Offensive Line--Asset or Liability?

[onejayhawk]

There is an article at Pride saying that we should worry about the OL. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2018/7/13/17568466/should-chiefs-fans-be-more-worried-about-the-offensive-line

The article starts by saying that the right side is very good. It's the left side that is worrisome. Fisher is said to be solid, but no better,  based of PFF's score of 70.4. Morse at C and Whoever at LG are the problem. If you accept that an OL is sometimes no better than its weakest link, then we have two.

This lines up with PFF's unit rating of #18. Football Outsiders is a little better, with #17 pass pro and #12 run blocking.

Do we have reason to expect improvement? Maybe not. Fisher is what he is and Schwartz is almost 30 years old. Of the established players the only one still improving is LDT aka Dr. Larry. On the other hand, bot C and LG rated well below league average last season. Morse, once he's healthy, could make strides in his third year. Erhinger could move back into his old LG slot and play well enough to ber an improvement. I am unsure. It will certainly be something to watch in TC and preseason.

J

 

 

 

[Jakuvious]

PFF had Mitch Morse as a top 10 C just two years ago. All that needs to happen to take the line from average last year back to above average is Morse getting healthy. As long as that happens, you have an average LT, an above average C, RG, and RT, and just a weakness at LG, which is far better than what most teams have and more than good enough to get by. OL doesn't worry me at all unless Morse never returns to form. OLs without a single weak spot are incredibly rare. The Raiders have had one of the league's best in recent years, with garbage at RT. If we have just one weak link, we're in great shape. We won't be dominant, because we don't have many of those kind of OL guys either, but we'll be consistently solid. Which is fine.

And keep in mind anyway, one of Alex's biggest weakness was his willingness to settle for sacks. He's always preferred a sack to a risky pass attempt or throwaway, and our sack totals as a team have always been inflated as a result. So I kind of think our pass protection is actually going to wind up looking a bit better, statistically.

[onejayhawk]

Remind me. Where did that Oakland team get their C?

J

[valkrei]

grow retain talent is helpful.  I am reading a lot about or Offensive  line being a big concern, so I am guessing upgrades are needed at some point, lets hope we can at least improve this year on protections.

 

I think offensive scheme can help the line some.  Hurry up offense, PM2 no looks, and this might be a next gen stat but its really important ( Qb with a fast release), and last but not least FLAGS, don't hurt yourself.