2019 NFL Draft Guide: Offensive Line Breakdown - UPDATED

Updated as of 8.24.19

1 - Philadelphia Eagles

2018 Run Blocking Score: 70.7 (3^rd)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 78.8 (11^th)

The Eagles cracked last year’s rankings as the best offensive line heading into the season, and to be fair, they definitely were a top ten O-line, arguably top five. Probably the most frustrating part of the Eagles 2019 season was how injured they were on the line. Jason Peters technically started all 16 games for the Eagles, but he frequently had to leave games with injury. Keep in mind, he was coming back from a torn ACL and MCL that sidelined him for the entire 2017 season when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Add in the fact he was also 36 years old last season and it was a mere surprise that he decided to play last year coming back from a serious knee injury. The Eagles are feeling a little more optimistic about his prospects for 2019, despite the fact he’ll be 37 years old. Lane Johnson was another guy that played well, but was dealing with an ankle injury last year. Despite the injury, he made his second straight Pro Bowl. Interior lineman Brandon Brooks , like Johnson, was also selected to his second consecutive Pro Bowl, but suffered a torn achilles in the Eagles divisional round loss to the New Orleans Saints. Somehow Jason Kelce didn’t get selected for the Pro Bowl, but was a first-team All-Pro honoree for the second straight year. All in all it was an impressive performance from Philadelphia in 2018, but can they stay healthy in 2019 to get back to the Super Bowl?

Even though they had one of the best offensive lines in the league the last two seasons, they understand Peters isn’t getting any younger. So they addressed that with their first-round pick (22^nd overall) by selecting Andre Dillard out of Washington State. This is a great scenario for Dillard to fall into. He won’t be expected to start right away, but if Peters does have to exit the game he can step in and get his feet wet. Not to mention, he has some great teammates on this line that can serve as mentors. In a surprising development, Jason Kelce contemplated retirement this past offseason before returning on a one-year deal. Vaitai Halapoulivaati is a name that could be dealt before the season since it’s likely he’ll depart in free agency after this year. It would probably take a fourth or a fifth-round pick to deal Halapoulivaati so it’s likely the Eagles hang on to him this year for another run at a Super Bowl. The development of Jordan Mailata is worth watching as well. He was a seventh-round pick in 2018 from Australia and he never played a single down of organized football prior to preseason last year. He could be expendable if he shows little signs of improvement next month, but he’s a massive developmental project. Literally, he’s 6’8”, 346 pounds so he’s quite large in stature. As far as 2019 is concerned, the Eagles should boast another great offensive line. However, if Peters and Kelce truly do retire after this season then there will be some big holes to fill going forward.

2- Pittsburgh Steelers

2018 Run Blocking Score: 59.8 (14^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 87.5 (2^nd)

The Steelers offensive line has been a well-oiled machine the past few seasons. While 2018 was tumultuous for many reasons, the offensive line wasn’t one of them. Even with the departure of Chris Hubbard , who departed for the division rival Cleveland Browns, they were still one of the most formidable offensive lines in the league. They allowed just 24 sacks last year and a lot of their linemen had respectable grades according to Pro Football Focus as seen below:

• Alejandro Villanueva – 78.1
• David DeCastro – 71.7
• B.J. Finney – 71.5
• Matt Feiler – 71.1
• Ramon Foster – 69.1
• Maurkice Pouncey – 69.0
• Marcus Gilbert – 68.5

They had seven offensive linemen score over 68.0 which is a pretty impressive mark. Gilbert’s score might be a bit misleading because he only played six games (the same can be said for B.J. Finney ), but as a whole the Steelers were among the top five offensive lines in the league. They allowed just 24 sacks last season and despite playing the second-most pass blocking snaps last year they yielded just 103 hurries on pass blocking plays, another solid mark for this team.

The 2019 outlook for the Steelers looks about as good as the 2018 season. They’ll return the same starters save for Marcus Gilbert who was traded to Arizona this past offseason. Matt Feiler replaced Gilbert after he was injured and Feiler managed to start nine of the last ten games and performed pretty well. With the same unit returning you have to imagine the offense will run effectively with Big Ben under center once again. The Steelers will be without both Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown this year, but the run game ran just fine last year and the Steelers seemingly have a new superstar wideout with JuJu Smith-Schuster . The O-line should be in the top ten once again come season’s end.

3 - Indianapolis Colts

2018 Run Blocking Score: 70.5 (4^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 80.1 (9^th)

The Colts desperately needed to address their offensive line woes after the 2017 season where Andrew Luck didn’t play one snap. As noted in the Offensive Lines Matter article that was published last month, offensive line had long been a weakness for the Colts during Andrew Luck ’s young career. So they addressed their deficiencies in last year’s draft by taking Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith with two of their first three picks. Nelson looks like he could be a Hall of Fame caliber offensive linemen and he’s been in the league just one year. He made the second-team All-Pro in his rookie campaign and Smith was no slouch either. He transitioned nicely from guard to tackle and performed pretty well at that spot. More importantly the Colts were able to protect Andrew Luck and keep him upright last season. They led the league with only 18 sacks allowed and the group as a whole is still relatively young and they signed Mark Glowinski to a three-year extension this past offseason. You can only imagine the Colts are trending in the right direction with a young group that can only get better.

It’s a little surprising that the Colts were willing to part ways with Dave DeGuglielmo especially after the improvements the offensive line made. It doesn’t appear there’s any ill will between DeGuglielmo and head coach Frank Reich. It just sounds like Reich wants to get his people on the staff and DeGuglielmo was a hire brought on with the whole Josh McDaniels fiasco. Still DeGuglielmo shouldn’t have trouble finding a job (DeGuglielmo was eventually hired by the Dolphins to be a “General Football Analyst”). Former Assistant Offensive Line Coach Bobby Johnson left to become the Offensive Line coach for the Buffalo Bills. Chris Strausser enters as the new O-Line coach and he has to be feeling quite spoiled right now. Nelson and Smith could improve even more with a year of experience under their belt and if Marlon Mack can stay healthy and play more than 12 games the run game should be better as well. It’s hard to believe Andrew Luck turns 30 this September, but he’s still in the prime of his career and he looked great last season despite missing all of 2017. This offensive line could keep him on his feet even more this year. Big things could be in store for with this unit.

UPDATE (8/24/2019) - News broke Saturday night of Andrew Luck's shocking retirement from the NFL. While this doesn't directly impact his offensive line it's worth noting that defenses may not respect Jacoby Brissett as a passer as much as they did Luck. That's not to say the Colts will constantly faced stacked boxes, but it could lead to an increase, which can be problematic for an offensive line. For now, the Colts still have the personnel to be an elite unit and they should finish 2019 as a Top Five O-Line pending injuries.

4 - Tennessee Titans

2018 Run Blocking Score: 65.8 (8^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 79.1 (10^th)

Hard to argue with how solid the Titans have been the past few seasons. Taylor Lewan made his third straight Pro Bowl after signing a five-year, $80 million deal last offseason. Jack Conklin wasn’t as fortunate though. Conklin missed the first three games recovering from an ACL injury, he missed another game with a concussion, and then he was finally placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in week 14. Ben Jones and Quinton Spain did an admirable job holding down the interior portion of the offensive line, but Josh Kline struggled despite playing all 16 games for the second straight season. Surprisingly the Titans were still a top ten offensive line despite the injuries to Conklin and the inconsistent play from Kline. The Titans finished with a 9-7 record and now have bigger questions surrounding their franchise quarterback rather than their offensive line heading into 2019.

