We are now through Week 3 of the 2019 NFL season, and it’s time to revisit PFF’s patented offensive line rankings. With new information – like losing starters to injury or young players making a leap in performance – comes new rankings for us at PFF. Let’s dive into the top performer so far for each offensive line around the league.
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1. Dallas Cowboys
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T La'el Collins, 91.6
The Cowboys leap-frogging the Eagles in these rankings is largely due to the performance of newly minted right tackle La’el Collins. He’s not only seen his play take the next step through the first three weeks, but he’s also the highest-graded offensive lineman in the NFL currently. After allowing 46 pressures last season, Collins has allowed only one this season.
2. Philadelphia Eagles
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Brandon Brooks, 87.5
What Eagles guard Brandon Brooks has been able to do after suffering a torn Achilles in their divisional loss to the Saints last January is nothing short of remarkable. He was given an 8-9 month recovery prognosis – the upper bound of which would have meant him coming back after the start of this season – and despite that has been the highest-graded guard in the league so far.
3. New Orleans Saints
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Ryan Ramczyk, 78.2
Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk has firmly placed himself in the conversation for not only the top right tackle in the NFL and also top tackle overall. His Week 1 shutout of J.J. Watt was easily the most impressive performance we’ve ever seen from an offensive lineman against the future Hall of Famer.
4. Indianapolis Colts
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Anthony Castonzo, 79.1
While Quenton Nelson grabs all the headlines and highlights for the Colts' offensive line, the man to his left continues to fly under-the-radar. Anthony Castonzo has consistently been one of the better left tackles in the league over his career and has only allowed four pressures on 111 pass-blocking snaps this season for a top-five grade among all tackles.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G David DeCastro, 74.2
The Steelers take a mini-tumble in the rankings after a slow start from many on the line. One guy that hasn’t started slowly, though, is right guard David DeCastro. The Bruce Matthews award winner from 2017, DeCastro currently has the highest pass-blocking grade among all guards in the league.
6. Tennessee Titans
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: C Ben Jones, 76.2
Center Ben Jones has been the anchor for the Tennessee line for the first few weeks of the season. His 76.2 overall grade currently ranks third among all centers in the NFL. The biggest surprise for Tennessee has been the relatively ineffective play of free agent signing Rodger Saffold, who has already allowed three sacks so far this season.
7. Green Bay Packers
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Bryan Bulaga, 73.0
While right tackle Bryan Bulaga is technically the highest-graded offensive lineman for the Packers, the most impressive performance has come from left guard Elgton Jenkins. After taking over at left guard for Lane Tayler, Jenkins has allowed only one pressure on 38 pass-blocking snaps for an 84.0 grade in that regard.
8. Chicago Bears
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Bobby Massie, 64.0
Both James Daniels and Cody Whitehair have taken to their new positions swimmingly along the Bears offensive line. Daniels, in particular, has thrived in pass protection, where he’s allowed only two hurries all season.
9. Baltimore Ravens
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Marshal Yanda, 81.5
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but even at 35 years young, right guard Marshal Yanda is dominating on the football field once again. He’s allowed only two pressures so far and has the third-highest grade among guards.
10. Los Angeles Rams
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Andrew Whitworth, 60.0
This Rams' offensive line ain’t the same one that was opening holes left and right for their backs the past couple of seasons. Left tackle Andrew Whitworth is still their highest-graded player, but even he has slowed down considerably. The nearly 38-year-old is on pace to allow 15 more pressures than he did in 2018.
11. Detroit Lions
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: C Frank Ragnow, 76.8
Putting last year’s first-rounder Frank Ragnow back at his more natural center position has worked wonders for the Detroit offensive line. He’s now the second highest-graded center in the league and has allowed six fewer pressures than he had at this same point last season.
12. New England Patriots
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: C Ted Karras, 69.8
Losing left tackle Isaiah Wynn looks like a monstrous blow to what was a potential top-five line in the NFL. Through the first two games, Wynn was their highest-graded offensive lineman and had allowed only one pressure on 45 pass-blocking snaps.
13. Kansas City Chiefs
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Mitchell Schwartz, 84.6
Mitchell Schwartz is making it look almost too easy at this point. He’s the second-highest graded tackle in football and has yet to allow a sack all season long. Even with his new extension, Schwartz still seems underpaid.
14. New York Giants
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Will Hernandez, 74.0
All the resources thrown at this unit are finally starting to pay off. The Giants now look like they have one of the best guard tandems in the NFL as Will Hernandez (2) and Kevin Zeitler (5) have combined to allow only seven pressures so far this season.
15. Denver Broncos
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Dalton Risner, 68.4
We still haven’t seen this line at full strength yet with right tackle Ja’Wuan James nursing an injury, but the play from rookie Dalton Risner has given Broncos fans hope of someday fielding a top-10 line. He’s currently the second highest-graded rookie offensive lineman in the NFL.
16. Carolina Panthers
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Taylor Moton, 66.7
While the left side of the line has had its issues, the right side has been rock-solid. Right tackle Taylor Moton (3) and right guard Trai Turner (4) have allowed only seven combined pressures on the season.
