Ranking Best and Worst O-lineman

[Pinkerton Security]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=5037654

I'll just post some interesting snippets..

In 2009, the offensive line that allowed the most sacks was also the one that went through the most players. The Buffalo Bills (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=buf) had 11 different players start at least one game up front for them on offense, and those linemen combined for a league-high 28.5 blown blocks leading to sacks. In addition, running back Fred Jackson (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10195) led all backs with four blown blocks that led to sacks.


Left Tackle
Worst: Jason Peters (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=6012), Philadelphia Eagles (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=phi) (7 sacks/4 hurries/11 total blown blocks)
Best: Joe Thomas (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10448), Cleveland Browns (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=cle) (2 sacks/0.5 hurries/2.5 total blown blocks)
The Eagles used a first-round pick to acquire Peters in the hopes that he'd be their left tackle of the future, but he was extremely erratic in 2009. Thomas is pretty clearly the best left tackle in football at this point, but no one knows it because he plays for one of the league's worst teams. He's the offensive Nnamdi Asomugha (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=4489).




Center
Worst: Geoff Hangartner (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=8583), Buffalo Bills (5 sacks/1 hurry/6 total blown blocks)
Best: Matt Birk (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=1562), Baltimore Ravens (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=bal) (0 sacks/1 hurry/1 total blown block)
Hangartner actually started all 16 games for Buffalo, giving them at least a modicum of stability, but he was surrounded by fill-ins and often left with little help against bigger players.

[Mahdi]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=5037654

I'll just post some interesting snippets..

In 2009, the offensive line that allowed the most sacks was also the one that went through the most players. The Buffalo Bills (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=buf) had 11 different players start at least one game up front for them on offense, and those linemen combined for a league-high 28.5 blown blocks leading to sacks. In addition, running back Fred Jackson (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10195) led all backs with four blown blocks that led to sacks.


Left Tackle
Worst: Jason Peters (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=6012), Philadelphia Eagles (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=phi) (7 sacks/4 hurries/11 total blown blocks)
Best: Joe Thomas (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10448), Cleveland Browns (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=cle) (2 sacks/0.5 hurries/2.5 total blown blocks)
The Eagles used a first-round pick to acquire Peters in the hopes that he'd be their left tackle of the future, but he was extremely erratic in 2009. Thomas is pretty clearly the best left tackle in football at this point, but no one knows it because he plays for one of the league's worst teams. He's the offensive Nnamdi Asomugha (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=4489).




Center
Worst: Geoff Hangartner (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=8583), Buffalo Bills (5 sacks/1 hurry/6 total blown blocks)
Best: Matt Birk (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=1562), Baltimore Ravens (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=bal) (0 sacks/1 hurry/1 total blown block)
Hangartner actually started all 16 games for Buffalo, giving them at least a modicum of stability, but he was surrounded by fill-ins and often left with little help against bigger players.
I think a lot of Hangartner's issues stemmed from the inconsistency at the RG spot. He had 3 or 4 different starters play next to him at RG.

I like Hangartner but I also wouldn't mind seeing Wood at his natural C position. Mack and Mangold have looked good for their teams.

[mysticsoto]

I don't know if I can agree with these assessments. Jason Peters allows a sack every other game, and that's considered the worst? At the LT position where you face the fastest and best DEs? I imagine this is only for Olinemen who have started all 16 games then. I'm pretty sure that our carousel at LT allowed more sacks in total and maybe even some LTs out there had more than 7 sacks attributed to them - though they may not have played all 16 games.

The center position is interesting. I said it before that Hangartner was getting bullrushed too much and needed to get stronger. If he hasn't done so, when Wood comes back, he may need to step in and take over - a change for him, but he's got what the position needs.

[psubills62]

I don't know if I can agree with these assessments. Jason Peters allows a sack every other game, and that's considered the worst? At the LT position where you face the fastest and best DEs? I imagine this is only for Olinemen who have started all 16 games then. I'm pretty sure that our carousel at LT allowed more sacks in total and maybe even some LTs out there had more than 7 sacks attributed to them - though they may not have played all 16 games.