It’s truly difficult to imagine the Titans not finishing the season with another top ten offensive line. They could easily finish top five if we’re being honest. Assuming Conklin’s at full health and Lewan continues to play at a high level, they’ll boast an exterior line that could compete with Green Bay’s. The Titans re-signed Kevin Pamphile to a one-year deal after his 2018 season with the team was cut short. Additionally they also added Nate Davis with their third-round pick to beef up the interior line and they stole Rodger Saffold from the Rams and signed him to a four-year deal. Saffold was second-team All-Pro in 2017 and should make the Titans an even stronger offensive front. Whether or not the Titans can get offensive production around this front going remains to be seen.

Update (8/24/2019) - Taylor Lewan has lost his appeal for his four-game suspension so he is now locked in to miss the first month. A downgrade may come in the coming days, but he's only missing one-quarter of the season and you don't want to overreact to news like that especially when they're still loaded with talent up front.

5 - New Orleans Saints

2018 Run Blocking Score: 58.4 (18^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 77.8 (13^th)

Terron Armstead could possibly be the best offensive tackle in the league if he can just stay healthy for a full year. Regardless of the fact that he missed the second half of the season Armstead was named to his first Pro Bowl and he was a second-team All-Pro last season. 2017 first-round pick Ryan Ramczyk, like Armstead, also made second-team All-Pro and received an overall grade of 81.3 from Pro Football Focus. The pass blocking grades were above average, while the run blocking was subpar. Larry Warford had a solid season for the Saints making his second straight Pro-Bowl with the team. But the run blocking struggled at times with Andrus Peat receiving a 39.2 grade and Max Unger receiving a 53.2 run blocking grade. Somehow, someway, Peat still made the Pro Bowl last year.

Max Unger retired after last season which left a pretty big hole in the interior portion of the line. Unger did make the Pro Bowl in his final season, but was a shell of his former self. With Unger’s retirement, the Saints drafted Erik McCoy out of Texas A&M with their second-round pick this past April. McCoy will be thrust into a starter’s role and he’ll be starting in between Larry Warford and Andrus Peat with Ryan Ramczyk and Terron Armstead on the side. If basing this strictly on 2018 Pro Bowls and All-Pro selections then McCoy is in good company. Marshall Newhouse has bounced around the league the last few seasons, but he does provide some decent offensive line depth for the Saints. This team fell just short of reaching the Super Bowl last year due to a very controversial non-call in the NFC Championship game, but the offensive line is built for another successful run with a few of these guys being recognized for their performance on the field come December.

6 - New England Patriots

2018 Run Blocking Score: 72.1 (7^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 82.2 (8^th)

I’ll take flack for this and I don’t care one bit. These guys make Tom Brady look good and he makes them look good in return. Others will label Brady a dink & dunk passer so the offensive line doesn’t need to block for very long. This group, headlined by Shaq Mason and Trent Brown , allowed Tom Brady to be sacked just once in the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl run and a total of 21 sacks during the regular season which were the third-fewest in the league. It helps when the Patriots employ possibly the greatest offensive line coach of all time in Dante Scarnecchia. He coached the O-line from 2000-2013 and retired for a few years before coming back in 2016. They won’t have Trent Brown coming back since he got himself quite the payday from the Oakland Raiders. However, there’s still plenty of optimism with the remaining group of players that’ll be on the Past O-line in 2019.

The loss of Brown certainly hurts, but don’t forget the Patriots drafted Isaiah Wynn with one of their first round picks in 2018. Unfortunately he tore his Achilles in the second preseason game last year and missed the incredible championship run. But he’s back and healthy to slide to left tackle as Brown’s replacement. New England also went out and drafted Yodny Cajuste and Hjalte Froholdt with their third and fourth round picks.

The Patriots are entering another season with Tom Brady under center at the ripe age of 42. With Rob Gronkowski no longer with the Patriots there may be more pressure on New England to establish the run game even more to open things up in the passing attack. This shouldn’t be too much trouble for New England since they boasted the seventh-best run blocking score from last season according to Pro Football Focus. Whoever is carrying the ball between Sony Michel (currently recovering from surgery), James White , Rex Burkhead , Damien Harris, etc. the Patriots backfield has one hell of a group to run behind. Another reason New England may take the ball out of Brady’s hands more is to preserve him. Last year was a great example. Disregarding the 2016 season where Brady played only 12 games due to a four-game suspension, 2018 saw the fewest pass attempts from Brady which led to him throwing just 29 touchdowns. That’s a good benchmark for most NFL quarterbacks, but it’s somewhat low for Brady. The Patriots are poised to make a run at their ninth straight AFC Championship appearance. Part of what makes this offensive line so great is the willingness of the coaching staff to rotate players in and out in order to keep guys fresh and reduce the risk of injury. The starting offensive linemen are all either 26 years of age or younger (save for Marcus Cannon who is 31) and they could potentially keep Brady upright for a few more seasons.

7 - Dallas Cowboys

2018 Run Blocking Score: 62.3 (11^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 73.2 (17^th)

The Cowboys, for quite a few years, were the shining example of perfection when it came to the offensive line. But as time has taken its toll they’ve lost some key pieces over the years. Doug Free retired after the 2016 season and Ronald Leary signed with the Denver Broncos the same year Free retired. Since then Dallas has still had solid talent, there’s absolutely no denying that. They still have Tyron Smith , Travis Frederick , and Zach Martin. Each of them are former first-round picks. Not to mention La’el Collins and Connor Williams are admirable pieces to have as well and they went out and drafted Connor McGovern (not to be confused with Denver’s Connor McGovern ) in the third-round of this year’s draft. He’ll likely find his way into the game as a substitute or to replace an injured player, but for the most part he won’t start unless there’s a serious injury that opens up a job. Health has been an issue the last two years. They didn’t have a good backup to Tyron Smith as evidenced by Chaz Green surrendering five sacks to Adrian Clayborn of the Falcons back in 2017. Green is now out of town and McGovern provides some nice depth along with Cameron Fleming , Xavier Su’a-Filo, and Joe Looney to an extent. And let’s not forget that Travis Frederick missed all of 2018 after being diagnosed with a rare brain condition last August. The good news is it sounds like he’ll be healthy and available at the beginning of this season.

2018 was a bit of a rough run for the Dallas Cowboys offensive line. They fired Paul Alexander in the middle of his first season as the O-line coach and promoted Marc Colombo as the interim coach, and later named him the full-time coach in the offseason. The offense will be pretty interesting to watch in general. They have 30-year-old Kellen Moore as their new offensive coordinator after he spent last season as the Quarterbacks coach. As mentioned above, health is going to be key for the Cowboys offensive line. They lost Frederick for all of last year, Smith missed three games, and Martin also suffered a knee injury toward the end of last season. Injuries happen to every team, but it seemed to cost Dallas their most important linemen last season especially Frederick with his brain/spinal condition. But they’re slowly returning to the solid bunch they were five years ago when they were virtually unstoppable and it could mean big things for Ezekiel Elliott in the running game and it could allow Dak Prescott more time in the pocket.

