There's not really a catchy term for the league's right tackles. They're not protecting the blind side (except for with left-handed quarterbacks, that is). They usually don't make as much money as the left tackles. But they're important, which teams discover when they don't have them.
Week 1 was a brutal one for the position. The most serious injury was to Cardinal Marcus Gilbert. He tore his ACL and is out for the year. Gilbert was maybe the line's best player; they've signed former Bill Jordan Mills to play that spot. Arizona's line was already bad; this is another step down.
Denver gave big money to JaWuan James in the offseason to play right tackle, but early on in the Week 1 loss to Denver, he was sidelined with a knee injury. We're only hearing that he'll be out "several weeks," so it's probably a sprain of some sort. Elijah Wilkinson is the fill-in; we'll see how important right tackle is this week, when Denver hosts the Bears.
Finally, New England's Marcus Cannon left with a shoulder injury. The only word (and all we're likely to get from New England) is it's not season-ending. So, he could be out there in a couple of weeks, or a couple of months. New England has multiple options; we're going with the recently signed Marshall Newhouse as the likeliest one (left guard Joe Thuney is also a possibility, with Jermaine Eluemunor at guard). Whichever one will be a steep downgrade.
Other offensive line related news and notes:
Generally losing your left tackle is a bad thing, but Julie'n Davenport going on IR with a leg injury doesn't necessarily move the needle much on Miami's line. Davenport was a liability a year ago in Houston and was a throw-in after Miami dealt away Laremy Tunsil. It will likely be Danny Isadora playing there in Week 2.
Falcon right guard Chris Lindstrom broke his foot and is expected to miss at least the next eight weeks. Veteran Jamon Brown will start in that spot. Atlanta's line didn't look particularly good in the preseason or Week 1; dropping down to a backup at that spot isn't likely to help.
Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson (knee) may be nearing a return; he's practicing on a limited basis this week. At worst he should return in Week 3, which is good news for the offense (too late for Nick Foles, alas).
Cordy Glenn (concussion) missed Week 1, and is iffy for Week 2, as well. Andre Smith is the fill-in, a negative for the offense and Andy Dalton's protection.
Our ranking of the league's starting right tackles is below. Feel free to weigh in where you think we're off the mark.
| RIGHT TACKLE RANKINGS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rk | Team | Player |
| 1 | Philadelphia | Lane Johnson |
| 2 | Kansas City | Mitchell Schwartz |
| 3 | New Orleans | Ryan Ramczyk |
| 4 | Oakland | Trent Brown |
| 5 | San Francisco | Mike McGlinchey |
| 6 | LA Rams | Rob Havenstein |
| 7 | Denver | JaWuan James |
| 8 | Detroit | Rick Wagner |
| 9 | Green Bay | Bryan Bulaga |
| 10 | Washington | Morgan Moses |
| 11 | Indianapolis | Braden Smith |
| 12 | Chicago | Bobby Massie |
| 13 | Dallas | La'el Collins |
| 14 | Tennessee | Jack Conklin |
| 15 | Tampa Bay | Demar Dotson |
| 16 | Buffalo | Ty Nsekhe |
| 17 | Cleveland | Chris Hubbard |
| 18 | Pittsburgh | Matt Feiler |
| 19 | Seattle | German Ifedi |
| 20 | Baltimore | Orlando Brown |
| 21 | Minnesota | Brian O'Neill |
| 22 | Carolina | Taylor Moton |
| 23 | Atlanta | Kaleb McGary |
| 24 | Jacksonville | Jawaan Taylor |
| 25 | New England | Marshall Newhouse |
| 26 | Houston | Seantrel Henderson |
| 27 | LA Chargers | Sam Tevi |
| 28 | Arizona | Jordan Mills |
| 29 | NY Jets | Brandon Shell |
| 30 | NY Giants | Mike Remmers |
| 31 | Cincinnati | Bobby Hart |
| 32 | Miami | Jesse Davis |
--Andy Richardson