LE's are generally larger b/c RT's are bigger. For some reason most teams run to the right. This could be because more people are right handed and it allows the RB to stiff arm more(this is just a guess). So a LE needs to have more mass to take on a larger blocker(just like a SAM LB will be bigger than a WILL LB to take on a TE).
From what I've been taught, most QBs are right handed thus running to the right allows them to be in the best position to make a throwing attempt ( and, by consequence, possibly throw the ball away if needed) should the running play break down for whatever reason.
I'm left handed. Taking a snap and a RB running to the right. My throwing hand is now facing the O line upon handoff. If the play breaks down, I have to swivel around to make a throw. Maybe that takes a second, but it's probably a second way too long. Also the positioning impacts my footwork in the throwing motion. Show me a QB who makes a really crappy throw and I'll show you a guy with poor footwork most of the time. Lots of talented southpaws are athletic enough to play shortstop or third base, but the second it takes to swivel the body around to make a throw is too long. On the flip side, lefties make good first basemen because their glove hand is closer to the rest of the infield. Where a right handed first baseman has to get to the bag and swivel around ( thus removing his view of the play in motion, even for a second), the lefty can lock on and approach the bag and take the throw in a more fluid manner.
I'm going to keep disagreeing with this. A right handed QB can play fake to a left side of the OL run play with his right hand and then set up. He doesn't need to flip....it's only a 45 degree turn (if that). The other reason is b/c of bootleg opportunities. QB's bootleg out of the play fake opposite their dominant hand and then they are rolling to their preferred side. But actually most QB's are proficient rolling both ways.
Also going to your right, flipped around, is going to the defenses left. For most right handed people, going to their left is not a natural set of motions and reactions. ( Consider basketball, young players have to be specifically taught and conditioned to go to their left side and use their left hand)
As for O lines and whether they will flip flop, couple of factors in play there.
1) Your backup may not be the same "handedness" as your starter. To some degree, the plays called depend on the strength/skill set of the personnel on the field. Going to your backup ( generally less talented and capable in most cases) already forces the entire offense to break it's rhythm and adjust to even more potential plays being called. Adding the stress of having to flip flop could be seen as unneeded and extreme. Having your lefty starter break down for a a quarter, putting in a right handed backup and then having the southpaw start the fourth quarter is asking a lot of your O line. There is a reason why there is no such thing as a "relief QB" ( i.e. in terms of how MLB uses relievers) in the NFL.
This makes little sense to me. OL aren't shooting a basketball or throwing or writing an essay...all things that normally only people can do with a dominant hand. They are blocking, punching, grabbing. While some are more used to one way than another...it is due to practice more than handedness. "Well this OT has the perfect athletic build and toughness to play LT....but he is the wrong handedness so he has to play RT???" doesn't make sense.
2) More than any other football unit, the O line thrives on consistency and continuity. Find a successful NFL offense and typically you will find an O line that has a core unit of players that have been together for a while ( in NFL standards, that's two or three seasons) Again footwork can make you or kill you in football. Changing routine and patterns, esp under duress, is not intuitive ( consider someone breaking their strong side arm and have it casted up, it takes adjustment to become proficient with the off side hand) If a defensive end blows his assignment, the rest of his defense can try to compensate and hide his mistake or weakness, that's much harder on the O line, where a weak link will doom the entire unit as a whole.
Good point here...but this has nothing to do with right or left. Plus most backups can play multiple positions...so they can play LG/C/RG or LT/RT.
3) This is something SI's Ross Tucker brings up ( a bit to salve his own ego as well I suppose) that the talent drop off from elite to "starter quality" in the NFL isn't very wide in most cases. That the margin of error is extremely slim and that an elite player might make a difference in a select few number of plays ( i.e. a VORP concept) compared to the average starter. Since the NFL season is short and there are a limited number of snaps per game, only a few plays take a more pronounced effect in terms of the outcome of games. The drop off from a right to a left tackle in terms of talent and skill set might not as wide for most teams ( Harris Barton was great for Steve Young, as was Steve Wallace for Joe Montana, both were great and very underrated linemen )
In terms of lefty versus righty, I think the natural inclination is for a right handed QB to generally be more accurate as thus more generally desirable. We live in a right handed world, most of our actions, interactions, with devices, machines, systems, etc, are generally developed for right handed people. ( I ended up with a leftover SA80 in Honduras in the 80's, I was forced to use it right handed, I became proficient enough when I was able to switch out to a FNFAL, I was as effective from the right side as well as left ) I think the general muscle memory for lefties is often "right centric" in many cases. It's part of the reason why I think left handed pitchers tend to be so erratic in terms of accuracy.