8 - Chicago Bears

2018 Run Blocking Score: 59.9 (12^th)

2018 Pass blocking Score: 83.8 (4^th)

Chicago had a very good season as an offensive line in 2018. Charles Leno Jr. and Cody Whitehair each made their first Pro Bowls and each starter from last year received a grade of at least 62.0 from Pro Football Focus. Kyle Long might be getting older, but he’s still a formidable player and he’s now a veteran leader. The offensive line was vital to Mitchell Trubisky ’s improved numbers from his rookie season. In 14 games he finished with 3,223 yards while rushing for 421 more. He threw 24 passes, 12 interceptions, and ran for three more touchdowns as well. In 519 pass-blocking snaps the Bears allowed just 117 pressures. They were one of the best in terms of pass blocking and fell just outside the top ten for run blocking. All in all it was a solid top ten performance for the O-line and they were a big reason why the Bears won the NFC North last year.

The Bears didn’t necessarily make a big “splash” in free agency or the draft to improve the offensive line. They spent their draft picks on two cornerbacks, two running backs, and a wide receiver. But they did bring in undrafted free agents like Alex Bars who likely went undrafted because he tore his ACL and MCL last September. They also signed Joe Lowery, Sam Mustipher, Blake Blackmar, and Marquez Tucker. Not all of these guys are going to make the team out of training camp. Most of them will get cut. Ted Larsen was a free agent signing and he’s bounced around the NFL since getting drafted back in 2010, and he’s not exactly a lock to break camp with the team. Perhaps the biggest move for the Bears was James Daniels and Cody Whitehair basically switching positions officially in 2019. Still the core of the O-line is intact and they should be among the top tier of offensive lines in 2019.

9 - Green Bay Packers

2018 Run Blocking Score: 55.5 (23^rd)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 88.5 (1^st)

Perhaps no team had a larger discrepancy in run-and-pass blocking grades than the Packers last year. The reasoning behind this is two-fold: 1. They have arguably the best tackle pairing in the league with David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga . Bulaga returned to form after tearing his ACL in 2017. He was the second-best right tackle in pass blocking according to Pro Football Focus and Bakhtiari graded out as the best tackle in the league in that regard. Bakhtiari was inevitably named as a First-Team All-Pro. The problem for the Packers was they just couldn’t get any consistency on the interior line, specifically at right guard. The Packers were 22^nd in the league with 104.2 yards per game including 87.0 yards per game over their last three contests. Truth be told, they averaged 40.0 pass attempts per game and just 20.8 rush attempts per game so it’s no surprise the rushing yards were down and while the interior line wasn’t great, they did throw the ball twice as much.

In an attempt to address their issues at right guard the Packers went out and signed Billy Turner from Denver and they drafted Elgton Jenkins out of Mississippi State in the second round to provide some more interior line help. Aaron Rodgers really likes Aaron Jones and new head coach Matt LaFleur would be wise to get the ground game going a little more. Adam Stenavich joins LaFleur’s staff as the O-line coach and he gets an embarrassment of riches inheriting two great tackles like Bakhtiari and Bulaga. But there is some attention that needs to be given to the interior portion.

10 - Kansas City Chiefs

2018 Run Blocking Score: 65.6 (9^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 81.8 (6^th)

The Chiefs had some injury issues with the interior line last season, but they still managed to perform at a high level. Patrick Mahomes was sacked just 26 times last season and Mitchell Schwartz , the league’s best right tackle was named first-team All-Pro last year after back-to-back seasons as a second-team All-Pro. Eric Fisher finished the season very strong and made his first Pro Bowl in 2018 and Mitch Morse was solid once again for the Chiefs. They did lose Laurent Duvernay-Tardif f with a broken leg last October, and he wasn’t activated until the AFC Championship game against New England. He should be good to go for 2019. One of the most explosive offenses in the league was anchored by a solid offensive line this past year and they’re poised for another solid performance in 2019.

The Chiefs lost Mitch Morse in the offseason, which is a pretty big hit, but in a smaller sample size last season Austin Reiter did okay at center and the Chiefs feel confident with him as the starter heading into 2019. Morse came with some injury concerns as he had missed time over the past two years and the Chiefs didn’t want to gamble on him with a big contract. The return of Laurent Duvernay-Tardif f is a big addition as he’s one of the best interior linemen in the league when fully healthy. Cameron Erving may still be a liability at left guard, but it’s possible they work Nick Allegretti at guard during training camp. This is one of the few offensive lines in football that have minimal concerns if they can avoid numerous injuries. Kansas City should be poised for another deep playoff run in 2019.

11 - Los Angeles Rams

2018 Run Blocking Score: 77.2 (1^st)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 82.3 (5^th)

The Rams boasted one of the best offensive lines in the league last year and it showed as the team went all the way to the Super Bowl behind one of the best offenses in the league. Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein are one of the better offensive tackle duos in the league, but there were some issues with center John Sullivan . Sullivan’s play dropped off drastically as the season progressed. He allowed four total pressures through the team’s first seven games, but allowed 32 over the team’s last nine games. Austin Blythe took Jamon Brown ’s job from him after Brown was suspended for the first two games of the year. Brown was eventually waived and claimed by the Giants, and Rodger Saffold turned in a decent year after being named second-team All-Pro in 2017.

As you can see there was some turnover in the offseason. John Sullivan is a free agent after the Rams declined to pick up the option on his contract and Rodger Saffold is now with the Titans. The Rams have young depth though. Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen were taken in the third and fourth rounds of the 2018 draft and could end up starting this year. If neither of them pan out then the Rams can turn to Bobby Evans or David Edwards who they selected in the third and fifth rounds of this year’s draft. They have options, they just don’t yet know what they have so training camp will be crucial for the younger guys. There aren’t too many concerns with Havenstein as long as he stays healthy, but eventually the team has to be concerned with Andrew Whitworth , right? He turns 38 in December and while he’s continued to play at a high level, father time remains undefeated.

12 - Carolina Panthers

2018 Run Blocking Score: 51.2 (27^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 76.3 (15^th)

So the Panthers drew a pretty crappy hand to kick off the 2018 season. They lost left tackle Matt Kalil and right tackle Daryl Williams before the season began to knee injuries. And this is after an offseason that saw Andrew Norwell sign with Jacksonville. Williams presented a pretty massive loss as he was coming off being a second-team All-Pro in 2017. However, second-round draft pick Taylor Moton proved to be a solid replacement on the right side of the line and he received a 76.2 grade from Pro Football Focus at season’s end. Long-time center Ryan Kalil retired at the end of the 2018 season, but Trai Turner managed to make his fourth straight Pro Bowl. It was a season that had its up’s and down’s before the year even began after they lost Kalil and Williams, but the 2018 season gave Carolina reasons to expect better things and the proper turnover could make for a better offensive line this season.

As you can see the 2019 group looks quite different from the 2018 group. The Kalil brothers are gone. Ryan retired and Matt is now in Houston. Jeremiah Sirles , like Kalil and Williams, was placed on injured reserve early in the year and was released in early September and later signed by the Bills despite being injured. Taylor Moton will play one of the tackle positions. The question is whether how well Greg Little comes along. The Panthers selected Little with their second-round pick out of Ole Miss this past April. Williams might be better suited to play guard in the event the Panthers want to get Little reps on offense. Despite a somewhat disappointing 2018 campaign, there’s a chance the Panthers finish as a top 12 offensive line.

