Fantasy Football Daily - Ranking the Top 10 NFL Offensive Lines | Take Talk Podcast

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

Winning fantasy football leagues isn't just knowing who the best quarterbacks or running backs are. You need to go deeper. That's why you love the Take Talk Podcast. This week the boys rank the top 10 offensive lines in the NFL. Use this information to dominate your drafts this summer! FantasyPoints.com is your home for the best in fantasy football, DFS, betting, and football analysis. Use our code "FantasyPTS" on Underdog Fantasy and get up to $100 in first-time deposit credit. By using code "FantasyPTS" you'll also be eligible for a $5 subscription to FantasyPoints.com. Download the Underdog Fantasy app today and use code "FantasyPTS". Terms may apply. Don't forget our pals at the FFPC. They have high-stakes drafts starting daily! Get in on your chance at some of the biggest prize pools in fantasy sports by signing up for their best ball, dynasty, or managed leagues. The best in the business play at myFFPC.com. Follow the show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/callmesteveo7 https://twitter.com/BGWhitefield https://twitter.com/fantasyPTS Be sure you are subscribed to the Fantasy Points YouTube channel and never miss some of the amazing FREE content we post there: www.Youtube.com/fantasypoints --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time to the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoint.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Hello everyone and welcome into the Take Talk podcast. My name is Stephen Rourke and as always. I'm with my co-host Brett Whitefield. And Brett, I think the people are clamoring for another fantasy. points of data update. Where are we at with him?

Yeah. So listen, my, my seven-minute rant from last week has made waves, Steve. It got the ownership group thinking. Scott Barrett went back to the drawing board, and I think there might be some revisions to the plan. Now, I'm still not going to get what I want, which is to charge you all $50,000. I think there's going to be, you know, maybe some revised discussion about how we do this. Yeah. Ultimately, though, it's going to be super affordable, at least for this year. You guys are going to fall in love with the product.

And yeah, I think my rant did some good things for everyone. Well, for me. The affordability is going to get people in the beginning, and then you're going to realize that you can't live without it because it's that good. Yeah. I'm pretty sure we're going to be $50 for this year. which is like yeah it's going to be huge forever like for people jumping in on the first year i mean it yeah like you're going to you're going to fall in love like i said you're going to fall in

love with it and i think that right from there you're going to realize that it's i mean it's awesome to play with it's fun to use it's incredibly helpful incredibly useful it yeah it's going to make waves I've been so excited for it from the jump. I mean, yeah, like for the year that we've been really working on this, it's all coming together. Yeah. Scott Barrett and I have been demoing the product for some of the leaders in the industry. I'm not going to name names right now. I'm sure if you pay attention to Twitter, you'll figure out who those people are.

But the response that we have got has been even more than I thought it would be. it's been insane people are super excited for this their their mind has been completely blown which you know for me i've been doing this we've been building this for over a year now so yeah i almost forget how cool it is because i've been in it for so much right it's just what i'm used to at this point it's like i i know we have this so for the for the people that are just now getting exposed to it they're like holy cow so which is awesome the the internal beta test actually starts today. Well, we're recording this on Thursday. Not sure if the problem will be up today or not, but the internal beta test starts today,

which means all of our employees that aren't related, you know, with the data product, they're going to get their first look at it. And then we've invited, you know, I think 30 to 40 external folk as well to beta test the product. And then we're still, we're still marching towards the June 12th launch. So I don't want to say dates to, you know, June 12th, I should say. Yeah, yeah. We're going to be right there. It seems like that data is becoming more firm as we get closer. Yes, it does.

Yes, it does. That's it. That's the data update, though. It's, we're almost there. We're almost there. And I can't wait. And then in other news, NFL is kind of back. OTAs are in full swing.

All the T, you're getting the first look at a lot of rookies, first look at guys that have been injured from last year that are coming back. And it's, I love OTA season because one, you get to, like, it is, it is fun to get a good look. But it's also fun to just see the, like, how much people want football so badly. Like, it's been, like, a little less than four months since the Super Bowl was played. And, like, that four, that three to four month of the period, you have the draft and everything. You don't really get to see anything live in the NFL. And like you can just tell because people are already, you know,

so the superlatives are coming out, the overreactions are coming out. I mean, Jameson Williams caught a football and I think I saw it 80 different times yesterday. You're seeing other guys go out there and make a play. And it's just like, oh my goodness, this is it. This is the year. He's taking over. Like it's it's just fun to see fan beat writer all the other reactions overreactions to these guys getting back on the field

It's too much man like I like it's cool to see people get excited about football But I can't tell you how many videos I've seen now of wide receivers catching the ball on air Or like it's like a like an offensive player that's just kind of you know they're just there to be a body for a second I mean, we've had a million of them. I mean, just yesterday we had Jameson Williams, which you could argue whether that was a good rep or not even. I mean, that was a little suspect. Justin Ross, who's like a bottom of the roster guy, people talking themselves back into Justin Ross. Yep.

I'm pretty sure he caught that pass on a wide receiver playing corner, just because it was basically scout team. You literally just running on air. we saw Quentin Johnston with the crazy one-hand catch on air again no defender on air John Dodson with you know some crazy route where you know I think it took him six seconds to get out of his break which is cool whatever like none of it matters none of it really means anything

they don't show player development the Quentin Johnson one-hand catch thing is fine we've seen him make ridiculous catches in college it doesn't wipe out the three years of tape where he has bad hands tech me. I love Johnson, but, you know. And I think you'd be surprised that, like, those guys are there because of how good they are.

