2020 NFL Draft Guide: UPDATED Offensive Line Breakdown

1. New Orleans Saints

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 82.8 (2^nd)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 73.9 (4^th)

In 2019, the New Orleans Saints offensive line was a well-oiled machine. The scary thing is they’re built for long-term success. Among their five starters, Terron Armstead is the oldest and he’ll be just 29 years old entering the 2020 season. He’s coming off his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, Larry Warford made his third straight Pro Bowl, and Andrus Peat earned his second straight Pro Bowl as well, which lead to him getting a five-year contract for over $50 million. Last, but certainly not least, we can’t forget about Ryan Ramczyk who was named second-team All-Pro in 2018 and first-team All-Pro in 2019. The Saints have studs on the offensive line and it’s clear they’ll have one of the better offensive lines heading into next season as well. The Saints boasted the best sack rate of just 4.7% last year, and they allowed a paltry 25 sacks all season long. They frustrated the opposition’s pass rush all year in route to the Saints being a Top 10 offense last season. The window may be closing on the Saints as Drew Brees will be 41 years old entering this season so the time for New Orleans to win is right now.

Heading into the 2020 you could say that offensive line wasn’t necessarily a need for New Orleans. However, they still used their first-round selection on Cesar Ruiz, a Center out of Michigan. Ruiz will likely slide over to Right Guard since Erik McCoy has establish himself as the Center for the Saints and has developed a rapport with Drew Brees . The Saints surprisingly released Warford in May so the job looks to be Ruiz’s. Warford has not been picked up by any others teams, but that could change in the coming weeks with teams reporting to training camp. Ruiz gives them flexibility to play at either interior line position so it’s depth, which no coach will complain about. The Saints are built for more success in 2020 as they make one more push at a Super Bowl for Drew Brees . They’ve also brought in Emmanuel Sanders to give Brees another target in the passing game and as long as they stay healthy, Armstead and Ramczyk shouldn’t struggle in pass protection. Don’t be too surprised if the Saints come away with three Pro Bowlers from the offensive line this year.

2. Baltimore Ravens

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 78.2 (3^rd)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 87.0 (1^st)

It’s hard to ignore or think poorly about a team that ranked in the Top Three in both run and pass blocking. The Ravens were an absolute unit in 2019. The Ravens tied the record for 12 total Pro Bowlers in 2019 including Marshal Yanda earning Pro Bowl honors for the eighth time in his career (and second-team All-Pro honors as well) while Ronnie Stanley , a first-round pick in 2016, earned first-team All-Pro honors as well as his first Pro Bowl bid. Stanley also received the highest pass blocking grade out of all linemen in the NFL. Ben Powers was a considerably underrated piece of the offensive line at right guard, but he received a 70.9 pass blocking grade as well as a 78.8 run blocking grade, which is the best mark on the team for players returning in 2020. Right tackle was a little bit of a struggle for the Ravens in 2019, but between Orlando Brown and James Hurst they got by. The Ravens allowed a total of 25 sacks last season, which was third-best in the league. It helps when your starting quarterback is a great runner and can get out of the pocket, but that doesn’t diminish the accomplishments of the offensive line one bit.

The 2020 outlook is a little more bleak for the Ravens considering Marshal Yanda retired after 13 seasons with the organization. But Matt Skura is returning on a one-year deal and the rest of the offensive line, including Stanley, are in their prime. They may take slight steps back with Yanda gone, but Lamar Jackson and the offense are still poised for success and it’s still no easy task bringing down Jackson. The Ravens used a third-round pick on Tyre Phillips out of Mississippi State, and a fourth-round pick on Ben Bredeson who was first-team All-Big 10 last year. Neither is projected to start this season at the moment, but both provide depth following Yanda’s retirement. We shouldn’t overreact too much to the loss of Yanda, although he’ll be difficult to replace. But the way the offense is built/run, the Ravens should be able to develop this group and pick up where they left off last season.

3. Indianapolis Colts

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 85.1 (2^nd)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 75.1 (T-11^th)

The Colts were dealt a lethal blow prior to the 2019 season as Andrew Luck retired unceremoniously just before the season started. The Colts endured a fairly disappointing season going 7-9 under Jacoby Brissett , but the offensive line did its part. They allowed just 32 sacks with a 6.0% sack rate, both ranking in the top ten in the entire league. Quenton Nelson is only 24 years old and he may go down as the greatest offensive interior linemen in history. In two years he’s made two Pro Bowls and has been named a first-team All-Pro twice. Center Ryan Kelly is also coming off his first Pro Bowl appearance, and Anthony Castonzo was reliable as always in pass protection with an 84.4 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus. Braden Smith regressed a little bit in pass blocking, but wasn’t awful. The Colts were very fortunate that their offensive line stayed relatively healthy all season long. Anthony Castonzo , Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly , Mark Glowinski , and Braden Smith appeared in all 16 games and they all registered over 1,000 snaps last year.

For the 2020 season, the Colts made little moves in the offseason regarding the offensive line. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Castonzo and Clark both agreed to contracts to remain with the Colts. The lone O-line draft pick the Colts made was Danny Pinter in the fifth round who earned first-team All-MAC honors playing at Ball State. The Colts offense will also be run by Philip Rivers and the team spent their first two draft picks on Michael Pittman Jr., a big 6’4” target out of USC, and Jonathan Taylor, a potential stud running back from Wisconsin. The running game will be fine regardless of who the Colts lean on between Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor. If the Colts can repeat last season’s good fortunes with staying healthy then they’ll be in great shape in 2020 to repeat as one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.

4. Dallas Cowboys

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 71.8 (5^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 78.3 (6^th)

To absolutely no surprise, the Dallas Cowboys are among the top of the offensive line rankings once again. It’s stunning to think that none of their linemen allowed three sacks. Of the 23 sacks allowed by the Cowboys in 2019, the offensive line was only responsible for eight of them. They were elite in both run and pass protection, propelling Ezekiel Elliott to his third 1,300+ yard rushing season in four years. Zack Martin made his sixth straight Pro Bowl and was named first-team All-Pro for the fourth time. Tyron Smith made his seventh straight Pro Bowl, and La’el Collins posted his best run-and-pass blocking grades in his five-year career. Between 2017 and 2018 Collins allowed 98 total pressures and 13 sacks. Last season he dropped those numbers to 26 pressures and just two sacks. Center Travis Frederick also made his fifth Pro Bowl last season after missing the entire 2018 season with Guillain-Barré syndrome. Once again it was business as usual for the Dallas Cowboys offensive line.

It should be more of the same from Dallas in 2020. However, there are some changes. Travis Frederick retired at the age of 29, coming off a Pro Bowl season. Nobody can really hold it against him based on the condition that sidelined him for all of 2018. They lost a little bit of depth with Cameron Fleming leaving Dallas for their division rival, New York Giants. Jason Garrett and Marc Colombo are now with the Giants as well. So, Mike McCarthy comes in to Dallas and inherits an embarrassment of riches on offense, including the O-line. Joe Philbin replaces Colombo as the offensive line coach. His biggest task will be finding the proper replacement for Frederick. Currently Joe Looney is listed as the team’s starting center, but I expect Tyler Biadiasz to compete for the job. Biadasz was a unanimous All-American last year at Wisconsin and he won the Rimington Trophy awarded to the best center in college football. Looney only played 99 snaps on offense last year, with just five of those coming at center. So it wouldn’t surprise me to see Biadasz take over as the starter if he can make the most of whatever offseason training opportunities he gets. Getting reps and developing chemistry with Dak Prescott will be a big factor in Biadasz getting the opportunity, but the Cowboys are in great shape to be an elite offensive line once again. Note: Don’t get Connor McGovern confused with the Jets’ Connor McGovern . They’re two different people who happen to have the same relatively uncommon name.

5. Green Bay Packers

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 70.6 (8^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 81.2 (T-3^rd)

There isn’t too much to complain about with Green Bay’s offensive line. David Bakhtiari is a premiere left tackle and he’s coming off his second Pro Bowl season and he was named All-Pro for the fourth straight year, which is arguably the bigger honor. Bryan Bulaga was great at right tackle although he won’t be with the team entering 2020. The only real weak link was Billy Turner at right guard, but he made up for it with some decent run blocking. Corey Linsley doesn’t get enough respect and is one of the more underrated centers in the league. He did allow five sacks a year ago but allowed just 20 total pressures and he was a very good run blocker. Rookie Elgton Jenkins stepped in for Lane Taylor at left guard and played very well in his rookie campaign. In over 600 pass blocking snaps last year he didn’t allow a single sack. That’s pretty solid for a rookie. There’s solid cohesion and chemistry among this squad so they should be in for a strong 2020.

