18. San Diego Chargers - Tyron Smith, USC Trojans
Make no mistake about it, Tyron Smith is the best offensive lineman in the 2011 NFL Draft. He's got the ability to play both tackle positions, and he's the only offensive lineman I'd consider to be worth a top ten pick. Fortunately for San Diego, the draft is deep elsewhere and they can fill this need all the way at the eighteenth pick of the draft.
Some folks might say Anthony Castonzo can go here, but I doubt it. To me, the marriage of Smith and the Chargers is a perfect unity - there are those will question his ability to come in and immediately play left tackle at the NFL level, which is just perfect because he'd be heading to San Diego to play on the right side of the line. That's where they have a need, and if he excels, they may shift him to left tackle in the future, but for now it makes perfect sense that he goes to San Diego at eighteen.
He's got very long arms and his footwork excels past that of any tackle in the draft. Speed, athleticism, strength, these are all things you have to rattle off when you talk about offensive linemen in the first round, and he's got all of 'em in spades. Smith is 6'5'', 310 strong and ran a 4.93 at his pro day, while putting 225 lbs up 31 times despite his rather long arms.
The Chargers will go into the 2011 NFL Draft assuming they will fill some need along the defensive line (it feels like every team will do that with this stellar class), but they can't miss this tackle prospect. He feels need and is undoubtedly the best player left on the board.