And I think you'd be surprised at how many wide receivers could make effective, awesome, one-handed catches on air. Exactly. On most of the throws two are lollipops. They're not like taking a bullet and one-having it. It's the reason they're in the league is because they can do that. those things. Like most of those guys can do those things.

I mean, not to say that it isn't fun to watch, but at the same time, like, pull it back a little bit. I mean, people, the skill gap between average person

and NFL player in general is insane. So these videos that wow, everyone just cracked me up, I remember like my senior year of high school, you know, I was in it pretty thick as a football guy. And I would catch passes from Jim Miller, former NFL quarterback.

multiple Super Bowl winner as a backup with Chicago and New England and Tampa. We went to the same high school. He's obviously a lot older than me and has his own show on NFL Serious XM now. So I used to catch with him, and he was just an average armed quarterback for the NFL. Right. And I never felt anything like his pass is coming into my hands. And we thought my high school quarterback had a gun, by the way. Right.

Nothing. Not even remotely close to what Jim Miller had. He was just, and by this time, he had been retired for probably five or six years, you know, nice beer belly going. Right.

Wasn't considered a strong arm guy. And his average throw stung your hands. And then when he really wanted to put some mustard on it, like, it's point being, the gap between an NFL player and the average person is just so insane. I think that's why people get so hyped up when they see these videos because they just can't,

they actually don't, fathom how freakishly athletic these guys are. Right. And the OTA videos are a great reminder of that because some of these plays are just like, why are we getting hyped about Justin Ross catching this ball on air, you know? Right. Like we're still, we're still wondering if Justin Ross will even be there. Make the team.

Right. But now I sound like a hater, so I'm going to recluse into my, my, uh, man cave here i don't know um should we talk about some you mentioned subluratives should we keep on with the supplaratives train here yeah i guess they're not really support is but we are doing our positional group rankings today we're going to hit the o line which you know for some that's a boring conversation i love it though because i think i know i do too oh line rules a big portion of the game so yeah i mean i was i was actually just talking with friends and we were just like talking about offensive line and just how how integral and how like floor raising a good

offensive line is yeah i don't think it gets appreciated enough but like the teams that are consistently good like the patriots like the reason that they never really fall off or never or never really will fall off it seems like is that they always have a pretty consistent offensive line. It's just, it's such a bar setter for a team and an offense to like to just give yourself a starting point that other teams may not have that have lesser offensive lines. This is true. Yeah. And even like for predicting a team success, if you can confidently say a team has a good

offensive line, usually you can predict that they're not going to be a bottom of the barrel team, which is going to be for one of the teams on my list, by the way, for top 10, because I think it's going to warrant a pretty good discussion about where we're at. But yeah, anyways, should we just dive right into it? Yeah, let's get into it. I'm guessing we have the same number one, and then it probably gets pretty hairy from there. Yeah, I mean, I'm assuming that you and I both went with the Eagles number one. Yes, we did. We did. I mean, they showed it. They've shown it for the last couple years. They showed it last year. I mean, again, like Jalen Hertz was able to develop as a passer last year and the year before because of what he has in front of him on the offensive line. Just the

ability to throw from clean pockets, the ability to get a good, clean vision of the field. Obviously, having great weapons on the outside is really helpful. But just being able to, to assess the situation and go through your progressions and all of that behind a solid offensive line where the clock in your head or in his head gets to be just a little bit longer. He gets that extra couple tenths of a second, which make a massive difference. And that's a big reason that Jalen Hertz has been able to develop, I think, the way that he has. Obviously, he's a grinder and everything, but it really, I think, starts with the offensive line because it just allows that offense to be so much more effective. Absolutely.

I mean, they have the best offensive tackle duo in the league in Jordan Milata and Lane Johnson. Lane Johnson's obviously a future Hall of Famer. Jason Kelsey at center, also a future Hall of Famer, still playing at an incredibly high level. Landon Dickerson was one of the best guards football last year. Yeah. The only real push of mark is Isaac Samalu leaves for Pittsburgh. They replace him with Cam Juergens. And, you know, Juergens was a, what, a top 100 pick in last year's draft.

He was hand-picked by Jason Kelsey himself to replace Kelsey eventually. So I think they're going to be fine here at right guard. I think, and plus they have the best, you know, probably the best or second-best O-line coach in the league. Yeah. I think Djerjeng is going to be ready to play. I don't think they skip a beat. They might even get a little better because Sayamalo was, he was good, but he wasn't special, you know. But this line is fantastic.

The pass protect, they run block. They do everything well. Dickerson and Kelsey are ridiculous in space. I'm assuming Cam Dujenz will be the same way because he's built similar to Kelsey. Yeah. Do a lot of really creative things with their run concepts, a lot of, you know, cool pulling options. They're great in the screen game because those guys are so mobile. So there isn't really anything this O-line can't do from a concept standpoint, from a past protection standpoint.

So easy number one for me. I actually think they're like in their own little tier. I don't think anyone's close. Yeah. And GERgens, what a way to acclimate yourself to the starting lineup to be able to play between Kelsey and Lane Johnson. Like that gives you so much room to develop so much room for error if it's there just because you know you have. a high IQ center and one of the best tackles, like you just, it allows you to grow more because there's not as much on your plate. There's not as much focus on you necessarily. And so like it just

the the ability to develop within that system next to those guys like that's a ceiling razor. It's a floor razor and a ceiling razor for him. Yeah. And just getting his feet wet at right guard as opposed the center. Huge right guard is by far the easiest, less stressful position to play on the offensive line. He's not going to see a lot of pass rushing three tax at right guard. That's going to be more Dickerson's

job. So he really is going to get a chance to learn from Kelsey, you know, listen to the calls. And he'll be helping a lot on like, you know, big one techniques or whatever. Yep. Yeah. I love getting his feet wet that way. So number two,

actually let's pause for one sec maybe we should talk criteria a little bit for the purpose is o line because it is such a cohesive unit um i didn't consider depth a ton like i had positions we talked about yeah we went starting five and more specifically i kind of went tackles score higher for me then center would be the next position and then and then left guard then right guard um so like a really good right guard yeah that's that's nice to have but it doesn't move the needle as much as much as a really good center or a really good tackle or whatever. So yeah. Yep.