The center position is interesting. I said it before that Hangartner was getting bullrushed too much and needed to get stronger. If he hasn't done so, when Wood comes back, he may need to step in and take over - a change for him, but he's got what the position needs.

Peters probably wouldn't look so bad if other teams didn't have injuries. I'd almost guarantee that Bell would be the "worst LT" on there, but how often did he actually play? We had about 12 different guys play LT...if we had had one on a consistent basis, he'd probably have been the worst. Same with Green Bay - I'm pretty sure Jared Allen had a combined 8+ sacks in just the two games against GB. But they had different guys in there every time.

For players who play on a consistent basis, Peters was the worst. That's probably a better way of saying it, I would guess.

[Ron Burgundy]

lots of espn insider info

Do they grade everybody? If so, where does Gaither show up in the rankings?

[Oaf]

Did Scott get any recognition for his work?

[Beebe's Kid]

Uh oh....

You can't say anything bad about Peters, or Hangartner. This thread is going to erupt into a **** storm.

I would love to have gotten Hangartner off of our starting line...he would be a great 3rd stringer.

I am not all that upset about Peters. He was going to be a problem for years to come, and we did alright on the trade. The problem was the continued gutting of our OL, which was then magnified by injuries, that made it appear all that much worse. You pair the gutting and injuries with the most predictable, ineffective offense ever, and their struggles were magnified.

[Pinkerton Security]

Do they grade everybody? If so, where does Gaither show up in the rankings?

No they dont rank everyone, only show best and worst at each position on the line.


I don't know if I can agree with these assessments. Jason Peters allows a sack every other game, and that's considered the worst? At the LT position where you face the fastest and best DEs? I imagine this is only for Olinemen who have started all 16 games then. I'm pretty sure that our carousel at LT allowed more sacks in total and maybe even some LTs out there had more than 7 sacks attributed to them - though they may not have played all 16 games.

They dont specifically say whether they take into account only starters who started X amount of games, but I'm assuming they do have some stipulation bc Bell would have to be in there. They did include the snippet below:

"You don't have to be a Bears fan to know that offensive linemen are hugely important, though. Some things are impossible to quantify when it comes to offensive line play, but one thing we track at Football Outsiders is "blown blocks," those plays in which an offensive lineman is responsible for a quarterback hurry or a sack. These numbers are inexact, but represent a decent approximation of how many sacks or near-sacks a player was responsible for over the course of a given season."

So they are just trying to show one metric that can somewhat quantify how well a OL protects their QB...not saying it is a complete way to rank an o-lineman but it does seem to pretty consistently show the best and worst at the different positions, as far as pass blocking is concerned.

[THRILLHO]

Thats fine. We still dropped the ball by not being able to retain him. I doubt he was any worse than our left side this past season.

[DraftBoy]

Left Tackle
Worst: Jason Peters (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=6012), Philadelphia Eagles (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=phi) (7 sacks/4 hurries/11 total blown blocks)
Best: Joe Thomas (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10448), Cleveland Browns (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=cle) (2 sacks/0.5 hurries/2.5 total blown blocks)
The Eagles used a first-round pick to acquire Peters in the hopes that he'd be their left tackle of the future, but he was extremely erratic in 2009. Thomas is pretty clearly the best left tackle in football at this point, but no one knows it because he plays for one of the league's worst teams. He's the offensive Nnamdi Asomugha (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=4489).




Burgundy,

It appears they don't think Revis is better than Asomugha either...interesting....

[Pinkerton Security]

Thats fine. We still dropped the ball by not being able to retain him. I doubt he was any worse than our left side this past season.

this is true.

[HAMMER]

We need to move Wood back to center, make our first three picks, OT, NT, OG. Only then will I feel like we are on the right track. What will likely happen is we will draft Spiller or The Pickle, a LB and a WR. Especially if the Old Fart and Brandon get involved.

[better days]

this is true.

It is also true that the only way Peters would have even played as bad as he did last year for the Bills is if the Bills gave him at least as much money as Philly did.