Not much to be too worried about here. The loss of Bulaga hurts, but Rick Wagner is no slouch for a replacement at right tackle. He spent the last three years in Detroit so he’s familiar with the style of play we typically see in the NFC North. Barring injuries this should be another impressive offensive line. Bakhtiari is always a candidate to make the Pro Bowl per usual and you’ll get solid performances from Wagner, Linsley, and Taylor if he stays healthy this year. If not, Billy Turner is hungry for opportunities and I’m sure he’ll put in the effort to win a starting job. The continuing development of Elgton Jenkins at guard will be worth monitoring too. He was impressive in his rookie season and he could possibly develop into a Pro Bowl caliber player. Expect more of the same dominance from Green Bay in 2020.

6. Kansas City Chiefs

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 63.1 (T-13^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 78.9 (7^th)

Not enough credit goes to the Kansas City offensive line. When your head coach is Andy Reid, your star quarterback is Patrick Mahomes , and you’ve got an elite core of offensive weapons, it’s easy to see how the offensive line may get overlooked. And there is not one offensive tackle that gets overlooked more than Mitchell Schwartz . He’s been All-Pro in four straight seasons and yet ESPN’s recent offensive tackle rankings left him out of the top ten. Mitch’s brother, former offensive linemen Geoff Schwartz, voiced his disagreement with that ranking on Twitter. It’s hard to argue with his point. Schwartz and Eric Fisher make up one of the better offensive tackle tandems in the league. The interior of the line is a little bit weaker, there’s no denying that and the depth looks a little bit different as the Chiefs look to defend their Super Bowl title this year.

As you can see the core of the offensive line hasn’t changed too much. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif f’s name is a mouthful, but he’s been solid enough on the field and will make for a great doctor off-the-field one day, I’m sure. And the team seems content with what they’ve found at Center with Austin Reiter . They’ve added some depth pieces in Greg Senat coming over from Baltimore, and Mike Remmers is coming over from the Giants. He has bounced around the last few years, but has experience as a starter with New York and Minnesota in recent memory. They also drafted Lucas Niang in the third-round of April’s draft who would’ve probably been a high second-round draft pick any other year of the draft. He’s quite large at 6’7” and 320+ pounds and he has tremendous reach to make strong initial contact with the defensive line. He mostly played tackle in college, but he could compete with Allegretti or Duvernay-Tardiff for work at Guard. Does he beat either of them out? Doubtful, but his presence can pump their tires a bit. Keeping Eric Fisher healthy for a full season will help the offensive line. He was limited to about eight games in 2019 due to injuries, but the Chiefs pass protection was still stout enough where they only allowed 25 sacks last season, which was tied for the third-fewest in the league. They may not have the bigger names like Dallas, Philadelphia, or New Orleans but this unit has teeth and they proved last year they can do enough to contribute on a championship-caliber squad. Update: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif f has opted out of the 2020 season. The Chiefs signed Kelechi Osemele to start at Right Guard.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 56.6 (23^rd)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 79.3 (5^th)

Dating back to the dawn of time, it just feels like the Steelers have always had a good offensive line. If they aren’t in the top five in the league, they’re definitely in the top half of the league at worst. It’s hard to believe that David DeCastro has already been in the league eight years (heading into his ninth). It’s definitely one of those “they grow up so fast” moments when you look and realize he made his fifth straight Pro Bowl in 2019. What’s even more impressive is that his teammate Maurkice Pouncey made his eighth Pro Bowl last season as well. Alejandro Villanueva is a mountain of a man standing 6’9” and his long arms make for decent pass blocking tools. Pass blocking wasn’t an issue for Pittsburgh last season though. DeCastro, Villanueva, and Matt Feiler all graded out over 80.0 in pass protection according to PFF. Run blocking is where this team struggled, and it was evident in Shaun Sarrett’s first year as the Offensive Line coach. Ben Roethlisberger was injured very early in the season and they suffered a string of backfield injuries as well. This left the door open for opposing defenses to stack the box more and limiting the Steelers’ run game in their second season without Le’Veon Bell. The Steelers averaged 1.3 yards before contact, 3.84 adjusted line yards, and they had a 23% stuff rate, all of which ranked in the bottom five of the NFL. A sound run game just wasn’t in the cards for them last season.

Long-time staple of the Steelers offensive line, Ramon Foster , retired after last season. He’ll  probably go down as one of the more underrated offensive linemen in league history, but he will likely be replaced by Stefen Wisniewski , but Kevin Dotson could give him a run for the starting job. Wisniewski is a nine-year veteran having bounced around with a few different teams while Dotson is a rookie fourth-round pick although he’s not your typical fourth rounder as he’s been a lifelong fan of the team and it hasn’t taken long for the Steelers fanbase to take a liking to him. Aside from the change at left guard, the starters largely remain the same. Consistency is key and doing better to aid the run game will be vital for the Steelers if they want to make one more run with Ben Roethlisberger under center. The core of this line is getting up there in age, but they can still be effective. We may see slight decline, but this group and Ben Roethlisberger can give it one more go. With a good defense and the good health of Big Ben and James Conner , they’ve still got some gas in the tank. To paraphrase Toby Keith; they ain’t as good as they once were, but they’re as good once, as they ever were.

8. New England Patriots

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 64.8 (10^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 75.9 (12^th)

The Patriots underperformed last season by their measures, but the offensive line did what it could. There was some optimism heading into last year despite the departure of Rob Gronkowski retiring after the Patriots’ 2018 Super Bowl season. 2018 first-round pick Isaiah Wynn was healthy heading into training camp, but a huge loss was the team’s starting center, David Andrews. Additionally, Isaiah Wynn would go on to miss eight games, so arguably the greatest offensive line coach in the history of the NFL, Dante Scarnecchia, had his hands full. But there were some bright spots for New England in 2019. Joe Thuney was named second-team All-Pro (and arguably snubbed for the Pro Bowl). Isaiah Wynn posted a solid 76.8 pass blocking grade with 14 total pressures allowed when he was healthy. Shaq Mason did well opposite Joe Thuney . So, despite the injuries and occasional sluggishness of the offense, the offensive line did what it could given the circumstances.

So the offensive line has some solid options. Across the line, they should be fine if they can stay healthy. Getting Andrews back after he missed all of last year is huge, and the Patriots are hoping they can get a full year of a healthy Isaiah Wynn . Additionally, Mason, Cannon, and Thuney should do just fine although Thuney has been subject of trade rumors. He was slapped with the franchise tag, so it’s a contract year for him to perform well as it could be his last in New England. Cam Newton is very fortunate to have a solid offensive line protecting him heading into his first season as the Patriots’ starting quarterback, unless he’s de-throned by Jarrett Stidham. The weapons aren’t great, but the protection should be there for him. The Patriots lost Ted Karras to free agency and Dante Scarnecchia retired (again) so there are some changes. But health is going to be a big key for New England and following 2020 they’ll have to address the contracts of Thuney and Andrews, and will they pick up the fifth-year option on Wynn’s rookie contract? The performances of those three will be key for New England in 2020. Update: Marcus Cannon opted out of the 2020 season over COVID-19 concerns. His health is a big concern after he overcame non-Hodgkin lynphoma after he was drafted in 2011.

9. Cleveland Browns

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 51.7 (29^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 71.9 (16^th)

The 2019 Cleveland Browns offensive line left much to be desired. For starters, the interior line took a massive hit in its performance following a very good 2018 year. A big part of that was the loss of Kevin Zeitler , which is the price you pay when you acquire a player like Odell Beckham Jr. Wyatt Teller stepped in at Right Guard and he was truly terrible earning a 56.7 overall grade from PFF. Tackle (both left and right) was a big issue for Baker Mayfield and the Brownies last season. Greg Robinson continued to be one of the biggest draft busts in league history. The former second overall pick earned a pass blocking grade of 69.3, which ranked 122^nd out of all offensive linemen in the NFL. It didn’t get much better for Chris Hubbard , who is two years into a five-year deal with Cleveland. Hubbard had a 61.9 pass blocking grade and an embarrassing 38.5 run blocking grade. J.C. Tretter and Joel Bitonio were the only decent players on the Browns’ offensive line a year ago, with Bitonio earning his second straight Pro Bowl bid. It was a disappointing season for the Browns after many believed they could make a postseason run. For what it’s worth, the Browns allowed only 41 sacks this year, which is bad, but not as bad as it should have been for them considering the performances from their tackles were atrocious.

