NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL Daily 32: Ranking the Best Offensive Lines

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Ollie Connolly rank every offensive line from the best in the NFL to the least trustworthy. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. It's a tough sport. It's not for everybody. You've got to be a little sick to love this game. And we got some sickos. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we are not accepting any complaints about the NFL's international schedule this year. I'm Greg Rosenthal.

You heard Josh Allen at the top talking sickos. That's how you know it's Ali Connolly Day. And how you know, we're going true sicko mode, ranking offensive lines. But first, we will start with the international. Slate, I'm sure living over in Manchester. Ali, you were curious about the London games, among others. And it's a good slate in London. Let's start there with the Colts commanders.

And then the two Jaguars games back to back, you get Eagles and Texans. These are weeks four through six. And I put it out there that like, oh, you know, the NFL clearly made a point to give the London fans better games this year after the Browns and Jets went last year. And I actually got some pushback. They're like, are you being sarcastic? Really? It's like, we know the Jaggers are going to be there, Ali.

They're actually good now. Their offense is one of the most fun offenses in the league. You could get any two opponents that you want against the Jags, and you get the Eagles, maybe the best team this decade along with the Chiefs, and you get the Texans, an actual meaningful division game. That's pretty rare. And a team that's won a playoff game a couple years in a row. I'm not accepting any honking from the London fans about this slate.

I'm sorry. I think it's a great slate. I think it's one of the best we've had in years. I look for storylines. I look for fun matchups. And I think once you give the Niners and the Rams to Australia at 2 in the morning whenever the game is being played, you've got to kind of bring the juice for the rest of the international slate.

I think across the board it's a really strong slate. That's a great point. And maybe that's where a couple of the salty UK fans look at the first two international games, which we already knew about. Let's go through them in order. You know, Melbourne, Week 1, 49ers, Rams. That's outstanding to open any play over in Australia. And then Rio, we knew about that one, week three.

Rio, you know, Brazil keeps getting these great games. You get Ravens, Cowboys, Week 3. That'll be a lot of fun. And so maybe you're looking at those first two if you're the London fans and thinking, okay, Colts Commanders is a solid international game. I think it's going to be like a good game. I think both those teams are intriguing. And you get a super-duper star in Jane Daniels in a very interesting year.

or three for him. And then, like I said, Eagles and Texans, to me, it was like best case scenario. If anything, if I'm a Jaguars fan, I'm almost thinking, man, you gave the Eagles game over to London. And that's a big division game. It's pretty rare you get the division games over there. I know Texans Jags played there once, but the Texans were bad back then. And that's at Wembley. If anything, you're losing a little bit of an advantage there if you're a Jaguars fan. Let's continue on. And really, the big takeaway here is we're going to international games. every single week of the season except week eight

from week one to week 11. Yeah, it's never gone this big. And I think if you look at the teams that were open to be picked, they basically only picked teams that are expected to be solid to good this year. Paris, they gave the Saints, the Steelers,

so they're going overseas for a second straight year after being in Dublin. Steelers Saints in Week 7 in Paris. but we knew the Saints were going to be the home team. We knew the Falcons were going to be home in Madrid, and they get Joe Burrow and the Bengals going in week 9. Munich has a really spicy game. Patriots Lions in week 10,

and so they made sure to make that a big-time game with the Lions being the home team there. And then Mexico City is 49ers and Vikings. And I've seen some 49ers fans saying, I can't believe they stuck with the 49ers, with two overseas games. They wanted the Mexico. They want to be the Mexico team.

It's not far to go to Mexico. It's less of a trip than it is going to the East Coast. That's the game they wanted, and that's a fun game. Any thoughts before we get to the O-line rankings, kind of about that Paris, Madrid, Munich, Mexico City, week seven through 11 run. Particularly hype for the Munich game. One of the greatest cities on Earth.

I think that's going to be an all-time week. A really, really good matchup to put the Pats and the Lions together. We'll see where they're at. I guess by that stage of the season. So we'll have some really fun storylines come out of it. I just think all around it's a, as you mentioned, a really competitive slate, putting teams together where you get both the fun matchups, you get the fun storylines,

we get teams we expect to be competitive. And there's just not really a blah one, I don't think, all across the board. No, the Falcons in the Saints, they're in the NFC South. All those teams, we just went over, are over under seven and a half. So there could be a poor team there. But maybe not. We'll see. And if there's a poor team.

team, there's at least star power at every single one. You want to be able to tell people you saw Joe Burrow live, even if the Falcons are not a good team. Yes, and Bejan Robinson is who they're advertising there because they don't know who it's going to be the quarterback, but it's Bejan versus Burrow. That's pretty tasty. And we'll see. I got to two games last year with NFL Daily. We're working on the particulars.

I don't know if anyone from I heart is going to be listening. If any bosses at the NFL are listening for a variety of reasons. I'm looking at that Munich game. Lions, Patriots, the atmosphere. I like that it's a little later in the season. So if the German fans are out there and they could, you know, reach out and say we can support like a live show for NFL Daily, you know, maybe we can blow this thing out. But let's not waste any more time.

It's offensive line day here on NFL Daily 32. This is our series, Ollie, where we're going to kind of take stock of the league and look at what we want for 2026 at different position groups. In this case, the entire offensive line at different positions. We're going to hit wide receivers, like individually, maybe edge rushers. We did the coaches. Some of our picks, you take, you know, us taking Shane Stuyken, I believe, in Jesse Minter over Siriani, for instance, got a lot of people upset. But I don't care about the people that are upset online at you or at anyone, because they got to listen to the whole show. The people listening right now, those are our people. And they,

understand we're projecting forward a little, but we're taking what happened this offseason, what we want for 2026. And so just putting that out there for these offensive line rankings, it's a combination of certainly the talent, the coaching, and how we look forward and think these offensive lines are going to play in 2026. And that's the same reason we picked coaches. And so I'm just putting that out there for the listeners here. Those are the people we care about. We just put the, you know, the rage bait out there on social just to get the people going. And I would just like to rub a stamp. This is for 2026. This is not a two year, three year, multi-year projection. It's for this year right now, the collection of talent, projecting the new import, projecting, can a rookie

have some kind of impact, looking at the coaching staff and the cohesiveness of it as a unit as a whole, rather than just saying, well, this team has an all pro player at one spot, therefore they must be in the top time. Yeah. And, yeah, there are some, like, are the best offensive linemen that are towards the bottom of my list in terms of offensive lines. But we were going back and forth. This is a mess. After the top few picks, you can make the case for practically anyone in the five or six to 20 range.

And I even think in the bottom 10 to 15, like, I look at these offensive lines and maybe it's offseason optimism, but I look at them and I was like, they all make sense. I don't think there's all these terrible groups. I don't think there's a huge group. Every team is trying to at least be in the middle. I'm giving myself the first pick. We didn't talk about this. And so I'm just going to, because I think it's easy.

It's maybe not the highest ceiling pick, but I'm giving it to myself because we didn't work this out ahead of time. And I am going to give myself the Broncos at one. They are the ultimate. You're shaking your head greater than the sum of their parts group. And yet their parts are awesome. Quinn Miner's one of, if not the best guards in the league. Garrett Bowles has developed into one of the most consistent past protecting left tackle.

You have Ben Powers there at left tackle. You have Luke Wattonberg, who's gotten in the mix at center, and it's been good. Mike McGlensie, who came over from San Francisco. And more importantly, it's the protection schemes. You've talked about this a lot, Ali, Sean Payton. It's the guard play. It's having everyone on the same page in terms of preventing these defensive coordinators from getting those free rushers in.

And so in terms of just feeling comfortable, they were a pretty solid number one for me. anyone in the top four I would have been happy with, but I'm going Broncos number one. Would have you have had them number one? Yeah, I think they were the clear number one pick. They're returning all five guys a start as you have both. You said the reliability that just the cohesion of the unit, I think, is superior to almost everyone else is in the league. And then you still have the impact and star power with minots and bowls.

I think it just pushes them to a different level than everyone else. They work as a collective, I think, better than anyone in the league, both from the staff and the protection plan to them what they can enact. and then you do just get kind of the dynamic plays with minus one-on-one or bowls one-on-one. I think beyond just the protection plant, they get incredible scheme protection all around, the volume of pocket movement, the volume of play action, the volume of screens. It does allow them to hide some of the deficiencies, particularly of the interior guys, I would say, when it's just straight pass-first situations.

But that factors it into me. Are you coaching around some of the fallibilities of the unit you have? Yeah, it is a combination in this exercise of the coaching and the pure, talent. If you were just on some random island of teams and you're picking out the most talented guys, like maybe the Broncos aren't number one. In fact, the AFC championship game, not their best game, the interior guy, even minors, not his best game, but they were working in a tough situation, tough matchup. It happens. All right, you have the number two overall pick. Curious, where you go. I have, and I'm already panicked because I'm trying to think wherever I go of my heart or I go

with my head. This is projection. I'm going to take the Philadelphia Eagles. I don't great about it being this high up on the list, but they have the best tackle tandem in the league. I think they can improve along the interior. I am deeply, deeply worried about losing Jeff Stoutland. This could be the dopest pick I make if all of these exercises over the course of the off season, I don't like that they're entirely shifting the offense, not sure that plays to everyone's skill set. I don't like that the guy who's called the run game for years has left the building. The guy is the best individual developer of talent has left the building. But that to me is more of a multi-year problem than it is just this 20-26 season when you get to walk in with

the two best starting tackles in the league when they're healthy. They've got solid enough depth to be able to cover up some of those interior spots if they have concerns. And if it's just a fully healthy group, which I'm hoping that it will be, then they still can compete better than anyone else in the sport. Yeah, Jordan Milata has improved again and again at left tackle. Landon Dickerson was talking retirement, but he's playing. He's a younger player.

