Offensive Linemen, the Best of
This is an attempt to look over the PFL and highlight the top 10% of the players at each of the positions. There are I’m sure many different ways to do this including stats-based metrics. However, I would prefer to do this based on attributes and based on attributes that I prefer. This means two things, one that the players in this ranking may not have the stats to match and two. The players in this ranking will have the attributes that I prefer not necessarily the attributes that everyone else prefers. This doesn’t mean anyone else is necessarily wrong. It’s just based on how I value players. I also am looking for the most part at attributes, not age. Age may be a tiebreaker or itself like an attribute in the sense that they have higher upside, but I’ll be looking at all players regardless of their age. The same basic idea with their contracts some players have huge contracts and while that may be a small factor in this, it will not be a significant factor. Since I’m primarily looking at the physical attributes.
For this particular article on offensive linemen, I’m gonna break it down with three sub positions. The first position is offensive tackle. The second position is offensive Guard and the third position is center. According to the fifth system tool on the website, there are 149 offensive tackles. So I will be highlighting the top 15 again according to my criteria.
Speaking of criteria, here are the basic attribute thresholds that need to be reached to be considered elite:
55 SPD | 85 STR | 60 AWR | 65 ACC | 80 PBK | 80 RBK
Offensive Tackles
#1- LT-Michael Roos- Buffalo Bills- 25 years old | 6’7” | 313 lbs. | 69 SPD | 96 STR | 80 AWR | 76 AGI | 82 ACC | 93 PBK | 89 RBK
Michael Roos comes in at #1 on this list. He has exceptional physical attributes plus he has the rare 80+ ACC which I personally care about a lot. But he not only has the physical attributes, he also has good progressible attributes as well. All this and only 25 years old as well. The Bills have elite level talent at LT. He is in his own tier alone now. A couple of seasons ago Pace would have been in this tier two, but his regression pushes him down a tier.
#2- LT-Orlando Pace- St. Louis Rams- 32 years old | 6’7” | 325 lbs. | 62 SPD | 89 STR | 90 AWR | 68 AGI | 73 ACC | 97 PBK | 97 RBK
Orlando Pace comes in at #2. He might be a bit of a legacy pick at this position, but he has elite progressible attributes and despite significant regression, he still has more than passable physical attributes. Ordinarily I would push these types of guys down the list a bit, but I think AWR, PBK, and RBK are rare commodities in this current league so his value goes up as a result of that rarity.
#3- RT-Bryant McKinnie- Minnesota Vikings- 28 years old | 6’8” | 335 lbs. | 59 SPD | 99 STR | 85 AWR | 66 AGI | 73 ACC | 92 PBK | 92 RBK
Players 3-5 all are very close to each other. I give McKinnie the edge because of his progressibles. He has really good AWR, PBK, and RBK, plus he has 99 STR that allow him to be dominant. He has some limitations physically. And that concerns me in terms of how he will regress, but that still 3 years down the road. You might like Jones or Samuels more, but I put McKinnie here just by a hair.
#4- RT-Levi Jones- Cincinnati Bengals- 28 years old | 6’5” | 310 lbs. | 65 SPD | 94 STR | 76 AWR | 70 AGI | 75 ACC | 99 PBK | 90 RBK
The #4 ranked offensive tackle comes from the city of Cincinnati. Jones has a nice blend of physical and progressible attributes. His blocking skills are very polished. His SPD, STR, AGI, and ACC are also really good and he still has a couple of seasons before regression hits. Tackles with his attributes who also have 75 ACC are just rare. This is the combination that lands him at #4.
#5- LT-Chris Samuels- New Orleans Saints- 30 years old- 6’5” | 310 lbs. | 64 SPD | 89 STR | 97 AWR | 69 AGI | 74 ACC | 90 PBK | 90 RBK
Chris Samuels comes in at #5 on the list. He is in his first year of regression and does lack elite strength, but his AWR is elite and he has good overall attributes. Like Pace above him, he won’t be on this list too long because of his age and regression but this season, he is definitely worth the #5 spot on the list. A side note with this list is that most of the players aren’t big mammoth tackles. You could say that of McKinnie and perhaps McKenzie but outside of that, the rest of the top 10 are average size. It’s not that I don’t value height and weight, it’s just that I value the other attributes more.
#6- LT-DBrickashaw Ferguson- New York Jets- 24 years old | 6’6” | 310 lbs. | 72 SPD | 99 STR | 66 AWR | 74 AGI | 70 ACC | 96 PBK | 94 RBK
Ferguson comes in at #6 on this list. He has two current weaknesses: 66 AWR and 70 ACC. The AWR will not be an issue long-term as progression will move the needle there quickly. The ACC is more of a long-term problem, but one that can be masked by his other, stellar physical attributes. Ferguson benefitted from one of the better skews in the draft. And he has continued the upward trajectory. I’m confident the Jets will keep him in the fold as long as they can. Attributes like his are hard to find.
#7- LT-Matt Light- New England Patriots- 29 years old | 6’4” | 305 lbs. | 65 SPD | 90 STR | 88 AWR | 69 AGI | 73 ACC | 90 PBK | 90 RBK
At #7 is one of the few very talented original roster offensive lineman in Matt Light. He came with pretty good progressible attributes as well as elite (for the original rosters) physical attributes. He’s one year away from regression and his acceleration is going to take a hit once he starts regressing but he is elite right now and the Patriots have taken advantage of his talent to put up W’s.
