Ranking the offensive lines, team-by-team Doug Farrar / FootballOutsiders.com Posted: 11 hours ago In assembling a list of the top-to-bottom offensive lines in the NFL, one thing becomes readily apparent. Nowhere is the concept of football as a war of attrition better exemplified than on an O-line depth chart. Roster stability is, for the most part, a pipe dream in the NFL, and when that fact collides with the idea that you're dealing with more players per unit than defensive lines or linebacker corps or defensive backs ... well, things get complicated. Assessment of the opening day starting line for half the teams on this list before final cuts occur would be an interesting exercise in chaos theory. The few lines that can be considered truly elite have two factors in common ? great talent at key positions and positional depth over an extended period of time. That's not exactly news. What was surprising after assembling this list was the number of lines we would consider elite going into the 2006 season ? there were only two without significant holes or questions requiring complex answers. From three on down, the questions become amplified, and this brought into focus just how difficult it is to assemble and keep a line of great quality. Exhibit A: Seattle's line with, and without, one Steve Hutchinson. I've got your Domino Effect right here, pal ... Creating this list brought up an interesting fact about one of the most impressive postseason performances in recent memory. Entering the playoffs as the AFC's sixth seed, the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers defense went through the top four offensive lines on this list on their way to the Lombardi Trophy ... and they did so without a postseason home game. You can talk about Carson Palmer's injury and Super Bowl officiating, but that Steelers defense accomplished something pretty special. Ask the Colts, whose rep as a line-led team took a decent hit against Pittsburgh in the divisional round. These rankings are based to a large extent on Football Outsiders' offensive line statistics: Adjusted Line Yards: Gives different weights to runs of different lengths to partially distinguish between the responsibility of the running backs and that of the offensive line. 10+ Yards: Percentage of a team's rushing yards more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Power Success: Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. Run Stuffs: Percentage of runs that gain no yards (on first down); otherwise less than one-fourth the yards needed for another first down. Adjusted Sack Rate: Percentage of sacks per pass play adjusted for down, distance, and strength of the opposing defense. These statistics are further explained here, with all 32 teams ranked for 2005. Using an aggregate of these statistics in varying degrees of importance, adding in dynamics such as blown blocks and penalties, and topping it off with a good helping of subjective analysis and projection for the new season, here are the best to worst offensive lines coming into the 2006 campaign: - 27. New York Jets This may go down as one of the best ever O-line drafts for any team if LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson and C Nick Mangold play to their great potential. Ferguson is an incredibly nimble player for his position and may well be the next great left tackle. Mangold is a tough guy and a natural leader. Both players could wind up starting right away ? that's probably not so good in the short term, but the Jets' line got old in a big hurry last season. Something needed to be done. Jettisoning Kevin Mawae and moving Adrian Jones from left to right tackle so that the rookies can start learning right away was the way to go. The Jets ranked 24th in Adjusted Line Yards and 30th in Adjusted Sack Rate, so anyone arguing "stay the course" was easily outvoted. This offense will be in Severe Rebuilding Mode under new head coach Eric Mangini, but you might see the line shoot up the charts over the next couple of years. > http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5794000
I would like to see the line "shoot up the charts" in the second half of the season. It will take some time to gel, but given the great potential of both rookies and the fact that they will both be starting right away, progress can certainly be made by the end of the season.
i think a low ranking is well deserved, and this guy hit it right on the head. the largest adjustments college players always talk about is adjusting to the speed of the nfl game. d'brack and mangold will prob struggle initially to get used to the speed of the game, and will need to somewhat re-learn techniques. i hope down the line tho, this guy is correct. that even 8 years from now with mangini gone, people will still look back to this draft as being an excellent one.