I mean, they were my number two as well in terms of pure talent. And we'll see. There were some talk that Jeff Stalton's still going to help in some way. I don't know how that's going to work, but that was on one of the Chris Long podcast. I think it was Lane Johnson mentioned that. And so we'll see. I like the Eagles at two.

The top four to me were fairly clear. And my Rams pick at three is a little more about similar to the Broncos, continuity greater than the sum of their parts. I know what I'm getting. I know the coaching's going to make it look better. In general, offensive lines can be unpredictable. It's a little like a bullpen in baseball where it can completely make or break your entire season.

Injuries are important, and yet it's somewhat unpredictable year to year. But the Rams give us the coaching, obviously, but the continuity. Alirk Jackson and Warren McClendon at tackles, They are going to be the weakest tackle group, I think, of this top group. But on the inside, you have Steve Avila, Kevin Dotson's coming off a great season. I didn't rely on metrics too much.

But if you were into the pass block win rate, run block win rate, and some of those that seem a little funky, or let's say the PFF rankings from the end of last year, you know, the Rams are top five in every category that you would want to mention there. And I think it's more meaningful because of the kind of. continuity there. And so along with the coaching, Ryan Wendell, former Patriots, offensive lineman, is their offensive line coach? I just feel safe enough with

them. There's only so many groups that I'm like, they're going to be a top 10 group. And as long as they're healthy, I feel like the Rams are definitely going to be that. I had them ranked highly too. I do have some more reservations with and just the talent will catch up with them this season. I'm not sure I can forgive them for not drafting Vega, Yawane,

and then moving Steve Avila to center, which I think would be his best most natural habitat. He's a really good player, but I think you could weaponize him more if they move into center and bump Coleman Shelton out of the lineup. If you go back through last season, they were doing a lot of the stuff Ben Johnson's doing. It's a lot of doubling. It's a lot of helping these guys out in Pass Pro. But when you isolate two, that work they're doing, they're still going up pressure,

an alarming clip. They're giving up it really quickly. So it's a lot of quick losses all across the ball, which is mostly just do we have the talent or not. The slow losses are more communication and things of that line. I love that they've been able to rework the offense to maximize Avila and Dots and they become more vertical base, so I think that those guys are playing their best ball

and we'll continue to. I do worry that it was maybe a one-year-won-a thing with the team goals. We already got your first. I mean, they weren't in your top four. I can tell by the tone. Where did you have them, by the way? No, I had them third.

I just have reservations. I went down the trust fact with you. I really like Ryan Wendell. I think he's going to be one of these 20-year, outstanding offensive line coaches. A little bit of reservation. Nate Shield asks us coming in, how different will the offense look?

will they move away from the things that hid some of the concerns last season? How quick a trigger can staff continue to pull? I think he covered up some of the immediate losses they had up front last season. They're really good at driving people off the ball if they have to get into obvious drop-back situations. They hold up the way the best groups in the league do. Yeah, that's fair. And I try to, especially with these higher teams, like, go with a little less of like,

well, who do I think is a great player? I don't know if my evaluation of who's the best tackles in the league, What I know is what I saw last year and how they worked as a group. And so I tended towards that over just like trying to rank the top tackles. I'm curious, again, where you're going here with the fourth pick. You had the same top forward as me. I'm going to take the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, they have the most schematic help of anyone in the league because the ball is out immediately.

I don't think people have quite grappled with how much development Troy Fawatanu is shown on the right side. And they do have the question, will they move them to the last? left where he played in college, then he showed this incredible development on the right side and what was effectively a rookie season. Do you just keep him on the right with the Broderick Jones injury stuff and do you bring him Max Ionichure to play the right side as a rookie, which could be a real roller coaster that was supremely talented? Do you throw him on the left early on? But I think they've got in Fawah Tarnu and Troy and Zach Fraser two boardline all pro players already at those positions who are young who play in a really cohesive system. The ball is out

so quickly it juices all the metrics. So I think they've going to bump from that as a group. But it's still going to be that same system. And the job is to not let that guy get hit. And I think that they'll be able to do that. I love that pick. I thought I was being cute, having them relatively high, you know,

in my top 10 somewhere, because the talent is awesome. The thing that worries me, and I'd be curious what you think about this. Like James Campin is their offensive line coach. Hasn't been an offensive line coach for a while. He's bounced around. Coached a lot of offensive lines that were fine,

was back with the McCarthy-era Packers. That is what knocked them down a little bit for me as I was just a little worried about McCarthy, camping, stale ideas, and a lot of young players, will that work? That's stale ideas, and maybe the metrics will look worse this year. Maybe they do give up more pressures and more sacks because just the timing of the offense feels really outdated.

But I think if I just evaluate them on the film over the course of the season, I think the players and a unit as a whole will play pretty well. they're still master's protection plans. He's not a great individual teacher of players, I don't believe. But McCarthy's still a master protection plans. Rogers can still figure things out for you on the fly. He is indeed the quarterback next season. So I think they'll be sound and solid from that standpoint.

And then it's more about the opportunity to ask us of, wow, I'd have loved Aaron Kromer to go and work with Maxiana Cho and to work with the young talent they have for multiple seasons. I love this exercise because I think people are going to see that and think, wow, Steelers, really. but if you look at the one, you know, the talent, the potential for pro bowlers at multiple positions, I get it. I'm going back again to kind of the safe, comfortable pick, although there is a coaching

change that worries me in Buffalo. And you did start to see, you're surprised by the fifth pick, you did start to see them not be as consistent late last year. But it does mean a lot to me, Ali, that they're keeping this Dionne Dawkins, Spencer Brown, Osiris Torrance and Connemar Govan group together. Like that has been four-fists of this offensive line now for a few years. They really haven't had much turnover. They get one of your beloveds, Alex Anderson, might be starting for this team

or Austin Corbett at left guard, which is kind of fun. Obviously, losing Aaron Cromer, their offensive line coach, really hurts, but they bring over Pat Meyer, who was with Pittsburgh last year and seemed fine there. Pete Carmichael, who's part of that Sean Payton tree, is there in terms of protection schemes. And they actually have decent depth options, I think, on the bench. Like Lloyd Cushenberry is on this team. We'll see if he can remake his career.

And I felt pretty good about this team just being a representative. I can trust them as a solid offensive line team, maybe not as high end in terms of the talent, and maybe a little past their prime. but I still feel good about them, number five. I completely agree with that. I don't think Kroma's going to be a huge problem this year.

It's not as though Spencer Brown and Dion Dawkins are two great development stories of being there going to unlearn what they were taught by Aaron Kromer throughout the week. And I don't think there is detail-oriented in the protection plan stuff. As some of the teams are on it, and maybe they'll be more so with Pat Meyer and Pete Carmichael, which I think would benefit them. They allowed a ton of free runners last year, which they've not done for seasons under Aaron Kromer. So maybe a different voice, a different approach for attackers' defenses and a set. sending all this great stuff at them could actually be helpful.

And I think bringing McGovern back is the key to that. David Edwards is probably a slightly better player one-to-one, but I think McCuven was more essential for them to be able to crack the top five on this by the end of the season. Yeah, this ranking is crazy. Compared to, I think, when we do other positions and even coaches, I do think there are some teams here that I could take seventh, a reasonable mind could take seven,

and someone else could take 20th. You just don't know how it's going to turn out. I now go to you for number six. I'm going to take the Colts. And I think if you take them as a five and the right tackle spot is a little up in the air and who exactly will start, and that's probably the concern.

I just don't think they have outside that right tackle spot. When I look at these old lines, it's a weak link unit rather than chasing the superstars and they have one superstar, obviously, at left guard and Quinton Nelson. But you're trying to just eliminate how many weak links do we have? Most teams have one.

If you have two, it's a problem. If it's two and they're stood together, it's an absolute nightmare. The offense is over. So they just only really have one weekling, which you can coach around and work around. And I think they are weaponized as a unit, more than any of the offensive line in the league right now. It was probably the books when Liam Cohn was there,

less so last year. Maybe they'll get back to that this season. But in terms of putting things on the menu for you offensively to cover up some of the concerns of quarterback to allow you to access more for Jonathan Taylor, I just think they allow you to do more. because they are so explosive, so athletic, so smart as an overall unit, that they just are, you say, great than some of the parts.

