How the Best Offensive Lines Were Built

[Whatever]

(01-08-2020, 04:33 PM)RiverRat13 Wrote: With the talk of the Bengals needing to trade down and build a line before taking a QB, I thought it would be useful to look at how the top offensive lines in 2019 were built.  I used Football Outsiders' team OL ratings and looked at where each starter was drafted.  The number listed is where they were taken overall.  If there is a (FA) beside the number, that means their current team didn't draft them but acquired that player through free agency. 

I'm not sure how to post a table, so the numbers listed go from left to right across the line (LT, LG, C, RT, RG).  For example, New Orleans' left tackle, Terron Armstead, was the 75th overall draft pick.  Their left guard (Andrus Peat) was the 13th pick, and so on.

1. NO     - 75, 13, 48, 65(FA), 32
2. Dallas -  9, 50, 31, 16, UDFA
3. Balt -     6, 215, UDFA, 86, 83
4. Tenn -   11, 33(FA), 99(FA), 82, 8
5. Oak -     15, 81(FA), 55(FA), 31, 244(FA)
6. GB -      109, UDFA, 161, 67(FA), 23
7. Minn -   23(FA), 70, 18, UDFA, 62
8. SF -      28, 28(FA), UDFA, 131, 138
9. NE -      23, 78, UDFA, 131, 138
10. Den -   20, 41, 144, UDFA, 19(FA)

You have 5 remaining playoff teams in that top 10.  For fun, let's look at the other 3 remaining teams.

15. Seattle - UDFA, 17, 215, 11(FA), 31
22. Houston - 13(trade), 55, 50, 193(FA), UDFA
28. KC -         1, UDFA, 222, 200, 37(FA)

Conclusions?  Well, mine would be that there is no one way to build a good line.  I don't think a "formula," per se, exists.  Dallas has by far invested the most draft capital and it has paid off (Collins was a fluke UDFA who should have been a 1st round pick had it not been for weird circumstances), but looking at the list, you don't have to have a line full of 1st and 2nd round picks to build a good one.  But you probably need to have a free agent to supplement what you have, and it doesn't hurt to get lucky with an undrafted free agent.

Another criteria to keep in mind is that the average experience of the Top 5 OL's is 5.2 years in the league.  None of those teams started more than one rookie, either, so apologies in advance to the "draft a T in 2 and a G in 3 and insert them into the starting lineup and the OL is fixed"crowd.  It takes time for OL to develop into actual good pro's and you have to be mindful of giving up on guys too soon.