Let's Talk O-lines (1 Viewer)

[Lord Fantasy]

Last year I slept on Thomas Jones because I wasn't savvy enough to pay attention to significant upgrades in the Jets' offensive line. (I did, however, take a $1 flyer on DeAngelo Williams because of a comment Bloom made about Carolina drafting "road grader" Jeff Otah. So that turned out nice.)

This year I want to better educate myself and so I'm throwing it out to the sharks:

Which team's running game (regardless of who's carrying the rock) improves this year thanks to rookies, free agency, coaching changes, or simply more time to develop?

 

[sho nuff]

hoping GB...but unsure.

I like Spitz over Wells at center.

Sitton was going to likely start last year but got hurt.

Clifton's knees hopefully holding up this year better than last.

But a big ? at RT right now.

I think with even slight improvement the run game should improve with Grant healthier this year.

The Bears could be if all of their question marks pan out.

I think Philly's line was pretty good already...but they made nice moves to make it even better.

 

[gump]

I've seen a lot of talk on this board about the Dolphins and the investments they made in the OL this offseason.

 

[Spike]

Jax, with their 2 1st round picks being OTs?

Philly and Miami, as already mentioned.

St. Louis? (Yes, it's easy to bash them.)

 

[sho nuff]

Forgot about Jax. They did address it...but will 2 rookies at OT be able to really handle it?

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

Jacksonville's a no brainer given all the injuries they had last year. They would be hard pressed not to be better. They also signed Tra Thomas and used their first two picks on Eugene Monroe and Ebben Britton.

The Bears should definitely be better. If Pace can play at a decent level and Chris Williams is the player he was projected to be they could be much better.

 

[BoulderBob]

Jacksonville's a no brainer given all the injuries they had last year. They would be hard pressed not to be better. They also signed Tra Thomas and used their first two picks on Eugene Monroe and Ebben Britton. The Bears should definitely be better. If Pace can play at a decent level and Chris Williams is the player he was projected to be they could be much better.

 

[Ray_T]

Forgot about Jax. They did address it...but will 2 rookies at OT be able to really handle it?

I agree. It may be a tall order to expect them both to be highly productive as rookies.However, I'd bet you will see a significant improvement by the end of the year or early next year.

 

[tdmills]

Jacksonville's a no brainer given all the injuries they had last year. They would be hard pressed not to be better. They also signed Tra Thomas and used their first two picks on Eugene Monroe and Ebben Britton. The Bears should definitely be better. If Pace can play at a decent level and Chris Williams is the player he was projected to be they could be much better.

I agree with this.Jax being healthy on the interior along with fresh athletic OT's and Thomas will be a huge help to Garrard and MJD.

 

[big0mar]

Miami. The interior of their OL last year was Ndukwe-Satele-Alleman. This year it will be Smiley-Grove-Thomas.

Thomas is dealing with an injury, but word on the street is the Dolphins have been talking to Pete Kendall.

Not to mention they have two of the best tackles in the NFL, Long and Carey.

Only issue with Miami is RBBC. I don't think Ronnie Brown is going to get more than 15 carries per game.

 

[Ray_T]

Miami. The interior of their OL last year was Ndukwe-Satele-Alleman. This year it will be Smiley-Grove-Thomas.Thomas is dealing with an injury, but word on the street is the Dolphins have been talking to Pete Kendall. Not to mention they have two of the best tackles in the NFL, Long and Carey.Only issue with Miami is RBBC. I don't think Ronnie Brown is going to get more than 15 carries per game.

I disagree. I think he will get more.and if they sign Kendall, I'd bet money he gets at least 20 carries a game.

 

[big0mar]

Miami. The interior of their OL last year was Ndukwe-Satele-Alleman. This year it will be Smiley-Grove-Thomas.Thomas is dealing with an injury, but word on the street is the Dolphins have been talking to Pete Kendall. Not to mention they have two of the best tackles in the NFL, Long and Carey.Only issue with Miami is RBBC. I don't think Ronnie Brown is going to get more than 15 carries per game.

I disagree. I think he will get more.and if they sign Kendall, I'd bet money he gets at least 20 carries a game.

Has a Tony Sparano/Bill Parcells team ever done that? When they had Barber and Julius Jones, Jones got more carries, even though it was clear Barber was the better back. I don't think you will see that team feature one running back.

 

[Jman]

May be the homer in me talking, but the Seahawks with a whole year of Solari's coaching and some good health (crosssing fingers for Walter Jones) could see a dramatic improvement in o-line play. Couple that with the fact that Solari is being allowed to implement HIS schemes and fully commit to zone blocking, the Hawks RBs may end up with some decent numbers. Albeit in a RBBC approach with Duckett vulturing a good % of the goal line TDs.

 

[RC94]

JAX was the first to come to mind for me. Health and new, quality players should help a lot.

 

[Matt Waldman]

Miami. The interior of their OL last year was Ndukwe-Satele-Alleman. This year it will be Smiley-Grove-Thomas.Thomas is dealing with an injury, but word on the street is the Dolphins have been talking to Pete Kendall. Not to mention they have two of the best tackles in the NFL, Long and Carey.Only issue with Miami is RBBC. I don't think Ronnie Brown is going to get more than 15 carries per game.

I disagree. I think he will get more.and if they sign Kendall, I'd bet money he gets at least 20 carries a game.

Has a Tony Sparano/Bill Parcells team ever done that? When they had Barber and Julius Jones, Jones got more carries, even though it was clear Barber was the better back. I don't think you will see that team feature one running back.