I just think that the talent of the unit as a collective is way better than just the individual pieces. Yeah, I had them sixth overall, and I don't think it's a question about who's the right tackle. I think it's Jalen Travis, which normally, you know, he's a later pick that got to play last year when Braden Smith was out. Normally you'd be concerned about that, but they've been so good developing these guys. and when they replaced their interior guys last year, as you mentioned, and they were so good, I kind of just trust their development plan. And by all accounts,

I think they were impressed with how he looked last year. And so, yeah, it's a good pick. Are you, this is the spot I'm going to give you a chance to talk about pass block win rate, because they, I wouldn't check that. They were 27th, according to pass block win rate as a team. Now, that includes, you know, the tight ends and the running backs and stuff too.

so it's a little confusing. Give me your thoughts on past block win rate. And why would have the courts? I was really stunned to see that have ranked that low last year because it just didn't feel that way, certainly. No, it didn't match it with my eye test either. I will use those metrics as a guide

to go and then choose how to watch the film. If there's someone who is massively outperforming on an individual basis, how they're doing, the team ones, I just, you really have to filter down for every single subcategory of what you're looking for in the win rate, whether it's a quick timing three-step drop, scramble, drill, everything across the

board, is it max protects, it's six-man protection, what was the defensive look? By the time you filter it down, you're getting to such a small sample size. I'm not quite sure you're able to get out of it. I think the true pass set stuff for individual tackles is quite instructive. I think tracks really well with the film when you strip away the RPOs and the play action and any double help they're getting and you just isolate to who are the best one-on-one tackle plays in league. I think that's pretty useful.

the pass-washed rim rate stuff as a collective doesn't interest me as much as free runners. If I can go and get the unblocked rushes list and most sites now will at least allow you to put it through, is it the A-Gap or B-gap, those are the only free rushes that I really care about. It is alarming to me if there's a team I think is a good unit because the individual pieces are good,

but you can tell through the cohesiveness of the unit if they've spiked really high in the unblocked pressure world. Yeah, and there's so many different ways that you can measure it. The quick pressures are definitely great because, you know, pressure rate overall matches up so closely with just time to throw. The teams that throw the ball quickly don't face as much pressure. That's more about the system.

This is a spot here at 7 where it really gets funky and where I'm going off my own board for the first time because I want to hurt Ollie. That's just who I am. And I'm going to take the lions here at 7 and not waste any more time. Why not? Because it just is fun. I want Paisal on my side. We're going to be lining these up in the.

the graphics. And I get Penae Sewell over on the left side. I get Blake Miller, the rookie here on the right side, Cade Mays. We just talked about him on an underrated players episode. I think fits what they want to do. Tate Ratledge, I think played better in the second half of last season. And then at the other guard spot, you got Christian Mahogany. And so you're counting on the development plan, Hank Fraley's, one of the better offensive line coaches in the league. So that is a big part of my decision here. They're old. oldest player in their too deep offensive line. Can you guess it, Ollie, off the top of your head?

Like, I'm talking about backups too, starters and backups. Larry Borum? Is he there? He is there, and yet I still think it's Cade Mays, who's 27 years old. That is how young they are. They're another team that as a team was horrible in terms of past black win rate. It was like right at the bottom of the league. But I'm betting on the potential of this group.

And it just feels more fun to have them. so I'm vaulting them over at least one team I had ahead of them. It's a really good pick. These things fluctuate massively year tier. I was way lower on them in my rankings than where you've taken them here. I do have some concerns about Penne Seul moving right tackle to left tackle just for 2026.

How does it look immediately? Tristan Wurst had four weeks where he struggled. Is it four weeks, no weeks, eight weeks for Penny Seul? Then you've got to figure out what's happening on the right side. And I do care about the depth too. I think the depth behind, particularly mahogany and ratledge, is really, really weak. The average number of combinations of O-lines

for every team in the league last season was nine. So you're going to have to roll guys in and out, and I just think it drops off so dramatically. The starting five is exciting. If someone goes down in camp, then we start getting to the situation where we've got two weak links and they're stood next to each other.

So you're saying I overthought it, like tried to anticipate what you were doing too much, and it's going to turn into a dolphins trading ahead of the Patriots for Savanea situation. It's like you didn't need to do that. You're up with number eight. I'm going to take the books. I understand.

That was my pick. So now I'm really annoyed because I just thought the bucks would slide. I understand it was not great last season. I don't love the offensive infrastructure there to maximize those guys this season compared to years past. But I just can't move away from 2024 on what they were able to get to as a collective when Liam Cohn was there. I can't move away from the fact that I think that as a five-man grouping is the best

all five can pull threat in the league. Now, I don't think Zach Robinson's going to be a pull or move guys in space type coach. I hope that he is because Worfson, Godecki are the best two in the league. I've been able to move and pull out in space as a two-man tandem. You've got Cody Mark. Graham Barton, I think, had such a down year last year. I'd be pretty surprised if it was such a struggle moving through this season. So they are not perfect, but they at least have veteran savvy.

They have a weaponization that most of the groups don't do. And if there's a team that's going to vault back up, to be even just universally considered a top big group by the end of the year. I would bet it's them. Yeah, you know, I had them fifth overall. I don't know, I don't know why I did this. The argument against them would be couldn't run block last year. I know they had injuries, but they couldn't run the ball very well. So losing Cohen seemed to really be an issue. Obviously, you didn't have worse, like 100% healthy the whole time. And that's going to make a huge difference, maybe the best left tackle in the game. And then Kevin Carberry, as your offensive line coach

slash run game coordinator. You know, wasn't a great first year for him. So that would be the case against him. But, yeah, like I said, I am fifth overall. This is more of a natural alignment for Carpary with Zach Robertson, though. But that is part of my concern is they're just going to be so wide-zoned and kick-and-go base.

I just don't think the group is at their best doing that. I think when it's more vertical, when it's more movement in the offense, I think Liam Cohen showed us that that's where these guys can maximize their skills. So I hope Robinson is willing to adopt some of that stuff. I could say this every time now. Look, every year I doubt the 49ers, this might be a reach.

Every year, I just think it doesn't look good on paper. And then in the end, when you look at the numbers, when you look at offensive production, the 49ers are there. And then, you know, if you're into like the pass block win rate, like they always end up fine on those. like PFF had him ranked fifth overall as a group last year. They're bringing the same group back. They've had the same offensive line coach. Christopher has done a good job with Kyle Shianian. And you look at the top five here.

Trent Williams, not at his peak. Colton McKivitz has really improved on the right side from kind of a minus, I think, to a plus, certainly in the run game. You have Connor Colby probably is their left guard. Jake Brendel, Dominic Pune, Poonie, who flashed a lot at right guard, certainly as a rookie. Then you drafted a couple more guys in the fourth and, fifth round for some depth. And I'm just trusting the process here. It always ends up looking

better than the names. And then in the end, they get it done. And I'm about production. I'm about winning, Ollie. So I will not take that sneer that you gave me when I drafted the 49ers. There is no snit. I do think that they were able to get away with some stuff last season. But they always get away with it. They do. They have one of the greatest offensive minds coaching right now. He's able to scheme his way around it. I'm a little bit worried about some Trent Williams slippage. I know that that's blasphemous, but there was some pretty gnarly losses last season.

Just the down-to-down consistency was not the same. He can still do stuff that no one else can do on the left side. I thought McKivitz was excellent last season. I think Dominic Pony can become one of the best right guards in the league over a decade. So they do have the names now. It's not like they're just nameless players, but I just go back and forth with them on their general approach to this stuff, and Shannon's one the best and Forster's unbelievable of what he does.

but having such a limited protection menu really means Williams has to be one of the three best left tackles in the game. And I'm willing to bet that for as long as he wants to play the sport, but he is the oldest tackle in the league for what's going to be the third year running. And there was signs of some decline last season. Yeah, was he the top three tackle last year on balance? Close, probably top five, top six. There were moments. There were definitely games.

I just watched one of them. Jailix Hunt. I was doing some J-Lix Hunt in the playoff game. Did a really good job against Trent Williams. So there were a moment, especially early in the season, and then he kind of got it going. Let's finish out the top 10 here, Ollie. I'm going to take the Chicago Bears.

This is talent for talent, maybe not the best overall line. But when you start putting them in combination together and you put them in that scheme where they get way more protection than anyone else, they lead the league by far and max protection, they have the tightest splits of anyone in the league, consistently. I just, I think that they will be once again, though the talent is slightly dropped off

of Drew Dalman retiring and the questions at left tackle. I still think two knees at the peak of his powers. I think the Jonah Jackson, Darnel Wright, combinations as good as it gets in the league right now, particularly in what they're asked to do. It's the best combo blocking duo tandem that there is in the league right now. I don't see any reason why that would not still be the mainstay of the offense and they're able to hide these guys still in Paspro. Yeah. You know, I had them really high at first, like five or six, partly off, you know,

their standouts. And if you care about the pass block win rate, if you care about the PFF rankings, they were third last year. And like you said, they're not returning everyone, but the replacements they made Garrett Bradbury and Logan Jones as a second round pick replacing Dahlman. It's like, okay, that at least makes sense to me. Jonah Jackson worries me a little bit because you're right, that combination was outstanding, but he's had a really up and down career. He's had injuries. Even when he's played, like, he's been all pro.

He's been benched. And so that's a little bit of a concern for me. And then, yeah, Braxton Jones over on the left side. But then you think about it, it's like they ran blocks so well last year. And they gave up 13 sacks. Maybe we overthought it. I could be regretting, letting them fall to 10. No, I think that they're valid concerns.

And to have the, the, the, the, the, time to pressure they had last year, coupled with how long Caleb holds the ball. It could just be a year where it spins out of control and they're not able to quite hold up and sustain the way they were last season. And Dolman was so outstanding for them and corrected a lot of mistakes that they would have, particularly inside. Tunis incredible, but he does allow guys to cross his face.