Number two, who did, who did you go with? Number two, I went with the lions. So did I. And we're hope. I mean, are like we are, but are we? Because this line is ridiculous. Like, it's ridiculous. Like starting with the tackles, you have Taylor Decker and Penes Sewell.

Taylor Decker, if the team is fully healthy, I mean, arguably could be the weakest link of the unit and he's a very, very solid tackle. And Pene Soule is a funny tackle. Yeah. For sure. Penae's a five, six tackle for me. And Penae Soule is only getting better. Yeah, exactly. We haven't even seen his best football.

Like Taylor, Taylor is an anchor on the left. And Peney Sewell is, I mean, he's a, he's great in pass pro. he's one of the best run blocking tackles in the NFL. His athleticism and his ability to move in spaces, like, it doesn't even make sense for a guy that size. Exactly. And then Jonah Jackson's, he's a really good left guard, especially for what this team wants to do.

Smash mouth football, and Jonah Jackson is definitely a mean, gritty guard. who's going to get after it in the run game. That's where he really thrives. Not the best pass protector, but it doesn't really matter because a lot of their deep passing concepts are coming off play action. He hasn't really cost them much in pass pro.

Despite some pressure numbers not being super favorable to him. I really don't think it matters. So he's great. And then Frank Ragnow is he's probably what the best center in the league now, right? I mean, yeah. Oh, no, sorry, Kelsey. Kelsey. Well, Kelsey.

And then after him, I would say yes. Probably Craignau. now. Yeah, and Linderbaum could take a step as well. But right now as it stands, the only issue with Ragnow is that he has that irreparable toe. Yeah, it sounds like it doesn't matter because he still played ridiculously good last year and he, it was way worse last year than it is right now. So we'll, I guess we'll see. And then Vitae is, I mean, he's solid. I mean, since he's been in Detroit, it's been keeping him healthy. Yeah. And then you have Vaitai, who's really, he has, he's very skilled, but the issue with him being, or the issue that has been with him in Detroit is that he hasn't stayed healthy. And if he does stay healthy, he's a, he's a plus player at right guard. And again, like we talked with, um, the Eagles, he's probably the worst guy along the line. But again, he's at right guard. It's a pretty safe position. And he does have ups. He's an athletic guy. He's a big guy.

He can make things happen. It's just a matter of whether you actually get him for the season or the entire season. Yeah, Vaitai is definitely the weak link, but he's played his best football under this regime at right guard. So they're not using him at tackle anymore. He's strictly been the right guard. Obviously, he missed last year with the back issue. But when he's healthy, man, he's a mauler in the run game. And that's really what they're wanting out of that right guard spot.

So for a weak link, that's not bad. Yeah. He's a plus player when he's healthy. And I also like that they kind of prepared. I know we literally just said we didn't really consider depth the whole lot, but they prepared for this by bringing back Graham Glasgow. Yep. You know, Gapal can get in the mix if Vaitai has to miss time.

Yeah. Swordsall, who I think is probably going to be a guard in the NFL. So they kind of protected themselves against another injury to Vaitai there. so signs pointing up for me yeah and just another again another team that like because of their offensive line the floor is very very high for them yes indeed um all right who is your three number three i went with the chiefs really okay yeah i like the addition of jwon taylor I think that he's an effective tackle and I think that he can be very good in this system.

Donovan Smith is another solid tackle. Creed Humphrey is continually ascending and their guards. Trey Smith is a muller, a baller, a monster in space and Tune's been, you know, solid forever. Yeah, so they probably have the best interior offensive line in the league with Tune,

Humphrey, and Smith. I do not like their tackle situation, though. I think Joanne Taylor is a downgrade from Orlando Brown Jr. I was surprised that they made the swap, considering they pretty much had to pay Taylor similar money anyways. And then Donovan Smith has not been good for Tampa Bay. So I just think they're spending a lot of money on tackles that they probably had better tackles last year, to be quite honest.

So I don't think their line's bad. I have them nine on my side. list but yeah a big discrepancy between us i just you know i don't know i like i said i think it comes down to me i i really do like their tackles better last year um but yeah i mean there's not a 20 plus million dollar a year player to me it the way i saw is that it's you know we're obviously projecting for next year and i think donovan smith and jay one taylor are both young guys that can continue to ascend and i think that

surrounding that or having them with the interior that they have, I think that they could take a step forward and be, continue to be more effective and get better in this system and with that unit. So there's like, you know, it's a projection, but I think that, I think they're going to be a very, very good unit. I think that those tackle spots, well, they may be some question marks right now. I think that they could, they could continue to ascend and prove to be more effective than what they look like on paper right now. I can buy into development. with Taylor but i mean donovan's with this 30 and he hasn't played good football

in three or four years so I don't I don't think he's going to develop at all but I think what you see is what you get there and he's not like he's not terrible I just he's definitely a below average tackle to me so but man that interior is scary I mean Tune Humphrey Trace Smith those guys are all monsters

they're both both pro and in the run game they're like very versatile Humphreys obviously emerged as a ridiculous talent at center, which it seems like we all knew that when he was coming out of the draft, but for whatever reason, he just kept falling and falling and falling in the draft, and it made no sense. But, hey, the chiefs, the rich get richer with Humphrey. Yeah, it was a no-brainer move to take him where he was, where he was at.

