• Eagles, Browns remain at Nos. 1 and 2: All five of the Eagles' starters are playing at a high level. Cleveland will likely be missing Wyatt Teller again in Week 8.
• Bengals up into top 25: The unit's recent improvement coincides with the offense as a whole finding its footing.
• Colts now sit at No. 32: The unit put Matt Ryan under pressure on 40% of dropbacks this season, and it'll have a new quarterback to protect in Week 8.
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min
Few things are more important to a team’s success than the quality of its offensive line. Disastrous lines, or even disastrous weak-link mismatches, can determine the outcome of games, while strong units give an incredible advantage to an offense.
This season, we will be keeping track of PFF’s offensive line rankings as well as highlighting the biggest weak-link player and their upcoming opponent to identify any obvious matchup advantage one way or the other.
Key:
Red text = weakest link
1. Philadelphia Eagles (No Change from Week 7)
Projected Week 8 Starters:
LT Jordan Mailata
LG Landon Dickerson
C Jason Kelce
RG Isaac Seumalo
RT Lane Johnson
- All five starters are operating at a high level, with none accounting for double-digit pressures after seven weeks of the season.
- Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce each have earned PFF pass-blocking grades above 80.0.
Upcoming Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
- The Steelers are still a different unit up front without T.J. Watt. Cameron Heyward is a force, but the rest of the defensive front is overmatched on paper against Philadelphia.
2. Cleveland Browns (No Change)
Projected Week 8 Starters:
LT Jedrick Wills Jr.
LG Joel Bitonio
C Ethan Pocic
RG Hjalte Froholdt
RT Jack Conklin
- Wyatt Teller missed Week 7 against Baltimore and will likely be out this week as well, and Hjalte Froholdt is a notable step down in quality.
- Froholdt gave up three pressures — including two sacks — against the Ravens.
Upcoming Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
- Trey Hendrickson leads the Bengals with 28 pressures, but in his only game against the Browns last season he managed just one pressure (a sack).
3. Baltimore Ravens (Up 1)
Projected Week 8 Starters:
LT Ronnie Stanley
LG Ben Powers
C Tyler Linderbaum
RG Kevin Zeitler
RT Morgan Moses
- Ronnie Stanley played 55-of-64 snaps on offense in Week 7 and allowed just two hurries despite being matched up with Myles Garrett for much of the day.
- No lineman allowed more than two pressures against the Browns.
Upcoming Opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- The Bucs are now surrendering 6.4 yards per rushing attempt, the second-worst figure in the NFL. They are also below league average as a pass-rushing unit.
4. Green Bay Packers (Up 1)
Projected Week 8 Starters:
LT David Bakhtiari
LG Elgton Jenkins
C Josh Myers
RG Jon Runyan
RT Yosh Nijman
- David Bakhtiari’s surgically repaired knee flared up again last week, and he subsequently missed the Packers' Week 7 game. Fourth-round rookie Zach Tom played in his stead, allowing no pressure.
- A re-shuffle saw Elgton Jenkins kick in to guard, where he earned the worst PFF game grade of his season. Jenkins has quality play at guard on his resume, and so we would expect him to be better this week.
Upcoming Opponent: Buffalo Bills
- The Bills lead the league in pressure rate (43.6%) while ranking last in blitz rate (13.7%). They field the best front four in football.
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