We're a month into the season all of a sudden, and it's pretty certain which teams are being helped, or hurt, by their offensive line. Some of it isn't surprising (everyone but the Giants, it seems, knew that line would be a problem), but there are some lines exceeding expectations, or underachieving.
So the names change, the grades shift a little, and the rankings reshuffle. Some of the most noteworthy changes:
Dallas is still our top-ranked line. With three of the league's very best players at left tackle, center and right guard, hard to get them out of that spot. But Tyron Smith is dealing with back soreness, and he might need to miss a game or two. In the rankings that's handled by lowering his grade slightly -- he's not replaced because he won't necessarily miss much, or any, time. The left guard spot is a liability.
The Raiders aren't quite as strong as they were a year ago. Problems at right tackle, where Marshall Newhouse has replaced Austin Howard, a move that was probably made for financial reasons.
Saints placed Zach Strief on injured reserve, but it coincides with probably getting Terron Armstead back after the Week 5 bye. So Ryan Ramczyk moves to right tackle, and Armstead steps back in on the left side. Line should be fine going forward -- maybe better.
The Cardinals are really banged-up, with D.J. Humphries battling a knee injury. Right now they've got John Wetzel on the left and Jared Veldheer on the right. Wetzel isn't 100 percent either, and it's not certain Humphries is a good left tackle even healthy. Guard Mike Iupati is on IR with an elbow injury; Will Holden is a downgrade there. Debatable whether even David Johnson would be putting up big rushing numbers in this offense.
Ravens placed Marshal Yanda on IR. It's a steep drop to backup Matt Skura, since Yanda was one of the league's very best linemen.
Ryan Schraeder has missed two games with a concussion for the Falcons. Ty Sambrailo is a lesser fill-in. Unclear when Schraeder will return, but the line falls in the rankings.
Kansas City and Carolina have been without centers Mitch Morse and Ryan Kalil. Those guys are week to week, hurting performance of those lines.
Green Bay's line is also really banged-up at the tackle spots; both Bryan Bulaga and David Bakhtiari sat out the last game. Both could return soon, so for now we're just dropping their grades slightly.
Some of Buffalo's struggles to run the ball might be the absence of left tackle Cordy Glenn to a foot/ankle injury; he's missed the last two games. Fill-in Dion Dawkins is a noticeable downgrade.
It's not all bad; there are lines faring much better than anticipated. Like the Rams, currently fronting the league's most improved offense. Andrew Whitworth is the big addition, but John Sullivan has held up at center, and Jamon Brown has emerged at right guard.
The Colts are getting Ryan Kelly back from injury, helping their line.
Rankings are below. Colorful table with the grading system for each starter can be seen at our Facebook page.
| OFFENSIVE LINE RANKINGS | |
|---|---|
| Team | Rk |
| Dallas | 1 |
| Pittsburgh | 2 |
| Tennessee | 3 |
| Philadelphia | 4 |
| Cleveland | 5 |
| New England | 6 |
| Atlanta | 7 |
| Oakland | 8 |
| New Orleans | 9 |
| Washington | 10 |
| Green Bay | 11 |
| Miami | 12 |
| Buffalo | 13 |
| Kansas City | 14 |
| Carolina | 15 |
| LA Rams | 16 |
| Chicago | 17 |
| Tampa Bay | 18 |
| Detroit | 19 |
| Denver | 20 |
| San Francisco | 21 |
| LA Chargers | 22 |
| Minnesota | 23 |
| Jacksonville | 24 |
| NY Jets | 25 |
| Cincinnati | 26 |
| Baltimore | 27 |
| Indianapolis | 28 |
| Arizona | 29 |
| Houston | 30 |
| Seattle | 31 |
| NY Giants | 32 |