End of the second round, and most people were mocking him in the first. Yeah, he was late 20s in those mock drafts. There was really no issues with this game. It was just so strange that he fell that far. Yeah. All right. For my three, I went with Dallas. I had them at four.

Nice. So Dallas, you know, people kind of compare where they're at right now to where they were five years ago when they were clearly the best O line in the league. Right. And they think that their line's not that good anymore, but the truth is they're still really freaking good. Zach Martin is still probably the,

best guard in all of football. Tyler Smith played really well as a rookie last year. He's going to play left guard for them. And then Terrence Steele had a, he was a revelation at right tackle for them last year. Like traditionally he meant a left tackle had some bad seasons, but they got him out to right tackle last year and he played awesome next to Zach Martin out there. I think that's a massive win for the continuity of this line going forward. I think Tyron Smith, obviously he's been banged up, but when he's on the field, he's still very good. Tyler did play pretty good at left tackle last year. So I think there will be a natural transition that occurs at some point when Tyrone Smith decides to walk away. Yeah. Tyler Beiotich is a great center as well. I should say

a good center. I don't think he's great, but he's a good center. So overall, they have five above average players, though, in my opinion, and a couple of sending guys and Tyler Smith and Tyler Biotish who are both getting better by the day. If Tyrone Smith can stay healthy, I think Dallas could could be finished a year like as high as number two to me because that's just talent they have here yeah yeah it really does hinge on uh tyrant smith's health that's i mean that's kind of the key point right now for them is having him stay healthy because yeah having him and tyler smith holding down the left side of the line that's two big guys that are athletic and can just move people yep

Absolutely. I'm curious to see how they do, too, with a new scheme this year. Which I think is the biggest question mark for Dallas this year. Yeah, I mean, I used a lot more play action than they have in the past, which could really help this line too. Play action helps every offensive line. I don't know why every team doesn't use it all the time. But, yeah, I think that could be a big win for them.

especially for especially for them who has a lot of guys that are very very strong at the attack point play action helps utilize that strength and so just getting them getting them you know in that play scheme helps just makes them more effective than they already are yeah so my so del's is your four my four was Cleveland and they were my five nice Pretty sympathetic here. Yeah, so Cleveland, you know, I went back and forth here. I thought about putting them lower because Jedrick Wills has really disappointed me so far. That was my, yeah, that was where I was at too. I was like, everything else is solid. Jedrick Wills is the one question mark where you wanted to see more from him since he's coming to the league. I mean, he got drafted very highly, was regarded very highly coming into the draft.

and it's been mixed reviews so far. He's had moments for sure, but for the most part, the consistency just hasn't been there. I do like that they address probably their biggest need, which was at center with Ethan Pochich, bringing him over from Seattle. Pocich, you know, he's probably,

he's not a top five center by any means, but he's definitely probably top 12. I mean, he's a good player. Yeah. So I definitely like that. Their guard duo is probably the best guard duo in the league, right, with Bentonia and Wightelli. Those guys are absolute monsters.

Bentonio can actually play a little bit of tackle as well. He's had some success at left tackle, which is kind of funny. But yeah, this team is this nasty. If Jeddrick Wills can develop, I think the sky's the limit for this unit. Yeah. And then Conklin on the right side is solid. Yep. He's just, you know, he's just solid.

good in the run game the play action stuff really helps him too good in the run game and then he's decent and pass pro so but will's got to get more consistent in the run game he's got to every time I watch a tape I just see a ton of misassignments

ton of MAs and that's just not great so yeah it's one of those where it just looks like too it looks like too much it still looks like it's moving a little too fast for him at times yeah and it just kind of guys sneak up on him it just you know, it's not where you want it to be or what you want him to be yet. But, you know, he's still

young and, like, it's still possibly he can develop. And it's been a very effective run game. This is going to be the best offensive line Deshaun Watson's ever played behind. He doesn't have to worry about getting sacked 64 times this year. That's a fact. And so, yeah, it has a, they're a solid unit they have a lot of upside and where this unit finishes at the end of the year it does hinge on what jeddrick wills is this year for sure um all right so so your five was cleveland my five is the minnesota vikings i had them at nine at nine all right so because i value the tackle position so heavily when doing these rankings. I think Minnesota probably has the third best tackle duo in the league behind Philadelphia

and Detroit. Derisaw has come a lot. He has come along so good. He's definitely a premier left tackle in the NFL. Brian Neal, he's been steady eddy since he's been drafted, basically. Yeah. Very athletic dude.

Really good in pass pro. Getting better in the run game. I definitely like that. They do have some questions on the interior though, Steve. and this is why they weren't higher for me. Because anytime you put a tackle duo like that out there, I'm going to love your offensive line more than... Right.

But they do have questions. I mean, Ed Ingram was a second round rookie last year. He was absolutely terrible on past protection last year, which is not good for a right guard because you're not seeing a ton of... You're in favorable looks a lot as a right card, and he was really, really bad. Yeah. Really good in the run game, though.

He was like, you know, the lines have a guy like a Logan Stenberg, who's just... You know, he went in the field. You love watching him in the run game because he just knocked crap out of people. And then he just gets absolutely abused, pass-protecting. Ed Ingram was basically the same thing, except he played like 900 snaps last year. Yeah, it's one of those where every passing play, you're kind of watching through your eyes or through your fingers of like hoping nothing goes wrong. Yeah.

