Offensive Line

[L-O-Jete]

I thought this was interesting, hope someone can format it to be more reader friendly...

Offensive Line Preview
Posted 5/26 by Chris Smith, Exclusive to Footballguys.com

NFL Overall Run Pass Change
Rank Team Grade Block Block Depth Cohesion Exp from '04 Comments
1 Kansas City Chiefs A+ A+ A B A+ A+ same Best offensive line in football
2 Jacksonville Jaguars A A- B A A B+ better Young and improving
3 Baltimore Ravens A A B B B A better Awesome run blocking production
4 Pittsburgh Steelers A- A B C B B+ same Starters great, depth lacking
5 Cincinnati Bengals A- B A B B B+ same Much better than most realize
6 San Diego Chargers B+ B+ B A B B same Young and talented
7 New York Jets B B+ B C B C+ worse Good group, may miss McKenzie
8 Dallas Cowboys B+ A B- A B B+ better Adding talented G Rivera is huge
9 Denver Broncos B B B B B+ B+ same Always strong
10 Washington Redskins B B B B B B better Could be top-five unit if healthy
11 San Francisco 49ers B B C B+ B B better Youth, talent and depth
12 Philadelphia Eagles B B+ B C B B same Could be great if G Andrews is productive
13 Seattle Seahawks B B+ C+ A B B same Good talent but new starter at RT
14 St. Louis Rams B B C+ B B B+ same Solid line with great left tackle
15 Carolina Panthers B B B B C+ B better Adding guard Wahle is big boost
16 Houston Texans B B+ C A C+ C+ better Texans OL is becoming a force
17 Chicago Bears B B C+ A C+ A better Added two solid lineman
18 Minnesota Vikings B B C+ B B B same Talented C Birk hindered with hernia
19 New York Giants C+ B C C+ B B same Play ok as a unit
20 Cleveland Browns C+ B C B C- B better Not there yet but improving
21 New England Patriots C+ C+ B B C+ C+ worse Continue to lose valuable depth
22 New Orleans Saints C+ A C- B- C B better Should be amongst best run blockers
23 Buffalo Bills C+ B C B C B same Solid, but unspectacular
24 Oakland Raiders C+ B B B- C C+ same Young line could make noise by '06
25 Miami Dolphins C+ C+ C+ A- C- C+ better Great depth, improved coaching may help
26 Detroit Lions C+ B C C C+ C+ same Could get better as season wears on
27 Arizona Cardinals C+ B C D C B same Talent is there, need better production
28 Atlanta Falcons C B C- C+ C+ C+ worse Overachieved last season
29 Indianapolis Colts C C+ C D C C+ worse Lots of question marks
30 Tennessee Titans C C+ D C C+ B worse Entire team is falling apart
31 Green Bay Packers C C C+ C C B worse Lost both starting guards
32 Tampa Bay Buccaneers D D C- C- D C+ worse Already poor line lost quality depth

Dallas Cowboys
Overall Grade: B+

Run Block: A


Pass Block: B-


Depth: A


Cohesion: B


Experience: B+


Change from ’04: A

2004: 20th in rushing (1,773 yards), 19th in YPC (4.0), 15th in sacks allowed (37), 14th in PA / Sack (14.0 PA / Sack)

New Additions: G Marko Rivera (Green Bay)

Key Losses: C Gennaro DiNapoli (cut)

Projected Starting Lineup: C-Al Johnson; G-Larry Allen; G-Marko Rivera; T-Flozell Adams; T-Kurt Vollers

Key Backups: T Jacob Rogers; C/G Andre Gurode; G Stephen Peterman; G Tyson Walter; T Rob Petitti [r]