The Browns needed to make some changes from top-to-bottom. Kevin Stefanski comes over from Minnesota to be the Browns’ new head coach and Bill Callahan comes over from Washington as the new offensive line coach. I really like this move for Callahan. I’ve never been a huge fan of him as a head coach even though he once led the Raiders to the Super Bowl. I’ve always thought he was better suited as an assistant coach or as an offensive coordinator. But Callahan comes over to coach up a new-look Brown offensive line. Jack Conklin comes over from a loaded Tennessee Titans offensive line to step in at right tackle, and the Browns also used their first-round pick in this year’s draft to select Jedrick Wills Jr. out of Alabama. There are no excuses now for the Browns and Baker Mayfield . They’ve added Austin Hooper via free agency to go with Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry in addition to the solid run game they had with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt last year. The protection and weapons are there for Cleveland to (hopefully) make significant strides in 2020.

10. San Francisco 49ers

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 75.3 (4^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 70.5 (19^th)

The 49ers had a hell of a run in 2019 all the way up to a Super Bowl appearance where they could’ve won it, but Kyle Shanahan choked away another championship. The 49ers were very reliant on their offensive line last year. Jimmy Garoppolo rarely left the pocket, which was smart since he previously tore his ACL on an unnecessary run in 2018. But the 49ers also rely heavily on their run game between Raheem Mostert , Tevin Coleman , Jeff Wilson , Matt Breida , etc. They fed everyone and their mother the ball last season. Weston Richburg and Joe Staley had solid campaigns last year doing enough to be named Pro Bowl alternates, although that was a moot point since they were playing in the Super Bowl anyway. They do have more concerns and question marks heading into 2020 with some new personnel.

The 49ers have some new personnel considering Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley retired, as did Mike Person . The 49ers went out and traded for Trent Williams who sat out the 2019 season after he was unable to reach a long-term deal with Washington. When healthy and active, Williams is arguably the best left tackle in the league and even if he’s not quite the player he was for Washington, he should still be a solid contributor on the offensive line. He made seven straight Pro Bowl appearances from 2012-2018. Journeyman offensive lineman Tom Compton is now on his sixth different team in the last six years. He’ll likely compete with Daniel Brunskill for the starting right guard position vacated by Person. The good news for San Francisco is that they’ll have some consistency and cohesiveness heading into 2020. There are some question marks surrounding Trent Williams , but at the same time he’s an elite player that’s not terribly old and the year off may have done him some good. Kyle Shanahan loves to run a lot of zone schemes so it certainly takes a certain level of athleticism to get reps on this offensive line. They’re still anchored by Tomlinson, Richburg, and McGlinchey so if Williams can be even 80% of the player he was a couple years ago there’s no reason the 49ers can’t be a Top 12 offensive line.

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 63.1 (T-13^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 76.9 (10^th)

The Buccaneers offensive line was a pleasant surprise last season considering I ranked them as the second-worst offensive line in the league heading into 2019. They weren’t perfect, but they actually boasted one of the better interior groups in the league. The Bucs allowed 47 sacks, but look a little deeper. Among the 47 sacks the Bucs allowed last season, the offensive line was only responsible for 20 of them. According to PFF, the Bucs had the eighth-best pass blocking efficiency grade (87.1) and the tenth-best pass blocking grade (76.9). They far exceeded the expectations of almost every analyst. Ali Marpet and Ryan Jensen are incredibly underrated as interior linemen, and DonoVan Smith did well in pass protection at left tackle. The right side of the offensive line is where the Bucs lacked in quality. Alex Cappa (who is returning in 2020) was underwhelming in both pass protection and run blocking. Veteran offensive lineman Demar Dotson was better than Cappa, but he’s 34 years old and the Bucs likely aren’t bringing him back considering the offensive line depth they’ve added in the offseason.

With the addition of Tom Brady , there was an onus to beef up the offensive line to keep Brady upright. Joe Haeg is a versatile lineman who can play anywhere either at guard or tackle and he’ll provide some much-needed depth. The big acquisition was Tristan Wirfs, who was one of the “big four” offensive linemen from this year’s NFL Draft. Wirfs was the last of the bunch, but the Bucs won’t complain about drafting the 2019 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard haven’t been the best in run blocking, but the Buccaneers did acquire Rob Gronkowski from the New England Patriots, who will come out of retirement and reunite with Brady in Tampa. Gronk is just another weapon for the Bucs this coming year and he’s one of the better blockers to ever play the tight end position. The Bucs are poised to be a solid offensive line this year and the sack numbers could improve with Brady’s ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and he should generally make better decisions than Jameis Winston .

12. Las Vegas Raiders

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 59.6 (18^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 74.0 (15^th)

I might be a little more bearish on the Raiders heading into 2020 than most in the industry, but I still like them. They’re an expensive bunch especially after the Raiders made Trent Brown the highest-paid lineman in the league a year ago. Brown is an absolute specimen. He’s a HUGE dude. Everyone remembers this stark comparison in size from last year’s Hard Knocks season that followed the Oakland Raiders. Trent just absolutely dwarfs Antonio in that photo. He’s 6’8” and 380 pounds and he made his first Pro Bowl last year for Oakland. Brown allowed just one sack last season so he proved to be worth every penny prior to ending the season on IR. Rodney Hudson received the second-best pass blocking grade from PFF with a 91.2 score, finishing just behind Ronnie Stanley of Baltimore. Hudson would make his third Pro Bowl and his first All-Pro team in 2019. Richie Incognito had one of his best seasons as a professional football player and he did it at the ripe age of 36 after spending a year away from the league. Kolton Miller is still a work in progress. Despite the addition of Trent Brown , Miller kept his left tackle job, which was a bold decision considering he wasn’t nearly as good as Trent Brown and he allowed seven sacks. Overall though this was a good group and well worth the money for Jon Gruden’s offense.

The Raiders will definitely have consistency and if there’s one team I think I may be too low on, it would be this group. I always feel like there’s a ticking time bomb aspect with Jon Gruden teams. It becomes abundantly clear when there’s a player on his team that he just doesn’t think is a good fit. We’ve seen it with Kahlil Mack and Amari Cooper . There’s a similar narrative with Derek Carr . However, this is somewhat of an offensive line that he has constructed personally so that lends a little credence. Miller can still develop, Trent Brown will be fine, as will Rodney Hudson . The Raiders did draft John Simpson as a backup to both Gabe Jackson and Richie Incognito . If they stay healthy and repeat last year’s performance they’ll be top ten. I still have concerns about Incognito’s age so currently I have them in the middle of the pack, which I acknowledge is a bit low.

13. Philadelphia Eagles (Previous Rank: 4th)

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 88.4 (1^st)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 81.1 (T-3^rd)

The Philadelphia Eagles offensive line stood up once again in 2019. When healthy they proved to be the best offensive line in the league. Jason Peters  missed a couple games, but he still had the eighth-best pass blocking grade among offensive linemen and the fourth-best among left tackles. The downside is that Peters’ age did show at times. He was flagged 11 times and the run blocking grade dropped slightly but wasn’t awful. Center Jason Kelce made his third Pro Bowl as well as being named first-team All-Pro for the third straight year. Lane Johnson made his third straight Pro Bowl, and Brandon Brooks made his third straight Pro Bowl with Philadelphia as well. A lot of credit has to go to O-Line coach Jeff Stoutland. Stoutland has been the offensive line coach since 2013 and has coached up one of the better offensive lines in the league in recent memory. Brooks’ transformation has been very impressive since he came over from the Texans. Houston fans are no strangers to crappy offensive line play so it probably doesn’t sit well to see Brooks succeeding with another team.