UPDATE (08/24/2019) - Greg Little left Thursday night's game against New England after being evaluated for a concussion. He could still be ready in time for Week 1, but for now the Panthers are taking all precautions with their investment.

13 - Baltimore Ravens

2018 Run Blocking Score: 62.6 (10^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 77.1 (14^th)

The Baltimore Ravens offensive looks and operates better when Marshal Yanda is healthy. Never was that more true than last year. He missed all of 2017 with a leg injury and returned last year and made his seventh Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro for the fourth time in his career. Another great sign for the Ravens was the level of play exhibited by 2016 first-round pick Ronnie Stanley . Stanley looked good in 2017, but he was great in 2018 and it’s somewhat surprising he wasn’t named All-Pro. The 2018 season was a bit controversial for the Ravens. They benched franchise quarterback Joe Flacco in favor of Lamar Jackson and the offense looked much different. They became a very run-heavy offense with Jackson and the offensive line made him look pretty good.

Pending serious injury, the Ravens should be back in the top ten come season’s end. Ronnie Stanley should continue to protect Jackson’s blindside and at some point the Ravens need Jackson to become a better passer. In seven starts he threw just 1,200+ yards last year while doing most of the damage on his legs. The Ravens added Ben Powers in the fourth-round in this past April’s draft and he’ll likely serve as positional depth for Baltimore. They did address bigger needs on the offense to try and get weapons for Lamar Jackson . They drafted a wide receiver in the first and third round (Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin ) while also drafting running back Justice Hill out of Oklahoma State. Not to mention they also acquired Mark Ingram in the offseason. As long as they can avoid serious injuries the offensive line should be fine and there could be bigger developments for the offense if they can get the passing game going so there wasn’t a drastic need to make a big splash to improve the offensive line in the offseason.

14 - Cleveland Browns

2018 Run Blocking Score: 59.3 (16^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 85.8 (3^rd)

The 2018 Cleveland Browns offensive line was one of the best in the league. On the interior portion of the line Joel Bitonio , J.C. Tretter , and Kevin Zeitler surrendered a total of 39 total pressures. They had made some pretty drastic acquisitions to their offensive line following the retirement of Joe Thomas who is one of the greatest offensive tackles of all time. Over time they added Bitonio, Tretter, Zeitler, and Chris Hubbard through the draft and free agency and managed to have one of the best offensive lines in football protecting one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the league in Baker Mayfield . Tretter, Zeitler, and Bitonio all received offensive grade of at least 72.0 from Pro Football Focus. In a surprising twist, Hard Knocks darling Bob Wylie was fired by the Cleveland Browns following the successful season the Browns had.

As you may notice, Kevin Zeitler is not on the 2019 roster. He, along with Jabrill Peppers , were dealt to the New York Giants for Odell Beckham Jr. So that’s a pretty big hole to fill on the interior line, but fortunately 2018 second-round pick Austin Corbett seems up to the task in 2019. The Browns signed former second-overall pick, Greg Robinson , prior to the 2018 season and he did well enough to get re-signed by Cleveland to remain their starting left tackle. He’ll turn 27 this year and still has plenty of years left in the tank, but he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations bestowed upon him when he was drafted. James Campen is coming over from the Green Bay Packers where he was the offensive line coach for 11 years and developed players like David Bakhtiari , Bryan Bulaga , Josh Sitton , etc. So he knows a thing or two about coaching up the guys in the trenches. There are high expectations for this group and they should be a top  group this season, but the interior line did have a lot of turnover.

15 - Atlanta Falcons

2018 Run Blocking Score: 69.6 (5^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 78.3 (12^th)

Another year, another pretty successful offensive line coached by Chris Morgan. Alex Mack made his sixth Pro Bowl and Jake Matthews made his first appearance at the Pro Bowl. Both those players played at an elite level last year. The same can’t be said for the entire offensive line however. Andy Levitre was forced into retirement due to injuries and Ryan Schraeder was so bad last season (eight pressures allowed in week one alone) that the Falcons released him after six seasons with the team. The biggest anomaly with the Falcons lies within their sack totals. Atlanta allowed 42 sacks last year, which ranked 20^th in the league. However, the Falcons ranked at the top of all 32 NFL teams in terms of pass blocking efficiency in longer developing plays according to Pro Football Focus. That means they performed as the best offensive line on plays requiring more than 2.5 seconds to develop. On these plays they allowed just two sacks all season. Now this could be due to the fact they likely could’ve been playing from behind in certain situations and facing softer defensive fronts that were only sending three defensive linemen to blitz. But all in all it was a decent showing last year from the Falcons and they should actually be better in 2019.

Not many people were expecting the Falcons to address the offensive line so early in the draft. Yes, Levitre retired and Ryan Schraeder was terrible, but Ty Sambrailo performed pretty well last year so much so that Atlanta gave him a three-year extension. After extending Sambrailo they signed James Carpenter and Jamon Brown . So the offensive line looked like it didn’t need to be addressed right away. But life comes at you fast and Atlanta used two first-round picks on Chris Lindstrom (14^th overall) out of Boston College and Kaleb McGary (31^st overall) out of Washington. Currently the depth charts have these rookies starting, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Sambrailo moves back to right tackle if McGary struggles. But the rich get richer and the offensive line should be one of the better units in the league. Could they have addressed the defense in the draft with these earlier selections? Sure, especially when you consider that after their two first-round selections the Falcons didn’t pick again until the fourth round. For the purpose of this article I will no longer criticize their draft strategy and we’ll just roll on acknowledging that this offensive line could be a top fifteen group in 2019.

16 - Denver Broncos

2018 NFL Run Blocking Score: 69.4 (6^th)

2018 NFL Pass Blocking Score: 62.8 (29^th)

Denver’s one of the few teams to register a higher run blocking grade than pass blocking grade. They were decent on the ground, but terrible in pass protection. But the O-line looked decent when everyone was healthy. Left guard Ronald Leary tore his Achilles in week six and inevitably ended up on injured reserve. Similarly Matt Paradis broke his leg in week nine and also ended up on injured reserve. Garett Bolles played 1,000 snaps and looked good in his second season, but he did commit 13 penalties. Connor McGovern (not to be confused with Dallas’ Connor McGovern ) looked pretty good at guard, but struggled mightily when he moved over to center to replace Matt Paradis . Despite the fact Case Keenum was only sacked 34 times, the Broncos were pretty weak in pass blocking. After allowed just eight total pressures through their first two games they allowed 173 pressure over their last 14 games so the injuries to Paradis and Leary did them no favors.

Ronald Leary returns to left guard, but Matt Paradis is now with the Carolina Panthers. So the big concern is with Connor McGovern returning to play center. As mentioned above he didn’t look great at center, but he’s had an entire offseason to work at that position and he’ll get a full run in training camp to hone his craft. Garett Bolles looks to make strides at left tackle protecting Joe Flacco ’s blindside. The Broncos signed Ja’Wuan James from the Dolphins to be their starting right tackle and 2019 second-round pick Dalton Risner will start at right guard. The development of Bolles, Risner, and McGovern will definitely be worth keeping an eye on throughout training camp, and the importance of Ronald Leary staying healthy is key. If the Broncos lose him and have to turn to Chaz Green , that could spell doom for this group’s overall performance.