He does expect his sender's going to go pick it up for him. He played with Creed Humphrey for so long. He's like, well, Creed will solve that for me. And they put that on the plate of Drew Dolman last year, who was able to survive it. I don't think Garrett Brabri is at that level that he had probably his best year of his career last season. We'll get to the Chiefs.

Maybe soon. But you do wonder about that, that Tooney trade. Did they pick the right guy, you know? Could they have traded away, Tray Smith, gotten some stuff and just kept Tuny? I know that might have been a little more short-term thinking, but I don't know if it was the right choice. Let's take a break. I have, I don't know if it's going to be a stunning pick. I'm curious what you think, but I'm planting my flag with our next pick as a big improving team.

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Every day is another chance to see Harry Styles. Very excited to see you at the show. Kiss all the time, disco occasionally available now. Back on NFL Daily, Ali's playing mind games. telling me now he thinks my pick is going to make him all freak out. And yes, I'm going for one of the offensive lines that's talked about the most in the entire NFL. It's the Los Angeles Chargers. Was that it?

Was that who you were worried about? It was not it. We're cheering in the draft room. We're going crazy. I don't care. Rashon Slater and Joel are your tackles. Mike McDaniel is involved in. I know the offensive lines were a little up and down in Miami.

Very up and down. Miami. But you look at the players, Tyler Biotish, been a really solid center over the years. Cole Strange is at least getting the McDaniel stamp of approval there at right guard. And then at left guard, they're probably converting, you know, their high pick Jake Slaughter to guard. And one thing that helped put it over the top, not just McDaniel, but they drafted, you know, an offensive lineman in the fourth, a couple more in the sixth. I actually feel like they have some depth of guys that have been there before, like Trey Pipkins is still there, some other players.

And I think if you're picking a team for 20, 26, Jim Harbaugh, Mike McDaniel, these two tackles. I don't think it's crazy to go Chargers right now. I don't think it's crazy at all. I had them as 10th on my board, so I think it's in the right range. And I really like Butch Barry, the offensive line coach. He kind of is the guy who,

Mike McDaniel goes away, does what he does, brings in all the mad genius ideas. And Butch Barry is like, let's put the concoction into practice. how can we actually fundamentally make this work. So bringing him over, I think, makes a bunch of sense. Biatich, to me, was an all-pro-calibalible player in 2024. I thought he was outstanding for the commanders

when they were doing a lot more of the cool, creative movement stuff from the center spot. So I get why they've plugged him in there. The big concerns for me of slaughter at guard and strange right guard. Slaughter, to me, was a center-only prospect in the draft and that he got by on. His smart and his intellect was the standout hallmarks of his game, that he would be able to come in

and quickly diagnose all this nonsense happening on the defensive side of the ball. If he was plugged at center, I get Biatish is just a better player, way more proven player. So I get why you would compromise that and put Biotich at center. But I don't think Slaughter is athletically gifted enough to be able to play guard full time in the league. So those two major weak-link spots, when you've also got the two tackles coming back from the injury, is kind of the reason why I didn't push them into the top four, top five range. Yeah, that Slaughter pick was a little strange. Obviously, you take Biotish when he just becomes.

available at a reasonable rate and worry about it later. But then it's just weird that they took what looked like a center-only prospect that high in the draft. We actually have a clip here from Charlie Kohler, who I'm considering, you know, the sixth offensive lineman here, the blocking tight end that they signed from the charges earlier this week. I think it was over the weekend. And I just knew this would get all these juices flowing.

Something like so beautiful about your up. by six points. It's like third and three. You know you're running it. There's two minutes left in the game. They have no timeouts. You get the first time the game's over. You know you're running it.

They know you're running it. Your wife knows you're running it. Their wife knows they're running it. You still run it. It's like, that is more satisfying than any touch I've ever had. Oh, man. You know that Kolar made that speech as they were, you know, wooing him as a free agent.

And Harbao was like, give him all the money. More guaranteed money for Charlie Kohler. That's my number 11 overall pick. What a value. I'm feeling great about it. That's the greatest club ever heard of my life. All right. What is the team that you thought I was maybe going to take?

You didn't want to get taken away. Okay, this is where I've officially lost my mind. We're deep in the offseason. I just got a puppy. This is going to invalidate all my credibility doing the show with you. But I'm taking the New York Jets. And I know it's absurd. And I don't care because I want to come out of this draft

with Olufashu. Armand Membu, Josh Myers, and Joe Tipman. And we can figure out what happens at left guard, whether it's Dylan Parham. I do think that is when you run through the entire list and you're looking at weak spots along a five-man group, that's nowhere near the most fatal flaw for all these units in the league. I think Membu is so special.

I think him and Fashani together is probably the best young tackle duo in the league. And Tipman has improved tremendously since they moved him from center to guard, and you'll at least have a veteran center there to be able to point things out, ID things call the run game for you. be able to sort of what's happening to allow those young tackles to just play on an island and play in space. In a way, a lot of the teams we go through are compromised athletically where they can't get to the kind of stuff the Jets can do, I think, in Pass Pro.

My major concerns would be they had the worst on-block pressure rate in the league last year. That doesn't speak great to the cohesiveness where we're in the sport right now. The offensive line coach has been a tight-ends coach for his entire career effectively, and the one year is allowed to run an offensive line. They had the highest unblock rate in the league because I don't think they knew what was happening. They couldn't pass anything off. but they're so young that you do see these huge sudden spikes in offensive line groups where they just dramatically improve.

And I would just want to bet on the Membu and the Fashanu tandem. I love that, especially as someone who just keeps loving to remind Patriots fans that they should have taken Membue over Will Campbell. I also had them quite high initially. It was like I just would write down the players and have it then. And then I kept moving them down a little further, not that that much further. But once I thought about the coach and Frank Reich, like, will they take advantage of the pieces that are there? Or is it going to be insert 2027 coach to fully maximize this group?

But I think for just total talent, you got good value. The metrics might be pretty rough at times. But I imagine if you surveyed every offensive line coach in the league and said you lost your job tomorrow, you have to take one the next day. I bet they would be in the top three or four because guys would want to go work with that. tackle tandem. Okay, I'm going to go Chiefs next. It's still the Chiefs. I know we're a little unsure about Josh Simmons as a risk because, like, he was away from the team. Last year, that was mysterious when he was out there for a rookie left tackle, really promising. You moved Sua Matea, who looked like a bust to guard. It seems like they might be able to develop him into a

useful, solid player. You have the best center. I believe in the... the league in Creed Humphrey. You have someone that's been there a long time in Trey Smith. Even if you thought he was overpaid, you're happy about him at right guard. And then Jalen Moore at right tackle, you know, if you're picking the weak spot, you could go with left guard or right tackle there. I mentioned the whole idea of like, did they choose the right guy, Tray Smith over Tune, but in the end, I'm betting on Andy Reid overall in the scheme to get this group to pay

to play creditable football. with a relatively high ceiling if Simmons takes it to the next level. Yeah, I think Smith needs to just play much better. He has some of the best impact blocks, and he flashes, I think, if you're just like watching Sunday night football because of the screen game, he gets these massive collisions,

and it's all really exciting. His consistency is just so poor down to down compared to what it was even a few years ago. So with Jalen Moore playing on the right side, which I think is a real question mark, he's just going to have to play at such a higher level. And I think the name brand value of him has started to far outstrip who the player is

and if they can get back to who he was a couple of seasons ago it will kind of make everything feel all right. I hear that. And yet, you know, Jalen Moore is replacing Juan Taylor. It's fine. I'm not worried. I love Jalen Moore. I recruited him to Western Michigan.

So I got skin in the game hoping that he's good. I would like it if he was in a picture with Mahomes holding a Super Bowl. It would be great for the office. But he doesn't look even like a fringe starting caliber a player right now. So I hope he's good, but it's a big... Do you keep in touch?

Do you keep in touch? Do you think he knows who Ali Connolly is? Probably not, no. Unless he's an NFL daily listener, which is plausible. Maybe he's an NFL daily listener. Maybe he's a talk sport guy. Ollie did some games last year. Yeah, go check out Ollie's substack and podcast as well, of course,

Jalen, if you're out there. All right, you're up next. Number 14 overall. I'm going to take the Giants. I like the fact they get one of the best left tackles in the league. In Jelaine and Luminow, you get the bastion of consistency. I think John Michael Schmitz has become a solid to plus starting center. In John Runyon at left guard, you at least get some veteran stability,

though it's massively on the down swing. And in Francis, Maui Noah, I think you can get an impactful guard right away, at least in the run game, who could maybe just hold his own impasse pro as a rookie. You keep taking the next team on my list. So maybe these weren't as unpredictable. and crazy as I thought the Steelers pick was the only one to me that I thought it was inspired, but it was different than my list because the talent here is awesome. To me, it's just the factor of you haven't seen them all together.

You haven't seen Maui Noah at this level, but man, you feel great about the tackles. I think they were playing before Andrew Thomas got hurt two years ago, the best that I've seen the Giants offensive line look for a while. And then last year, when they were healthy, I think they were a solid offensive line. The coach here is Mike Blundgren. He was with Bill Callahan and was the Browns offensive line coach last year over there where it didn't go too well. So I don't know if that was Harbaugh's first choice or what.

