Teams that win consistently in the NFL have good lines (Both sides of the ball)
If you don't have a Good Line to protect the QB then there is no reason to pay big bucks for one. The Teams that have Big Buck QBs didn't need to draft any and the Teams that don't still haven't got good lines to guard one.
That is why more and more Linemen go early in the draft. Left Tackles are starting to command contracts that equal and many times surpass the so-called "skill positions".
The NFL has always been about winning in the trenches but now they have it honed down to a science and the draft is starting to reveal that philosophy. This year I think we went to number 7 in the second round before a Running back was picked. And there was only One QB picked in the first Round. 9 offensive Linemen and 9 Defensive linemen were taken in the first round.
Years ago I was out in Vegas in the big betting room at Caesar's Palace. It was late February and they already had Odds on the Next Super Bowl. I was curious on how they figured such and the Guy at the sports desk said one of the factors used was how much each team paid their offensive line. The teams with the higher paid lineman had better odds at winning the Big Game.
I totally agree. I was really pleased the Broncos picked a lineman with their No. 1. The point was also made well by the movie, The Blind Side.
Some of the "skill" positions have lost a lot of their value in the NFL draft simply because of the way players move all over the NFL in the era of the salary cap and free agency. Nowadays, it's just as easy for a GM to fill a spot on his roster through free agency as it is to draft a player. At the QB position, for example, there is a huge risk in using a high draft pick for a college player who isn't a "can't-miss" prospect. You're better off finding someone who has a decent track record on another NFL team and signing him as a free agent.
For a position like running back, there's no reason to draft a superstar if you don't have the offensive line to block for him. In the NFL you're better off with a C+ player behind a solid offensive line than an A+ running back with no line in front of him.
Offensive linemen are highly prized in the NFL draft because with free agency there's no way to spend time developing these players -- so it's important to get them playing together as a unit right from the start of their careers. Defensive linemen are highly prized because the NFL has gone so far towards practically "legislating" record-breaking passing statistics into the game that a strong pass rush is one of the few effective tools a team has to defend against a strong passing attack.