FanPost

Offensive Trench Warfare of 2018

How important is building an offensive line? Should building an offensive line be a priority for any organization? A year or two ago, I looked at teams who made the playoffs and denoted their offensive line ranking as per Football Outsiders. Let us do the same this year.

2018 Playoff Participants

2018 Playoff Teams

Run Block Rankings

Pass Block Rankings

Wins

Overall

Power

Stuff

2nd level

Overall

Sacks

New Orleans

13

2

9

1

14

3

20

LA Rams

13

1

13

2

1

6

33

Kansas City

12

16

4

13

18

5

26

Chicago

12

28

18

22

31

7

33

LA Chargers

12

5

18

16

4

13

24

New England

12

3

29

4

21

1

21

Houston

11

27

23

21

26

32

62

Baltimore

11

9

1

3

7

8

32

Dallas

10

8

3

11

9

28

48

Seattle

10

12

5

8

11

30

51

Indianapolis

10

4

28

9

6

2

18

Philadelphia

9

20

15

26

15

17

40

Out of the 12 playoff teams, seven of them rank in the top-10 in run blocking. Of five teams not ranked in the top-10 in run blocking, two of them rank in the top-10 in pass blocking. There are three teams not ranked in the top-10 of run blocking or pass blocking in Houston, Seattle, and Philadelphia. Houston’s defense was ranked first against the run and 13th in pass rushing, again, according to Football Outsiders. Seattle and Philadelphia are NFC wild card teams.

Wild Card Participants

Block Rankings

Run

Pass

Score

Indy

4

2

x

21

Hou

27

32

7

Sea

12

30

22

Dal

8

28

x

24

LAC

5

13

x

23

Bal

9

8

17

Phi

20

17

x

16

Chi

28

7

15

The widest difference of scoring between the offensive lines was the Indy v Houston matchup. All of the other games were close. Chicago blew a last second field goal attempt on the second attempt after the Eagles called a timeout before the first attempt, which the kicker made. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Divisional Participants

Block Rankings

Run

Pass

Score

Indy

4

2

13

KC

16

5

x

31

Dal

8

28

22

LAR

1

6

x

30

LAC

5

13

28

NE

3

1

x

41

Phi

20

17

14

NO

2

3

x

20

The first anomaly occurred where the team with the better offensive line lost in the Indy v KC game. KC was able to grab an early lead and the Colts shot themselves in the foot with several penalties. With the Chiefs building up a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, Indy resorted to becoming a one-dimensional offense. Indy threw for 36 attempts and rushed 14 times, the Colts threw 72% of their offensive possessions. This played right into the Chiefs’ 7th best pass rushing unit with 52 sacks on the season, according to Football Outsiders.

Although the Philly v New Orleans game looked close in the finally tally, the numbers inside the game tell a different story. The Eagles got an early head start by scoring 14 points on its first two possessions, but nothing more thereafter. Philly would be shut out the rest of the game and the Saints scored 20 consecutive points to a win. Third down efficiency heavily favored the Saints as they were 8/15 (53.3%) and the Eagles were 2/7 (28.6%).

Conference Participants

Block Rankings

Run

Pass

Score

NE

3

1

x

37

KC

16

5

31

LAR

1

6

x

26

NO

2

3

23

The final four teams reveal the top three teams in run blocking made the cut. KC was the odd team with respect to run blocking, but KC was the fourth best pass blocking unit in the playoffs as well as the highest ranking passing team going into the playoffs.

Both games went into overtime reveals how closely the teams matched.

Super Bowl Participants

Block Rankings

Run

Pass

Score

NE

3

1

LAR

1

6

Since I am a Bucs fan, I do not care about the outcome of this game. What I do care about are which teams made the playoffs with respect to offensive line productions as well as see the weeding out process. The final four teams left in the playoffs reveal good blocking for each team.

What have the Bucs Done under GM Licht?

Bucs Run Blocking Ranks, 2014 – 2018

Tampa Bay Bucs

Run blocking Ranks

Year

Overall

Stuffed

2nd lvl

Open Field

2014

32

32

25

13

2015

9

13

13

1

2016

21

32

25

28

2017

16

17

31

30

2018

32

30

27

6

Football Outsider Stats

Tampa has been in the top-10 once in five years. Their offensive line has opened holes to the 2nd level at an above average ranking only once in five years.

Bucs Pass Blocking Ranks, 2014 – 2018

Tampa Bay Bucs

Pass Block Metrics

Year

Rank

Sacks

adj rate

2014

29

52

9.4

2015

14

27

5.8

2016

16

35

5.9

2017

16

40

6.5

2018

15

41

6.6

Football Outsider Stats

There are no top-10 finishes here.