I don't know if you have thoughts on the Blumgren era, but just the uncertainty of that was a little factoring into not being any higher, but I had him right here. He was the longtime old line coach and kind of game plan builder at Stamford for the longest time when Stamper was just throwing out pro guys into league. Then he was the Ricehead coach. the same thing would not kind of run the team, would just go in and set the protection plans. And I do think they had some of the most diabolical protection work as a group,

schematically, of any team in the league last year. I thought it was almost unforgivable at times the way they were setting up versus what they were seeing because day ball was so obsessive about getting to the passing game. They would just kind of for go a lot of the work they could have done in protection. So anything on that to me as a kind of a game plan situation will be an improvement. Okay, this is where it gets crazy. If I was doing tears, this is actually. about where it's like, I don't know.

Like I could go with a million teams here and feel fine about it. You can make the case. I'm going upside here. I'm taking the Panthers at 15th overall. They did not play to that level a year ago. At left tackle, it's a battle between Rashid Walker, who's played a lot in the NFL, some injury concerns, I think is why he didn't get a contract. And Monroe Freeling, who I believe was your top overall tackle as a prospect.

Okay. So that's not a bad spot. And then you got Damien Lewis, Maller in the run game. A little bit concerning at center. You bring over Fortner from New Orleans, who played good as a backup last year. And then he draft, heck, in the later rounds with some people like him. Robert Hunt is a big contract player.

And Taylor Moten over at right tackle. Overall, their running game, like they're built to run the ball, and they did not run the ball well last year. And that really worries me. And you got an offensive line coach, Joe Gilbert, who came with Dave Canales. We've seen it in the past. I was definitely disappointed about how they played overall last year.

But I think talent and upside, I like the Panthers here. The talent is really strong. I do think Freeling, it's going to, if he's thrown out there as a left tackle early in the season, it could be a little bit rough. I think he is a more of a long-term developmental upside play. I worry about Luke Fortner's fit in what that interior is supposed to be, which as you mentioned is like it's these kind of double combinations

that we drive everyone off the ball. I thought Cape Mays was way better suited for that. This speaks to me. They're going to be a bit more of a spread offense, which then means we're going to have to play with our tackles, one-on-one in Pass Pro, and then it's going to be Rashid Walker and Taylor Moten. Taylor-Motter is a really fine player.

I don't want him on an island 35, 40 times in a game. So I just worry about what the offensive plan is compared to the talent they actually have on the roster. That if you don't have a cohesive plan and they're changing things and it doesn't match up with how they've been drafting, That's a major problem in year three. This is go time for these panthers. This is a bit of a prove me right pick for the Panthers.

Who do you got at 16? I'm taking the Saints. I think this is tremendous value. I love the Jets to Young tackles as maybe the best Jung do in the league. I don't think Kelvin Banks and Talese Fawagra are that far behind it. Fowager is so much better on the natural side,

on the right side. Banks, I thought there was really rough moments last season, but all young tackles have rough moments. I think the high end upside with him is pretty special. And I love adding David Edwards at Lefgaard to bring a real vet from presence to the room, someone who actually knows what's going on. The big pivot thing is always with them is Eric McCorough, who, when healthy, is in the top tier of centers in the league

and just never is able to stay healthy for an entire season. And then the kind of elephant in the room would be Seza Ruiz, who I think might be the worst starting player in all of pro football. So as weak spots go, that's about as weak as you can find. Yeah, I had them high too Because I think if you told me Every team is getting 17 starts out of their five starters This exercise would look most different for them

Then I think I would have them in the top 10 Because yeah, people slept on that bank's rookie year They should be really excited That looks like a great pick. McCoy's never healthy though Like why would anyone expect him to be healthy And so far for the most part Fuaga hasn't really been healthy

And so as I went along, I kept knocking them down a couple spots. This isn't far from where they were. But I just assumed, like, all right, center over with Ruiz and Fuaga's heard a lot. The ceiling is high, though. If you can get McCoy and Fuauga healthy, then you're cooking. I think the floor is higher, too. Even if, as we expect, Eric McCoy will miss some time,

they really didn't get ripped apart as a unit last season. In the way those teams traditionally do, where it looks like the charge is where they're just losing everything. No one can pick any kind of stunt or game. up. They just lost one-on-one, and they were playing with two really young guys, and one of them's a rookie, and one is moving position after having to play on the left side for one season. So I just think they'll naturally win more of those one-on-one battles, and it really comes down to who is the backup center? Can Ruiz hang in and survive? Well, they have to replace Ruiz at some point. And that's me, based on some of the other groups we've got coming up,

that's just, that is a higher flaw than I see with other units than the upside, I think, is really high. I just love we're going this deep, middle of May. We're not, you. You know, we're at like 45 minutes here. We're only halfway through. This is read optional style. I mentioned, you know, Ali's podcast before everyone. Check that out. But I love it.

It's for the sickos. Generally, we're going to drop these as the last show of the week and just have like a nice, you know, hearty meal to last for the whole weekend. With schedule release, we changed the schedule up a little bit this week. And if we're going to go this long and get this nitty-gritty, I'm just going to take the teams that I believe in and project a little more. The Ravens Offensive line. hasn't been what you want for Lamar Jackson lately.

And yet, I think the ceiling for this group is pretty good. I think it's a little underrated what they did at Guard this offseason. Getting Venga, Yuan, and John Simpson combo. Simpson's coming back from the Jets. I know he's not an all-pro, but you just feel good about what he is going to give you, what he's giving you in the past. That is one of the best position group upgrades in the entire NFL

this year from one of the worst guard combinations to one you're really excited about. You have Ronnie Stanley at left tackle whose best football might be behind them because of injuries. And so the ceiling's a little lower. Like he just hasn't been quite the same. Roger Rosengarten's developed into a solid right tackle.

And then I like the offensive line coach. They get Dwayne Ledford over from Atlanta who's done pretty good work. It's a big confusing, like, empty spot at center. Danny Pinter from the Colts is their center. and that keeps them from being a little higher and maybe the tackles are just okay instead of great. And yet I have a feeling DeCosta will find another center option

and overall with the guard improvement and the coaching, I think it's going to be an improved unit. Even if they don't find another center option, you can go and look at Dwayne Ledford's track record of he just finds undrafted guys all the time and they become plus starts as not just passable players under Ledford. He did an unbelievable job for the Falcon. last year. He's working for a unit where it is an all-world talent all across the board.

His offensive coordinator is tipping plays every single time based on formation, and they're able to even be passable and serviceable against the style of defenses they were seeing. And this is just a better collection of overall talent. There is a massive Lindemam-shaped hole. I think he was overpaid in Frayancy, but it's undeniable the drop-off from him to the next tier of just centers in general in the league and what you're able to get to in the run game. But they might be a little bit more slim down the run game, and then it's just can they

hanging one-on-one pass pro and I think the two tackle spots the two guard spots I don't there's much question about that all right I feel good about that pick uh we are over halfway through here you're up with 18 uh I will take the Dallas Cowboys okay I like having an offensive coordinator who's really an old line guy at harp I like the old line coach Connor Riley who won a thousand national titles was north to go to state's offensive line coach and they are a team who is a all five compil configuration title of book is a little bit more limited but was really impressive as a rookie. He lets them get to stuff. The other teams aren't able to, just because of the displacement, he can create the first level, allows everyone to kind of

of orbit around him. There aren't as many pin down guys as good as him, as young as he is in the league. There are concerns. I think Tyler Geithen is still a concern. There's going to be a Terrence Steel drop-off, but I think 18 is pretty good value. I do too, and especially for a team this late, and this is why offensive lines are unpredictable. If you told me that Cowboys have a top five or six offensive line this year. Like, that is a possible outcome for them. The case against them would be, you really didn't think you needed to do anything this offseason Cowboys?

I was a little surprised about that. Matt Hennessy and fourth round pick Drew Shelton, I believe are there additions to this offensive line. And I know they've taken, look, they take a Tyler every other year in the first round, but I just feel like you could have added a little more. You have Clayton Adams there as your coach, Connor Riley, you know, the offensive.

line coach, but the continuity is pretty good. And usually I give extra points for continuity. All right, let's go to 19. I'm hemming and I'm struggling with where to go here. I don't even really believe in this. But like the point, you say this a lot. The point is to hold the trophy at the end of the year, Ollie. We want to have a parade or not. That's what we're trying to do it. We're trying to hold the parade. And the exact same offensive. of line that won the Seahawks, the Super Bowl, is coming back. And in a weird, uh, airless society where I'm just like taking the five players,

I don't feel amazing about the Seahawks. And that's why they've fallen to 19, but I'm going to, I'm going to stop their fall. I'm surprised they didn't do more this off season. And yet Abe Lucas and Charles Cross, that's a good tackle combination to be available. This like, Gray Zabel, he was a rookie who showed really high upside. at a position that's difficult to step right in there and did some really fun stuff. Jake Sundell is their center.

After he came back from the injury, maybe it wasn't as good last year. They have a weak spot at right guard with Anthony Bradford if he is still starting. The depth, I think you can question it. And that's why they didn't get taken on any higher. I think this team was screaming for a couple just solid veterans and maybe they'll continue to add

or a fourth round. Just keep adding for the depth. But overall, they did some good things offensively last year with this group, and I'm feeling like I got a good value at 19. That's great value. I'm a bonehead. They were way higher on my list. I skipped them as I was going through my notes,

and I should have taken them way earlier. I love the cross-Lucas tackle combination. My reservation is the interior. I love Gray's able as a player. He's just not as consistent right now, and I do think there are some limitation in past protection. He's going to have to become such a superior run-blocking player, I think, to overcome some of the past player limitations,

which he wasn't quite as a rookie. I did think he would step in as a really impactful run blocking player as a rookie. And they coached around it so well last season. Even as the offense tailed off in the second half of the season until the playoffs, they were able to find all these different ways, I think, to hide some of the weaknesses, particularly Bradford at Wright Guard and then when they were changing out the centers. And I just, we've got to see with Brian Florek. Can he do it the way Kubi acted it?