Because he is such a young player, though, I think he's 22 years old. You would assume he's going to develop a little bit. if he can clean that up just a little bit. Yeah. 10% improvement. I think he could be above average guard for sure. And then, you know, Bradbury's been fine. Azure Cleveland's been fine.

Wouldn't say those guys are great, but they're definitely above average players. Yeah. So I like the tackle duo, though, is really what puts them over the top for me. I just think, you know, it's going to be so hard to beat them, rushing the passer, like, third and 10. Like, you're not going to get a lot of wins against those tackles. Yeah. No.

Yeah. You're not you're not going to they're going to hold down the edges pretty well against any archetype of edge rusher that comes at them. They can take on a bull rush. They can take on a speed rush. They're athletic on the outside. Dar esau is yeah, Dar esau is so good. I mean, he was, it was amazing to watch what he kind of turned into at the end of the year where he, I mean, he had a, he put himself in the conversation as one of the best left tackles in the NFL. or going into this year.

Yeah. Agreed. All right. Let's get to your six. Who's your six? My number six is the Baltimore Ravens. Mine too. This is another unit that just all around is very solid. Ronnie Stanley, when he's healthy, has been the very effective left tackle. Tyler Linderbaum in the middle is a very good, very good.

center, very young. I mean, he's going to come along really well. He's super cerebral, very good in space. Morgan Moses on the right side is he's older, but he's a solid player. He's not going to make a ton of mistakes. He's not going to get himself into a lot of sticky situations. You know, you're going to have to figure out a game plan for post-Moses. but with him there, it's still, again, it's just, you know, one of those where it's a solid right tackle. You're not going to get a lot of missed assignments with him. You're not going to get a lot of holy cow, he's getting his ass beat week in, week out. He's just, he's going to hold down the right side.

And then Cleveland and Zitler are good guards that are effective in both pass pro and run game. Yeah, Zitler is still very good. That whole, that right side, those both Zitler and Moses. they need to start thinking about what they're going to do after this year. Yeah. That time is not now. So we can go ahead and rank them as if they're on the team because they are. Right.

Because Tyler and Moses form a really good right side. And then Cleveland is probably the biggest wild card to me. He played okay last year. Was it limited snaps though, was it not? Yeah. He wasn't a full-time player, right? Because they had Ben Powers. Right.

Yep. Yeah. uh yeah cleveland i don't think he played much at all actually so he's the biggest question mark um if he it develops a little bit i think you know if he can get to average this all this o line's going to be really really good so yeah cleveland appeared in 10 games and started week 18 so yeah probably less than a hundred snaps total yeah so yeah so Definitely a question mark going into this year. Yeah.

But to be safe, being sandwiched between Stanley and Linderbaum is a good spot to be in. For sure. Speaking of Stanley, that's the other big question mark is like he's missed a lot of time for the last year. Yeah. Over 30 games, I believe. So he's got to stay healthy. He's one of the premier left tackles in the league if he's healthy. So they're definitely banking on that for.

sure that he's getting paid a lot of money too so yeah yeah that's uh that's baltimore they're they're good and i think their new schemes actually should help them a lot too yes i mean every o line guy you talked to talks about how running the ball is really important for setting up pass pro i felt like the run scheme was just too heavy to the point where they were getting exhausted right so like having some more traditional dropbacks i think will just help mix it up enough, a little bit more spread, not so much heavy personnel, that, you know, that should keep the defense off balance a little bit so they don't know what to expect, which should help their, all of their consistency on a snap-to-snap basis.

Yes. All right, let's, uh, your seven. Who's your seven? For my number seven, I went with the Green Bay Packers. Ooh. Green Bay did not make my top ten, but I had, yeah, I think I have, them and then one other team that may not have made your top 10, but I like where they're at. And I like their upside with Green Bay.

Zach Tom came along really well last year was one of the bigger surprises for that team. Vaktiari is, you know, it's health for him. When he's there, he's really good. And he's been really good for a long time. and that Josh Myers is Josh Myers Elgin Jenkins and John Runyon all in the interior are, you know, an ascending come. They're coming along. I think that they can become a good, a good unit together. And it's just a team that that looks out.

And I think that with Jordan Love being back there for the first time, full time starting, I think that this is a, it's a good unit to stand behind. and I think that they can keep him clean and help them see. They'll get a good look at what he can be if he is the quarterback of the future or not. I just like what I saw on tape for the Packers' Offensive Line last year, and I think that they're going to take another step forward. Bakhtiari being healthy is a huge question mark. But if he does stay healthy, I really like the upside of this unit. Yeah, I think that's why they were a tough sell for me.

