOTGUN formation have on the blind side strategy–both on offense and defense?
Ant
March 22, 2007
Perhaps another point is the handedness of the O-lineman, in boxing the southpaw has an advantage over right handed boxers, it would be interesting to see how many of the linemen mentioned above are left handed. I have had a look around but can’t find any details on what handed they are.
mark
May 4, 2007
The Blindside is way overrated; it’s SPACE. Since most teams run right (right handed QB, right handed running backs, right handed world) the TE usually lines up on the right (hence, the strongside). Most defenses counter this by playing their bigger, stronger, run defenders to the offenses’ strong side. Therefore you have bigger stronger, but slower (less athletic) O-linemen to that side.
Now on the weakside, there usually is no TE, therefore the D-linemen (usually the best rusher) can line up wide and force the LT to pass protect in space. That means you’d better have an athlete with the feet to play Left Tackle or guys like Dwight Freeny will blow by him. So regardless of whether the QB is right or left handed, your better pass protecters are on the left, regardless of it being the blindside or not. Having a TE next to you makes a world of difference in pass blocking.