And not for nothing, you know, not the best Super Bowl in the world. if the Patriots, if the Seahawks defense wasn't so dominant that the offensive line would have gotten blamed for how the first 10 possessions of that Super Bowl went. But they just kind of like the Rams in the Rams Bengals Super Bowl, they just kept getting at bats because the defense just kept getting them the ball back and eventually the damn broke there.

So a little disrespectful that they got taken so late. But, oh well, I mean, the other team, they're available. They're on the board that made the Super Bowl last year Ali, if you want to take them. I'll stay in that division. I'll take the Miami Dolphins. I know the one I really don't feel good about because I think the coaching staff

is a massive problem. But they have to me, the guy who played center the best in the league last season. Creed Humphrey's the best center, but who had the best film last season was Aaron Brewer. I think Patrick Paul moves on like very few tackles in the league. Once you move Jonas Sav,

who was unplayable last season from the left side to the right side, I think Patrick Paul, I'm not having to worry on his inside shoulder, there's a nuclear wasteland happening on every single snap will help Patrick Paul develop into the play he can become. And that was a guy who I thought was the most fundamentally unsound recent, like high-level draft prospect of the tackle position. And he's completely reworked his footwork.

And so you're getting to see, I think, the natural talent now match up with the technique. And so I think he's going to have a huge spike in how he can play this season. We'll be starting to look at him as these young tackles, who's the one who could be really, really great one. I think Patrick Paul has that potential if it continues to go that way. The concerns of the guard spots to me, Jonah South was an absolute nightmare. I think moving back to the right side, maybe that can help, maybe not, maybe you just have to bench him. And then Kane and Proct drives is higher on through the draft process than a lot of people. And I prefer him starting initially at least left guard. And you get the protection of the best player on the line

is the center. And then Patrick Paul can move him and has the recovery speed that a few other players that his size do. I had them lower, but the Paul Proctor Brewer, uh, center over left side could be special. They actually do have some depth off the bench. Uh, heckt is there right at the center spot. And, um, I like Jamari Sawyer as kind of a bench player. Um, and, and he's going to be kind of a super sub off the bench could be the third tackle.

They, you never know. They might not keep Austin Jackson there at right tackle. My, my concern was, yeah, the coaching was, I feel like it's been a little slept on that just we're, we're just rolling with Bobby Sloick and one of Bobby Sloick's guys from Houston to run this offense. Like that, that's probably my biggest concern. Yeah, I mean, Zagian, so what he did in Houston was unforgivable. I'm stunned that he was hired for another job and he was only hired because his friend got the job. And I don't think Bobby Sloick should have got another O.C job this quickly. So it's a concern. I do think the left side

is so gifted and talented and the potential for maybe for 2026 I'm reaching and it will look better on reflection in three years than it will do in 18 weeks. I know. The crazy thing, and I kind of got to it at the beginning of this process. When you look at these teams on paper, I think the team's getting taken now,

and we're into the 20s, like their fan bases can make the case. I think even in the bottom five, you can make the case of like, no, that actually should just be a solid, okay, offensive line if things work out right. I mean, the dolphins have a little bit of a higher ceiling.

I'm struggling. I am thinking about the Patriots, but my gut doesn't love the bench there. I think if you just line up the Packers' talent overall, I'm going to trust a little bit in the history there. I have two teams ahead of them on my board, including the Patriots. I'm just giving away my board. But when Puss comes to Sov, okay, Jordan Morgan, a first round prospect. I know he hasn't done much look great. That is a question at left tackle.

Anthony Belton, who's over there at right guards, like a second round prospect. Zach Tom is a great player. He's at right tackle. Aaron Banks did not work out for them, but it's a big money player, Sean Ryan. Like, they've invested so much. There wasn't a lot of Luke Buckstock last year. That is the offensive line coach for Matt LaFleur. And yet, you know, the pressure rate was really high.

Sacks a lot. It wasn't a good year. I'm bouncing, I'm betting a little bit on a bounce back from your boy LaFleur to get what should be a relatively talented group together and to play better as a group, which is what they've done traditionally throughout the Lefleur era. I don't know if it is that relatively a talented group, though. I think Jordan Moorg was just grossly overdrafted. They bet on their internal development system. We've seen absolutely none of it so far. I think he's a massive, massive question for them at left tackle. I think Anthony Belton was overdrafted even where he went, and I just

don't think there's the talent there to be a starting caliber player in the league. Sean Ryan is a question mark at center. Aaron Banks, I think that's more of, can he just be a passable starter, though you're paying him like he's supposed to be a bit of a difference maker. So that's more of a cap issue, I would say, than just like the player. But he certainly would, the way he played last season would be, well, if he's our fifth guy of the five, we're feeling pretty good. If he's the fourth guy, we can maybe do okay.

The way they're set up right now, he's got to be the second best guy on that unit. It's one of the starkest drop-offs, I think, from the best player on the unit to kind of the average of the other four guys. And it's such a drop-off. And if you're right, if it's just not that talented, we need to start having some tough talks about Goody, you know? Last few years, some of the guys that he's taken, because they have put so much into this offensive line.

And maybe I'm just putting too much faith in an organization that's won a lot of games, and they've obviously prioritized this and has a good offensive line coach. Because if they're as bad as they were a year ago, Like, to me, that is more on Goudicuns than it is on the Fleur. All right, you're up with 22. I'll take the Patriots. It was probably foolish of me to not take them before the Dolphins,

so at least I get to correct that. I have reservations about them. I have reservations still about Will Campbell at left tackle. It's not just Super Bowl base. You can go back through all the film last season. The concerns I had about him as a prospect playing a tackle in the league show up all over the place. Even if you go through some of the advanced metrics, I mean, pass block efficiency, just how,

How efficient are you in staying in front of the other person you're trying to protect? He's behind Ursary in Houston. He's behind J.C. Latham. He's behind Trey Pipkins. He's behind Josh Connolly. So it's not just like a rookie situation. He has a fundamental flaw of he cannot absorb power and he wants to play a game and style in which he's absorbing power and not making first contact.

That's going to take a major rewiring and overhaul to be able to get that fixed. I like the addition of Elijah Verituka. He might be the most talented player on their line. Will he ever be available to play? That's a bit of a concern. You're moving Jared Wilson, who strolled at guard to center. That's a concern.

How long does Morgan Moses have left? How long does Mike on whenu have left to keep playing at a plus start to level? So I think there's real talent there, and if you go to there too deep, there's a bundle of talent to be able to put the five best guys out there maybe two years down the line.

But I think for 2026 specifically, I just have a lot of question marks. Yeah, the case for them. And look, I had them five spots ahead of the Packers. I don't know why. I name him trying not to look like a homer, and I took the Packers when push games to shove. The case for them was they were in elite offense last year.

I know the schedule helped, but they were third and DVOA. Like that that's the point, the offensive line. I know that they weren't, it wasn't all them. By any means, the running game was incredibly inconsistent. They really just didn't get pushed in terms of short yardage running. I'm a little less high on the bench than you are, but the starting five plus Lomu is an intriguing group. And how about Doug Marone?

Did you like the Doug Maron experience last year? He's back. Yeah, he's the best. He did a good job. He did a good job. He did a good job. He's generation. I love him.

So him, him having a say in the draft, and in what this five looks like, gives me more confidence to not have them slightly lower. Yeah, a couple, just little items from the rookie camps that mattered to me. Well, first was we mentioned Freelings battling the left tackle. So that's where he's going. He also was 325 pounds after playing at 310 last year. So that's just interesting. that they either wanted him to bulk up

or he did bulk up. And then Lomu, Caleb Lomu, getting those left tackle snaps at Rookie Camp. I mean, they drafted the left tackle on a right tackle, and it's Rookie Camp, were they not going to play them in the natural spots? I don't know. Rookie Camp is a silly thing to take anything from.

But if you told me Lomo, and who knows if he'd be really ready, actually, as a rookie, so that's maybe more of a 2027 question. But suddenly Will Campbell's inside and Barrett Tucker maybe moves to the right? It's like, that could get pretty spiked. pretty quickly. All right, let's take a final break and we'll wrap up the offensive line rink after the break.

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I'm a little worried about taking the Falcons next because you said how great a job Ledford did a year ago, just making this group look passable considering the predictability and some of the other issues. had, but Ledford getting replaced by Bill Callahan. If you're telling me a Bill Callahan coach team is going to take over a group that's been pretty consistently greater

than some of their parts, getting a little older with Jake Matthews and Chris Lindstrom, but they replaced Drew Dalman last year pretty seamlessly with Ryan Neusel. Juan Taylor's there at Wright Tackle. I'm not excited about that, but you could do worse.

Like when I say like, hey, the point of the offensive line, just be average. Like, I feel like this group could be what you mean. And with what Callahan brings in the running game, they could maybe be a little better than that. Yeah, I think the bench would be more of the concern. If they lose any of the starting five, even Juan Taylor, I think it becomes a bit of a problem.

