So anything noteworthy happen for offensive lines around the league since last week? Oh yeah: Houston gave up two first-round picks and a second-round pick for Miami's starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil. This moves Miami's line from 32nd all the way down to 32nd. Houston gets a decent boost.
It's a nice get for Houston, which was going to be starting a turnstile at the position (even after using their first-round pick on a tackle this year). But, they'd kind of liked to have acquired Tunsil by trading Jadeveon Clowney. Instead they got a 2nd-rounder for Clowney and gave it back along with the firsts for Tunsil. And Kenny Stills, right.
Other news and notes from last week...
The Browns seem to have already given up on Austin Corbett at right guard. He's a backup, and they brought in a former Bills backup, Wyatt Teller, to maybe take that spot from Eric Kush. Wonder if John Dorsey is going to screw up a good thing in Cleveland. His work on the offensive line is not encouraging.
The Patriots lost David Andrews to blood clots. They've brought in several bodies to hopefully fill that hole and strengthen the line elsewhere. None are necessarily the solution, but give them credit for trying. For right now, we're leaving backup Ted Karras in that spot.
A report last week said Trent Williams might show up for Washington for Week 2. This contradicts other reports that said Williams would "never" show up. Who to believe? We'll find out a week from now, I guess.
A reader felt I'd underrated David Bakhtiari a little while back, listing him as an average left tackle. I think he was right (might have been an injury issue that factored into the lower ranking, but he's healthy currently) and moved him up. Then last night Cris Collinsworth referred to him as "one of the best if not the best" pass protecting tackles. That seemed a little strong when 5 minutes later Collinsworth said "You can beat Bakhtiari with a bull rush move." Cris is occasionally given to hyperbole. Anyway, he's a top-5ish left tackle, and Green Bay's line played well (but Rodgers was still sacked 5 times).
Updated offensive line rankings are below, with Houston getting a nice boost. Colorful table at our Facebook page at this link. Next Friday after we've had a chance to see all the lines in action, there will no doubt be some movement.
| OFFENSIVE LINES | |
|---|---|
| Rk | Team |
| 1 | Philadelphia |
| 2 | New Orleans |
| 3 | Pittsburgh |
| 4 | Dallas |
| 5 | Indianapolis |
| 6 | Atlanta |
| 7 | Kansas City |
| 8 | Chicago |
| 9 | San Francisco |
| 10 | LA Rams |
| 11 | Green Bay |
| 12 | Seattle |
| 13 | Tennessee |
| 14 | Jacksonville |
| 15 | New England |
| 16 | NY Jets |
| 17 | Tampa Bay |
| 18 | Detroit |
| 19 | Carolina |
| 20 | Houston |
| 21 | Buffalo |
| 22 | Denver |
| 23 | LA Chargers |
| 24 | Cleveland |
| 25 | Oakland |
| 26 | Washington |
| 27 | Baltimore |
| 28 | Minnesota |
| 29 | NY Giants |
| 30 | Arizona |
| 31 | Cincinnati |
| 32 | Miami |