Tony Boselli ranked as 18th best tackle of all time by Gil Brandt
By Daniel Lago
Despite being arguably the best offensive lineman of his era, Tony Boselli‘s career continues to be underrated by several analysts, including Gil Brandt.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have only been around since 1995 so they haven’t had a chance to generate a large pool of all-time great players, but they do have a few guys who have a case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
First and foremost among them is the first draft pick in franchise history – left tackle Tony Boselli.
Boselli came painfully close to making the hall of fame this year, so there’s a good chance he’ll get his due at some point, but the formerly dominant lineman has always been underrated. For a five year stretch in the 90s, Boselli was arguably the best offensive lineman in an era when there were numerous future hall of famers. His career was cut short by injuries and people have used that as an excuse to diminish his standing.
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With nothing else going on, Gil Brandt has decided to rehash his annual all-time positional rankings.
In his recent piece on offensive tackles,
he had the greatest Jacksonville Jaguars player of all time ranked too low:
"18. Tony BoselliJacksonville Jaguars, 1995-2001» Voted to five Pro Bowls; First Team All-Pro three times» Drafted with the Jaguars’ first-ever pick"
Pete Prisco, who is arguably the most knowledgeable national analysts when it comes to the Jaguars, had the correct response:
Tony Boselli at No. 18 is a joke. Sorry, Gil. https://t.co/Nh0aigVd3D
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) June 21, 2017
I've seen every player on my list play live. How many have you seen, Pete?
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) June 21, 2017
Live? A lot. Some of them, when I was a kid. But there is now way in hell Joe Thomas is better than Tony. Zero chance.
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) June 21, 2017
Gil Brandt is a well-respected former front office executive, but it’s hard to take his rankings at face value. In his running back ranking, he failed to include Fred Taylor or Edgerrin James, but he had Ezekiel Elliot – yes, the player coming off his rookie season – as one of the greatest running backs of all time.
If there’s anything useful to take out of this, it’s that everyone else on the tackle list is a hall of famer so Tony should get there eventually.
What do you think? Is this ranking too low or just about right?