The Eagles currently enter the 2020 season without Brandon Brooks and Halapoulivaati Vaitai. We did note a year ago that it seemed unlikely the Eagles would bring Vaitai back following 2019, so it’s no surprise to see him sign with the Lions to get a starting job. Philly will miss the depth he provided. Bad news struck the Eagles organization last month when it was reported Brandon Brooks tore his achilles (not the same won he tore in 2018). The Eagles (originally) didn’t seem likely to re-sign Jason Peters as they were looking to the future at left tackle. Philadelphia’s current plan to replace Peters is slotting in 2019 first-round pick Andre Dillard. Dillard didn’t get a ton of work last season, but in 337 total snaps he had a 58.2 run blocking grade, and a 59.2 pass blocking grade with 25 pressures and four sacks allowed. His development and progress in 2020 will be vital for the Eagles to retain their position as a top five offensive line in the league. In need of a replacement for Brooks, the Eagles did re-sign Peters as an offensive Guard to fill the void left by Brooks. While it’s a nice sign to have him back it’s worth noting that his age could lend him to injuries once again, but the move to guard could be good for him as he looks for one more strong year in the NFL. Update: In addition to losing Brandon Brooks, the Eagles O-Line suffered a blow on August 27th when Andre Dillard tore his bicep. He will now miss the 2020 season. This potentially means that Jason Peters shifts over to left tackle, which presents a bit of a liability given his age and propensity for injuries a year ago. The loss of Brooks and Dillard, as well as the departure of Vaitai to Detroit present a massive problem for Philadelphia.

14. Los Angeles Chargers

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 52.2 (T-27^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 59.9 (31^st)

The Chargers weren’t a great offensive line a year ago. They were a little pedestrian and bland, if not horrendous… Scratch that, they were horrendous. They lost Mike Pouncey in October to a season-ending injury and once again Forrest Lamp couldn’t stay healthy either. To no surprise, Russell Okung had some injury issues as well, which is a shame because when he’s been healthy in his career he’s a formidable force on the offensive line. Same Tevi and Trent Scott were thrust into starting roles on the offensive line and neither of them were very good. Combined they allowed 15 total sacks and 88 pressures. It wasn’t a great year for the Chargers, a rather forgettable one really. The team disappointed in Philip Rivers ’ last season in Los Angeles and the Melvin Gordon drama was a distraction as well. Both Rivers and Gordon are now gone and the Chargers are looking to turn the page on a new chapter and it starts with a new look for the offensive line.

If you have read any of my D/ST position previews over the past few months, you’ll know I am enamored with the Chargers this year. I love their defense, specifically their secondary, and I can’t get over how great their offensive line is shaping up to be. If they can get Pouncey healthy for a full year that’ll help open holes on a lot of the zone running schemes. Additionally, Trai Turner was acquired in a trade where the Charges shipped Russell Okung to the Panthers. You don’t need a magnifying glass to see the Chargers got the better end of this deal. They also signed Bryan Bulaga as a free agent. The one concern I have with Bulaga is that he normally lined up at right tackle with Green Bay. Ourlads NFL Scouting Services has Bulaga listed as starting at left tackle, which I’m not necessarily ruling out. However, he’s much more comfortable on the right side so that’s where I think he may play, I could be wrong though. Now they don’t have the best options at depth for tackle, but they certainly have a quantity of guys like Tevi, Pipkins, and Scott that’ll play wherever Bulaga doesn’t play. My eyes are going to be on the progress of Forrest Lamp . Lamp was an early second-round pick of the Chargers back in 2017, but injuries have plagued his young career. He missed his entire rookie season with a torn ACL, he only appeared in two games in 2018, and broke his fibula early into the 2019 season. In three years he’s appeared in just nine games. Unlike Brick Tamland, the Chargers haven’t been able to love Lamp. A few weeks back Bleacher Report published an article arguing that Lamp could win the starting left tackle job. And it wouldn’t be too surprising, the only thing going against him is that he’s slightly undersized for the position and he doesn’t have the reach most tackles do. But he was one of the best left tackles in college football during his time at Western Kentucky so I’m not ruling this out entirely. He needs to stay healthy though, that’s priority number one. But given the new acquisitions on this offensive line I’m wild about this group. I’m going to go a little conservative with this ranking and keep them outside the top ten. But if I’m being honest I could see this group finishing in that range come season’s end.

15. Buffalo Bills

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 60.2 (17^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 71.0 (17^th)

I know I ranked the Bills 22^nd heading into the 2019 season, but even I was disappointed in their performance. Were they truly horrendous? No because the Bills were able to put up decent production on the ground and Josh Allen can make plays on his own. They allowed 40 sacks last season on a 7.8% adjusted sack rate which was bottom ten in the league but they did average over 130 rushing yards per game. But again, Allen contributed 500+ rushing yards for the second consecutive season. Dion Dawkins is probably the best lineman they have and luckily he plays left tackle. He only allowed four sacks last year, but he was penalized 11 times in 16 games. His pass blocking and run blocking are both strengths. On the other side of the line, Cody Ford had his struggles in his rookie campaign. He allowed seven sacks and 31 pass rushes while being flagged eight times. There’s obvious room for growth as he’s still just 23 years old and he was the 38^th overall pick in last year’s draft so the Bills have quite a bit invested in his development. On the interior of the line, the veteran group was solid, but not fantastic. Morse signed with Buffalo after the 2018 season which landed him the highest paying contract for a Center at the time. His first year was fine. He allowed just one sack and had good chemistry with Allen. Morse is consistently one of the more underrated interior lineman in the league. Quinton Spain and Jon Feliciano were okay as well. They combined for four sacks allowed (all of them credited to Feliciano), but run blocking was a bit of a weakness for Spain. Spain signed a new three-year deal in the offseason to remain with the team so he’ll need to improve.

The good news for Buffalo is that they’re returning all five starters from last season. Not many teams can say that. I was a little surprised they didn’t use any draft capital to add a little depth or maybe seek out a long-term solution at Guard since Feliciano is only signed for one more year, as is Dawkins. They did gain a little bit of depth with acquiring Daryl Williams who is an absolute road grinder. Here’s how tough Williams is: In training camp heading into the 2018 season he dislocated his kneecap and tore his MCL. He would still go on to start the season opener for Carolina but would re-injure the knee in that same game. Some may call it toughness. Others may call it stupidity. I think it’s safe to assume a little bit of both. But he returned and appeared in 16 games last season while playing left tackle and both guard positions so the Bills can slot him in anywhere and he can compete for a starting job as well. For what it’s worth, Williams allowed a dozen sacks last year, which isn’t worth writing home about. Evan Boehm also comes over from Miami. He may not get as much playing time unless Morse gets injured. His best bet for reps will have to come at either guard position. I’ll say I’m a little more optimistic for Buffalo in 2020. Consistency is key in these circumstances and the starters are familiar with the offense. It’ll be a big year for Dawkins since he wants a bigger contract and Ford needs to improve in his sophomore campaign. I like the Bills O-Line, wouldn’t say I love them though.

16. Tennessee Titans

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 73.8 (6^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 76.2 (11^th)

The past few season I’ve put the Titans in the top ten, maybe even in the top five in this offensive line breakdown. This year, they’re going to take a bit of a hit. In general, the line did very well. Taylor Lewan was a stud as always, Ben Jones allowed just three sacks and nine total pressures all season. Interior linemen are expected to give up less pressure, but keeping it to nine for a full year is outstanding. Rodger Saffold struggled early on in his first year with Tennessee. He allowed six sacks, but all were within the team’s first six games. He didn’t allow any the rest of the regular season and he returned to the form he showed with the Rams in previous years. Individually the Titans did fine, but collectively they had their struggles. Derrick Henry ’s rushing totals were due to his own massive frame and effort. He posted the third-most yards after contest (1,268) since PFF started keeping track of that metric. In general, the Tennessee running backs averaged 1.8 yards before first contact, which ranked in the bottom ten teams of the NFL. Henry’s 4.18 yards after contact per attempt really helped his own numbers in route to a monster season.

I didn’t talk about Jack Conklin in the opening paragraph, but his presence will be missed. Conklin signed a hefty contract with the Cleveland Browns to help beef up their offensive line. Conklin and Lewan made for one of the most formidable tackle pairings in the league so his departure is a big one. In his place the Titans drafted Isaiah Wilson with their first-round pick in April’s draft. Wilson is no doubt a raw product that will need time to develop. If he struggles, which is likely in a rookie season with no preseason games, the Titans can easily turn to Dennis Kelly or Ty Sambrailo , who comes over from Atlanta over to provide depth. It’s perfectly within reason that Wilson is not named the starter coming out of training camp, but they expect their first-round pick to play quite a bit. It should still be a good year for Tennessee. Saffold, Lewan, and Jones are strong pieces of the puzzle. What they get out of the right side of the line is the big question, but they could see a dropoff without Conklin. I may have them dangerously low at 16, but it is one of my bolder predictions.

