Can the big blind be considered late position pre-flop?

Question

I’m reading through the opening hands chart in this poker strategy article: https://www.888poker.com/how-to-play-poker/strategy/texas-holdem/

All the literature I see says that the blinds are in early position because they’re first to bet after the flop. For the purposes of choosing which hands to play pre-flop, using the Chen formula or a chart like the one linked, it seems like they’d be late position because they don’t have to wager to be in the hand (assuming no one has raised already), and no one has position on the big blind to raise them.

So should the blinds be considered late position when determining what hands to play pre-flop?

Answer 1

The blinds are late position preflop, but they should be treated as early position when deciding what hands to play. The blinds give you the advantage of seeing what all the other players do preflop before you make your decision, but after you make a preflop decision you will be first to act.

Essentially, the blinds allow you to get more information from other players for your preflop decision, but you will have less information on the flop, turn and river.