There were eight tackles chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft last year, and the expectation is that there will be at least four tackles drafted in the first round of the draft in April: Andre Smith (Alabama), Michael Oher (Mississippi), Jason Smith (Baylor) and Eugene Monroe (Virginia).

The Seahawks will have to consider picking a tackle and not just as an auxiliary plan in case Walter Jones' microfracture surgery does not go well. It's a nod toward planning for the future beyond Jones. In the meantime, the player could play somewhere else along the line.

President and general manager Tim Ruskell was asked last month about the possibility of choosing an offensive lineman in the first round.

"I have never been fond of the high offensive lineman, but I don't know if that is a correct way to look at it, with the increased importance placed on the left tackle," president Tim Ruskell said.

Ruskell became the Bucs' director of college scouting in 1992. The Bucs made 10 first-round choices before Ruskell left to join the Atlanta Falcons in 2004. Of those 10 players, one was a tackle: Kenyatta Walker, chosen 14th by the Bucs in 2001.

In the four drafts that Ruskell has been president in Seattle, the Seahawks have chosen one offensive lineman in the first three rounds and that was center Chris Spencer. Seattle, however, has found a trio of promising linemen in the fourth round: tackle Ray Willis (2005), guards Rob Sims (2006) and Mansfield Wrotto (2007).

"That lends into my philosophy of not drafting a lineman so high in the draft," Ruskell said. "If they are well-coached and they work together and you have tough guys then they can work together."

Ruskell did say that recent draft history has shown that there is value in picking a tackle at the top of the first round and the early indications are that more than one tackle fits into that category this season.

"The reality is, there are guys who warrant that pick and there have been guys who have been successful in our league," Ruskell said. "Just looking at it, the offensive linemen in this draft are pretty strong."

Want more left-tackle talk? Take a listen to the interview with Michael Lewis, author of "The Blind Side."

Click To Play

We will begin the discussion of Michael Lewis' book, "The Blind Side" on Feb. 24. The book does an incredible job of explaining the reason left tackles are the second highest-paid position in football and also describing the unlikely path Michael Oher took to reach the point where he is expected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.