17. Atlanta Falcons

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 63.9 (11^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 64.3 (25^th)

If you look at the total number of sacks allowed last season by Atlanta (50) then the offensive line was awful. However, their 6.6% adjusted sack rate was among the better teams in the league. Alex Mack and Jake Matthews have been studs the last few season for this offensive line. Mack’s coming off a season where he was named as a Pro Bowl alternate after making six previous Pro Bowls. Matthews was an animal as well with the sixth-best pass blocking grade (84.9) among left tackles. It’s almost as if the Falcons knew they would encounter O-line woes though. Heading into 2019, they needed help defensively. Surprisingly, they used their two first-round picks on Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary . Lindstrom unfortunately missed most of the season after he broke his foot Week 1 and wasn’t activated off IR until Week 14. McGary actually beat out Ty Sambrailo for the starting right tackle job… But he absolutely sucked in his rookie year. He started all 16 games but allowed 13 sacks and 49 total pressures. Pro Football Focus gave him grades below 55.0 for both pass-and-run blocking. That’s not exactly the impression he would’ve liked to have made after his first year.

The Falcons have a very unique feature entering 2020. They have a plethora of former first-round picks projected to start on offense: Matt Ryan , Julio Jones , Calvin Ridley , Todd Gurley , Hayden Hurst , and every projected starter on the offensive line is a former first-round pick. Can they put it all together this year? Yeah, it’s possible. Alex Mack is getting older and the Falcons drafted his replacement, Matt Hennessy, in the third-round of April’s draft. There are little-to-no concerns with Jake Matthews at left tackle, but James Carpenter needs to be better after a severely underwhelming 2019 season for an interior lineman. Now he may have been playing through a variety of injuries as he was placed on IR in December with a concussion. But Atlanta’s putting a lot of faith in young players on the right side of the line. I’m more confident in Lindstrom having a strong season than McGary. McGary needs to make significant strides in his sophomore campaign. With so much fire power on offense the front line could help or hinder the production.

18. Houston Texans

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 52.2 (T-27^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 79.1 (6^th)

The Houston Texans offensive line have been bottom dwellers on a consistent basis even when Duane Brown was on the team. However, they made necessary moves last year to really bolster the big fellas and it started weeks before the start of the regular season when they traded for Laremy Tunsil . It was a costly trade since Houston gave up two first-round picks (and a second-rounder as well) in order to get Tunsil and Kenny Stills . Tunsil was great as he allowed just three sacks all year. But he plays with a bit of an edge as he was flagged 18 times last season. They used their 2019 first-round draft pick on Tytus Howard who showed flashes of promise in eight games as a rookie, but he was placed on IR at the end of last November. Max Scharping, Houston’s second-round pick following Howard started the final 14 games for Houston and did as well as a rookie could do in his rookie year by only allowing three sacks and 28 total pressures. It wasn’t an awful year by any measure for Houston. Nick Martin , if anything, is just consistent with solid pass blocking scores and above average run blocking numbers. After being sacked 62 times in 2018, that number dropped to 44 in 2019.

I won’t be one bit surprised if the Texans finish 2020 as a Top 12 offensive line, and I’ll eat crow if that’s the case since I’m not ranking them that high. The production of the offensive line will depend on the continuing development of Scharping and Howard. The Texans took some flak for selecting two offensive linemen from relatively smaller schools with their first two picks in 2019. They proved the naysayers wrong to an extent. Hopefully we can see Howard play a full season, and Scharping needs to improve in run blocking, but he did show some good footwork in the interior zone blocking schemes the Texans prefer to run. Aside from the sophomore performances from those two, I’m not batting an eye at Tunsil, Martin, or Zach Fulton . They’ll be fine if they’re healthy. I do have some concerns regarding depth in the event any of these players do get hurt. Keeping their starters healthy will go a long way to keeping Deshaun Watson upright as well as revitalizing the career of the oft-injured David Johnson .

19. Denver Broncos

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 61.1 (16^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 74.3 (14^th)

The pass and run blocking grades for Denver highlight look much better than the group’s actual performance on the field. Ja’Wuan James was only available for three games last season and Elijah Wilkinson was a liability as his replacement. Not to mention Garrett Bolles has proven time and time again that he’s a liability at left tackle despite a 77.9 pass blocking grade and just four sacks allowed. Last season he was flagged 17 times which brings his three-year total to 45. That’s nearly a penalty every game. He does play with an edge, which you like to see and he’s only allowed 14 sacks in his career. That’s not an elite measurement, but it’s serviceable. Dalton Risner did fine in his rookie season. He allowed three sacks all year, but other than that he developed well as the season progressed. However, heading into this season they will look a little different with some new names up front.

The Broncos bid adieu to Connor McGovern who signed with the Jets in the offseason (not the same Connor McGovern on Dallas). McGovern appeared in all 32 games for the Broncos over the last two seasons and he made significant strides in pass protection last year as the starting center. He certainly earned every penny of the three-year contract the Jets game him. Ron Leary is currently a free agent. He spent the last three seasons in Denver after a pretty successful run with Dallas. In each of his three seasons in Denver his season was cut short due to injury. So, the 2020 offensive line will look a little different. Leary will be replaced by Graham Glasgow who comes over from Detroit on a hefty four-year contract and even if he can simply stay healthy he’s already looking better than Leary. The Broncos drafted Lloyd Cushenberry III to eventually replace McGovern but with no preseason games it’s hard to gauge how much action he’ll get early on. He was a third-round pick so I wouldn’t be all that surprised if he beat out Patrick Morris. The left side should see further maturation from Dalton Risner , but the big question mark will still be Bolles. He could afford to improve a little bit in pass protection, but definitely needs to be a little more disciplined so he’s drawing less flags. If they can get a healthy Ja’Wuan James they’ll experience a significant upgrade at right tackle and all signs are looking good as of right now. Update: Ja'Wuan James opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19.

20. Jacksonville Jaguars

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 54.5 (25^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 67.1 (24^th)

I’m probably higher than most people (except maybe our very own Justin Vreeland) on the Jaguars. As a whole, they’re fine. As a collective group they can get the job done. They don’t have the exterior power that the Saints or Cowboys do, but they’re just a good offensive line and I have high modest-to-somewhat-high expectations for them in 2020. For starters, Brandon Linder is probably the best Center in the league. He didn’t allow a single sack or a hit to the quarterback last season and allowed just a dozen pressures all season long. Sure, maybe he was flagged a bit too often, but you like that kind of grittiness from your best offensive linemen. The Jags also got a good luck at why they gave Andrew Norwell one of the biggest contracts ever for an interior lineman as he appeared in all 16 games with a 74.2 pass blocking score and a 62.3 run blocking score. He’d go on to allow just three sacks. The exterior portions of the line left a little to be desired. Jawaan Taylor and Cam Robinson combined to allow 16 sacks, 85 total pressures, and 25 penalties. Taylor’s a rookie so there’s room for growth. For Robinson, however, it wasn’t exactly the progress they wanted to see after his 2018 season was limited to just two games.

The good news for the Jaguars is they’re returning their starters from a year ago. They didn’t make too many notable splashes in free agency, but they had a very impressive draft especially considering they took C.J. Henderson, K’Lavon Chaisson, and Laviska Shenault Jr. with their first three picks. A very under-the-radar-type draft selection was of Ben Bartsch in the fourth round. You may know him as the guy who would blend seven scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, instant grits, peanut butter, bananas, and Gatorade all in a blender and drink that tasty concoction every morning to put on 60 pounds for the combine. He’s an interesting developmental project as he comes in from a D-III school but he has the makings of being a solid interior lineman. He’s 6’6” with a wingspan measuring over 80 inches. He obviously won’t unseat Norwell, but there’s a fighter’s chance he could beat out AJ Cann for the job at right guard. But again, with a minimal training camp and no preseason games, they likely won’t throw him to the fire right away. Best case scenario for the Jaguars? They end up with one of the best interior lines in the game. What will keep them from elite status will be the play at left tackle unless Robinson takes massive strides in his fourth year. Jawaan Taylor at least has the benefit of the doubt of heading into year two.

21. Chicago Bears

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 58.5 (T-20^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 69.2 (20^th)

Charles Leno made the Pro Bowl last season, albeit as an alternate and I was shocked when I learned he was even an alternate. PFF gave him a pass blocking grade of 71.6 which ranked 49^th among all tackles. He only allowed five sacks last year, but he gave up a lot of pressure and was flagged 13 times. Bobby Massie did fine until he missed some time with an ailment and then Cornelius Lucas filled in as well as one could. James Daniels and Cody Whitehair basically switched positions and it worked out better for Daniels, but Whitehair shouldn’t be completely written off. Kyle Long went down with a hip injury so that was a bit of a momentum killer for the Bears O-line. Long would go on to retire after 2019 so that’s a big hole that needs to be filled. He had a short seven-year career with Chicago, but no one can really blame him for leaving the game now. Since 2016 injuries basically plagued every one of his seasons. Similar to Andrew Luck , at a certain point you just get tired of having to rehab and it’s wise to take care of one’s health.