17 - Detroit Lions

2018 Run Blocking Score: 59.9 (T-12^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 80.6 (7^th)

This is an offensive line that met expectations for the most part. I ranked them 12^th overall heading into the season and while the grades above are good there are some misleading facts. T.J. Lang was a pretty big offseason acquisition for the Lions prior to 2017. That year he made the Pro Bowl and seemed like a solid investment. 2018 was a rough year for Lang, he was placed on injured-reserved with head, neck, and back injuries and he ultimately retired this past offseason. Frank Ragnow allowed the tenth-most pressures among all guards, which isn’t exactly what you expect from a first-round pick. While the scores above signal a pretty solid season for Detroit, don’t be misled. They allowed 41 sacks on the season which ranked in the bottom half of the league.

This past offseason the Lions exercised the fifth-year option on Taylor Decker ’s rookie deal and the Lions would love to keep him around. After all he received an 80.9 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus and he caught his first touchdown ever last year. The Lions have made it a priority to improve the left side of the offensive line. Their 2016 and 2018 first round picks were invested in Decker and Ragnow and the Lions obviously expect Ragnow to improve this year. Kenny Wiggins assumes the role he covered when Lang went down as the right guard and Rick Wagner did pretty well last year receiving a 76.2 pass blocking grade. They didn’t make too many moves in the offseason so they feel pretty good about the guys they have right now. Matt Patricia has long stressed the need to get the ground game going so expect more pressure on the interior line heading into 2019.

18 - Jacksonville Jaguars

2018 Run Blocking Score: 59.4 (15^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 65.1 (26^th)

This is the part of the article where I admit tremendous fault on my part. Heading into last year I was very high on the Jaguars offensive line. And why not, right? They made the AFC Championship game against the Patriots, but fell just short of reaching the Super Bowl. On paper, the Jaguars shouldn’t be a terrible offensive line. Brandon Linder is in the discussion as one of the best centers and interior linemen in the game. He’s two years into a $51.7 million deal, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in week ten. He wasn’t the only costly injury though. Andrew Norwell suffered a season-ending ankle injury in week 12, and Cam Robinson suffered a torn ACL in week two of last season. So a few debilitating injuries really spelled doom for the Jaguars as they failed to reach the playoffs after a successful run in 2017.

Currently Will Richardson is slated to be the starting right tackle, but don’t be too surprised if that job goes to 2019 second-round pick Jawaan Taylor. Aside from Taylor the starting line looks the same as long as everyone stays healthy. The rest of the offense may look a bit different with a new quarterback under center, but for the most part the O-line will be the same with the addition of Taylor and Richardson. Richardson is an intriguing depth option. He was drafted in the fourth-round of the 2018 draft, but missed the first six games last year with a knee injury and was ultimately placed on injured reserve. So you can just add him to the list of 2018 injuries the Jaguars encountered. Assuming everyone stays healthy there is no reason this group can’t be in the top half of the league. I’m optimistic, so I will rank them as such.

19 - San Francisco 49ers

2018 Run Blocking Score: 71.1 (2^nd)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 74.9 (16^th)

2018 didn’t exactly go as planned for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers. They landed their franchise quarterback the season prior in Jimmy Garoppolo , but lost him fairly early on last year after he tore his ACL getting greedy for some extra yardage as he scrambled to the sideline. So consider 2018 a bit of a litmus then. By no means was Garoppolo’s injury on the offensive line. Heading into 2018, the 49ers knew they needed to improve the offensive line. They signed Weston Richburg to a five-year deal heading into last season while drafting Mike McGlinchey to start at right tackle in place of Trent Brown who was traded to New England. McGlinchey struggled in pass protection at times, but was just fine in run blocking. McGlinchey, along with Joe Staley , held down the outsides of the line just fine. But there were issues on the interior. Richburg didn’t exactly meet expectations as he gave up the third-most pressures of any center in the league. Mike Person and Laken Tomlinson return as well and Tomlinson is expected to make strides in 2019, while Person was brought back on a three-year deal.

San Francisco didn’t make any big splashes to improve the offensive line this season so they feel confident with the guys they have. But Kyle Shanahan is a guy that loves running zone concepts with his offense. While Joe Staley is a six-time Pro Bowler, he’ll also turn 35 before the season begins so you have to wonder how much he has left in the tank. At a certain point they’ll need to address the tackle position and move McGlinchey over to left tackle, but zone blocking schemes require a certain level of athleticism and quickness so you wonder how much longer Staley can hang around? Assuming the starters stay healthy this team should improve from last year, but that’ll require improvements from the three interior linemen as well as McGlinchey making strides in pass protection. There is reason for optimism, but I said that last year too when I ranked this group ahead of the Colts before the season. I won’t be as kind to them this time around.

Update (8.12.2019) - The 49ers lost journeyman Shon Coleman for the season. On the fourth play of San Francisco's first preseason game, Colean fractured his fibula and dislocated his ankle. He underwent surgery on Monday and the 49ers have already signed Sam Young to be their swing tackle behind Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey .

20 - Washington Redskins

2018 Run Blocking Score: 53.7 (24^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 71.0 (20^th)

Another year, another season with injuries for Washington. It seems to be a re-occurring theme with this organization. Trent Williams missed three games last season after undergoing thumb surgery and left a game against the Cowboys in the third quarter with a rib injury. Regardless of the injuries that have plagued him in his career he’s one of the best tackles in the league. He’s made seven Pro Bowls (including last season) and he’s not terribly old at the age of 30. Williams might be holding out of training camp looking for a new contract as he skipped offseason workout programs so he’s already forfeit $150,000 of his salary for this year. His status will be worth keeping an eye on as training camps open. But again, Williams wasn’t the only one who suffered injuries this past year. Fellow Pro Bowler Brandon Scherff missed the last half of the season after tearing his pectoral, Geron Christian tore his MCL in Week 10, and Shawn Lauvao tore his ACL in Week 9 and that wrapped up his season. If they could only stay healthy they could possibly boast a Top 10-15 offensive line. After all the Redskins were ranked as the 13^th-best offensive line heading into training camp just a year ago.

Washington made some interesting offseason acquisitions by bringing in Ereck Flowers after his embarrassing run with the Giants. Perhaps a run with a division rival can light a fire in him and he can finally reach his potential. They also addressed getting some interior line depth by taking Wes Martin and Ross Pierschbacher in the fourth and fifth rounds of this year’s NFL draft. Additionally they also selected Dwayne Haskins with their first pick so naturally there’s a need to protect the quarterback and the health of Williams is vital to that. They weren’t particularly effective in run or pass blocking, but again Washington got dealt a crappy hand with all their injuries on the offensive line. Bill Callahan returns for his fifth season as Washington’s offensive line coach so at least there’s some stability in that regard.

