Weird that people still get their feathers all riled up over a topic like this over a good player like Long who still has upside. Yet seem to be unphased with seemingly endless threads defending/criticizing a QB who's stunk it up for 5 seasons now. Even weirder that the ones that do get mad about it are the same idiots that misunderstood Kromer, & believed that Guards actually are important than Tackles in any blocking scheme. All Kromer ever meant was that instead of paying huge money or using a first round pick for an elite tackle, with run of the mill Guards, his inside zone blocking scheme put more responsibility on interior linemen than the a typical man blocking schemes the Bears had previously run. In a nutshell all he really meant was to have good linemen all 5 starting positions, rather than two great linemen on the outside with run of the mill interior linemen. Even weirder than that, it always cracked me up that people were dumb enough to argue Guards are more important than Tackles seemed to think Kromers interior zone blocking was unique & that justified their bonehead theory that Guards are more important than tackles. When in fact most of the league now is running what are primarily very similar mixes of inside/outside zone blocking schemes, very similar to Kromers, none of which value guards over tackles. Unless a coach wants to get his QB's ass kicked, they must intend to put their best linemen at tackle with the way that DC's stack & overload pressure off the edges. If an OC were even dumb enough to intentionally put their best linemen on the inside, then be dumb enough to state it publically, every DC in the league just bring extra pressure off the edges knowing that the opponent lacks talent off the edges on the O-line.
I love the idea of moving Long to tackle. I actually wanted the Bears to draft Long but that was assuming he would start out his first season as interior lineman, then move to tackle within his first 3 seasons. In my own opinion, even as one who wanted this pick, to me it will never be worth it's weight unless Long is successfully playing as a tackle. Lance Louis played just as good at RG, whether anyone wants to admit that or not, he was a fifth round pick. Long wasn't even the best pure guard from his own draft class. When when one watches Long & notices he's an excellent pass protecting lineman, one can & should have a better understanding why he could be better at a position that is reliant on good pass protection, rather than RG which relies on having a strong run blocker. I thought Long took a BIG step forward last season as both a pass & run blocker, but pass protection still appears to be a natural strength for him.
I do believe that Long would make an excellent pass protect franchise left tackle playing laterally on the outside for the next 10 years based on his skillset. What Long lacks in arm length, he makes up with athleticism, power, & very good footwork, especially in pass protection. I still believe that having Long at RG is a waste of his talent ass a excellent pass blocker with upside at a position that mostly demands having a strong run blocker more than anything else.