The Bears clearly like their offensive line more than I do. And I admit, I think I have them ranked a little higher than they should be. I like Daniels, Whitehair, and Massie. I obviously noted my concerns with Leno up above. Rashaad Coward has some big shoes to fill, but he’s been given a tremendous opportunity. The only notable acquisition was Germain Ifedi who could very well win the starting right guard job. Ifedi has experience at the position coming over from Seattle, but again, he wasn’t exactly great with the Seahawks either. The Bears didn’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft since they dealt it for Kahlil Mack a couple years ago, but they didn’t address the offensive line until the seventh round. I’m cautiously ranking them a little higher than I’d like, but I’m not crazy about the Bears this year. They missed an opportunity to possibly draft Ezra Cleveland, Josh Jones , Damien Lewis, Jonah Jackson, etc. It’s possible they exceed my expectations similar to Tampa Bay last year, but I’m imagining many scenarios where defenses stack the box and don’t respect the passing game this year.

22. Detroit Lions

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 65.7 (9^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 68.5 (21^st)

I might get raked over coals for this one. Even I admit this is a bit low for Detroit, but screw it. As you can see the Lions were much better in run blocking than pass protection. They weren’t a complete bust in protecting Matthew Stafford , but sure, they could’ve been better. The Lions were fortunate that they got a lot of work from their starters, which probably explains why they were a Top 12 offensive line last season. Taylor Decker , Frank Ragnow , Joe Dahl , Graham Glasgow , Rick Wagner , and Kenny Wiggins all appeared in at least 12 games last year. Individually nobody was truly awful. The starters did fine in pass protection as four of them received grades of 69.0 or better. Wagner graded out at 60.2 and the Lions were individually solid in run blocking as evidenced above. As good as the run blocking was it shouldn’t be a surprise that Detroit struggled to run the ball in 2019. They seem to struggle with running the ball every year regardless of who is at running back. A big hurdle the Lions have to overcome this year will be personnel turnover as they’re missing a pair of key pieces from 2019.

Graham Glasgow left after taking a payday from the Broncos, and Rick Wagner left for the division-rival Green Bay Packers. So they have some big holes to fill on the right side of the offensive line. Halapoulivaati Vaitai always served as a solid depth piece on the Eagles offensive line the past few years. It was pretty clear they were going to be unable to re-sign him and he got a pretty big contract with Detroit and he gets an opportunity to start as well. The Lions also drafted Jonah Jackson in April’s draft and he’ll have an opportunity to win the starting job at right guard. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’m just not confident in too many rookie offensive linemen winning Week 1 starting jobs especially since the first few weeks of training camp will be without pads. I have little concerns over Ragnow or even Dahl. I’m curious to see what happens with Taylor Decker . The Lions picked up his fifth-year option on his rookie deal and I’m guessing he’ll eventually get signed to a long-term deal, but he’s just been above average as a good left tackle. He hasn’t been lights out, but he’s serviceable which is enough to get paid in this league. The pieces are there for a good offensive line and I could be wrong putting them this low. I just think their ceiling is maybe finishing in the Top 16, but they won’t wow us.

23. Minnesota Vikings

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 63.3 (12^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 63.0 (27^th)

Minnesota is a fun team to examine because they were very good in run blocking, but they were abysmal in pass protection, which is crazy to think because Cousins was only sacked 28 times last season. But this line performed very well in the zone-blocking schemes Kevin Stefanski used to run. Last year’s offense and the O-line helped propel Dalvin Cook to 1,100+ rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Pass protection was a whole different animal. Garrett Bradbury excelled in zone blocking, but had an atrocious 38.7 pass blocking grade from PFF while he allowed four sacks and 26 pressures. For an interior lineman that’s a pretty poor performance. Pat Elflein struggled as well after he allowed six sacks and 32 pressures. The exterior was held down well enough by Reiff and Brian O’Neill. But the Vikings also had four linemen get flagged at least seven times each. So while Kirk Cousins remained on his feet in his second year in Minnesota, he did plenty of scrambling as well. It was just odd because this is a pretty good offensive line, but they just couldn’t put the pieces together in pass protection a year ago.

Right guard is wide open right now. Josh Kline was cut back in March, which surprised me a little bit because he wasn’t on a terribly expensive contract and he wasn’t really a huge problem on the offensive line. But to each their own. The left side should be fine and Brian O’Neill should hold down the offensive line on the right side. The Vikings did draft Ezra Cleveland in the second round out of Boise State, but they seem set on Reiff and O’Neill holding down the exterior of the offensive line. I’m curious to see if they possibly try Cleveland out at guard since I wouldn’t be too excited about Dakota Dozier starting the year in that spot. Dozier received scores below 52.0 in both pass protection and run blocking in 2019. 2020 doesn’t project to be a phenomenal season for this group. Bradbury needs to drastically improve in pass protection, but I don’t necessarily see them finishing in the top half of the league.

24. Los Angeles Rams

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 53.0 (26^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 61.7 (29^th)

Nobody expected the 2019 Rams to live up to the expectations of the 2018 Rams. They had to replace Rodger Saffold who joined the Titans, and John Sullivan opted to retire. So they had some turnover and were expected to regress a little bit. However, they ranked towards the bottom seven in both pass protection and run blocking. The run game struggled with Todd Gurley battling issues with his knees, but the offensive line floundered as well. Up through 2018, Rob Havenstein was looking like a spectacular right guard. In 2018 he posted a pass blocking score of 76.3 and a run blocking score of 88.4 while allowing just two sacks, 27 pressures, and he was penalized just twice. He played a significant role in the Rams Super Bowl run that year. Flash forward to 2019 and he regressed BIG TIME with a pass blocking grade of 51.1 and a run blocking grade of 53.8 with five sacks allowed, 33 pressures allowed, and eight penalties. Now he did go on IR for a portion of the season, but those numbers were over a nine-game span so he gets a slight break because he may have been playing through injury. But when he returned he didn’t get his starting job back after Bobby Evans took over. Andrew Whitworth was the lone bright spot for the Rams offensive line. Surprisingly at his age, his progress has hardly diminished. He turned 38 last December and still had the seventh-best pass blocking grade among all offensive tackles. Overall, the Rams offensive line struggled to fill in the voids left by departing members from their 2018 NFC Championship team.

Not too many changes for the Rams heading into 2020. And that’s a little concerning. They re-signed Austin Blythe to a one-year deal and Whitworth signed a new three-year contract. I’d be stunned if he played out the remainder of his contract. Offensive linemen typically don’t last into their 40’s. They also didn’t select an offensive lineman in April’s draft until the seventh round. That’s a bold strategy for a team that struggled with offensive line depth last year. They invested in a running back, wide receiver, and tight end prior to addressing the offensive line. You can understand them wanting to grab another running back since Todd Gurley departed, but grabbing a receiver and tight end didn’t make as much sense when they’ll eventually need to replace Andrew Whitworth or find talent for the interior portion of the line. I do have faith that Havenstein can return to the player he was in 2017 and 2018. They definitely could’ve used more help at Guard. At best, they’re a Top 20 O-line if they stay healthy. If Brian Allen improves in his third year, and Austin Blythe returns to his 2018 form like Havenstein then they’re in good shape. Otherwise this could be a bad year for an offensive line for a presumably explosive offense.