21 - New York Giants

2018 Run Blocking Score: 57.8 (19^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 66.4 (25^th)

Going into 2018 the Giants knew they needed some new personnel on their offensive line. So they went out and signed Nate Solder , making him the highest-paid offensive lineman at the time. They also drafted Will Hernandez out of UTEP with their second-round pick in the 2018 draft. Despite the additions in the offseason there were little improvements on the offensive line. Solder played much better in the second half of the season, but that didn’t stop him from allowing seven sacks and 33 total pressures on the season. The Giants, as a team, gave up 47 sacks so that didn’t exactly help Eli at all. 2015 first-round pick Ereck Flowers was moved from left tackle to right tackle once Solder was brought in and he was so bad that he was benched in the third game of the season and was ultimately released two weeks later. The Giants clearly had enough of his 169 pressures allowed through three seasons and he was even called out by NFL analyst (and former teammate) Geoff Schwartz for quitting on the team. However, even after the release of Flowers, there wasn’t much that could salvage the Giants O-line.

This past offseason, the Giants added Mike Remmers and Kevin Zeitler to bolster the offensive line a little more. So they’re once again optimistic that this group can be better. Zeitler comes over from Cleveland in the blockbuster trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns and Remmers comes over after the Vikings released him two years into a five-year contract. Sure, the personnel is better (though everyone thought that last year), so the offense might be able to produce more. The additions of Zeitler and Remmers should definitely aid the right side of the line and the Giants are optimistic that Solder’s second-half improvements will carry over to 2019. Overall it’s difficult to project or expect much from the Giants as Eli Manning enters the final years of his career. So the protection should be better for the Giants, hence the modest ranking, but the overall offensive production is still up for debate in 2019.

22 - Buffalo Bills

2018 Run Blocking Score: 47.3 (31^st)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 71.7 (19^th)

The Bills, like the Jets, received a low preseason ranking last year (31^st) and they performed as such in 2018. It can’t be too surprising considering the Bills were heading into 2018 without Eric Wood , Richie Incognito , and Cordy Glenn . They weren’t the worst team in 2018 in pass blocking, but they allowed a pressure on the quarterback once every four plays on average. No wonder Josh Allen was scrambling and putting up absurd rushing yards so much last year. The Bills totaled 1,984 rushing yards last year but their leading rusher was their quarterback, a player more known for his rocket arm, not his legs. If you take away Allen’s yardage, the Bills running backs averaged less than 85 rushing yards per game last year and the offensive line didn’t help as they graded as one of the worst in the league according to Pro Football Focus.

Perhaps no team saw more turnover on the starting line as much as the Bills did this offseason. Vladimir Ducasse and Russell Bodine were projected starters just a year ago and now they’re backups. John Miller is now with Cincinnati and Jordan Mills is with Miami. So the Bills obviously made some changes to the O-line. Quinton Spain comes over from Tennessee’s vaunted offensive line on a one-year “show me something” kind of contract and Mitch Morse comes over from Kansas City after signing a three-year, $44.5 million dollar contract in the offseason making him the highest-paid center in the league. Not bad for a guy whose never been an All-Pro or a Pro Bowler, but to be fair injuries have hampered his ability to reach such feats (he’s missed 14 games the last two years), but said injuries were clearly a concern for the Chiefs. Additionally, Spencer Long is coming over from the Jets and he’ll be moving over to guard with Morse at Center, and Cody Ford will slot in at right tackle. Ford was Buffalo’s second-round pick out of Oklahoma in this year’s draft. So the Bills should have a better offensive line. Bobby Johnson comes in as the new offensive line coach after serving as the Asst. Offensive Line Coach in Indianapolis last year and he clearly saw how talent can really improve the O-Line. I’m cautiously optimistic about this offensive line. They made great strides in bringing in four guys who can really help the run game and protecting Josh Allen . Does that mean the Bills will be a good team this year? Nope! But there’s reason for optimism for the big fellas up front.

Update (8/12/2019) - Mitch Morse is suffering from a concussion, but it's not putting his status for the start of the 2019 season in jeopardy. It's worth noting that this is why Kansas City was unwilling to sign him to a long-term deal. He dealt with his share of injuries with the Chiefs and this pattern is rearing its ugly head once again. The Bills will sit tight at #22, but Morse was still in concussion protocol as of Saturday.

23 - Seattle Seahawks

2018 Run Blocking Score: 56.3 (20^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 73.0 (18^th)

For a team that was widely considered one of the worst offensive lines heading into 2018, the Seahawks did exceed expectations by finishing as a top 20 offensive line, but there were still struggles at times. Seattle has made it no secret that they want to get back to running the ball, much like they did when they won a Super Bowl six years ago. But they’ve boasted one of the league’s worst offensive lines for the past three seasons. They finally had Duane Brown for a full season and signed him to a three-year deal at the start of training camp a year ago. He ended up making second-team All-Pro for the second time in his career. D.J. Fluker has been a bit of a bust at tackle in terms of injuries and poor play. However, he transitioned to guard and made some improvements in his play and landed a two-year contract in the offseason. This O-line was far from great, but they did take steps in the right direction in a year where Seattle made a surprising run to the playoffs.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this offensive line is their unwillingness to start George Fant over Germain Ifedi . Now it’s only July and camps are just opening so anything could happen, but Seattle’s already declined the fifth-year option on Ifedi’s contract and Fant is coming off a season where he earned a 72.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, while Ifedi received a score of 55.6 and led the league with 16 penalties. Fant has been utilized in a tackle/tight end role, but he’s still proven to be pretty decent as a blocker even after missing all of 2017 with a torn ACL. The other newcomer to Seattle is former first-round pick and NFC West journeyman, Mike Iupati . Once Iupati signs with the Rams he’ll have completed the NFC West Bar Crawl. Iupati’s hardly the player he was during his years with the 49ers. He made the Pro Bowl each year from 2012 through 2015 and was first-team All-Pro in 2012 with the 49ers and second-team All-Pro in 2015 with the Cardinals. Eventually the injuries started mounting up including last season with back and knee injuries shortening his 2018 run. He comes to Seattle on a one-year deal and who knows how much he has left in tank.

24 - Los Angeles Chargers

2018 Run Blocking Score: 58.6 (17^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 59.5 (31^st)

The Los Angeles Chargers definitely made me look like a buffoon last season. I had higher hopes for them when I ranked them inside the top 20 a year ago and they did not come anywhere close to performing as such. It was just a bad performance all around. Sure, Phillip Rivers was sacked only 34 times, but they still surrendered a pressure on the quarterback on three out of ten drop backs. They remain fairly tone deaf on how badly they need to address the offensive line. Heading into 2018 they were a little optimistic this group would do better and they should have. They were getting Forrest Lamp back who missed his rookie season with a torn ACL in training camp two years ago, but last year he played in only two games and was a healthy scratch for most of the season. Dan Feeney struggled in his second year and Sam Tevi wasn’t great either. Oddly enough Russell Okung has been the best option at left tackle and he’s even proven to be a liability at times. But we’ll give credit when it’s due, Okung made the Pro Bowl in 2017 with the Chargers and he managed to log 1,000 snaps last season. But overall, this O-line needs some work.

Mike Pouncey made the Pro Bowl in his first season with the Chargers, but they’ve made little moves to improve the offensive line heading into 2018. They drafted Trey Pipkins in the third-round, but he’s coming from a small school and may not be ready for the level of play he’s going to experience in the NFL. It seems like the Chargers are always ready to take “the next step” and be a real contender. They had some surprising runs in 2018 including a big 29-28 victory over the Chiefs on Thursday Night Football. Unfortunately they couldn’t get past the Patriots in the AFC Divisional round and once again fall short in the Phillip Rivers era. Rivers was sacked twice and hit seven times in that game so it’s clear the offensive line was in rough shape. It’s a bit difficult to envision a scenario where this team finishes as a top 20 offensive line. We could be discussing the struggles of the offensive line again in six months.