17. San Francisco 49ers
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Joe Staley, 74.0
With left tackle Joe Staley set to miss some time with a broken leg, the effective 49ers offensive line through the first few weeks looks in jeopardy. One of the bright spots though has been the guards as Mike Person has allowed only four pressures so far and Laken Tomlinson only one. This line needs to cut back on the penalties, though, as they have 12 already as a whole.
18. Buffalo Bills
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Quinton Spain, 69.4
One of the biggest things that the Bills' offensive line has been able to do over the course of the offseason is cut out the weak links. Left guard Quinton Spain leads the unit with a 69.4 overall grade, but even their lowest graded player in Ty Nsehke is still earning a serviceable 58.9 overall grade.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Ali Marpet, 76.1
After a disastrous start to his Bucs career last season, center Ryan Jensen has looked well worth the money they paid him so far this season. He’s allowed all of two hurries through the first three games.
20. Washington Redskins
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Brandon Scherff, 74.3
Washington could obviously use Trent Williams badly at this point, but one of the more underrated storylines for the Redskins has been the renewed competency of Donald Penn. The former Pro-Bowl caliber tackle had his career torpedoed by a switch to right tackle in Oakland but has looked much more comfortable back on the left side this season with eight pressures allowed so far.
21. Jacksonville Jaguars
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: C Brandon Linder, 66.1
One thing keeping the Jags from going higher in these rankings is a maddening penalty problem that’s seen them flagged 13 times so far – the most of any line in the NFL.
22. Cleveland Browns
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Joel Bitonio, 82.8
While the tackle duo in Cleveland has certainly weighed on Baker Mayfield’s mind, the interior has still been lights out. Left guard Joel Bitonio is once again grading out among the games elite, as his 86.2 run-blocking grade leads all guards.
23. Seattle Seahawks
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G DJ Fluker, 63.3
There’s unfortunately not much notable to write home about so far with this Seahawks offensive line. D.J. Fluker is the highest-graded of the bunch, but at only 63.3 overall. Right tackle Germain Ifedi continues to be a liability with 13 pressures allowed so far.
24. Minnesota Vikings
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Brian O'Neill, 74.2
We’ve highlighted the struggles of this year’s first-rounder Garrett Bradbury in depth here at PFF already, but what has been swept under the rug a bit has been the outstanding play of last year’s second-rounder Brian O’Neill. He’s only allowed two pressures on the season and has a team-leading 72.6 run-blocking grade, as well.
25. Oakland Raiders
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Trent Brown, 75.1
It’s still been bad in Oakland, but they were decidedly less bad with Richie Incognito back on the field this past week. Incognito’s 85.3 single-game grade against the Vikings in Week 3 ranked sixth among guards so far this season.
26. New York Jets
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Kelechi Osemele, 57.6
The Jets don’t have a single starter currently grading over 60.0 overall and already have committed 12 penalties so far this season. Kelechi Osemele has at least been a bit of an upgrade at left guard in pass protection with only four pressures allowed through three weeks.
27. Atlanta Falcons
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: C Alex Mack, 61.0
The holes simply haven’t been there, as the Falcons own the seventh-lowest team run-blocking grade so far this season. While Alex Mack has been their highest-graded so far, even he has taken a massive step back with only a 61.0 overall grade.
28. Houston Texans
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: C Nick Martin, 70.2
We’re only three games in, but the Texans look far from a total liability at this point. Laremy Tunsil has been a stalwart with a 75.3 pass-blocking grade so far and the line had a different feel this past week with Max Scharping in the lineup at left guard. He earned a 64.7 overall grade in his first start there after Tytus Howard struggled earlier in the season.
29. Los Angeles Chargers
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G Michael Schofield III, 65.3
One of the biggest surprises for the Chargers this season has been the turnaround from left guard Dan Feeney. After earning grades in the 40s in both run and pass blocking last year, Feeney is at least in the 60s in both regards this season.
30. Arizona Cardinals
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: G JR Sweezy, 64.1
If there is any silver lining for Arizona, it’s that Justin Pugh looks like the player we saw early on in his career with the Giants before injuries struck. Through three games, he’s earned an 80.1 pass-blocking grade after being well below 65.0 in that regard his past two injury-plagued seasons.
31. Cincinnati Bengals
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: C Trey Hopkins, 75.5
It sounded like bad news for Bengals fans when Trey Hopkins beat out last year’s first-rounder Billy Price for the center job in training camp, but as it turns out, Hopkins is far and away the best player on their line. He’s earned a 75.5 overall grade so far, good enough for fourth among all centers in the NFL.
32. Miami Dolphins
Highest-Graded Offensive Lineman: T Jesse Davis, 61.0
The Dolphins currently own the lowest-graded pass-blocking line in the NFL as well as the lowest graded run-blocking line in the league. Nine players have seen at least 40 snaps so far, and of those, only three have grades above 50.0 and one above 60.0 (Jesse Davis, 61.0). It’s all-time bad.
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