I think 23 is a completely fair range. My only thing with them would be some people may overstate the impact Calahan can have and not factor in how good Dwayne Ledford was and the job he did last year. They're like, there's a diminishing returns on how much better he can coach up the five. And although the offense was predictable and a mess by design, it did put all those guys in the spot to play their positions,

how they play best, which is a lot of kick and go, a lot of wide zone stuff. So it may have made them look more impactful as a group because they're just being asked to do the same thing over and over again, which is their best traits, as opposed if they're in a bit more of a diversified offense, they've put in some more compromised assignments.

Will they be able to actually hold up the same way they did last season? Also, Jake Matthews, incredible career, you know, at some point it has to become a little less consistent than it's been. Lindstrom, big name, maybe a little overrated for what he brings, but I feel fine with him at 23 in terms of the continuity. All right, you're up at 24. I'm going to take the Bengals. They, to me, are the ones that speak of all the averageness. Is there not much to get you excited, you're not going to get the warmer fuzzies watching Dylan Fairchild flounder around. Maybe Dalton Reisner gets you a little bit, a little bit excited. excited. Amarius Mims? Can I sell you on a little Amarius Mims becoming a like a pro bowl tackle?

Pro Bowl might be a bit of a stretch. He is so incredibly physically gifted and he's just hard to run through. And that is a lot of what the league is right now. You set someone wide, try and run through people. No one can get through him. I'm not sure they change any one of them, including Mims, changes your life as an offense. But I think they're really solid across the board. And Conall-Loo, I think as the center could maybe replace Ted Karras, the end of the season. Maybe that's more to 2027. I really like Brian Parker,

the tackle they drafted you can play all five spots. So I think they've got a little bit more depth if they need it this year. Yeah, Orlando Brown did not have a great year last year and then he signed a big contract. You know, they really struggled in terms of the team win rates and PFF's rankings last year.

They were a bottom five offensive line. They really, it wasn't quite same old Bengals to a few years ago, but it wasn't that far off. Like, they look okay on paper. I do worry a little bit about the coaching, and I'm glad you think him. There's a big concern on the coaching.

Scott Peters was in Cleveland. That was a disaster. He was with the 2024 Patriot staff, which might be the all-time coaching disaster for one year. So that's a massive concern. The numbers change dramatically when Dalton Reisner steps into the lineup, so he's doing a lot of heavy lifting

for who he is as a player and this phase of his career. But I just think they're more average than below average across. the board. Sneaky good signing, bringing Reisner back without any drama. He's just been like standing out. He's always upset with his team. People are always upset with the Bengals in general. And they just like quietly brought him back. And that was a good move by them. I'm, I'm pumped that the Vikings are still on the board here. I feel good about that. There are

injury questions. Certainly Will Fries came over last year at guard and didn't live up to that contract. It wasn't healthy. Brian O'Neill is getting older. So it's a little more. He's been a very good right tackle. I'm not saying he's at the end of his career, but it's getting closer to that. But you have Kristen Derisaw, and I'm giving him a bonus an extra year away from the surgery. You have a first round pick in Donovan Jackson, who your thinking is going to improve at left guard, Brandel at center, maybe is your weak spot that you're looking for. But in general, last year, you know, in terms of the metrics, in terms of the offense, they were solid. They were right in the middle. And with Darisaw, especially in general,

Jackson, you're hoping they have a ceiling to go a little higher. Yeah, the ceiling, I think, is much higher than this, particularly if Jackson takes a leap, if Will Fries can stay healthy for the entire season, if O'Neill just kind of stabilizes, I think that they could leap way higher than this and probably was dumb of me to take the Bengals before I dug them. Finally, I feel like I got one over on Ollie.

That's what I mean. Like, 25th, them coming in 25th, I feel fine about it. Their line's fine. You just got to hope against the injuries. And they actually, they drafted a guy Tiernan in the third round, so a little bit of depth. Van Denmark was a guy they brought over as a restricted free agent from Buffalo. So even the depth that I feel okay in the first post-Quessie year in Minnesota. All right, you got 26.

I'll take the commanders. They have the best player left of probably all the units on the board in Laramie Tunsell at tackle. I really don't understand moving on from Tyler Biatish. I just find that really confusing to move Nick Allegretti to send. enter. They have some upside, I guess, with Josh Connolly, if Sam Cosmy is healthy, he's a really impactful guard. I just cannot really wrap my head around Beattich, so I probably knocked them further than I should have done. Yeah, Chris Paul was fine for them at guard, and they brought him back off the bench. You have two players, which are good bench players, Brandon Coleman

and Andrew Wiley. They are part of a young staff, one of the more fascinating coaching staffs, I think, to watch. Darnell Stapleton is going to be their offensive line coach, part of a young, new staff under David Blow. And so that'll be interesting to watch. You'd be heading to London. You're getting ready for some Stapleton views in week four, Ollie. He did unreal work at Louisiana and Florida.

He built the whole run game for Billy Napier, which got him the Florida head coaching job. So I think they were at their best in 2024, doing all kinds of wack-a-new blocking mechanic stuff in the run game, taking kind of feature run designs that'd be in the league for 40 years, and Cliff put some new fresh ideas on them, I think Stapleton can do some similar type work. Okay, 27. I'm going Cardinals.

I think the right tackle is one of the worst spots in the league right now. It's Elijah Wilkinson as your projected right tackle. There aren't many bigger holes, and the bench looks pretty brutal, to be honest. The coach is just in front. I'm giving you all the negatives. This is why they fell to 27. That said, if you told me like a different situation,

different organization, a different offensive line coach, all that. And you told me, Paris Johnson, at left tackle, good player. Sayamalu, you know, coming off some of the best years of his career, getting a little older, but at guard, Froholt, who's a hipster favorite, like yourself at center, and you draft, one of the better guards in the draft, Chase Basantis at right guard. That's a good looking group. Like, that could be a good group. I feel like I got great value here at 27.

I agree with you. I think if you shoot your eye from send it to the left side, you could talk me into putting them into like the top 12. Right. There is the right side of the line. There is the depth concerns. Even Bessontas, who is a prospect I really liked in the draft, I'm not quite sure he fits what they're looking for

and what they want to be as an offensive line or as an offense. He is more of a protection, quick feet-based player than he is someone who's going to drive you off the ball in the run game. They drafted a running back third overall. They brought in Isaac Siam Ali. They have Froholt to be a power drive-you-off-the-ball type offense. So I don't think he quite aligns with necessarily his best friends. I don't think align with who they truly want to be as an offense.

So that could be a bit of a roller coaster early on. You've got the roller coaster. And as we said at the top, they stood next to each other in Bissontas and Wilkinson or Udo or whoever is a right tackle. He could start looking a bit gnarly. Yeah. And who's their line coach, Justin Frye? He came from Ohio State. He was there last year, which is maybe a little bit of a knock for them.

So they kept him in the Michael Lefleur era. We're at the stage of the draft, the bottom five teams. I officially feel bad because you can squint and see these teams being much better. Who do you feel bad about at 28? The Tennessee Titans, I'll take. I had them lower. Don't feel great about it. I decided to put them last.

That's completely fair. You're starting a new center who played fine in relief duty, but is coming in because he's buddies with the offensive coordinator who appeared to be allowed to run the entire offseason for reasons that are completely unclear. I think Skoronsky is developing into being the best left guard in all of football. And so I at least get Skoronski with this draft pick. I think Latham has shown improvement and could be at least passable at tackle. I still think he'd be better playing at right gartham and you'd have a really fun guard combination.

Dan Moore is a, it's a disaster zone. That's a problem. We're in the realm where there's a disaster zone for all these units somewhere. And I thought that Carmen Brickalo, who was with Dable last year, did an absolutely horrific job. So I have almost no idea why I took them a 28th overall over than the fact I really like Peter Skronski and I wanted to take him off the board. J.C. Latham could develop. I heard some whispers like I like what that they weren't this staff maybe is not necessarily happy with what they have in J.C. Latham. It wouldn't have shocked me if I heard some with, you know,

like, oh, that he could have been available to move up in the draft or something like that. That would have been creating another hole. So I get why they didn't do it. The coaching should help them get better. I love the Skoransky shoutout. I apologize for being rude for typing while you were talking. But I was trying to figure out, Ali, and this is almost impossible with the Titans, who was responsible for drafting Skoransky? Because they have had a different decision maker literally every year for five straight years.

Shout out to Rand Carthon. He was the GM. That was his one draft, I believe. And he took Skoranski, which now, years later, it's looking pretty good. And the path that Will Campbell should take and the Patriots should just acknowledge and say we could have one of the best interior plays in the spoil if we just move them inside and get over our egos.

Good call. I'm going Raiders next. Why not? You got Colton Miller. Hopefully he's healthy. That's a good left tackle. Were they last on your board or no? No, they were second to last. Okay. Spencer Bufberford, coming over from the 49ers. I don't know. He's played.

But you have Linderbom. You have Powers Johnson, who hasn't been great as a pro, but a lot of people loved them as a prospect and you get him at guard. DJ Glaze is here at right guard. You drafted some players. Rogers, Caleb Rogers and Grant last year who could develop into good bench guys.

