Crazy week for offensive lines, with two teams trading away their left tackles. Not the kind of thing you see happening very often, given that we're just 4 weeks into the season.
The Jaguars' dealing away Eugene Monroe made some degree of sense. The 0-4 Jaguars are going nowhere this season, Monroe is in the final year of his contract, and back in April Jacksonville used the No. 2 overall pick on Luke Joeckel, a natural left tackle who has been struggling on the right side.
Arizona trading Levi Brown is a little kookier, since Arizona is 2-2 and kind of a playoff contender. But Brown has been a disappointment, and the Cardinals would have to get better there eventually -- so they net a pick for a player they needed to replace at some point anyway. That's the thinking, anyway. The Steelers were struggling with Mike Adams in that spot, so Brown may end up being a little better; he couldn't be much worse.
There are other injuries that factor into the rankings; previously noted ones to left tackles in Denver and Seattle, and also along the Giants' line. Denver's offense is humming along, but let's see if Ryan Clady is missed with the team in Dallas (facing DeMarcus Ware) this week.
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 | 32.7 |
| Baltimore | 30.5 |
| New England | 30.2 |
| Minnesota | 28.3 |
| Cleveland | 28.1 |
| Tampa Bay | 27.8 |
| Tennessee | 27.5 |
| Kansas City | 27.4 |
| New Orleans | 27.3 |
| Carolina | 26.6 |
| Philadelphia | 26.2 |
| Cincinnati | 25.3 |
| Washington | 25.1 |
| Miami | 23.9 |
| Seattle | 23.7 |
| St. Louis | 23.5 |
| NY Giants | 23.4 |
| NY Jets | 23.4 |
| Denver | 23.4 |
| Green Bay | 23.0 |
| Chicago | 22.5 |
| Dallas | 22.2 |
| Houston | 21.9 |
| Indianapolis | 21.4 |
| San Diego | 19.8 |
| Atlanta | 19.6 |
| Pittsburgh | 19.6 |
| Buffalo | 19.5 |
| Detroit | 19.4 |
| Arizona | 18.8 |
| Jacksonville | 18.7 |
| Oakland | 17.5 |
--Andy Richardson