#8- RT-Marques Ogden- Houston Texans- 25 years old | 6’6”| 312 lbs. | 70 SPD | 97 STR | 70 AWR | 67 AGI | 79 ACC | 90 PBK | 88 RBK
Marques Ogden comes in at #8 in this list and you could easily argue that he should be higher. He was the top offensive lineman available in the latest round of free agency and there’s not really a long-term weakness for him. He is a little low in AWR right now, but it won’t take long for him to rise up this list. In fact, I think he will for sure be top 5 next year and maybe even top 3. His continued progression combined with the regression of others above him will make his rise up the list happen pretty naturally. He’s a great find by the Texans.
#9- LT-Jammal Brown- Miami Dolphins- 24 years old | 6’6” | 317 lbs. | 65 SPD | 98 STR | 85 AWR | 56 AGI | 71 ACC | 93 PBK | 95 RBK
Jammal Brown is #9 on this list. He’s a young, talented offensive tackle with great progressibles for his age. Add to that elite SPD and STR and it lands him in the top 10. Two physical attributes keep him from being higher: 56 AGI and 71 ACC. The AGI is the primary issue with 71 ACC secondary. He will struggle a bit to move around but as a LT he will certainly keep racking up the pancakes. He will be another riser in this list in a future iteration.
#10- LT-Kareem McKenzie- New York Jets- 28 years old | 6’6” | 327 lbs. | 59 SPD | 94 STR | 81 AWR | 63 AGI | 68 ACC | 95 PBK | 99 RBK
The second Jets offensive tackle comes in at #10. McKenzie is the veteran of the two and though he lack the physical eliteness, he certainly has the progressibles down. It’s hard to beat his blocking skills and he has pretty good AWR even if it could be a little better at his age. He lacks the athleticism of the guys above him, but he’s still a good tackle and worth being on this list.
#11- RT-Jason Peters- Miami Dolphins- 26 years old | 6’4” | 328 lbs. | 56 SPD | 95 STR | 77 AWR | 65 AGI | 74 ACC | 91 PBK | 90 RBK
The Dolphins have their second offensive tackle on the list at #11. Peters is another young, rising star. Not the fastest but he’s strong and has great progressible attributes. One additional positive to Peters is his weight. He’s not only strong but has a big frame. The Dolphins, much like the Jets, have a nice pairing at the tackle positions.
#12- RT-Tyson Clabo- Philadelphia Eagles- | 24 years old | 6’5” | 315 lbs. | 55 SPD | 95 STR | 78 AWR | 58 AGI | 73 ACC | 92 PBK | 92 RBK
Clabo and Peters are very similar to each other. We could have probably switched them in the list, but we like the athleticism of Peters slightly more. Both guys are a touch less athletic guys but they have good AWR, PBK, and RBK. These progressible attributes put them ahead of the elite level physical attribute guys at #14 and #15. Another advantage for Clabo is that he is 24 years old. He will have several good seasons ahead of him.
#13- RT-Alan Faneca- Pittsburgh Steelers- 31 years old | 6’5” | 312 lbs. | 56 SPD | 89 STR | 89 AWR | 60 AGI | 67 ACC | 94 PBK | 93 RBK
Alan Faneca comes in at #13. He’s a little one in the tooth but has good progressible attributes almost at 90 or above in all three. He was a better player a year ago when his physical attributes hadn’t started to deteriorate. The Steelers will still continue to rely on his skill set for at least another season.
#14- RT-Sean Bubin- New Orleans Saints- 26 years old | 6’6” | 306 lbs. | 68 SPD | 99 STR | 67 AWR | 72 AGI | 82 ACC | 86 PBK | 86 RBK
Two of the most athletic offensive lineman show up next on the list. Bubin is an elite athlete plus 99 STR guy but he lacks the AWR, PBK, and RBK. He should be able to improve one the next few seasons and that will help him even more. He’s one of four offensive tackles with 60 SPD, 90 STR, 70 AGI, and 80 ACC. From my perspective, this is the benchmark for elite level physical attributes on the offensive line.
#15- RT-Jacob Rogers- San Diego Chargers- 26 years old | 6’5” | 305 lbs. | 62 SPD | 94 STR | 61 AWR | 67 AGI | 83 ACC | 85 PBK | 86 RBK
The last guy on the list is Jacob Rogers. While young, Rogers possesses all the necessary physical attributes to be elite. His AWR just barely passes the baseline to be in this list, but it still sneaks through. Rogers was originally drafted by the Falcons in the 2nd round and traded to the Chargers this past offseason. Rogers will have some limitations just because of his lower AWR, but he can still be really good.
There are several other guys who could be on this list but either didn’t get here because of the threshold attributes required or because they didn’t possess the athleticism that other tackles did. It’s also possible that I just missed them. As I said at the beginning, other GM’s may value attributes differently than I do and so their list will be different but this at least gives an idea of what I value.
Hopefully, I am able to get to offensive guard and center which anecdotally don’t have the same level of athleticism as offensive tackle, so those lists could be shorter than this one. Time will tell.
