Preseason Musings: Why the quality of O-line play in the NFL is getting worse

TAMPA, Fla. -- Watching the putrid offensive line play of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers here Saturday night, with their franchise rookie passer getting sacked twice and throwing a pressure-induced pick on his first three possessions, the question many are asking around the league popped up again:

What the heck has happened to the line play in the NFL?

Throughout training camp and these mundane preseason games, much of the constant talk around the league has been about poor offensive line play, and the Bucs played that part well in their blowout loss to the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night. Tampa Bay is starting two rookies, and the right tackle who played against the Browns is a fill-in for down starter Demar Dotson and newcomer Gosder Cherilus, but even so it was a terrible showing.

They are not alone. Whether it's a lack of game planning to offset the blitzing defenses in some instances, or just flat-out bad play by a position group that seems to get worse by the year, NFL quarterbacks have mostly spent the summer with opponents in their face, or dumping them to the ground.

If your team has a good offensive line -- that's you, Dallas and a select handful of others -- consider it a great fortune. They are rare and tough to find. Many teams have major issues, including several good teams like the Seattle Seahawks.

The question is why?

To help answer it, I reached out to two former NFL offensive linemen I respect greatly. One is former center/guard LeCharles Bentley, who now trains linemen in the offseason at his O-Line Performance facility in Arizona. The other is former Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Tony Boselli, who should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as one of the best tackles I've seen.

One aspect both mentioned was the college game. With so many spread offenses now, players are not prepared to play on an NFL line. The growth period is much greater than it used to be. The ability to put the hand in the dirt, come out of a stance and run block is becoming a lost art.

"Colleges are sending more mentally, technically and physically unprepared players to the NFL," Bentley said. “Pro coaches are then expected to fix issues that have been reinforced over the last four or five years of a kid’s career."

That, in turn, leads to another problem, Bentley said.

"Offensive line coaches are so overwhelmed with responsibilities that even the most-seasoned coaches are having a hard time managing the coaching and teaching,” he said. "Offenses are getting more schematically demanding that coaches are spending most of their time getting caught up on X's and O's and lose focus on the nuances of playing the position. Teams would be better off hiring a coach and a skills coach who can focus solely on the craft. That’s supposed to be the assistant’s job, but many assistants are unqualified and too focused cultivating their egos and not the player’s skills. What we see now is a compounding effect. It’s really not fair to the O-line coaches. There are some good coaches who just don’t have the time they need."

The limits on practice time and training camp also plays a big part in the stunted growth of the players.

“Offensive line is the most technical position there is, and it’s a position of repetition,” Boselli said. “The guy who plays now gets half the reps that I got in training camp. Maybe even less. So you have a position that isn’t coached pro-style in college and you ask the guys in the pros to fix it and they don’t have the time to teach it. There is limited time on the field. They have to put in the scheme and the offense and still try and teach the nuances needed to play the position. The natural evolution is that it is not as good as it once was.”

In the three drafts from 2012-2014, there were 18 offensive linemen taken in the first round, including eight in the top 10 of those drafts. None of those players taken in the top 10 has been to a Pro Bowl, and only three of the 18 have played in one.

Moreover, many of those top-10 tackles have struggled, including Minnesota’s Matt Kalil, Kansas City’s Eric Fisher and Jacksonville’s Luke Joeckel. It used to be a top-10 tackle was a pretty sure thing. Not anymore.

I talked with one general manager last week who said now teams hope to simply get a guy who can just be middle of the road at left tackle. It’s not so much about elite, but more about survival.

The flip side Saturday night was the Browns' line. It is one of the better units in the league, and the left side, manned by tackle Joe Thomas and guard Joel Bitonio, is arguably the best side in the NFL. But even on a good line, there are issues. Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz has had his troubles.

It’s not like teams can just replace a starter with a backup. They’re even worse.

“The biggest drop-off of all position, maybe in all of sports, between starter and backup is at offensive line,” Bentley said.

Translation: What a team has starting now is pretty much the only option.

So quarterbacks get ready to get the ball out quick or face the consequences. The five guys up front on most teams might not have your back after all.

Another sign the preseason is too long?

The preseason crowds grow worse by the year. Even in Week 3 of the preseason, considered the dress rehearsal and best week of the four, there were tons of empty seats. In Tampa, there couldn’t have been 35,000 for the Bucs-Browns. In St. Louis, pretty much the same. The preseason is really becoming tiring to all -- especially the fans.

There's bigger fish fry, no?

So now the NFL might look into the glove issues. What's next? Are we serious? Like we discussed on our podcast last week, take more stock of the shoes -- not the gloves.

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