User blog comment:Zolodabeaast/is zolo luffys first mate and the second strongest in da crew?/@comment-3986064-20110731193655

He's no first mate, thats just what people think he is...he's just a pirate that has no special part to play in the crew, but if there was a part for him to play, its being a swordsman!

Zoro is the 2nd strongest for 1 simple reason which is what you've all seen, Zoro always fights the 2nd strongest guy from an arc:(except for the Morgan arc and starting with the Arlong arc) the best example is the Enies Lobby arc where he fights Kaku with 2200 douriki and Sanji fights Jabra with 2180 douriki, showing that he is indeed the 2nd strongest with a small difference between him and Sanji