I do think they have some talent. But for where this team's identity is right now, I'm not buying Zach Tom and I'm totally blanking. John Runyon. I'm not buying Zach Tom and John, and even Josh Myers, for that matter, as guys you can count on to really move the needle in the run game. And I think it's pretty clear the Packers want the run game

to be what they do for right now. which is true yeah so and i think it'll be even more so this year yeah well that's yeah that's what i mean like you saw the transition start last year i think it's going to be even more heavy this year tom you know as good as he wasn't pass pro which he was i'm not denying he he was a you know a big surprise in pass for last year he was very uh inconsistent in the run game and it got absolutely abused at times myers is the same way runyon has always kind of struggled about the run game but then you go to the left side it's like yeah you see like Bakhtiari a healthy Bakhtiari and a healthy Jenkins might be the best left side of

of any unit in the league. I mean, that's in the point. So, yeah. The potential is definitely there. If those three other guys kind of, you know,

develop a little bit and continue to get better. The thing is Green Bay, we've had these discussions about them before. We're like, oh, they're finally regressing. It's caught up to them. The O-line's going to get worse because they always let guys go because they believe in

their homegrown talent so much. Yes, they do. They never get bad. They always stay. top 10. They always say top 12. So I could see it. I could see them being a top 10 unit for sure. I didn't rank them there myself just because of those concerns that I have. But like, they're not falling past 12 to 14 for me. Like at worst, they'd probably be like just kind of just scanning through. Probably like 12th for me. So yeah. And that's a I think that's a big part of it is that

just the in-house development they've had year over year for a decade plus is. really like two decades is what like exactly is where like it's kind of where I'm hinging on with them is that I'm hoping and assuming that those young guys are going to take a step forward and then the left side is going to be anchored by those those by Jenkins and Bakhtiari and they're going to take a step forward and insert themselves into the top 10 unit because you saw it at times last year it was there it's just that you know consistency was the biggest it was a huge thing Agreed. All right, my seven, I went with the Atlanta Falcons.

They were to my number eight. Nice. So Atlanta, they, I think what really stands out to me is they don't really have a weak spot. Like their weak spot might be left guard, but they just drafted someone to play there with a high draft pick and Matthew Bergeron. Yep. Did I love the pick? No, I didn't. But I think Bergeron can play, and I think he's better suited to play guard.

So him sliding in naturally at left guard makes sense. Jake Matthews and Caleb McGarry is an underrated tackle duo. They're not world beaters, but these guys are both really good. They're solid. They're not going to have a lot of missed assignments. They're not going to give up a ton of pressure. Yep. I think that should help.

And then Drew Dalman and Chris Lindstrom, I mean, they're getting it done for what this Atlanta team wants to do. Lidstrom is another guy that you could argue. is the best card in the NFL. You could make a case for it. And he got paid that way too. Top five for sure. Top five for sure.

Yeah. So, I mean, just they just don't have a weak link, and they've got, you know, three really good players on that line. So it's easy to put them in the top ten to me. And I guess if you don't really, like, you don't realize how bad some of these offensive lines are until you study all 32 of them to put up a ranking.

Yeah. you realize simply just not having a weak link makes your offensive line very good because there's teams with multiple terrible players and you're just like how are they going to survive this year you know like maybe we should do a reverse a bottom 10 rankings for every position that'd be fun it'd be funny it'd be mean but it'd be funny mean yeah but so point being it's just you know once you really dive into the depth of some of these teams it's really easy to see how the falcons can jump Because I think that's going to surprise people, I guess, is why I'm laying this caveat out there. I think people are going to see Atlanta Falcons top 10, especially casuals, and say, whoa, how? Right. But no, they've done a good job of slowly building this lineup. And I really think they're good. So they were your eight.

They were my eight. My eight was the Denver Broncos. I didn't have them in my top ten. Cool. They were just on the outside looking in. yeah we're kind of at that point where you know you can make argument for them in or out um i look at it this way their line played above expectation last year Lloyd cushionberry played well at center garr bulls has been a solid left tackle for a while and Quinn

has emerged as a really good right guard which we kind of knew he would just because he has that swagger about him you know you just knew he was going to be good yeah you like he's like He's a Viking-looking fella, you know? Yeah, he just fit the archetype of a good NFL offensive linemen. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Loves belly shirts, you know, like any lineman willing to support the belly shirt, you're just like, yep, he's going to be good. There's no doubt about that.

You know, he's got confidence in his game and in himself. If he's rocking that, you have to respect that. Exactly. So he's emerged. And then they went out and they signed Ben Powers and Mike McGlinchie. This might be the most improved offensive line. And they were not even bad last year. Yeah.

So that's crazy. So they've made a really intentional investment in that O-line. And it's just another situation where it's like, I don't see a guy in this starting five that's bad. They don't have a world-beater. They don't have an exceptional player at any spot. I think Mineraz probably is the best shot to get there. Yeah.

They're just solid at all five spots. I would say good at all five spots. So, yeah. A top 10 game for me. Yeah, and McGlenty is really good in the run game. He has question marks in the past pro. But, yeah, it's just, it's a solid unit that, like you said, it's going to keep Russell Wilson clean, which is something that, you know,

he's clearly needs as he's getting a little bit older, he needs, he needs more protection. He's not able to do some of the stuff that he was able to do behind those shoddy Seattle offensive lines in his youth. He's not as mobile. He's not as, you know, necessarily creative. So having a solid offensive line that can kind of hold down the front for Russell Wilson is at least going to give the offense a better chance at being better than almost the worst last year. And Sean Payton coming in helps also as well. I was just going to say, too, think about how much Peyton valued offensive line play in New Orleans.

He always. Yeah. to put capital at it, signed players to big contracts. It was always a point of emphasis for him, so I'm not surprised to see him come in and immediately start adding talent to that room. And, you know, I think he'll elevate them with coaching as well. All right, so that was my number eight team.

Your number eight was Atlanta who already discussed. My number nine team was Kansas City. Your number nine team was Minnesota. Both teams we've already discussed, which leaves us with our final number 10 team. Why don't you throw your 10th team out? out there. Yeah, and I think you're going to raise your eyebrows, but I like the upside of this unit,

and I think that they could come along this year. I went with the Carolina Panthers. Ooh, no, I don't, I debated them for 10. Yeah. My 10th team is an eyebrow raiser as well, but go ahead with the Panthers. Yeah, with the Panthers, it's a young line that, like, Iquanoo showed a lot of, a lot of upside, and I think that he's going to continue to ascend. Taylor, is it Matone, Moton?

