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NFL Offensive Line Rankings 2023

By C. H. Herms | Updated on Mon, 31 Jul 2023 . 2:32 PM EDT

Offensive line? *YAWN*

If that's your reaction then you just don't get it.

Your fantasy league uses RBs, right?

Well, have you ever seen a RB gain yards with no one blocking? Ever seen a talented RB get stuffed?

O-line matters in NFL and fantasy football

We'll be going over all 32 NFL offensive lines , laying out how they performed last season, and projecting which teams made impactful moves -- positive or negative -- for 2023.

In case you missed it, Jared looked into that in this article.

What'd he find? Much more impact on RB production than other positions. Reading through his full results is worth your time.

Here, though, we'll go through every O-line's 2022 performance and offseason moves (or lack of them) to determine which look ready to help or hinder their teammates' 2023 fantasy production.

2022 Offensive Line Performance

NFL Offensive Line Rankings 2023

Before we get into greater analysis, check out this tier-based, alphabetical ranking of the 32 offensive line units across the NFL:

Good

• Atlanta Falcons
• Baltimore Ravens
• Cleveland Browns
• Denver Broncos (trending up)
• Detroit Lions (upgraded)
• Kansas City Chiefs (trending down)
• Philadelphia Eagles

Neutral

• Buffalo Bills (trending up)
• Carolina Panthers
• Chicago Bears (trending up)
• Cincinnati Bengals (upgraded)
• Dallas Cowboys
• Green Bay Packers
• Indianapolis Colts
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Miami Dolphins
• Minnesota Vikings
• New England Patriots
• New Orleans Saints
• Pittsburgh Steelers (upgraded)
• San Francisco 49ers

Bad

• Arizona Cardinals (downgraded)
• Houston Texans
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Los Angeles Rams (downgraded)
• New York Giants
• New York Jets
• Seattle Seahawks
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Tennessee Titans (downgraded)
• Washington Commanders (downgraded)

Offensive Lines Trending Up

Expect these three offensive lines to be better this season than last:

Buffalo Bills

The Bills added LG Connor McGovern on a three-year, $23 million deal. Among 73 guards who logged at least 400 snaps in 2022, McGovern ranked 13th in Pro Football Focus (PFF) pass blocking grade. He’ll step in to replace LG Rodger Saffold, who finished 63rd in this same measure. The pair ranked back-to-back in run blocking at 68th and 69th respectively, but the upgrade in keeping QB Josh Allen upright is massive nonetheless.

Let’s not forget about Florida G O’Cyrus Torrence, either. The Bills selected the rookie with the 59th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. In three seasons at UL-Lafayette, Torrence didn’t allow a single sack. He eventually followed HC Billy Napier to Florida for his senior season, ranking 7th in the nation in overall PFF blocking grade among all collegiate linemen.

Torrence is widely regarded as the best guard in the 2023 draft class and will bring an intriguing alternative to Bills RG Ryan Bates, a player who allowed the 13th-most QB hurries (26) among all guards in his first full season as a regular starter last year.

Chicago Bears

The Bears signed RG Nate Davis to a three-year, $30 million contract this offseason. The ex-Titan is a strong run blocker, finishing within the top-15 of PFF grading in three of his four seasons in the NFL. Davis’ addition will allow platoon lineman Cody Whitehair to return to center, a position he spent considerably more time playing during the first five seasons of his career between 2016-20.

The Bears selected Tennessee RT Darnell Wright with the 10th overall pick of this spring's draft. He should figure into the equation as a starter from the jump. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler notes Wright is a “plug-and-play” RT with a powerful nature that should bode well for him as both a run and pass blocker.

It’s also worth mentioning that Wright belonged to a Tennesee offense that predominantly ran a spread offense dissimilar to the Bears’ scheme. However, the offseason addition of WR D.J. Moore may hint at a more pass-happy attack in Chicago this year. That would mean greater schematic familiarity for Wright, assuming the Bears steer away from being obscenely dedicated to the run.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos threw significant money at their O-line this offseason to help turn the franchise around. RT Mike McGlinchey inked a five-year, $87.5 million deal and LG Ben Powers signed a four-year, $52 million contract. Each player should make a tremendous difference to the Broncos’ offense.

Powers spent the early years of his career with the Ravens, serving as a backup. He eventually elevated to being a starter in 2021 and became a stellar player. Powers concluded 2022 ranked as the second-highest graded pass blocker, according to PFF, among 73 qualified linemen.

McGlinchey is a model of stability and run-blocking prowess from the 49ers. Since entering the league in 2018, he has only missed 13 games and started every game in three of five NFL seasons. In those three seasons, McGlinchy ranked second (2019), first (2020), and 14th (2022) among all tackles who logged at least 1,000 snaps.

