Vanderbilt offensive tackle Chris Williams celebrates after being selected by the Chicago Bears. Williams was one of eight offensive tackles picked in the first round. Williams celebrated with his agent, mother and wife Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.

New York ? Blame all this on Max Starks.

Starks started on the offensive line in the Super Bowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers three Januarys ago. But he couldn’t hold onto his starting position, losing the right tackle spot to Willie Colon last training camp.

Starks wound up starting only two games for the Steelers in 2007. He became a disposable player, right?

Starks became a free agent this off-season, but the Steelers slapped a transition tag on him to prevent him from leaving. They were willing to guarantee him $6.8 million in 2008 to have him ride their bench again.

That displayed the value of linemen in today’s NFL – and the 2008 draft drove that point home.

Michigan’s Jake Long became the first offensive tackle selected No. 1 overall in a draft since 1996 when the Miami Dolphins gave him that honor Saturday.

Seven more offensive tackles were selected in the next 25 picks – and Atlanta, Carolina and Kansas City traded up to get theirs. That’s eight offensive tackles in the first round. There were five running backs, two quarterbacks, one tight end and no wide receivers in the round.

So guess what the new money position is on offense?

After Long, the parade of blockers continued with the selection of Boise State’s Ryan Clady at 12 by Denver, Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams at 14 by Chicago, Virginia’s Branden Albert by Kansas City at 15, Boston College’s Gosder Cherilus by Detroit at 17, Pitt’s Jeff Otah by Carolina at 19, Southern Cal’s Sam Baker by Atlanta at 21 and Virginia Tech’s Duane Brown by Houston at 26.

Look at the schools. Most of those tackles were multiyear starters at major college programs who will have a shorter step to take onto an NFL field. All will be expected to start – and succeed. Left tackle Joe Thomas was the third overall pick of the 2007 draft who started for the Cleveland Browns from Day 1 and went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie.

Baker and Brown were projected as second-round selections, but when the draft run on blockers started in the teens, the Falcons and Texans did not want to be left out.

So Atlanta surrendered two second-round picks in a package for the right to draft Baker and give new quarterback Matt Ryan back-side protection this fall. Carolina gave up its first-round pick in 2009 in its deal to vault back into the first round for Otah.

Offensive linemen have become the gold standard in a salary-cap world. Draft them, play them and keep them.