Through two weeks of the season, I take a look at which offensive lines have impressed and which have face planted. There have been significant injuries in these two weeks, but luckily for most teams they have enough depth to be a serviceable enough group. One group in here, however, has had multiple significant injuries and it will be an uphill battle for them the rest of the season.
⇗ 8 Spots to #16: Los Angeles Rams
Last season the Rams looked lethargic and beat down. Per footballoutsider.com they had 4.27 adjusted line yards, which ranked 19th in the NFL. However, they ranked 26th in stuffed percentage with 21%, which is how often the running back gets tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage. They did lead the league with only 22 sacks given up, but I would bet that a good part of that is Sean McVay’s play calling and play action rate. Given Andrew Whitworth’s and Rob Havenstein’s age and failing to draft a lineman until the 7th round, I had them ranked at #24 going into the season. It didn’t really hit me how good they were actually doing until @DynoGameTheory and @DaBeezyBFF mentioned it on @TheUndraftedFF.
Their game against the Cowboys was not super impressive, but solid. They only averaged 3.8 yards per carry on 40 attempts, but only allowed 1 sack. Their Week 2 against the Eagles was more impressive to me against a superior defensive front. Again, they only allowed one sack, but averaged a much better 4.9 yards per carry on 39 carries. Starter Joseph Noteboom (LG) did suffer an injury that sent him to IR, otherwise this group likely would’ve been top 15. Their next two weeks they draw the Bills and the Giants who both have 6 sacks, but allow 4 plus adjusted line yards. Both of these should be good matchups for them, especially on the ground. Hopefully we finally see someone *cough* Cam Akers *cough* take the reigns of this backfield.
Rams OL Joseph Noteboom showing all #DallasCowboys fans what the hype over Trysten Hill was really about 🤦🏾♂️…fam was pancaked into smithereens!
(🎥: @EaglesXOs)#CowboysNation pic.twitter.com/aIJSYBNMza
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) September 16, 2020
⇗ 5 Spots to #3: Green Bay Packers
Losing Bryan Bulaga has seemed like a bigger deal than it actually was. He played less than 85% of snaps in 2019, which actually was an improvement over 2018 and especially 2017. The Packers signed Rick Wagner in free agency to replace him, but he didn’t actually start until Week 2. This was due to Lane Taylor and Billy Turner winning the camp battle for Right Guard and Right Tackle. As we know, Lane Taylor has unfortunately torn his ACL and is out for the season. Billy Turner also has yet to play a snap in 2020. This all may sound bad, but the Packers are one of the teams with very solid depth.
Turner is back to practicing in full and I expect him to go back to his 2019 spot at Right Guard, which leaves Wagner to start at Right Tackle. As for the season so far, they have faced some very sub-par defenses in Minnesota and Detroit, but having a 5.70 adjusted line yards and only giving up 1 sack is damn impressive. Week 3 will be a very good test for them, as they go up against the Saints. If they can dominate once again, this group will challenge for top 2, ironically with the same team they are playing.
Watch @DavidBakhtiari & @Big_E_14 here vertically displacing the 3-technique DT93 and combo to LB58 on Aaron Jones 75yd TD run…
Then @Showtyme_33 has no problem making TWO unblocked safeties miss on the 3rd level… Beautiful!
236 all-purpose yards from Jones vs DET… Whoa pic.twitter.com/U4TkOD8btw
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) September 21, 2020
⇙ 6 Spots to #25: Minnesota Vikings
In the write-up for this season I said that the loss of Kevin Stefanski might loom large for this group, and I believe we are seeing that from the start. They have given up 5 sacks this year already, and if they keep this pace up it would put them at 40 sacks on the year. 40 was the average for the NFL in 2019. According to footballoutsiders.com they have 5.14 adjusted line yards, but Dalvin Cook is only averaging 4.3 yards per carry on 26 carries.
Their schedule doesn’t get much better until Week 6, and even then it’s against the Falcons, which means the game script will not be in their favor. I see them continuing to hover between #22 and #26 for me barring any big injuries. To make matters worse, Pat Elflein will be on the shelf until at least Week 5 with a thumb injury. Their biggest bright spot so far has been Brian O’Neill (RT) who ranks as the #9 overall and #6 run blocking tackle per PFF.
Brian O'Neill's athleticism is absurd. Guys who are 6'7" 300 shouldn't be this quick pic.twitter.com/QCEZY95bw9
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) September 21, 2020
⇙ 10 Spots to #20: Pittsburgh Steelers
I feel for Zach Banner and Stefen Wisniewski here. Banner had worked hard and earned a starting role with the Steelers after bouncing around the league a bit. He was a 4th round pick of the Colts in 2017 draft and spent time with the Browns and the Panthers before landing with the Steelers in 2018. Wisniewski was looking for another shot at some bling after being apart of the previous two Super Bowl teams with the Chiefs and the Eagles. Unfortunately, both went down in Week 1 with Banner tearing his ACL and Wisniewski suffering a pectoral injury. This was after David DeCastro had been ruled out with a knee injury.
DeCastro was also scratched for Week 2 which left them to start Matt Feiler (LG), Kevin Dotson (RG), and Chukwuma Okorafor (RT). So far they have only given up 3 sacks, which is partly due to the return of Ben Roethlisberger getting the ball out in an average of 2.4 seconds according to nextgenstats.com, but their run game leaves a lot to be desired. The return of DeCastro should help them a ton in the run game as they look to lean on it this week against the Texans.
Kevin Dotson paid Zach Banner a subtle tribute this past Sunday following his first career start pic.twitter.com/gwVzOyTUwX
— The Big Guy (@WeAreBigGuys) September 22, 2020
⇙ 12 Spots to #30 New York Giants
Admittedly I had too high of hopes for this group going into the season. Granted they played the most aggressive defense in Week 1, but their adjusted line yards were absolutely abysmal at -.15. Yes, they were negative. They have also allowed 7 sacks this year so far, which puts them on pace for an insane amount of 56 for the year. This would be 2 less than the most sacks allowed from 2019.
Week 3 against the 49ers has gotten a little better after they lost Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas, but this front is still nothing to look past. They will get better as the season goes on. Andrew Thomas will settle in, they will get their play design figured out, and they will develop familiarity with each other. For now though, things do not look good for the Giants.
SAME SIDE COUNTER
The geometry of the guard trapping DE before he gets to the RB is almost impossible. (Yes bad 1step)
But you can’t run a long trap with RB on same side of formation. They should put RB on the right not left
It’s poor design plain and simple pic.twitter.com/f7ezqYR7mX
— Paul Alexander (@CoachPaulAlex) September 16, 2020
You can find the full offensive line rankings here. For questions, feel free to reach out to me @BradWireFF, or any of our team @TheUndroppables.
