Here are our offensive line rankings, slotting them 1 thru 32. We give each projected starter on each team a grade, then total those points (giving more credit to the tackle and center positions).
According to our grades, San Francisco has the best offensive line, followed by the Patriots. A step down are the Ravens, Broncos, Vikings and Bucs. Those look like the best lines in the league.
At the other end of the spectrum: Cowboys, Lions, Chargers, Bills and Raiders. Those are the teams that appear to have the problem offensive lines.
Some of these lines have minor injuries -- guys who are hurt and could (or will) miss a game or two. David Baas of the Giants, for example. Jason Pinkston of the Browns and Carl Nicks of the Bucs will also miss the start of the season. Those guys should be able to play in September, though, so we're leaving them as the starters. (Nicks' status is less certain; if it turns out he's expected to miss more time, Tampa will slip in the next update.)
More significant injuries -- like Jared Veldheer of the Raiders -- have more significant impacts on the rankings. Oakland had two really good players on its line with Veldheer healthy. Without him, it's down to one, and mostly cast-offs everywhere else.
A couple of lines have moved up since last week. Indy and Miami look a little better than we gave them credit for initially. New Orleans also looks good; Charles Brown appears to be working out at left tackle.
In our scoring system, we give the most credit (double credit, actually) to the left tackles. That's the most important spot. The two guard spots, we think, are the least valuable. The right tackle and center positions, we've got halfway between the guards and the left tackles. We also have a sixth position, where we assign a combined blocking grade for the team's tight ends and fullbacks.
This isn't scientific, but it gives us a general sense of how they fall. And using this system, it yields the following 1-32 rankings. To see the rankings with individual position grades included (next to the projected starters) go to our Facebook page (fantasyindex.com).
| OFFENSIVE LINE RANKINGS | |
|---|---|
| team | Score |
| San Francisco | 33.1 |
| New England | 31.7 |
| Baltimore | 30.3 |
| Denver | 28.7 |
| Minnesota | 28.6 |
| Cleveland | 28.3 |
| Tampa Bay | 28.1 |
| Tennessee | 27.6 |
| New Orleans | 27.5 |
| Seattle | 27.5 |
| Carolina | 27.1 |
| NY Giants | 26.8 |
| Kansas City | 26.8 |
| Cincinnati | 25.3 |
| Washington | 25.1 |
| Philadelphia | 24.8 |
| Miami | 23.9 |
| Houston | 23.5 |
| St. Louis | 23.5 |
| NY Jets | 23.0 |
| Green Bay | 23.0 |
| Pittsburgh | 22.9 |
| Indianapolis | 22.7 |
| Jacksonville | 22.6 |
| Arizona | 21.6 |
| Chicago | 21.2 |
| Atlanta | 21.0 |
| Dallas | 19.7 |
| Detroit | 19.4 |
| San Diego | 18.3 |
| Buffalo | 18.0 |
| Oakland | 16.6 |
--Andy Richardson