AFC North Offensive Lines: Strong Offensive Line Play Sets Tone

Posted by Dave Kratzke as Fantasy Football Strategy, NFL Commentary, NFL News

Running the ball, protecting the quarterback and controlling the clock are critical elements of any successful offensive line, and ultimately, any successful offensive. That even includes fantasy football offenses. You don’t just need to draft a good running back, you need to have the horses up front blocking for him. If you want further proof, consider Cleveland’s success last season after signing free agent guard Eric Steinbach and drafting Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas with its first-round pick. The strong line play helped Jamal Lewis rebuild his career. Because of the grind-it-out approach of all AFC North teams, this might be the most competitive group of offensive lines in the conference. Below is the way I see it.

Cleveland Browns (1st in AFC North, 4th in Conference)
As stated above, with Thomas and Steinbach leading the way, this above average group should dominate for years to come.

LT Joe Thomas
LG Eric Steinbach
C Hank Fraley
RG Rex Hadnot
RT Kevin Shaffer

Pittsburgh Steelers (2nd in AFC North, 7th in Conference)
Losing guard Alan Faneca in free agency hurts, but Pittsburgh has a knack for knowing when to part with veterans. The smart money is on this blue-collar team finding a way to grind it out on the ground.

LT Marvel Smith
LG Chris Kemoeatu
C Justin Hartwig
RG Kendall Simmons
RT Willie Colon

Cincinnati Bengals (3rd in AFC North, 10th in Conference)
Willie Anderson and Levi Jones give this unit strong play from the tackles, but the middle of the line is average at best as Cincinnati rarely generates a push up the middle.

LT Levi Jones
LG Andrew Whitworth
C Eric Ghiaciuc
RG Bobbie Williams
RT Willie Anderson

Baltimore Ravens (4th in AFC North, 11th in Conference)
The only thing exciting about this group was stud tackle Jonathan Odgen, who just retired last week. Is there anybody on the roster ready to lead this group like Odgen did? Time will tell.

LT Jared Gaither or Adam Terry
LG Jason Brown
C Chris Chester
RG Ben Grubbs
RT Marshal Yanda

We are half way through the series in which we go division by division looking at and ranking the most overlooked factor in the success of your fantasy football squad, the offensive line. So you might want to keep an eye out over the next few weeks - which by the way, I have made it easy for you to do because…

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7 Responses

TJI

July 4th, 2008 at
1

What’s up, Goat? Looks like you’re still doing top notch work. Breaking down offensive lines? That’s thorough. Awesome stuff. We can’t compete, but we relaunched anyway for ‘08. We’ll be following closely.
Corey Koehler

July 4th, 2008 at
2

Thanks TJI,

Good to have you back!

Corey
Ted

July 7th, 2008 at
3

The Bengals should be up one spot. Not just based on the fact that they were in the top 3 in fewest sacks per pass last year, but also based on their depth. When you have Stacy Andrews (and you should have a note here somewhere since he could be starting over Whitworth, no one knows yet) as your number one backup (or Whitworth), its a damn good line. Yes, run blocking could be better, but its not bad enough to drop us to #3 in the conference.
Corey Koehler

July 9th, 2008 at
4

Thanks Ted,

You make a good point. Consider it noted. Although the run blocking is a BIG negative and perhaps the reason Dave put them it that spot.

Thanks for stopping. Have a good one.
Corey
Ted

July 9th, 2008 at
5

And the pass blocking of the Steelers line is not a negative? Last year they eneded up in a tie for 7th in terms of giving up the most sacks in the league. And thats with a QB in Big Ben that is ridiculously good at moving away from pressure. Pass blocking should be at least as important as run blocking, if not more. Thats why the left OT is now one of the higest paid positions in the game. And we are more of a pass focused offense than the steelers, so it would make sense that our line is not as good at run blocking.

I’m sorry, I know I am being annoying, I just dont agree with the assesment and I think the Bengals have an extremely underated O-line. The vast majority of fans that come into Cincy will try and tell me that our O-line sucks when they know nothing about it, and it has just become a bit of a sore spot for me.
Corey Koehler

July 10th, 2008 at
6

Thanks again Ted,

Not a problem. Next time I need a little Bengals analysis I know who to call.

Corey
NFC South Offensive Lines: Looking For A Few Good Linemen | NationalSportsReview.com

July 25th, 2008 at
7

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