Since Tony Sparano has coached exactly one season in the NFL, I can only go off what Bill Parcells has historically done:New York Giants? Ottis Anderson and Joe Morris were workhorses. New England? Curtis Martin was a workhorse. New York Jets? He specifically brought Curtis Martin over to be the workhorse.Dallas? He split time with the two backs, but Barber was a Parcells pick. Jones was a Jones pick. I'm not sure what the real deal was here. All I know is the 4th round pick of Parcells out-played micro-manager Jones' 2nd round pick. Miami? Ronnie Brown was coming off a torn ACL. I'd say if Brown proves he's ready, history leans more towards a 15-18 carry per game load for Ronnie Brown. That's enough to qualify as the lead back and bordering on workhorse stats. I agree Miami, but I've written about that one.

 

[tdmills]

Miami. The interior of their OL last year was Ndukwe-Satele-Alleman. This year it will be Smiley-Grove-Thomas.Thomas is dealing with an injury, but word on the street is the Dolphins have been talking to Pete Kendall. Not to mention they have two of the best tackles in the NFL, Long and Carey.Only issue with Miami is RBBC. I don't think Ronnie Brown is going to get more than 15 carries per game.

I disagree. I think he will get more.and if they sign Kendall, I'd bet money he gets at least 20 carries a game.

Has a Tony Sparano/Bill Parcells team ever done that? When they had Barber and Julius Jones, Jones got more carries, even though it was clear Barber was the better back. I don't think you will see that team feature one running back.

Since Tony Sparano has coached exactly one season in the NFL, I can only go off what Bill Parcells has historically done:New York Giants? Ottis Anderson and Joe Morris were workhorses. New England? Curtis Martin was a workhorse. New York Jets? He specifically brought Curtis Martin over to be the workhorse.Dallas? He split time with the two backs, but Barber was a Parcells pick. Jones was a Jones pick. I'm not sure what the real deal was here. All I know is the 4th round pick of Parcells out-played micro-manager Jones' 2nd round pick. Miami? Ronnie Brown was coming off a torn ACL. I'd say if Brown proves he's ready, history leans more towards a 15-18 carry per game load for Ronnie Brown. That's enough to qualify as the lead back and bordering on workhorse stats. I agree Miami, but I've written about that one.

I continue to wonder why people base the Dolphins off of Parcells. I see what you are saying in that Sparano only has one season under his belt. But Bill isn't coaching.If you look at BB, Romeo Crennel didn't run the same offense, Mangini didn't.What about Andy Ried's offense vs Brad Childress?But on the flip side you have the shanny to kubiak, etc.I just think it is a useless statement to include Parcells.

 

[encaitar]

Jacksonville is pretty obvious given the two first round picks and the injuries last year.

St. Louis got two great linemen this offseason(Brown and Jason Smith) which along with Greco should be a solid nucleus. If Alex Barron and Incognito could learn to stay on their side of the ball then this line could improve drastically.

Finally, the Bears need Chris Williams to realize his potential, but with Pace they should already be improved.

So, it appears that Forte, MJD, and SJax should all have better room to work this year.

 

[Lord Fantasy]

Appreciate the insights, gentlemen. I was hoping someone would call out Detroit or Oakland or some team that people are expecting to suck.

 

[FunkyPlutos]

Homer here, but I think that the Vikings will be better. Birk was kind of weak last year (I know many are saying the loss will hurt them - I believe the opposite), and Loadholt at RT should be an improvement.

 

[JDub15]

Lines that will improve significantly this year:

Rams - Additions of J.Brown and J.Smith will really turn this unit around

Miami - They should be healthier this year and J.Grove fits much better in their scheme than former center Samson Satele

Jags - Healthy, infused with talent from the two rookie tackles and T.Thomas

Raiders - They finally don't have a black hole at LT, you also have to consider Samson Satele an upgrade at center since he fits their ZBS better than J.Grove did



Lines that might under perform this year:

NYG - They have all been healthy for 2 seasons in a row, there's a good chance they will suffer some injury attrition this year

Bears - Can Orlando Pace really stay healthy? I don't think so.

Cards - None of their starters missed a game last year, if someone gets injured they have little depth to speak of.

 

[craxie]

not the sexiest improvement, but i expect charger's o-line to be significantly betterit had been one of the top groups before last year and the only difference was injuries and age and inexperience. it would be very easy for them to bounce back to top formon the injury front, McNeill and Hardwick (two pro-bowlers) are finally healthy, both were severely hampered by injuries last yearon the age front, Goff is gone. i don't think people realize how bad he had gotten. Vasquez will have to fight off Forney to be his replacement but early reviews out of TC have been absolutely stellaron the inexperience front, last year saw the departure of perennial pro-bowler Lorenzo Neal and the arrival of Tolbert/HesterEarly on it was apparent that Hester had no clue what he was doing out there, often blocking the wrong man or no man at all. However at the end of the season it seemed like it was finally coming together and he was becoming at least a tolerable blocker.not directly related to the o-line, but here's Norv's comment on LT today

L.T. is going to end up with enough carries to be a contender for the rushing title. And I think that's when he's at his best.

 

[DawgPoundNJ]

As a Browns homer, I'm excited about Mangini's improvements to the Browns' O-Line.

Alex Mack is a heady center not unlike Nick Mangold, and he'll help contain Haloti Ngata and Casey Hampton. Joe Thomas should hit his prime, Steinbach is above average, and the line is loaded with depth in St. Clair, Pork Chop Womack, Rex Hadnot, Ryan Tucker, Seth McKinney, and Hank Fraley.

Combine that, a QB situation that lends itself to a heavy run to pass ratio, and the 8th easiest schedule in the league, and I expect a nice season out of Lewis and Harrison. Harrison will be the sleeper with the Leon Washington role.

 

[VonRomig]

Most improved O-line: Eagles.

Von