It takes a strong player to fill that role. That player is typically tasked with handling some of the biggest, meanest defensive tackles and blitzing linebackers you will ever see. And for the most part, left guards do all of the work while getting little in return.
This position doesn't get the same amount of praise — or money for that matter– as the left tackle position, but who's to say that these guys can't make an impact?
Former Saints left guard Carl Nicks holds the top spot in Bleacher Report's list of the 32 Best Left Guards in the NFL. Nicks was drafted by the Saints in the fifth-round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and Nicks has appeared in two Pro Bowls for the Saints before signing with Tampa Bay this offseason.
A surpsing sophomore made the list at the No. 2 spot, San Francisco's Mike Iupati, the Samoan native was raised in California, and has started all 32 games of his career so far with the 49ers.
The lone New England Patriot on the list is none other than the Bearded Beast, Logan Mankins. Interestingly enough, Mankins is the second-highest paid guard in the NFL behind none other than the leader of this list, Carl Nicks. Mankins' has 5-years remaining in his deal with the Patriots, and if he can keep up his consistency, I'm sure the Patriots won't mind paying him the big bucks.
Check out the rest of Bleacher Report's Top 1,000 Players here.
