NGT- The obsession with OT arm length

[MightyGiants]

who would have thought that literally 3/8 of an inch would be a "major development"   

https://x.com/Schultz_Report/status/1904956328050651250

https://x.com/The33rdTeamFB/status/1904921979112874342

[londonblue]

There is a data supported reason. There have been a few top T with sub 33" arms but they have pretty much all been superb athletes with amazing agility, footwork, balance and mental processing. The hit rate sub 33" is low. The average arm length of current NFL T is around 34.5 inches.

Obviously it is a filter that has to be applied with caution on a case by case basis but it is a thing because it IS a thing!

[kartanoman]

Good info, Rich @MightyGiants  , as always!

The one thing I cannot deny is that none of the projected top left tackles can lay a glove on Andrew Thomas' arm length.

Continuing to wish the big man well in his recovery from that Lisfranc injury. It's not an easy or quick fix, but will take the right amount of time to heal and the proper buildup of rehab to make a full recovery. Then, pray that everything healed right so they don't have to refracture and reset it as they did with my wife's Lisfranc a couple of years ago.

Peace!

[MightyGiants]

There is a data supported reason. There have been a few top T with sub 33" arms but they have pretty much all been superb athletes with amazing agility, footwork, balance and mental processing. The hit rate sub 33" is low. The average arm length of current NFL T is around 34.5 inches.

Obviously it is a filter that has to be applied with caution on a case by case basis but it is a thing because it IS a thing!

Neal,

I appreciate the applicability of measurements and success.  That said:

I think the flaw in the studies is they compare those above 33 inches and those below (like it's some sort of redline).  I am pretty certain if they broke out the study into half-inch segments and the success within that range, they would find there was little change (in terms of success) over 3/8th of an inch of arm length.

In other words, while there is likely a significant advantage of a tackle with 35-inch arms over a tackle with 32-inch (and change) arms, the difference between a tackle with 32 5/8 inch arms is likely insignificant compared to a tackle with 33-inch arms.