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.
More preseason musings:
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| The Washington Redskins' circus seems to be in full swing with the quarterback mess. But anybody who thinks Kirk Cousins is the long-term answer is nuts. Once Robert Griffin III is cleared to play after his concussion issues, he should be the starter. I know the Redskins plan to start Cousins, but that makes no sense. He isn't that good. They have to find out if RGIII can play at all. If he can't, move on next year. But neither Cousins nor Colt McCoy is the answer. That talk of trading Cousins for a first-year pick a couple of years ago is now laughable after he played himself out of that chance. He was just OK against the Ravens Saturday night. He's a backup at best. What's the point of playing him? | |
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| It takes passers and pass rushers to win in the NFL. If the preseason is an indication, the Miami Dolphins should be fine in both areas. With the addition of Ndamukong Suh up front, the Miami defensive line should be one of the best in the league. With Olivier Vernon and Cameron Wake playing on the outside, the Dolphins have a nice group to get after the quarterback. But the most impressive part of the preseason for Miami has been the continued growth of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. He completed over 80 percent of his passes and had a passer rating of 121.8 in the preseason. That's pretty impressive. If he can come close to that in the regular season, the Dolphins will be a playoff team. The one concern, like so many teams, is the line in front of him. Left tackle Brandon Albert hasn't played all preseason coming back from an ACL injury, and the guard play is average. | |
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| Detroit's Golden Tate might be the best No. 2 receiver in the NFL. Tate caught a 62-yard touchdown pass against the Jaguars last Friday night and also had a nice move after catching a pass earlier in the game. With Calvin Johnson out last year, Tate did some really good things as the Lions' top receiver. With Johnson on the field, Tate is relegated to playing second fiddle to Johnson. But it's clear that all those who said Seattle didn't have a good receiver when he was there were way off base. Tate is perfect for Matthew Stafford and company. In Seattle, he was an appendage to a running offense and the limited passing attack. | |
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| The Jaguars have pass-rush problems. For all the optimism about quarterback Blake Bortles and his growth, the pass rush is really bad. And that was before end Andre Branch injured a knee against the Lions. They will have to scheme up things just to get close to the 45 sacks they had in 2014. Think about it. Their best pass rushers are a 36-year-old end (Chris Clemons) who practiced little with the team since the 2014 season ended and a defensive tackle (Sen'Derrick Marks) coming off major ACL surgery. The loss off first-round pick Dante Fowler to a knee injury in May will really impact this team. Bortles better be good. They might be in a lot of shootouts. | |
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| I still think the Houston Texans made a major blunder by not taking Bortles in the 2014 draft. There's a chance the Texans could fall to the bottom of this division in a year or two because of the quarterback spot. The Jaguars have Bortles, the Titans have Marcus Mariota and the Colts have Andrew Luck. The Texans have Brian Hoyer. That's trouble. | |
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| Mariota is a quiet, seemingly easy-going guy, but the Titans had to love seeing him bounce up and not take too kindly to Justin Houston standing over him following a sack Friday night. Mariota isn't going to be pushed around, just because he's considered a nice guy. Titans staffers say that quiet, easy-going approach isn't always the way Mariota conducts himself. "That's just what he shows you guys," one team source said. "He loosens up more than you know." | |
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| The move by the Broncos to sign veteran guard Evan Mathis made a lot of sense. He will take over for rookie Max Garcia, who won the starting left guard spot in camp. The Broncos needed some veteran help on what is a young line. Rookie Ty Sambrailo is set to be the left tackle, while center Max Paradis has never taken a snap in a regular-season game. Mathis is 33, but he fits with what the Broncos want to do on offense, which is zone block in Gary Kubiak's scheme. | |
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| The Eagles have to be thrilled with the play of quarterback Sam Bradford against the Packers Saturday night. He was sensational. I think Bradford is a great fit in the Chip Kelly offense. He was 10-for-10 with three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 156.7 against the Packers. | |
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| Alex Smith looked good against the Titans. The addition of Jeremy Maclin looks good so far. He had seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Yes, a receiver catching a touchdown pass for the Chiefs. Unreal. | |
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| I hate when good players go down for the year, and that's exactly what happened to Cowboys corner Orlando Scandrick last week. The feisty corner tore his ACL, MCL and is lost for the year. That will put a lot of pressure on Morris Claiborne and Tyler Patmon to step up their games. The improved pass rush could help cover up the loss of Scandrick, but he is a good player for a secondary that needs him. | |
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| Tampa Bay has a real find in fourth-round rookie Kwon Alexander. Penciled in already as the starting middle linebacker, he can fly to the football. And he packs quite a punch. Alexander blasted Browns quarterback Josh McCown in Saturday's game. He covered a ton of ground on that play to get to the quarterback. With Lavonte David and Alexander on the field on all downs, the Bucs have great speed at linebacker. That can close a lot of holes on a defense, much like the Seattle linebackers do for that unit. | |
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| Good to see NaVorro Bowman back making plays for the 49ers. He looks like the pre-injury Bowman. He suffered a torn ACL in the NFC Championship Game in January of 2014, missed all of last season, but now looks back to his pre-injury ways. He had two sacks and seemed to be everywhere against the Broncos. | |
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| The Seattle offense sure hasn't looked good so far in the preseason. That line could be a season-long issue, even worse than the past couple of seasons. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said he's not concerned with the poor play by the offense so far. He should be. | |
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| Julio Jones getting a long-term deal was a no-brainer. Next up: A.J. Green of the Bengals. | |
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| Khalil Mack showed the Arizona Cardinals and the rest of the NFL that he is poised for a big season. Mack spent the night in the backfield against Arizona, getting two sacks and dominating most of his time on the field. | |