The Cowboys have a lot of depth at the offensive lineman position. They have four young linemen in center Al Johnson; tackle Jacob Rogers and guards Andre Gurode, Stephen Peterman and Tyson Walter who will all be starters down the road. For now though, only Johnson looks to start at the beginning of the 2005 campaign. He has excellent strength, great technique and plays with a serious mean-streak. Even though last season was his first as a starter, he has already made a good impression and has a good career ahead of him. At the guard position, the Cowboys are set for both the present and the future. The starters this year will be perennial Pro Bowler Larry Allen who should be a first ballet Hall of Famer. He has definitely lost a lot of his skills over the years but he can still drive an opponent off of the ball. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him replaced by 2006 though with Andre Gurode or Stephen Peterman who both have lots of talent and will need to play to get better. At the other guard position will be free agent acquisition Marko Rivera, whom the Cowboys picked up from the Packers. Rivera has been a great player over the years thanks to a tireless work ethic and his very aggressive play. He goes full out on every single play and makes life miserable for the defensive player lining up across from him. He isn’t the most athletic guard in the league but makes up for it with sheer tenacity. His presence will make this unit much better. At the one tackle position is Flozell Adams who has really come into his own as one of the top few tackles in the entire NFL. He is ruthless in the running game, destroying his opponent across from him with superior size and strength. His weakness had always been pass protection due to his limited quickness but he has really turned the corner in that facet of his game and he is now considered a great all-around player. At the other tackle position, it should be Kurt Vollers again this season. He will never be a top tackle but has good size, plays hard on every snap and won’t make mistakes. He is a good fit when it comes to this unit and he should continue to get better with experience.

Bottom Line: The Cowboys have a great mix of proven veterans and young lineman full of potential. The starting five looks very strong and the team won’t miss a beat if somebody goes down to injury due to outstanding depth. Guard Larry Allen is on his last legs but with two young, talented players in reserve just waiting to see playing time, the Cowboys will be in good shape when Allen does falter. The starting five will be strong led by Allen, tackle Flozell Adams and guard Marko Rivera, who was brought in from Green Bay and is one of the finest guards in the game. Expect good things out of this unit in 2005 and great things down the road when youngsters such as tackle Jacob Rogers and guard Stephen Peterman get their chance to shine.

[mwmilsted]

This is meaningless. Does the grade mean that the Cowboys will not give up any sacks or that Jones will run for 2000+ yds and that Bledsoe will have all of the time in the world to puick his receiver. There are better things to do than assign grades.

[L-O-Jete]

It means someone thinks that 24 other teams have bigger problems with their O-Line than RT, it means we have a good shot at winning the battle in the trenches which IS KEY to what most of us think will be a ball control offense.

[silverbear]

Giving the Skins a "B" for depth is just LUDICROUS... I mean, their best backup is Ray Brown, and he's pushing 80... LOL...

Get past Samuels, Dockery, Rabach, Thomas and Jansen, and you've got dreck... let's look at the other backups, after Brown (who is impressive, actually, for a guy that age, and can play either G or T):

Lennie Friedman, C/OG... started the 1st 2 games last year, was benched in favor of Corey Raymer... the same Corey Raymer who lost seems to have lost his job to Casey Rabach this year... doesn't speak real highly of Friedman's potential, does it?? Friedman's problem is size, he's just 285 pounds and can be physically manhandled by big DTs...

Corey Raymer, C... I thought the Skins had cut him after they signed Rabach, but he's still listed as being on their roster on their website... he would likely be the 1st off the bench if Rabach got hurt, and again, the Skins considered him a replacable part this offseason... at his very best, Raymer might aspire to being mediocre...

Ben Nowland, C... zero NFL starts, zero NFL games played...

Josh Warner, C/OG... was with the Bears for 3 seasons... played in 12 games in 2003, with no starts... didn't play in any games in 2002 or 2004...

Dominique Richardson (not sure what position he plays, the Skins don't have his bio up yet on their website)... and undrafted rookie free agent, and not one generally considered a "priority" signing... IOW, a very long shot to make the roster...

Adrian Gonzalez (like Richardson, the Skins just list him as "OL", and they don't have a bio up for him on their website either)... another undrafted rookie free agent, and again not a hotly sought after URFA... another very long shot...

Mark Wilson, OT... one of the Skins' later round draft picks last year, played in 2 games for them, with no starts...

Jim Molinaro... another 2nd day draft pick in 2004, played in 11 games for the Skins, with no starts... I think it's worth noting that when Jansen got hurt, the Skins felt compelled to run out and sign Ray Brown, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for Molinaro and Wilson...

