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Say you like barbeque ribs. Stay with me here, I figured a food analogy would be entirely appropriate for an article about guys who generally go three spins on the scale and strike fear into the hearts of any “all you can eat” buffet owner in their vicinity.
Okay, back to the ribs. You love yourself some ribs, but it’s a little too much work to slow cook those baby backs the way they need to be cooked. So in this great big world of ours you have some options. You can drive yourself to the nearest barbeque shack, where they’ve already done the slow cooking for you. Or you can decide you can live without the ribs and settle for a pack of ramen noodles.
Hey, if you’re not having ribs it really doesn’t matter what the alternative is, right?
Anyway, this article is a little bit like visiting Famous Dave’s or Sonny Bryan’s or Smokin’ Joe’s or insert the name of your favorite barbeque rib joint here. If you want to do the slow cooking yourself—and I am certainly doing nothing to dissuade you from doing so—you can pore over my offensive line analysis for each team. You’ll learn the names of the big fellas up front, the strengths (and weaknesses) of the line, and what it means for each squad’s fantasy players.
And if you don’t feel up to the task of plowing through the 21,000 words of info provided in these team-by-team breakdowns—like good barbeque, offensive line analysis can be a time-consuming process—pull around to the drive through window for an express helping of the good stuff. We’ll even throw in the wet wipes.
Before you dive in, a quick word on the rankings. Rather than grade on a curve—and have you scared off from drafting, say, Kevin Smith because the Lions would likely fall into the D range on the bell—you may notice a larger share of Bs and Cs. I use the grade to reflect each line’s ability to help its fantasy performers in that area. So for example, the Panthers get a B for their rush grade because they’ll help Jonathan Stewart or DeAngelo Williams find open space; they get a C- because in my opinion they’re a slightly below average pass protection unit, which may or may not be why Jake Delhomme has missed time with injuries each of the past two seasons.
My rankings are subjective, so I’m sure you’ll have quibbles. However, note that they’re based on as much research as I could put my hands on. That includes plenty of data from the Football Outsiders, one of the few entities out there that attempts to quantify the impact of line play.
Enough said; you’re getting hungry. Here’s your snack-sized portion of The Huddle’s offensive line analysis. For the entire buffet, feel free to click on the divisional links at the top of the page or the team links below.
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