You took Tray Zune off the bench. So there's some depth here. Rick Denison is involved. Coming over with Clint Kubiak from the world champions. And so on paper, plus the coaches, I'm cool with this.

I mean, I guess we're just splitting hairs. I didn't have them much higher than you either. I had him 29th. Dedison has been with the Kubiak family, basically the entire Kubiak family life. So there's at least going to be alignment from that standpoint. And I do think that Linda Bam and Powers Johnson really struggles. But if there's any offense he can operate in, I think, and become a passable play, if you would be this offense.

And I've been on DJ Glaze Island, his entire career. It is roughing the streets. It is rough on the island. We've got to get help. So I think they have three. really concerning weak points, particularly in past protection, and Linda Bump can be a problem and pass protection for you. You will get all the upside and the run game. It's the perfect system for him to go in and be the kind of impact play they want him to, but when it's a straight

dropback situation, it's called to Miller, and then it's question marks everywhere else. So I imagine DJ Glaze Island, like, yeah, the streets you're talking about. That's where they're not showing the tourists. That's far away from the beach. It's taking hallucinogens because it's gone so wrong, you're imagining some kind of city architecture. What did you call, what's it the Falcon, the, the guard, it was a nuclear fallout, I believe, where Jonah Savve played last year. Jonah Sab created a nuclear wasteland, that's just mean. I love it, though.

Number 30 on my list. This is where I'm really feeling bad. But I actually like that it makes us put a number to it. I have the Jaguars next. And I think Jaguars fans are going to see this. They were productive offense this year. And they have concerns about their own team's offensive line. But they're going to say, like, that is preposterous.

That is ridiculous to have them 30. But these exercises force you to actually make the list and put someone there in the bottom. And yeah, like it could work out. They liked Van Lannin became kind of a fine for them at left tackle, Cole Van Lennon, and he's good. You brought in Robert Hainsey and Patrick McCari, who had varying effectiveness at center and, guard for them last year. Anton Harrison was a high pick who's played pretty well for them last year.

And so it's not a bad group, Ezra Kavana at left guard. It's not the worst group ever. They added a manual pregnant. Like, I can see the vision where they're perfectly fine, where they're the 12th offensive line in the league. The win rates actually were quite good for them last year. PFF had them rated, you know, much lower. But again, it, like, added up to kind of like a middle tier group. And then yet with the personnel, I think they got a lot of help from the scheme, that scheme will still be there, but does the league catch up to them a little bit? I think that has to be part of the reason you haven't taken them yet. I did have them a little higher on my original board.

They were more like 25, but they ended up falling here to 30. Yeah, this is who I would have taken. I think you made all the right points. As the sum of the, they're better as a collective than the sum of the parts. Eventually, that can just get you. If you play five down, it's one-on-one across the board. It's pretty concerning. I do think Harrison is a really good player.

I think Van Lannin showed a lot when he came into the starting lineup. And I'm a huge Robert Hainsey believer, though it dropped up pretty starkly after we talked about him on the show almost a year ago now. But I just don't think they have the natural personnel to be locked in as this is going to be an up to a tier unit in the league year after year. And by you saying that's who you would have taken, you're too polite, Ali. I just took two picks in a row, I realized. Oh, I just spaced out. So I rolled with it. You got you forget being polite.

You got to be like, Greg, you just took my pick literally. I went Raiders, Jags back to back, but it's good to know that that's who you would have taken. That's how you know we've been doing this countdown a little too long. I feel bad for the final two teams, but I guess I got to give you the honors for 31 and 32 in a row here.

I'll take the Texans at 31. Deeply problematic all over the spot. Even drafting Keelham Rutledge, who, like anyone who watching, is the sport, admires that kind of player. I really liked him as a prospect. He is a powerful imposing run blocker. Moving him to center with the issues they have in past protection, I think is a real problem. I don't think he's a natural center in the league. I think he's a natural guard and can be an impactful guard, starting guard in the league. They effectively need

CJ Stroud and someone's probably going to sit down with CJ Trout and say, do you want to be Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? That's what you have to commit to being the best guy at running the pre-snap operation in the entire league. Does he want to do that? That's how they want to run their offense. It's all New England guys. And you can see how poor it was last year in terms of the protection plan. And they would just keep chopping and changing and inserting anyone to the lineup who had some touch point to New England. That's just what they would do over and over again at the guard and the center spots. Just someone who spoke the common language because they couldn't get on the same page at all. And if we aren't holed up in talent,

let's at least all know where we're supposed to be what the assignments are. So they just need either an overall of the protection system, which I don't believe they will do, or they need C.J. Stroud to kind of take command of the thing, because you cannot ask a rookie center who's not played center in the most recent seasons to walk in and do all the communication stuff for you the way Jake Andrews did.

I just have reservations if C.J. Stroud wants to be that kind of quarterback. Yeah, I like that they put a lot of resources into this offseason. They had to. Wyatt Teller makes sense for them. Braden Smith at right tackle is a risk just because of the concussions and everything, but he makes sense for them. They drafted, who was it?

Fabiichi Wewu, like in the middle rounds. Your hope and ursary develops. You have some guys on the bench even, Blake Fisher, Trent Brown, who have played for this team. Ed Ingram showed them something. Again, you can see the vision, and yet, you know, I had them bottom four,

so it's not like they fell much further than I would have had them because of what you said. It's more about the coaching and does it all just throw up. throwing names at it, do they have a cohesive plan? I am worried, which is kind of what the Browns did, that they're 32.

This could work too. It's a grand experiment, brand new offensive line. George Warhop was coaching the Brown's offensive line when Joe Thomas was just starting his career, and Alex Mack was his center. And he's back. I don't know if that's good or not, but they have players we recognize.

They certainly could be a lot better. It's different than drafting, like, wide receivers in different positions where like I said I think these bottom five there is absolutely past them being average if everything works out give me the path for the browns actually working out everyone stays healthy Farnu hits the ground running and is at least a serviceable starter which most rookie tackles just aren't unfortunately but he at least is better than the expectations of a traditional rookie everyone stays healthy and fine they can build a cohesion quickly which I just think it's so tough to do when you're replacing all five guys,

that one guy goes down and you've got to throw Kendrick Green or Parker Brailsford. I think the depth is such a concern with a bunch of players who have some injury reservations. That would be my major concern. The upside will be if they can keep all five guys healthy for a good chunk of the season, there is some overlap in how they play their best ball, which is the interior guys want to drive you off the ball in the run game, and the two tackles just want to play keep away and pass bro. And so that kind of makes sense as a five-man unit.

I worry that the Texans were so willing to move off of Titus Howard in that contract, that Zion Johnson, even though the charges were in on him, like, yes, he improved late in his rookie contract, but you still have to consider the rest of the rookie contract. And then Jenkins, Elton Jenkins at center is curious to me. It just didn't seem like it's always been his best position. So it's like a lesser version to me of the Saints who are maybe the number one boomer bust offensive line. They could be a top five offensive line.

They went in the middle because there's a little bit of, a risk involved. This is a boomer bus offensive line where they can get to the middle. I think if they hit a, like there are best outcomes for almost all these guys that is pretty respectable and that they're just a more watchable offense this year. I'm not going to give these guys any praise though that I've been hearing that, oh, they were able to get all five guys in replacement. It's like, that was their active choice. What else were they going to do? Not sign anyone to play the positions. I just don't understand it. And they took a tackle in Spencefano, who was not the top tackle on my ball, was.

the fourth tackle on my board, so I thought that was even a reach. And there's massive expectation on him moving from the right side to the left side for even the best possible outcome for him to be a serviceable player as a rookie. It just doesn't happen. Elton Jenkins, you mentioned, his best position is playing at guard. They're pushing him to center. Titus Howard gives you some positional versatility, but they've signed him as he's going to be the starting right tackle for us. So I think, or trade it for him, I should say. So I think that it's way more bust than boom. The boom would be Spencer Farner looks excellent, even if the rest is a mess. Yeah, he's obviously the most important guy.

Although Zion Johnson is a long-term player there with that contract. And we'll see about the rest. They drafted a guy, Austin Barber, to kind of be a swing tackle that made sense to me. But they created that situation. And ultimately, they could have been spending money elsewhere. That's more of the bigger problem, is that they spent top of the market prices to get Jenkins and Johnson. And meanwhile, every Browns fan tells me, it's like, well, they didn't need to fix anything on defense. The defense is great.

It's like, you always need to be adding to that side. of the ball. And without Jim Schwartz there, you can expect a decline. And it's like they ignored other spots on the roster to fix the offensive line. So they pull up the rear here at 32. We did it, Ollie. I was worried. And actually, the board didn't go that differently than my board. So I feel good about that. I know. I wanted to bring more chaos. I should have taken the in the top 10. Yes. So what I should have done. Because I felt a little bit like, you know, one of those right tackles on an island when maybe they weren't ready. Like, you know, you're more of the offensive line guy. I'm just trying to hold up and survive through this one. We'll get to

another rankings next week. We're putting Ali through the ringer here, giving him big assignments. That'll be at the end of next week. We're not at the end of this one. Let's hit the music. Let's talk about Thursday. We're going to be live on the NFL channel, by the way, for anyone who wants to watch the Fast Network, NFL channel, me, Patrick, and Jordan. But we're also going to be in your ears, the NFL Daily podcast. The minute the schedule comes out, we'll finish out the week with all the schedule analysis and goodies. We'll see you then. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.