We've been looking at offensive lines over the past few weeks: best lines, best position-by-position breakdowns of those lines. Now we get to the money position, left tackle. It's not hard to see how hitting on that position can make all the difference in the world, as can missing on it.

It's not the end all and be all, of course. The Browns have one of the league's best left tackles (the best in our rankings) yet their offense is annually terrible. So you need more than that. But look at the teams who have spent high picks on the position and have them not work out. Those teams are typically out of the running for the NFL's postseason early on.

A couple of the players are currently ranked modestly (Jake Matthews, Ereck Flowers, Donvan Smith) because it's too soon to say -- they could go either way. Others (Luke Joeckel, Eric Fisher) seemingly aren't going to pan out.

The below rankings show how we rank the league's current projected left tackles, with the second column showing where the offensive lines rank.

NFL LEFT TACKLES, 1-32
TeamLeft TackleOL Rk
ClevelandJoe Thomas3
PhiladelphiaJason Peters4
San FranciscoJoe Staley10
WashingtonTrent Williams12
DallasTyron Smith 1
SeattleRussell Okung23
New OrleansTerron Armstead5
New EnglandNate Solder8
MinnesotaMatt Kalil13
MiamiBranden Albert11
CincinnatiAndrew Whitworth7
ArizonaJared Veldheer24
Green BayDavid Bakhtiari2
NY JetsD. Ferguson14
BaltimoreEugene Monroe6
DetroitRiley Reiff9
AtlantaJake Matthews30
BuffaloCordy Glenn15
IndianapolisAnthony Castonzo16
HoustonDuane Brown17
PittsburghKelvin Beachum27
OaklandDonald Penn20
San DiegoKing Dunlap18
ChicagoJermon Bushrod22
NY GiantsEreck Flowers29
TennesseeTaylor Lewan25
Kansas CityEric Fisher21
DenverTy Sambrailo19
Tampa BayDonovan Smith31
St. LouisGreg Robinson32
JacksonvilleLuke Joeckel26
CarolinaMichael Oher28

--Andy Richardson