Moton. Yeah, he is another guy. He held down the right side very well. I think that, like, that's a tackle duo that you're not talking about a lot about right now, at least a lot of, like, you know, more casual fans are not really, you know, in tune with the Carolina Panthers, and I don't blame you. But I think that you're going to hear more about that duo more and more this year because of the trajectory that they're on. And I mean, you, you started to see it last year. This was a unit that was very effective in the run game. Like that, that run game was the only reason that the Panthers

weren't like the worst team in the NFL. And I mean, that combined with like some of the effectiveness of their defense, but the reason their offense had the potential to be horrendous, but because of their offensive line, again, it just raised the floor of the outcome of this team. And it, you know, it starts with a quantum. and Moen and Christensen, Bozeman, Corbett, all holding down the interior, you know, Christensen and Corbett at the guards and Bradley Bozeman at center. It's just another solid unit. And kind of like the Denver Broncos, there isn't a super weak link along this line.

And they're young and they can continue to grow. They, you know, they're going to have another year of getting familiar with each other, which, like, that's a big thing with, like, the Lions. That's why they've become so good is because of familiarity and consistency along the offensive line. And I think that's what's going to happen with the Panthers. I think that consistency is going to help. They lean on the run game.

And that, you know, that's a huge, that can be huge for an offensive line, especially the Carolina Panthers who are all very strong at the attack point are all very, you know, they move people. They're able to get off of double teams and move out to linebackers. I really like the upside of this unit. And I really think that, again, it's going to allow Bryce Young to develop. That run game is going to stay pretty consistent. And, you know, I think that, like, because of that, because of this unit,

the Carolina Panthers could kind of surprise some people on offense this year. Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, I didn't have in my top 10, but I considered it. I think Ikea Conwo, so that that 2022 class was loaded at tackle at the top of the draft. They had three go in the top eight, right? Charles Cross, Ike Ocquhart, and Evan Neal. I thought Ike was easily the best of those three. I think signs are pointing up for him,

and I think he's going to take another step this year. You saw it towards the end of the year last year, too. He was really coming to his own. They weren't that bad in pass protection either. I know everyone points to the run game, like, oh, they had to run the ball to be efficient. That was because their quarterback sucked. Yeah, right.

It wasn't because of that. Yeah, no, the pass protection was pretty decent, actually, especially with Icky and Taylor Moton, underrated tackle duo for sure. My guy, Joe Marino, shout out Joe, who lives in Charlotte's been telling me for a while now that this O-line is on the Ascension, and I think he's right.

Oh, all five of these guys are really good athletes, too, by the way. Exactly. And you see it when, like, look, if you go back and watch Carolina tape toward the end of the year, a big thing that they did consistently is that they loved to get Leviska-Chanel involved in the screen game, and they love to get that offensive line on the move going outside. Because they know how athletic they are,

because they know how well they work in space. I imagine they're going to continue to use plays like that. But yeah, they just, they loved to, you know, they didn't trust their quarterback, and they wanted to, you know, try to find some effectiveness in a big way they did that was utilizing the screen game, getting those guys in motion, getting those guys out in space to, you know,

take on smaller guys that, you know, can't hold up with the athleticism and the power that these guys offer. Yep, exactly. All right, I'm going to drop my 10 here, but we're going to come back and we're going to revisit this Carolina conversation because the team I'm putting at 10 is in a similar boat. They're going to have a rookie quarterback behind them. I think people around, especially casual fans, would never assume this team as a top 10 offensive line or even in the conversation. and I just think it's absolutely true. And that's the Houston Texans.

I debated them at number 10 too. They were probably, I mean, I think they were right there second. They're probably 11 for me. Yeah, so the Houston Texans have an underrated tackle duo. Titus Howard has been, he's got a ton of experience at this point. He's really started to play better the last couple years. you know last year he was a sneaky good pass protector and he started getting more consistent in the run game he's probably their wink link laramie tunzel's the top five left tackle in the league

kenyon green was a first round pick from a year ago who slides in a left guard he he's developing nicely you scroats a rookie this year going to man down the center position i really liked juice as a prospect i did think that took him a little early but hey you got to shoot your shot take the take good players take guys you like and then they they trade for shack mason who is easily one of the better right guards in the league top 10 guard i think by pff standards shack mason is graded in the top 10 every single season of his career which is not so just consistency there yeah again another situation where you you don't have a bad player on that line and you've got young ascending talent scrugs green tonsul howard these are not old like i think

tonsil's the oldest of that bunch and he's 26 so like 27 maybe so yeah young ascending talent. I really want to talk about the Texans and the Panthers in the same conversation because when we started the show, we talked about how offensive line plays often predictive of team success, or at least for the floor of the team. If you and I are both saying the Texans and the Panthers have good offensive lines, and they've obviously added a ton of other pieces via the draft, both adding quarterbacks and C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young, is it possible that these teams get out of draft purgatory this year and they're no longer picking in the top 10? I absolutely think that's a possibility.

If the quarterbacks are what we think they are, absolutely. I think that like the Panthers, for all intensive purposes, they could be a team that makes the playoffs. Well, they should have not a top 10 this year. Right, right. But like in a super weak division, hey, you play who you play. That's not your problem. But being in the NFC South, which is a huge question mark as an entire division,

like with that offensive line and if Bryce Young is able to develop and be what we hope he can be as a player, and they have a good defense on the other side, this is absolutely a team that you could see in the playoffs this year and a team that starts to insert themselves as someone who you're going to see hang around in the wild card division win division winner type of tier for a while right now could the houston texans beat the tennessee titans right now twice it's so funny because it's like the texans have an ascending offense the Titans, the defense is the one thing that's going to keep them from not winning any games this year. The Titans offense is horrendous. So it's like strength on strength, weakness on weakness.