25. Carolina Panthers

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 59.3 (19^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 67.3 (T-22^nd)

I’m trying to be optimistic about the Panthers but have some obvious concerns. 2019 wasn’t great by any means for Carolina. Christian McCaffrey proved to be an absolute weapon yet again and well worth drafting with their first-round pick a few years back. But there weren’t many aspects of the offensive line that made McCaffrey look good. Trai Turner was a great interior piece last season as he was named to his fifth straight Pro Bowl. Taylor Moton proved why the Panthers made him their second-round pick in 2017. He allowed five sacks, but still boasted a solid pass blocking grade of 79.0 so he can continue to make strides in 2020 at right tackle. But Greg Little had a minimal impact in his rookie year. Typically with second-round picks you’re expected to contribute almost immediately in year one and he looked to be a big “work in progress” type of player. The bigger issue is that there are some significant changes heading into 2020…

Right off the bat, where the hell is Trai Turner ? Well Turner was dealt to the Los Angeles Chargers as mentioned earlier for Russell Okung . It didn’t make too much sense since Turner’s four years younger than Okung and by far a better player. He still had two years left on his current deal so maybe the just wanted to free up salary cap space or maybe they were worried about his next contract; I have no idea. It didn’t make much sense to trade a player that just went to his fifth Pro Bowl in five years. Alas, they did it and they bring in Russell Okung . Okung isn’t a bad player by any means. He’s a two-time Pro Bowler, a former first-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks, and he won a Super Bowl with them as well. Okung’s issue has been staying healthy. That’s basically the reason he’s bounced around with four teams in the last six seasons. If he’s healthy he’ll be a phenomenal piece of the puzzle for Carolina. The Panthers are a team that’s welcoming a new coach trying to establish a spread offense, they have a new franchise quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater , and the offensive line has undergone a shakeup. Schofield is taking over for Trai Turner , and John Miller replaces Greg Van Roten from a year ago. So there’s potential here, but also plenty of concern. If Okung can’t stay healthy, does that thrust Little into starting at left tackle? The luxury of Okung is that it means Little can develop at a slightly slower pace, but Okung has missed a dozen games the last three years including ten last year. There are a lot of questions marks surrounding a new offense that won’t get any rehearsals in preseason.

26. New York Giants

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 57.0 (22^nd)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 71.6 (17^th)

Prior to the 2019 season, the Giants traded Odell Beckham Jr. and got Kevin Zeitler in return to improve the offensive line. In his first season in New York he was easily the best lineman the G-Men had. Zeitler remains one of the NFL’s most underrated offensive linemen. The former first-round pick has never been voted to a Pro Bowl nor has he ever been named All-Pro. Regardless, wherever he’s played he’s been a solid asset to that team’s offensive front. Last season, the Giants were one of two teams that initially didn’t draw a single representative to the Pro Bowl. That’s pretty surprising when you consider they have Kevin Zeitler and Saquon Barkley . Will Hernandez, Zeitler’s counterpart on the O-line, was solid in pass protection at left guard. However, his 45.7 run blocking grade on Pro Football Focus was the lowest of any blocker for the Giants. That’s a horrifically low score for an interior lineman. Additionally, the tackles did little favors for the Giants last year. As a Patriots fan, it didn’t pain me to see Nate Solder get overpaid by the Giants. He’s a great guy off the field, but despite his massive 6’8” frame, he’s incredibly inconsistent. Solder alone allowed 56 pressures, 11 sacks, and nine additional hits on his quarterback last year. Solder allowed six more pressures than any offensive tackle last season. On the opposite side of the line, Mike Remmers was a little bit better than Solder, but the bar was set so low by Solder, how could he possibly be any worse?

As you can see, there isn’t as much depth on the interior as there is at the exterior. Considering how bad Solder and Remmers were last season, the Giants need all the help they can get, and Remmers signed with Kansas City in the offseason. Here’s the thing, I do believe that the Giants could be 2020’s version of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is a team ranked poorly that could make big strides. But it does hinge on the development of Will Hernandez as well as their 2020 first-round pick, Andrew Thomas. Nobody’s worried about Zeitler, but there are still large concerns with Solder and even Spencer Pulley . I like the Giants initiative to spend draft capital on offensive linemen. Three of their first five picks this year were used to address the offensive line. Matt Peart and Shane Lemieux are decent prospects added in the middle rounds of the draft. Peart provides depth at offensive tackle and stands at 6’7” and started all 48 games he was eligible at UConn. Lemieux was a second-team All-American last season at Oregon and I’m wondering if the Giants possibly try getting him reps at center considering Pulley was fairly underwhelming last season also. As it stands right now, the Giants talent puts them fairly low on the list. But a new coaching staff means there is promise. Jason Garrett is the offensive coordinator and he brings Marc Colombo over as the new offensive line coach. Colombo had the privilege of coaching some of those great O-lines in Dallas the last few years so hopefully his knowledge and influence can carry over to the G-men. Update: Nate Solder opted out of the 2020 season citing family concerns as he also has a child fighting cancer. As much crap as I give him for his on-field play, he's one of the best guys in the league off the field. Naturally we wish nothing but the best for him and his family.

27. Arizona Cardinals

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 56.0 (24^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 77.4 (9^th)

The Cardinals were an interesting beast last season. They still had bad numbers and bad performances all around as an offensive line, but Kyler Murray was enough of a phenomenon at times where he masked the deficiencies of the offensive line. Four of their starters from a year ago (Justin Pugh , D.J. Humphries , J.R. Sweezy , and A.Q. Shipley ) recorded pass blocking grades over 70.0 according to PFF. And that’s actually pretty good. Despite Kyler Murray being sacked 48 times, the offensive line was only responsible for 15. Murray made plenty of moves on his own to escape the pocket. He got caught plenty of times but rattled off 500+ rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The Cardinals weren’t expected to have a great offensive line last season especially after Marcus Gilbert missed basically the entire season with a knee injury. The offense succeeded in spite of a less-than-desirable offensive line.

Despite the line being rather pedestrian last year it’s not such a bad thing to have the same core and consistency returning. Kliff Kingsbury likes to employ some zone spread offenses and it proved effective last year. The big question mark will be whether Marcus Gilbert can keep up with the offense and the agility it sometimes requires. His last two seasons have been ended with knee injuries and in 2017 he had a suspension for banned substances. When healthy he’s a valuable right tackle, but the Cardinals weren’t going to take any chances so they drafted Josh Jones in the third round of April’s draft. Jones would’ve been a high second-round pick any other year but given the talent and depth in this year’s draft he somehow fell to the third round. Jones is a long-time asset that Kliff Kingsbury and O-Line coach Sean Kugler have sought for years. Kingsbury tried recruiting Jones to Texas Tech and Kugler tried to recruit him to UTEP when Kugler was the coach there. Now Kingsbury and Kugler are united in Arizona and are ecstatic to have drafted Jones. Jones allowed just one sack and three hurries last year with the Houston Cougars and PPF gave him a 93.2 grade. That’s the highest grade they’ve ever given a collegiate offensive tackle. He has the pedigree to be a great offensive tackle at the next level. He may not start right away, but with concerns surrounding Marcus Gilbert ’s knee, there’s a strong chance he makes an impression in his rookie year. Update: Marcus Gilbert opted out of the 2020 seasons due to COVID-19 concerns. Rookie Josh Jones is in line for starting duties at Right Tackle.

28. New York Jets

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 47.1 (30^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 62.8 (28^th)

The Jets offensive line was pretty bad last season as they allowed the fourth-most sacks in the league in 2019. Remember when Adam Gase was viewed as a bit of a “quarterback whisperer” because of his moderate success with Jay Cutler , and then he got to work with Peyton Manning as well? Those days are in the past as he butchered the Dolphins for three years and is now entering year two with the Jets. But last year was a terrible introduction for Gase with New York, especially among the offensive line. Le’Veon Bell in particular felt the pain of the offensive line’s struggles. Bell had 245 carries last year for just 789 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. His season was salvaged by his 66 receptions, but it was still a down year for Bell behind a bad offensive line and awful play calling, from a coach who may not have wanted to sign him. There were very few notable players from last season. Injuries and poor play plagued the offensive line the entire year. Nobody played in all 16 games, only two players appeared in 14 games, and only four players appeared in double-digit games. Kelvin Beachum had the best pass blocking grade at 72.7, but he struggled in run blocking. Brian Winters had the best run blocking grade according to PFF and his score was a paltry 60.7, which isn’t very good. It’s no surprise the offensive line is going to look vastly different in 2020.

This is quite a facelift. At least three starting positions will look completely different compared to 2019, but it would surprise nobody if there were five brand new starters once Week 1 rolls around. For starters, left tackle will feature 2020 first-round pick Mekhi Becton. The 2020 Draft featured a “Big Four” for offensive tackle and Becton could have easily been selected by the Giants as the first tackle off the board, but they opted for Andrew Thomas. Connor McGovern is a pretty solid acquisition to replace Ryan Kalil who came out of a brief retirement to play for the Jets last season. McGovern spent the previous four seasons with the Broncos and has done well in both pass-and-run blocking. Chuma Edoga returns at right tackle, but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if George Fant competed for that opportunity. And Greg Van Roten comes over from the Carolina Panthers and he could compete with Brian Winters and Alex Lewis for either Guard position. Becton is by far the biggest acquisition for the Jets. He will be a monster at left tackle for the Jets. He’s 6’7” and 364 pounds and for a guy his size he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.1 seconds. Typically, the average 40-time for offensive linemen (that are smaller than him, mind you) is around 5.3 seconds. McGovern and Becton make for improvements at their respective positions. But there are still some question marks on the right side of the line that probably won’t get addressed until after the 2020 season.