BONUS FACT: Ex-Jaguars TE Chris Manhertz ranked third among TEs in pass-blocking grade last season. He also logged a #2 overall finish in 2018 with the Panthers. It’s small potatoes, but he’s on the Broncos now on a two-year, $6 million deal.

Offensive Lines Trending Down

These two offensive lines could take a step back from last year:

Tennessee Titans

The Titans are down bad. They lost RG Nate Davis to the Bears in free agency and cut ties with former Pro Bowl LT Taylor Lewan this offseason after years of injury issues. To make matters worse, their best returning offensive lineman, RT Nicholas Petit-Frere, is suspended for the first six games of the 2023 season for violating the NFL's gambling policy.

Efforts were made to replace the departed talent, though. Former first-round pick OT Andre Dillard signed on a three-year, $29 million deal with a mixed bag of success in the past. In two healthy seasons as the starting LT for the Eagles, Dillard barely logged one top-50 (45th in 2021) finish in PFF offensive line grading among tackles who played at least 300 snaps. This gamble may pay off, but Dillard is a risky signing.

Northwestern LT Peter Skoronski is an exciting addition via the draft. The unanimous 2022 All-American is best served moving inside to guard at the NFL level due to his lack of wingspan, but Skoronski could develop into a Pro Bowl-caliber player in time. 

The future could be bright, but for a team that sports a 29-year-old RB Derrick Henry as its focal point, the Titans need a little more than a remote promise to be a significant factor this season.

Kansas City Chiefs

We'll start this section with a disclaimer that betting against the Chiefs being anything but one of the best teams in the entire NFL is a foolish. The team is returning all three interior linemen from their Super Bowl-winning team from last season, but big changes at the tackle positions are why they're included here.

After losing LT Orlando Brown Jr. to the Bengals, the team inked RT Jawaan Taylor to a four-year, $80 million contract. Early reports following the signing indicated a plan to move Taylor over to the left side of the line. Taylor spent the last four seasons as the Jags’ starting RT after being selected with the 35th overall pick of the 2019 draft.

In 2022, Taylor tied for 19th in PFF pass blocking (min. 1,000 snaps), a small drop behind Brown Jr.’s standing in 13th. Just a year prior, the pair finished 13th and 14th in the same measure. The tricky part of the evaluation here is that Taylor, despite his success, did all of this on the opposite side of an NFL O-line. In three years at Florida between 2016-2018, Taylor only logged 134 snaps at LT.

The Chiefs also added former Buccaneers LT Donovan Smith, who comes with eight seasons worth of experience at the position, on a one-year, $3 million contract. They could keep Taylor in his natural RT spot with Smith on the roster. That would undoubtedly mitigate a great deal of risk, but losing the reality of an All-Pro doesn't evaporate, regardless. 

Offensive Line Upgrades

We’re upgrading these offenses for what we expect to be strong, or improved, offensive line play:

Pittsburgh Steelers (run blocking)

The offseason additions of G Issac Seumalo and rookie LT Broderick Jones should bolster a Steelers offensive line that ranked middle of the pack in run blocking last season. Seumalo spent last season as a member of the NFC champion Eagles, finishing 17th in PFF run blocking grade. He'll be a welcomed improvement over LG Kevin Dotson, a player who finished 36th in the same measure.

Jones was selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Georgia. He concluded 2022 as PFF's 16th-highest graded offensive lineman and tied for 7th among all tackles in the NCAA. Jones will have some quick learning to do in the professional ranks since he logged the fewest career snaps of any tackle in the draft class. However, Jones' movement skills and raw power should provide an upgrade over LT Dan Moore Jr., who finished 54th in PFF run blocking among all tackles who played at least 400 snaps last season.

Cincinnati Bengals (pass blocking)

One contender's loss is another contender's gain. The Bengals' offseason addition of four-time Pro Bowl OT Orlando Brown Jr. should significantly boost the offensive line. The former Chiefs anchor has finished within the top 20 of PFF pass blocking grade in each of the last four seasons among OTs who’ve logged 1,000+ snaps annually.

Considering the Bengals spent $72 million last offseason between RG Alex Cappa, C Ted Karras, and RT La'el Collins and still finished 31st in PFF team pass blocking, the addition of Brown Jr. may be the missing link.

Cleveland Browns (run blocking)

Not only are the Browns returning all five members of their starting line from 2022, but they also added some sneaky depth this offseason. Former Falcons RG Colby Gossett signed a two-year, $1.25 million contract to play a backup role in Cleveland. According to PFF, he grades out as a decent run blocker, but he's a smaller headline here.

