Ranking The NFC South Offinsive Lines: How Low Do The Panthers Go?

[KatsAzz]

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-nfc-south-offensive...

Ranking the NFC South offensive lines: How low do the Panthers go?

 

Carolina Panthers

 

Sorry to trigger you Carolina Panthers fans out there, but offensive line is the next spot up in our NFC South rankings. So just take a deep breath.

Now, we know this particular position group has been a bugaboo here for much too long. But, in the second year of the Matt Rhule rebuild, has it begun to improve?

And if the offensive line has improved, how low do they go in these divisional ranks? Let’s find out.

Well, we didn't have to go too far to find out now, did we? And are you really surprised? Carolina's offensive front, as it's been for seemingly a lifetime, is still a major work in progress. We can start with the interior, with center 31-year-old Matt Paradis who did have a decent rebound from his 2019, but is very much a step below the rock he was in Denver. Then, at guard, we'll presumably be having a pair of battles between Pat Elflein, Dennis Daley, John Miller and possibly Brady Christensen (not exactly marquee names at the moment), all vying for starting spots. The most glaring weakness is at left tackle, where we'll see a picking of the poison between Cameron Erving and Greg Little. If Erving wins the job, which seems to be where this Sophie's choice is going, he'll be the 15th different starter on the blindside since 2013. Carolina's saving grace is right tackle Taylor Moton. And they know it. Moton's efficiency in both pass protection and in the run game is easily noticeable thanks to his power, slick footwork and overall athleticism. As a group, however, there are just simply too many question marks considering the inexperience of its younger players and the proven ineffectiveness of its veterans.

 

Atlanta Falcons

 

Atlanta doesn't boast much better of an offensive line than Carolina does. But at least they go to sleep knowing they have more than one spot they don't have to worry about. One of those is at left tackle with Jake Matthews. While he's not been amongst the very elite at the position, the former sixth overall pick has been a trustworthy presence for much of his seven-year career. The Falcons may also have a pair of keepers manning the right side in guard Chris Lindstrom and tackle Kaleb McGary. Lindstrom, whose selection infamously disappointed Atlanta fans in 2019, had a respectable 2020 campaign and McGary, who still has some room to improve, took a tangible step forward from his less-than-stellar rookie season. Rounding out the bunch, or at least favored to, may be 2021 third-rounder Jalen Mayfield at left guard and Matt Hennessy, entering just his second year, at center.

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

 

Continuity was apparently the theme this offseason for the reigning Super Bowl champions and their offensive line was no exception. The Buccaneers will be bringing back their entire starting line, one that doesn't really have an urgent weakness in any spot. Left tackle Donovan Smith's ascent has been smooth and steady, the interior trio of Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen and Alex Cappa is quite reliable and right tackle and 2020 13th overall selection Tristan Wirfs was fantastic right off the bat. That front allowed a sack percentage of just 3.54 percent this past year, the third-lowest in the league.

 

New Orleans Saints

 

Head coach Sean Payton and his Saints just seem to be ahead of the vast majority of the league in quite a few areas. This is one of them. New Orleans currently rosters the best starting tackle duo in the game, with the consistently great Terron Armstead on the left and ever-improving and already top-level talent in Ryan Ramczyk on the right. Ramczyk is so top-level, in fact, that the team didn't lallygag around in securing their stud right tackle with a five-year, $96 million extension. (You're up next, Carolina.) While not on the level of those two particular teammates, center Erik McCoy has filled the starting duties admirably. The 2019 second-rounder has started and played through each of the team's 32 games since being drafted and has been more than serviceable. Plus, their pair of guards in Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz, despite some relatively lower grades at the hands of Pro Football Focus, do have the tools to improve and some versatility that could be useful in some potentially sticky spots. This is not only the top OL unit in the division, but one of the best in the game.

Edited July 2, 2021 by KatsAzz

[KatsAzz]

The writer said about our OL > "As a group, however, there are just simply too many question marks considering the inexperience of its younger players and the proven ineffectiveness of its veterans."