29. Miami Dolphins

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 43.7 (32^nd)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 46.1 (32^nd)

This offensive line was hot garbage last season. They were truly terrible. It’s doesn’t help that Laremy Tunsil was traded to Houston just weeks before the season started and he would go on to earn his first Pro Bowl selection with Houston. Without Tunsil, this group was atrocious. They were tied for the most sacks allowed with 58, they had 44 designed run plays go for negative yards, and they allowed a hurry/hit/sack on a quarterback on nearly one-third of their offensive snaps. They were truly terrible last season in Brian Flores’ first year as head coach. There’s very little praise… Nay. There’s no praise that can be offered up to any of their players from a year ago go so we’ll move on to the 2020 outlook…

Well, this goofy bunch really can’t go anywhere but up. And there is actually quite a bit of optimism. For starters, Chan Gailey is coming out of retirement to be the offensive coordinator for the Fins. Additionally, they have a lot of new faces and some young guys to have faith in. The Dolphins had three first-round picks back in April and they used one to get a young franchise quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa; you might have heard of him. But they also used another to draft Austin Jackson out of USC. He’s presumably their left tackle of the future. Ourlads currently doesn’t have him listed as the starter. As has been mentioned numerous times he likely won’t start the season at left tackle since it’s one of the most important positions on the team, and they can’t send him out there against NFL competition without much experience. Other newcomers include Ereck Flowers , Ted Karras, Robert Hunt, and Solomon Kindley. I’m also curious to see how Michael Deiter performs in his second year. Hunt and Kindley were also draft picks from April while Flowers and Karras were pretty notable free agent acquisitions with Karras being reunited with Brian Flores from their New England days. The Dolphins are taking steps in the right direction. I may be going overboard not ranking them dead last since they need to develop some chemistry with zero preseason games scheduled. But I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and not put them at the bottom of the barrel. I like the direction this group is going.

30. Cincinnati Bengals

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 46.8 (31^st)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 63.7 (26^th)

The Bengals made a big move in the 2019 draft by selection Jonah Williams with their first-round pick. Then he injured his shoulder in OTA’s that required surgery to repair a torn labrum and he missed his rookie season. So that was a real bummer before the season even started. From there it was a fairly wide range of circumstances that plagued this offensive line. Cordy Glenn was moved to left guard after the Bengals draftEd Williams. After Williams’ injury the Bengals moved Glenn back to left tackle. Glenn suffered a concussion in Week 2 and then a few weeks later the team actually suspended him for disciplinary reasons regarding the treatment of his concussion. He was released after the 2019 season. Andre Smith , in his third stint with the Bengals, would start in Glenn’s place while the latter was injured. Smith would go on to be waived by the Bengals in the middle of the season. John Jerry was pretty awful when he filled in at left tackle. In just nine games he allowed eight sacks and 27 pressures. It was a comedy of errors at left tackle for this team. The only lineman that really did well last year was Trey Hopkins at Center. Hopkins did well enough on the interior to earn a new contract with Cincy so that’s something to hang your hat on. Going into 2020, just the sheer presence of Jonah Williams is a welcome and promising sign for the squad with a new franchise quarterback under Center.

So as you can see John Jerry , Cordy Glenn , and Andre Smith are no longer around. Jonah Williams is praying they can get to some football soon so he can make his delayed debut. The team also brought in Xavier Su’a-Filo from Dallas. Last year he was plagued with injuries including a high ankle sprain that ended his season, but he can help the interior portion of the line very much. It’ll be interesting to see what the Bengals can get from Billy Price . They used a first-round pick in 2018 to select Price and he was injured in his rookie season and then simply outplayed by Hopkins in 2019. He was so bad in pass protection that PPF gave him a pass blocking score of 26.1 which is the lowest score of any offensive linemen in the league that logged at least 150 snaps. His best shot at a starting job is beating out Michael Jordan at left guard and I’m doubtful of that happening. So while this team had some turnover in the offseason they’re looking for a little consistency. Head coach Zac Taylor has a young franchise quarterback now and he’ll get a healthy stud at left tackle. It may take a while for everything to fall into place, but the Bengals could slowly be heading in the right direction.

31. Seattle Seahawks

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 46.8 (31^st)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 63.7 (26^th)

Protecting Russell Wilson has plagued the Seahawks ever since they last appeared in the Super Bowl. Truth be told, they signed him to a long-term contract for big money which has limited them a bit on defense and they haven’t been able to put a solid offensive line in front of him since. So, to the surprise of no one, we’ve seen Wilson still scrambling out of the pocket and making plays on his own. Duane Brown has been solid for the Seahawks since they acquired him in 2017. However, he is getting older and the rest of the offensive line just hasn’t done Wilson any favors. Last season Seattle allowed 48 sacks which put them in the bottom quarter of teams in the league. It’s somewhat of a miracle that Wilson hasn’t sustained a serious injury at this point, but Seattle made some moves in the offseason to improve the line, but not very much.

The Seahawks big adieu to George Fant , DJ Fluker, and Germain Ifedi and in their places they signed BJ Finney from Pittsburgh and Brandon Shell from the Jets. Cedric Ogbuehi also comes over on a one-year deal while Finney and Shell are on two-year contracts. So it’s not even a guarantee the Seahawks view either of these guys as a long-term solution. They did draft Damien Lewis out of LSU in the third-round to aid the interior line, but with limited offseason training activities it’s doubtful he’ll be ready to start at the beginning of the season. But he’s an absolute freak of nature capable of squatting 600 pounds. There’s no arguing the Seahawks offensive line needed a facelift. But the moves and acquisitions hardly move the needle aside from Lewis. Wilson could be in for another season of running for his life especially with little time to develop chemistry with the guys responsible for keeping him upright.

32. The Washington Football Team

2019 Run Blocking Grade: 62.6 (15^th)

2019 Pass Blocking Grade: 67.3 (22^nd)

I don’t really know what to call them since they’re in flux as we head into training camp. But this offensive line is projected to be much worse this year than 2019. Brandon Scherff made his third Pro Bowl last season and is playing under the non-exclusive franchise tag that’ll pay him $15 million this year. Chase Roullier was pretty solid as well. He allowed three sacks, but was flagged just once. His pass-and-run blocking grades of 71.5 and 65.4 were among the better performances on the team aside from Scherff. Donald Penn had a slightly down year with six sacks allowed and 11 penalties, but he was well past his prime last season. I wasn’t all that impressed with Morgan Moses last year though. He allowed five sacks and 37 pass rushes while being flagged 11 times in 2019. The problems for the Washington offensive line really boiled over last season once Dwayne Haskins took over at Quarterback. He was sacked ten times in his first two starts, which provided us with this memorable clip. It’s clearly a frustrated group that didn’t want to hear it from a rookie quarterback, but at the same time you kind of feel for Haskins in that moment. So, while they weren’t necessarily the worst offensive line last year, I’m expecting dismal results in 2020…

That’s a lot of turnover, and not the good kind. For starters, Trent Williams is officially no longer with the team. He didn’t play at all last season, but when he was on the field for Washington he was a premiere talent at left tackle. Now this depth chart isn’t official, but it’s a rough estimate. Roullier and Scherff will start at their respective positions. Morgan Moses will likely stay at right tackle, but there could be a huge need for him at left tackle. I could very well see Geron Christian winning the starting job because I would not want to trust Cornelius Lucas with that role. Lucas barely played in 2017 and 2018 and was signed for a reserve/future contract with the Bears last season. He got reps at right tackle because Bobby Massie was battling vertigo. Donald Penn and Ereck Flowers are both gone as well. In addition to the personnel turnover, Washington is in the midst of an unflattering story regarding the inner workings of the organization and the treatment of its cheerleaders. They’ve brought in Ron Rivera as the new head coach and while he’s a good fit to change the culture of the organization, it won’t happen overnight. I have incredibly low expectations for Washington this year. Haskins is going to be begging for help every game.

Stastistical Credits/Special Thanks To:

• Pro Football Focus
• Ourlads NFL Scouting Services
• Football Outsiders
• The Huddle
• ESPN