So, the ONLY experienced depth on the roster are Brown, Friedman and Raymer, and the latter 2 pretty much define "inadequate"... beyond them, the remaining six contenders for a backup position have combined to play in a total of 25 NFL games, with exactly zero starts...

So, for depth, the Skins have one fairly talented but VERY old lineman (he'll be 43 in December), 2 journeymen who have had and lost starting jobs for the Skins, and a half dozen guys who are TOTALLY unproven in the NFL...

How in God's name does this rate a B for depth?? I'd give them a D minus... I am firmly convinced that if they sustain an injury or two, the quality of the line play will drop off badly...

And when was the last time you remember an NFL team getting through an entire NFL season without an injury or two or three along the OL??

Now, compare this to the Cowboys' depth... assume the starters are Flozell Adams, Larry Allen, Al Johnson, Marco Rivera and who knows at RT... the contenders will be Torrin Tucker, Kurt Vollers, Jacob Rogers and rookie Rob Petitti... for the purposes of this exercise, let's guess that Tucker wins the job in camp, I think that he's the frontrunner right now... that leaves us with this for potential backups:

Andre Gurode, C/OG... started 42 of 44 games at OG in his 3 year NFL career, but will move to C to compete for a starting job, because with the addition of Rivera, there's no spot for him at OG... the incredible thing is, he is in jeopardy of not making the team, because he has in the past made too many mental mistakes to suit Parcells...

Tyson Walter, C/OG/OT... a versatile backup who has started 9 of 40 NFL games played... will compete with Gurode for the backup job... is obviously experienced...

Kurt Vollers, OT... started 11 of 27 NFL games, and drew good reviews for his work as a starter late last season...

Ben Noll, OG/OT... only got in 1 game with the Cowboys last season (he did start it), but a Parcells favorite... has bulked up from around 300 to around 315...

Jacob Rogers, OT... a 2nd round draft pick in 04, only played in 2 games at OT last year (none of them starts)... the Boys tried to convert him to RT, after he had played LT in college, but he didn't adapt to the change smoothly... though he'll be given a shot at winning the RT job in camp, the smart money says he's really competing to be Flozell's backup at LT...

Stephen Peterman, OG... a 3rd round pick in 04, Peterman wound up on IR in training camp, but he had really drawn some attention before he got hurt... he may well wind up the top backup at OG this season...

Rob Petitti, OT... a 6th round pick by the Cowboys this year... he's huge, and got favorable reviews in the rookie minicamp (though of course, it was only rookie minicamp)...

Harvey Dahl, OT... Matt Tarullo, C/OG/OT... Sam Wilder, OT... 3 undrafted rookie free agents this year, but unlike the Skins' URFA, all 3 of these players were considered "priority" signings... Dahl was on a lot of folks' list of top undrafted players, Tarullo is quite large and quite versatile, Wilder can back up at both LT and RT...

Even with the uncertainty about our starting RT, I like our OL better than the Skins' (they don't have any players who have played in the last 2 Pro Bowls, we have 3 who have played in both of the last 2-- Adams, Allen and Rivera)... and I like what we have on the bench a LOT better... we're gonna wind up having to cut backups who will be better than just about anything the Skins will have on their bench...

But I did notice that the Cowboys had the highest ranked OL of any NFC East team in this analysis... even so, I think their ranking (8th) is a little low, I think they'll be a top 5 OL this year... and I think the Skins' ranking (10th) is much too high... for that matter, I find it ludicrous that their OL was rated ahead of the Iggles' in this analysis...

[TheHustler]

Pretty good review. They seem to value Gurode a bit too highly at the moment, but who knows, maybe he will shine after a year on the bench.

[dargonking999]

Ha they misspelled Marco,but other thna good review but i'd rahter them play at an Alevel,not a B+

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by dargonking999

Ha they misspelled Marco,but other thna good review but i'd rahter them play at an Alevel,not a B+

I think that A minus would be a better grade than B plus, to be honest... can't give them an A while the RT situation is still unsettled...

A minus would put them around 4th or 5th best in the league, and that sounds about right to me...