The Browns drafted Ohio State RT Dawand Jones with the 111th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. This 6'8 mountain of a man recorded the longest wingspan (89½") in Reese's Senior Bowl history during the pre-draft process and ranked 13th in the nation in PFF run blocking grade in 2022. Draftniks like NFL.com's Lance Zierlein and The Athletic's Dane Brugler expected Jones to go anywhere between the first round and early-Day 2 of the draft, but he wound up falling to the fourth to the Browns. A steal!

This team has been extremely run-heavy under HC Kevin Stefanski since taking over in 2020. Here's how the Browns' offense has ranked in Pass Rate Over Expectation (PROE):

• 2020: -3.4% (23rd in NFL)
• 2021: -4.9% (26th in NFL)
• 2022: -7.6% (28th in NFL

An offensive line this stout in a ground-and-pound offense will pay massive dividends for a player like RB Nick Chubb for fantasy purposes.

Detroit Lions (run blocking)

Like the Browns, the Lions return each member of the 2022 starting offensive line this year. There aren't massive changes to the offense that ranked ninth-best in PFF run blocking a year ago, but the addition of ex-Broncos C/G Graham Glasgow doesn't hurt.  

Glasgow began his career as a member of the Lions between 2016-19 when he ranked top-30 in run blocking grade among all linemen who saw 800+ snaps in three of four seasons. Injury and age have slowed him down, but he adds experience and depth.

This minor move and the line-wide continuity from 2022 make us feel great about the potential for RBs David Montgomery and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs to thrive in this offense. RBs were a featured part of the Lions' attack last year, ranking seventh in the NFL in red zone points per drive, and should be potent again behind a stellar front.

Offensive Line Downgrades

We’re projecting fantasy production in these offenses to be hurt by offensive line play:

Arizona Cardinals (run blocking)

The Cardinals' offense is already up a creek without QB Kyler Murray healthy. Their situation is even bleaker when you consider that they lost their centers Rodney Hudson and Billy Price, guards Cory Ford and Max Garcia (both of whom logged at least 300 snaps in 2022), and did very little to replace them this offseason.

Taking Ohio State LT Paris Johnson Jr., widely regarded as the best tackle in this class, with the sixth overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft will make a difference in time. That's the one piece of good news. But how are fantasy managers supposed to feel good about a player like RB James Conner operating behind a gutted interior line that was already bad enough to finish t-30th in run blocking last year?

Volume and opportunity should work in Conner's favor in 2023, but he won't see massive gaps to run through to make his life easier. It's tough to say anything positive about this franchise right now.

Los Angeles Rams (run blocking)

The Rams have been in free fall since they won the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. Following the departure of OL Austin Corbett (now with the Panthers) and the retirement of LT Andrew Whitworth anchoring the line, the Rams fell to 19th in PFF run blocking as a unit in 2022.

This upcoming season isn't expected to be much better, considering how few moves were made to address these issues. The Rams did draft TCU G Steve Avila with the 37th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, a player who thrived in an offense that made it to the College Football Playoff championship. Although, his strengths primarily lie in pass blocking. Avila ranked 19th among FBS guards (min. 400 snaps) in PFF pass blocking in 2022 and t-76th in run blocking grade by contrast.

Like the Conner with the Cardinals, it's tough to feel good about RB Cam Akers having a ton of quality space in front of him. Even so, both players benefit from having little-to-no competition on the depth chart for volume and opportunity. Because of this, they're both excellent value in the middle rounds of drafts. Just make sure you anchor your teams with at least one higher-upside RB ahead of these guys if you go WR-heavy in drafts this season.

Washington Commanders (run blocking)

The Commanders brought over ex-Chiefs OT Andrew Wylie on a three-year, $24 million deal this offseason. Though the bar to clear for run blocking improvement for this unit is low (24th in PFF grading in 2022), Wylie doesn't offer much in this area. Among 50 tackles who logged 800+ snaps last season, he ranked 36th in run block grade.

In Wylie's defense, he finished 25th in this measure (among 54 tackles w/ 700+ snaps) in 2021. He's not dreadful and possesses familiarity from Kansas City with new OC Eric Bieniemy, but it's tough to give Wylie credit as a significant needle-mover.

Platoon lineman Nick Gates, formerly of the Giants, will also join the Commanders' ranks on a three-year, $16.5 million deal with spurts of success in his past. That said, he's only exceeded 500 snaps as a starter once in his career in 2020. It's tough to get excited about this front and what they'll have to offer. A between-the-tackles grinder like RB Brian Robinson Jr. will have difficulty thriving in this environment. His counterpart Antonio Gibson can possibly succeed as a pass-catching alternative in this offense, though neither should be considered massive upside difference-makers in fantasy.

How Much Does All Of This Matter For Fantasy Football?

There's certainly a lot to unpack here, and plenty of info to sort through.

But don't worry: You're not alone.

Matt and Jared break down everything you need to know about offensive line play to help you dominate your leagues in 2023.

You might be surprised by what you learn...