Summation and Licht

A majority of playoff teams are ranked top-10 in either run blocking, pass blocking, or both. The final four teams ranked top-5 in either run blocking, pass blocking, or both. There is a mixture of old and young quarterbacks in the final four with NE’s Tom Brady, NO’s Drew Brees, KC’s Pat Mahomes, and LA Rams’ Jared Goff. All four teams have their pass blocking ranked in the top-6. The Rams are ranked #1 in run blocking, the Saints are ranked #2 in run blocking, and the Patriots are ranked #3 in run blocking.

What does a high ranking run blocking unit do for any offense that can pass?

It makes the offense two-dimensional. In being two-dimensional, the offense can pick and choose how to move the ball. If your offensive line can win the trenches, then it can defeat top defenses. Chicago (1), Baltimore (2), Houston (4), and Dallas (6) did not make it to the final four teams and they all ranked in the top-6 of stingiest points allowed defenses. LA Chargers, Indy, and Seattle ranked 8th, 10th, and 11th, respectively, in points allowed. New England is the only team in the top-11 in points allowed stats that made it to the final four teams in the playoffs.

In the 2015 off-season, Tampa Bay left guard Logan Mankins came into camp in great shape and GM Licht drafted both LT Donovan Smith and RG Ali Marpet in the 2nd round of the draft. The run block game ranked 9th overall with RB Doug Martin finishing second overall in rushing yards. 2015 was also QB Jameis Winston’s rookie season. It would be Winston’s best Pro Football Reference’s Average Value (AV) in his short career along. That run game in 2015 helped Winston put up his fewest sack rate percentage in his career, again, according to Pro Football Reference.

Ever since LG Mankins retired after the 2015 season, GM Licht has not been able to invest well in the offensive line.

In 2017, the Indianapolis Colts ranked 18th in run blocking and 32nd in pass blocking. In the early off-season, the Colts signed FA center/guard Matt Slauson and extended the contract to tackle/guard Jack Mewhort. Then in the draft, they selected G Quenton Nelson in the first and G Braden Smith in the second round. Mewhort retired and Slauson went to injured reserved in October. Despite those setbacks, the Colts’ offensive line still produced. At the end of the 2018 regular season, the Colts ranked 4th in run blocking and 2nd in pass blocking.

In 2018, GM Licht had a chance to do something more in the off-season. Licht made free agent center Ryan Jensen the highest paid center in 2018. That shifted Ali Marpet from center to left guard. Afterwards, starting left guard Kevin Pamphile was not re-signed and starting right guard JR Sweezy was cut. GM Licht waited until the bottom of the third round to trade up for offensive lineman Alex Cappa. It would be Cappa and third year 2016’s fifth rounder, Caleb Benenoch, to vie for the starting right guard position.

Licht had three selections in the 2nd round of 2018 after accumulating a plethora of picks from trading down in the first round. Licht had enough resources to trade up for either G Will Hernandez or G Braden Smith, who went one selection ahead of the Bucs’ first second round draft pick.

Too many people get caught up looking a splash plays and franchise QB’s, but neglect the mundane of setting a proper foundation first. Brady and Brees have top-3 pass protection and top-3 run blocking. Goff has the best run blocking unit and a sixth ranked pass blocking unit. Young Goff is going to the Super Bowl. Mahomes had the fifth best pass blocking unit.

For the first two games of the 2018 season, the Bucs’ pass blocking offensive line ranked 7th overall and gave up only two sacks on the early season. The two sacks came in the second game. With good pass blocking, the Bucs put up 48 points on the Saints and 27 points on the defending Champions, Eagles. Alas, the offensive line deteriorated fast in pass blocking, but also started off 31st in run blocking after week two. The small sample does give a glimpse that with a better offensive line, the offense can produce. The QB was journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick for those first two games.

Will Licht continue to purposely neglect the offensive line once again? The Colts more than doubled down on their offensive line in 2018 off-season. Licht more than doubled down on his defensive line. Guess who went to the playoffs and who has a new coach in town? Sometimes, lemons are exactly that, only lemons. Let us grab some top offensive line talent, Licht. Stop trying to grab an explosive running back to fix the running game. You have done that twice already, in 2014 and in 2018. Win the offensive trench warfare already.

Doug Martin averaged 4.2 yards per carry for the Raiders in 2018, but only managed 2.9 yards per carry in 2016 and 2017 for the Bucs. Maybe it was not the running back that was the problem with the running game all along. It was the lack of talent that GM Licht supplied to the offense that was the detriment.



Content provided by a member of Bucs Nation and does not necessarily reflect the view or opinions of Bucs Nation.