25 - Oakland Raiders

2018 Run Blocking Score: 55.9 (21^st)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 62.2 (30^th)

The AFC West offensive lines were not kind to me last year. I was pretty high on a couple of them including the Raiders who I ranked inside the top ten, but they weren’t even a top 20 O-line. Donald Penn was moved to right tackle to make way for Kolton Miller . Miller had some massive struggles in his rookie season and Penn was placed on injured reserve after suffering a groin injury in week four. Between Miller, Penn, and whoever else filled in at tackle they allowed 120 total pressures on the quarterback. If there were some bright spots, Gabe Jackson and Rodney Hudson performed well on the interior line. Hudson, in particular, didn’t allow a single sack last year, but it wasn’t enough to compensate for the shortcomings of the rest of the line.

The Raiders obviously won’t be quitting on Kolton Miller , but they did make Trent Brown the highest paid tackle in the league as he returns to the bay area, this time with Oakland. Hudson and Jackson return to the interior line and Richie Incognito joins the Raiders at left guard, but he will be suspended for the first two games of the season. Incognito didn’t play at all in 2018 so it’s not a guarantee he makes the roster. With the stability of Hudson and Jackson, and the addition of Brown I’m still optimistic this group can perform at a top 15 level, but the development of Miller holds them back as of right now.

26 - New York Jets

2018 Run Blocking Score: 49.8 (30^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 71.0 (20^th)

Last year we ranked the Jets as the third-worst offensive line heading into the season and the good news is that they basically met the expectation set forth by Fantasy Alarm. Like most teams they weren’t short of their share of injuries. James Carpenter was placed on IR in late November with a shoulder injury, and Brandon Shell played most of the season before going down with a knee injury in Week 15. But there were some bright spots on the O-line for New York. Kelvin Beachum , who replaced Ryan Clady in 2017, received a 66.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. That’s one of those “good, not great” kinds of scores, but it’s something the Jets can hang their hats on. Obviously the Jets had some work to do on the offensive line after the team seemingly found their franchise quarterback in Sam Darnold .

Not only do the Jets have Sam Darnold to take into consideration, but they also went out an acquired Le’Veon Bell in the offseason and Bell was the beneficiary of a really good offensive line in Pittsburgh for years. That’s not to take away from his personal abilities, but he’s going to be running behind an inferior offensive line. They invested a third-round pick in Chuma Edoga who is currently slated as the backup left tackle. However, an injury to anybody else on the offensive line likely gives Edoga an easy opportunity at a starting job. Edoga wasn’t the only notable addition in the offseason. Kelechi Osemele , a two-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion, was acquired via trade and he’ll be holding down the left guard spot. So the Jets should feature an improved offensive line, but it also depends on the game planning by new head coach Adam Gase who is bringing Frank Pollack in from Cincinnati to be the team’s new offensive line coach. The Jets have made much needed changes, but time will tell if these acquisitions and coaching changes improve the O-line. They should certainly be better this year, but not worthy of being ranked in the Top 20 just yet.

27 - Minnesota Vikings

2018 Run Blocking Score: 53.0 (25^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 63.9 (27^th)

When I think of the NFC North, something about that division just makes me think every team should have a good offensive line. So it’s a little odd, to me at least, that the Vikings have such a weak front. The Vikings may have only allowed 40 sacks (15^th-most in the league) last year, but they still left a lot to be desired. They were terrible in pass blocking, which might attribute as to why Kirk Cousins had a rough transition in his first season in Minnesota. Riley Reiff missed three games with a foot injury last year and even when he did play he was often inconsistent, but he was the only offensive lineman to receive a grade over 64.0 from Pro Football Focus. Rashod Hill was replaced by Brian O’Neill after he went down with an injury and O’Neill did well enough to remain the starter the rest of the year. However, they brought in Tom Compton and he didn’t work out. Mike Remmers was a solid addition prior to the 2017 season, but performed poorly, and as for Pat Elflein … We’ll get to him shortly.

As you can see Tom Compton and Mike Remmers are no longer with the Vikings. Remmers ended up with the Giants, and Compton is now with the Jets. Not to mention Elflein now shifts over to left guard to make room for first-round pick Garrett Bradbury. The selection of Bradbury was a wise decision by the front office as upgrading the interior line was a big need and they still retain Elflein who just wasn’t working out at center. The Vikings also signed Josh Kline to a three-year contract after he was released from the Titans one year into a four-year deal. Brian O’Neill assumes the role he took over last season, and Rashod Hill remains on the roster as O-line depth. 2018 was rough for Minnesota. They fired their first-year offensive coordinator John DeFilippo 13 games into the season and eventually turned over a lot of the personnel on the coaching staff. Rick Dennison steps in as the new offensive line coach and he should bring along plenty of experience to push this line in the right direction.

UPDATE (8/24/2019) - Entering their third preseason game the Vikings were very proud that their offensive line had no allowed a sack through two games. Now this isn't necessarily noteworthy considering the first-team offense hasn't played very much. But the first-team played the entire first quarter on Saturday and gave up a pair of sacks and Kirk Cousins didn't look like a franchise quarterback. While the coaching staff may have been riding a high coming into the dress rehearsal, there's clearly still work to be done to improve this group.

28 - Cincinnati Bengals

2018 Run Blocking Score: 52.6 (26^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 67.2 (24^th)

The Bengals didn’t have a good offensive line last year. It was terrible and they know it. But they knew they needed to make some changes heading into the season hence the trade for Cordy Glenn to protect Andy Dalton ’s blindside. He did okay, but received his lowest player grade of 60.9 from Pro Football Focus in his entire career. The offensive line overall was still a bit of a failure overall as they allowed 37 sacks. Coming out of the draft there was some optimism especially with a new coaching staff and Jim Turner who comes to Cincinnati after being the Offensive Line Coach for Texas A&M the last three years.

The Bengals did technically address the offensive line as a need in this past April’s draft. For the second straight year they used their first pick on an offensive lineman. With their first-round pick (11^th overall) the Bengals took Jonah Williams out of the University of Alabama where he was a unanimous All-American. Unfortunately the Bengals will be without their prized first round pick as he underwent shoulder surgery in June to repair a torn labrum. Initially the plan was for Cordy Glenn to move to left guard from left tackle, which is where Williams would’ve started. With the injury, Glenn will move back to left tackle for the time being. Williams’ injury does come at an awful time because there isn’t much hope for the rest of the O-line. Bobby Hart was horrendously overpaid after a disappointing 2018 season saw him receive a 56.2 player grade from PFF. There’s a little optimism regarding the interior line so the running game should be okay and Billy Price could be better in his second year after a subpar rookie campaign at center. All in all, there’s nothing to be excited about with this group. If Williams was healthy, it might bump them up a few spots. For now, they’re towards the bottom.