The coaches are geting paid big bucks to quicky turn the inexperienced players into a molded unit, so the veterans have to start earning their paycheck by taking it on themselves to become more effective if our OL is to become as good we desire and expect.

[Shocker]

Legitimate observations but I don’t think we know yet.  Have to give them some time with the OL coaches and see how this goes.  

 

[SBBlue]

Quote

The most glaring weakness is at left tackle, where we'll see a picking of the poison between Cameron Erving and Greg Little. If Erving wins the job, which seems to be where this Sophie's choice is going, he'll be the 15th different starter on the blindside since 2013.

lol Sophie's choice...

[Panthera onca]

OL will likely make or break this coaching regime. If they can make progress each season and develop a strong OL, our offense will be unstoppable. If we keep trotting garbage like Little out there, it will be their downfall.

[Madwolf]

1 hour ago, SBBlue said:

lol Sophie's choice...

Jesus, we're the Browns QB situation for the last 20 years of LTs.

[pantherclaw]

Look, another off season ranking of a unit hat hasn't played together.  

Sign me up for all the stupidity,  because at this point, anybody reading this shot should be willing to swallow ANYTHING. 

 

 

[panthers55]

Given we have a month to kill this might serve as news but seriously preseason rankings are a waste anyway and when it involves a team with lots of new parts it is even more useless.  Let's also see how NO does when they don't have a QB who gets the ball out as quickly as Brees. I expect them to take a nosedive in a number of categories this year.

[onmyown]

1 hour ago, panthers55 said:

Given we have a month to kill this might serve as news but seriously preseason rankings are a waste anyway and when it involves a team with lots of new parts it is even more useless.  Let's also see how NO does when they don't have a QB who gets the ball out as quickly as Brees. I expect them to take a nosedive in a number of categories this year.

Teddy Bridgewater had a faster release than Brees last year.

That should tell you just how awful this oline was.

There are only a few QBs with at least 400 attempts with a quicker time to throw than TB and in relation to the oline, none ranked worse than the Panther’s Oline.

Just goes to show there’s a lot more to that ‘18th ranked’ oline…factoring in these, I’d put them closer to 25. These ‘oline wasn’t that bad’ people, well I have no clue what exactly they’re going on.

Still it’s somewhat a different unit as said so yea preseason rankings and unknowns etc. But it’s reasonable to assume, given history and the content of what they’ve added to the line, there won’t be any improvement.

If there is, it will be a pleasant surprise, but surprise nonetheless.

Edited July 2, 2021 by onmyown

[panthers55]

14 minutes ago, onmyown said:

Teddy Bridgewater had a faster release than Brees last year.

That should tell you just how awful this oline was.

There are only a few QBs with at least 400 attempts with a quicker time to throw than TB and in relation to the oline, none ranked worse than the Panther’s Oline.

Just goes to show there’s a lot more to that ‘18th ranked’ oline…factoring in these, I’d put them closer to 25. These ‘oline wasn’t that bad’ people, well I have no clue what exactly they’re going on.

Still it’s somewhat a different unit as said so yea preseason rankings and unknowns etc. But it’s reasonable to assume, given history and the content of what they’ve added to the line, there won’t be any improvement.

If there is, it will be a pleasant surprise, but surprise nonetheless.

I don't think that last year is predictive at all of this year or that our line will be bad or good necessarily. Each year stands for itself and each team has to find its own chemistry. I would agree the line was not good last year just like the rest of the team. But I won't be surprised if they are better this year.  It will have a lot to do with how fast Darnold plays and can master the playbook.  But TBs issue with all the short throws and lack of deep ball was that  teams didn't have to play their safeties back and could blitz with impunity knowing they weren't going to give up a bunch of big plays. Blitzes stop when you make them pay. TB failed to do that. Teams blitzed us particularly on third down last year more frequently than they did other teams so him getting the ball out wasn't as big of a positive as it should have been if TB had actually used the whole field and threw the ball downfield