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).
The biggest development since last week was Cardinals guard Jonathan Cooper breaking his leg. Cooper, the team's top draft pick, looked like he was going to be a major asset on the line, but now Arizona will move Daryn Colledge into his spot and go with a much lesser player at right guard. That drops Arizona from what looked like only a slightly below-average line to what figures to be a bottom-5 group.
An issue with a more highly regarded team has cropped up in New England. They're going to end up going with Will Svitek at right guard, a downgrade from Dan Connolly (in our view). That causes them to slip a spot in the rankings. Another team that drops is Denver, which is apparently going to go with Manny Ramirez at center, at least to start the season. That's enough to slide them behind Minnesota and Cleveland.
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 |
| Baltimore | 31.1 |
| New England | 30.2 |
| Minnesota | 28.6 |
| Cleveland | 28.5 |
| Denver | 28.4 |
| Tampa Bay | 28.1 |
| Tennessee | 27.6 |
| New Orleans | 27.5 |
| Seattle | 27.5 |
| Carolina | 27.1 |
| Kansas City | 26.8 |
| NY Giants | 26.0 |
| Cincinnati | 25.3 |
| Washington | 25.1 |
| Philadelphia | 24.8 |
| Miami | 23.9 |
| Houston | 23.5 |
| St. Louis | 23.5 |
| NY Jets | 23.4 |
| Green Bay | 23.0 |
| Pittsburgh | 22.9 |
| Indianapolis | 22.7 |
| Jacksonville | 22.6 |
| Chicago | 22.5 |
| Atlanta | 21.0 |
| Dallas | 20.9 |
| Detroit | 19.4 |
| Arizona | 19.2 |
| San Diego | 18.6 |
| Buffalo | 18.5 |
| Oakland | 18.3 |
--Andy Richardson