29 - Houston Texans

2018 Run Blocking Score: 42.9 (32^nd)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 69.9 (23^rd)

It’s surprising to see that the Texans haven’t made a change with their Offensive Line Coach as Mike Devlin has been in the position since 2015 and the O-line has progressively gotten worse. To be fair, he hasn’t had much talent to work with. For the longest time they relied heavily on Duane Brown protecting the blindside for their quarterback, but they traded him to Seattle in 2017 and it’s been a struggle to replace him ever since. They made some free agency moves prior to the 2018 season that saw them bring in Seantrel Henderson (who broke his ankle in week one and missed the rest of the year), Zach Fulton , and Senio Kelemete . They helped the offense a little bit, but they led the league in sacks with 62 after giving up the second-most sacks in 2017 with 54. Obviously the offensive line was once again an issue that needed to be addressed in the offseason.

Assuming everyone is healthy this should be a much-improved offensive line. Obviously that requires Henderson staying healthy, but Houston dedicated two of its first three draft picks on Tytus Howard (Alabama State) and Max Scharping (Northern Illinois). Granted both guys are coming from small schools so it doesn’t appear as if they’ll start right away as they transition to the NFL, but there’s potential one or both could start at some point this year. And if Nick Martin can continue to develop then better times could be in store. Don’t expect strides of improvement on par with those of the Indianapolis Colts from last year. The Colts landed a stud right guard in Quenton Nelson and a surprise piece in Braden Smith who played admirably at right tackle. The Texans should be better obviously, but their offensive line is still in the bottom-third of the league.

Update (8.12.2019) - If you don't follow Colby Conway on Twitter (what the hell are you thinking?), then you really should. He does a fantastic job dropping NFL Draft Guide Player Profiles daily and over the weekend he provided some pretty comedic commentary on the Texans offensive line struggles. More specifically, he noted how Matt Kalil could really be deterimental to the success of Deshaun Watson's front line. Houston has had a pretty inept offensive front for a couple years and they're hoping it gets better with the additions of Tytus Howard and Max Scharping. It's hard to move Houston down any further than they already are, but they'll stay at #29 for now.

30 - Miami Dolphins

2018 Run Blocking Score: 50.2 (T-28^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 63.4 (28^th)

2018 left a lot to be desired for Miami. Expectations were low heading into the season and they met all expectations. In last year’s offseason they signed Josh Sitton to a two-year deal and Sitton’s a fairly respectable interior offensive lineman. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler, former first-team All-Pro, and two-time second-team All-Pro. He knows what he’s doing. Unfortunately he was placed on IR with a torn rotator cuff midway through September, and those asked to fill in for him (Jesse Davis, Ted Larsen , and Travis Swanson ) didn’t do so great. Per Pro Football Focus, those three allowed 98 pressure on the quarterback. Injuries took their toll as Jesse Davis was the only lineman to register 900 snaps. They just didn’t have much talent, but 2016 first-round pick Laremy Tunsil did receive a 70.6 grade from PFF so while his development has been stagnant at times, he did show progress last year.

Obviously you can see some new names up above as the Dolphins did make some moves. Josh Sitton retired after the previously-mentioned rotator cuff shortened his season so they’ll be without his veteran presence, but they did bring in some new names. Daniel Kilgore was traded to the Fins from San Francisco after the 49ers signed Weston Richburg , Chris Reed was also a fresh signing, and the team drafted Michael Deiter in the third round of this year’s draft. Yes, there are some new faces on the offensive line, but unlike the Buffalo Bills, you can’t get too excited about some of the new names. Pat Flaherty joins Brian Flores’ coaching staff as the Offensive Line coach. He previously worked as the O-line coach for Jacksonville, San Francisco, and for the New York Giants. Despite the changes, nothing comes off as a ground-breaking transaction that really makes one feel good about this offensive line. Miami seems like one of those teams that might be willing to endure a crappy year in hopes of getting a top draft pick to get their franchise quarterback. After all they traded for Josh Rosen and signed Ryan Fitzpatrick . Rosen could potentially stick long-term, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Dolphins went quarterback in the first round of 2020’s draft. But depending on how 2019 shakes out, they could be looking at an offensive lineman as well.

31 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2018 Run Blocking Score: 50.2 (28^th)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 70.9 (22^nd)

The Bucs have nothing special about their offensive line and that showed last season. Ali Marpet is a solid player, worthy of starting on a NFL roster. He was the only Tampa Bay offensive linemen to receive a grade over 70.0 from Pro Football Focus in 2018. The rest of the group is not worth writing home about. But keep in mind, Marpet had to move back to guard after he struggled with transitioning to center, but at least he found a position he was comfortable with and he excelled at it. The Bucs allowed the most quarterback hits in pass blocking last season and Ryan Jensen struggled in his first season with Tampa Bay by committing 11 penalties. The Bucs offense entered 2018 with decent expectations, but fell short and finished 5-11. You’d think Tampa Bay would want to get young talent for the offensive line, right?

To the surprise of many, the Buccaneers didn’t use a single draft pick on the offensive line. Eight draft picks and six of them were spent on the defense, which was a big need for Tampa Bay, but so was the offensive line. You have a franchise quarterback in Jameis Winston in the prime of his career and this is a team that has struggled to get the running game going. Surprisingly they’re sticking with what they have. They did sign Earl Watford , and Caleb Benenoch returns after starting all 16 games for the Bucs. But there isn’t much reason to be excited for Tampa Bay in 2019. DonoVan Smith is entering his fifth season and has allowed at least 40 pressures in each of the previous four seasons. Surprisingly the Bucs signed Smith to a three-year, $41.25 million deal after registering less than stellar performances in previous years. It was a bit baffling when they could have just franchise tagged him and then possibly paid him next year. Don’t be too surprised if the Bucs finish 2019 as a bottom ten offensive line.

32 - Arizona Cardinals

2018 Run Blocking Score: 55.8 (22^nd)

2018 Pass Blocking Score: 55.7 (32^nd)

It’s pretty rare for a team to receive a lower pass blocking score than run blocking score on PFF, but the 2018 Arizona Cardinals were up to the task. The offensive line was just bad in almost every aspect of the game last year and on top of that they couldn’t stay healthy. It’s no wonder Josh Rosen struggled so much. Arizona’s quarterbacks were sacked 52 times last year so nobody really stood a chance. Mason Cole had his struggles in his rookie season, but he was the only one to really stay healthy. In total 11 different players registered over 100 snaps on the offensive line and it wasn’t because they were rotating guys on and off the field to keep them fresh.

Not much to be excited about with the names listed above. J.R. Sweezy is a nice addition, but he’s turning into a journeyman after getting released by Tampa Bay two years into a five-year contract. They also traded for Marcus Gilbert , and have Justin Pugh returning from a knee injury. D.J. Humphries is in the final year of his rookie deal and he too was placed on injured reserve last season. Obviously he wants a full 16-game season to get his big payday this offseason. But there just isn’t a name worth getting excited about. Sean Kugler joins Kliff Kingsbury’s staff as the offensive line coach and he has his hands full this year. Offensive line was a big need for Arizona and they didn’t address it until the sixth-round of this year’s draft. Luckily for Kyler Murray he’s a pretty quick and mobile quarterback so he’ll need that agility if he wants to stay off his back.

Statistical Credits:

Pro Football Focus

Depth Charts via OurLads NFL Scouting Services

TeamRankings.com

NFL Spin Zone

CBS Sports

ESPN