But I think the Texas absolutely can beat the Titans. Yeah. They could beat the Colts. If both the Texans and the Panthers were picking outside the top 10 next year, it would not surprise me because they foundationally are doing it the right way. built the offensive lineup, add the quarterback. Both offense should take massive leaps forward.

Even with rookie quarterbacks, and I know rookies are usually bad and spotty and whatever, but you can't tell me C.J. Stroud behind this line with a little bit better weapons is going to be worse than Davis Mills. But so much of why we see rookie quarterbacks falter at the beginning of their career is generally, those guys are starting behind bad offensive lines because it's a team that's picking at the top 10.

They're a team that doesn't have a lot of talent on there. So they go and take a quarterback because that's what you're supposed to do. And then they don't have a lot around them, especially not on the offensive line in generally. And that's usually where you see a rookie quarterback falter. But it cannot be stressed enough how helpful it is. like I said with the development of Jalen Hertz, like just being able to give a guy the time to develop the clock inside of his head, to develop being able to go through his progressions and being able to not have to see ghosts like,

like, you know, as Sam Darnold did at the beginning of his career. Like just it speaks to what it allowed, it's David Carr. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that poor man. But like, yeah, just it allows them to hit their development points quick. and more easily. Yep. All right, before we wrap this,

I want to throw out one team I think could make a case for most improved by the end of the year. And I think that team for me is the Chicago Bears. I'm not going to rank them anywhere near the top 10 right now. They've done enough in off season. They brought in Nate Davis to play left guard for the big money contract. they drafted darnel right one of my favorite players in this draft to play right tackle which then inevitably kicks tennon jenkins inside yeah i'd imagine jenkins plays left guard and davis plays right guard because that's what davis played in tennessee however they basically improved three spots

on this offensive line by proxy of adding two players brachson jones was a fifth round pick a year but he looks like a hit and any time you hit on a left tackle on the fifth round you're you're playing with you know goal you know it's house money at that point so yeah Yeah. Cody White here has been consistently decent at center. So I think this team has a chance to really climb the ranks as the season progresses. If I had to decide right now, I'd probably put them in the 20s somewhere. But I think if things break right for them, they could be close to a top 10 team by the end of the year.

Yeah. Yeah, that NFC North is quite the battle of the trenches out there. That's going to be, those are going to be some. If you're, if you're, it has. But if you're a big nine-on-seven guy, definitely the NFC North is going to be the place to go to watch. Yep. Absolutely.

All right. Let's get out of here. We'll be back next week. What position you want to do next week? Should we just decide right now? Should we do D-line? As I say, we've kind of been going yin and yang, offense, defense.

So it makes, yeah, I say defensive line. Makes sense. go defensive line next week. Actually, Steve, I'm not here next week. You're just now finding this out live on the podcast. I'm out of town on a golf trip. Much needed vacation for the man. You know what's supposed to be a vacation, but it's stressful because it's a tournament.

It's the Whitefield invitational. It's a yearly thing. John Costco, you know, comes along for the ride. He's the only non-white field that plays in the tournament. honorary whitefield i'm not a golfer by trade i try like you know my my my pour my heart into it into getting better and i'm just i suck but welcome welcome welcome to the journey of every man in golf after after they finish you know whatever they're whatever their previous athletic career previous counselor educational career everybody ends up almost everybody ends up in golf

check this the schedule out though so we get we get it in town on Wednesday. Where are you guys going? This year we're on the west side of the state. Okay. Yeah. Like, upper, like, Oh, okay.

I could send you the itinerary. Yeah. We put all the courses. Last year, we were in Tennessee. So every year the winner of the tournament gets the responsibility of planning next year's tournament. And so the favorite to win this year lives in Arizona. so I'm assuming next year's tournament is going to be in Arizona if he wins, but I don't know, Arizona and June sounds rough.

Anyways, we're sidetracked. We get there Wednesday. I play 18. Thursday, we play 36. Friday we play 36. Saturday we play 36. Sunday, we play 18. And then we come and then we drive home after 18 on Sunday.

For a novice golfer who probably plays outside of the Whitefield Invitational, I probably play eight times a year. I try to go out every other week, usually in the summer. That's a lot of freaking golf, Steve. That is a lot of golf. Eight rounds in five days. That's a lot of golf. Yeah, my hands, my feet, everything is going to be just mutilated. Your shoulders.

You're going to feel, like, I mean, I went out and played earlier this year, and I played like a couple days in a row, and I woke up the next morning, and I was like, oh, my gosh, why does it feel like I got punched in the abs for an hour? straight because you don't realize how much of your core like your hips and your core you engage and just like getting that involved in that way it's like it just like golf is it makes you sore in ways that you didn't really realize you could get sore in from such a what feels like a passive sport yeah for sure well so unless um you and i find a way to record early next week i won't be here um you'll be it'll be the step and chris show so

all right we'll figure that out at a later date anyways that's it's going to do it for us thank you guys for listening please check us out on twitter and also be looking out for info on that data package because i know y'all are going to want to hit that up i am your host brett whitefield this is stephen o'clock and we are thanks for tuning in to this edition of the fantasy points podcast remember to subscribe rate and review on your favorite platform and come join the roster at fantasypoints.com.