Fantasy Football: 5 Teams With Offensive Line Concerns Entering 2024

The New York Jets' issues last year didn't start with Aaron Rodgers' Achilles' tear.

They started in training camp when a combination of injuries and ineffectiveness along the offensive line shined a light on the team's biggest flaw.

That culminating in Rodgers' injury is an extreme example, but a poor offensive line can torpedo a season, both in the real world and in fantasy football. You want to expedite the killing of a drive? Holding penalties and sacks are your ticket.

The Jets have done plenty to improve their line heading into 2024, but other teams have lingering concerns. Even if it doesn't result in what happened to Rodgers, it's worth knowing which units present the biggest question marks.

Let's dig into five units with massive question marks as training camps ramp up. Throughout, we'll be referencing Fantasy Pros' half-point-per-reception (PPR) average draft position (ADP) data.

As a note, we'll be skewing toward teams where the offensive line could have a major impact on more coveted fantasy football players. For example, the New York Giants were excluded because they have only two players (Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary) going in the top 180 draft slots, and only one of them -- Singletary -- will be greatly impacted by what could be an underwhelming unit up front.

Concerning O-Lines for Fantasy

Washington Commanders

During the draft season, there was a healthy amount of discourse about Jayden Daniels' propensity for taking sacks when pressured.

What could go wrong sticking him behind a Washington Commanders line that's regularly near the bottom of o-line ranks entering the year?

Daniels, on the whole, didn't take a ton of sacks in college. His sack rate this past year (6.3%) was actually lower than those of Caleb Williams (7.8%) and Drake Maye (6.4%). But he figures to see more pressure behind this current unit, which could thrust him into chaos mode more often.

Right now, the Commanders are projected to start third-round rookie Brandon Coleman at left tackle. Coleman had solid workout metrics, ranking in the 87th percentile among tackles at the combine since 2010 in weight-adjusted 40-yard dash time while sitting 95th percentile in the vert and 89th percentile in the broad jump. But starting immediately is a tough ask for someone who Trench Warfare's Brandon Thorn graded as a fourth-round pick prior to the draft.

The person this impacts most is Brian Robinson. Robinson not only has to deal with Austin Ekeler to potentially suck up work in the passing game, but he also could struggle to get push behind this line. Robinson has upside because running backs benefit from a rushing quarterback, but there are a lot of question marks for a player currently going at pick 96 overall.

New Orleans Saints

The skill players on the New Orleans Saints' offense are pretty slick. As a result, my model has decently high expectations for their scoring potential this year.

The line up front is the biggest road block to increased enthusiasm.

The Saints enter the year dead last in PFF's offensive-line rankings, and they're a below-average unit in Thorn's. They did address things by taking Taliese Fuaga in the first round, but that was partially offset by news that right tackle Ryan Ramczyk will miss the season, an expected but still disappointing development.

Derek Carr has shown in the past he can command an effective offense, but he's not a needle-mover we expect to thrive in poor conditions. Thus, this is a big issue.

With that said, I'm still generally buying into the Saints' offense at cost. Specifically, Alvin Kamara is coming off the board as the 17th-ranked running back even though backfield mate Kendre Miller is already in the doghouse.

You've also got Rashid Shaheed going at pick 137, meaning the cost of investment in a player who won't be as impacted by the o-line is minimal.

The bigger impact here is that we need to keep enthusiasm around those players somewhat in check, and we should be extra sensitive should their ADP start to fall.

Seattle Seahawks

Entering last year, things were groovy for the Seattle Seahawks' offensive line, which looked like it had nabbed bookend staples for the next decade in Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas.

That could still wind up being true. But an injury-filled 2023 and tons of questions on the interior make things a lot more bleak this time around.

Lucas missed six games last year due to a knee injury and had offseason surgery. But he's still not healthy with training camp open, calling into question what he'll look like if he's even on the field to start the year. If the team doesn't get the 2022 version of Lucas back, they'll have question-marks-at-best from center through right tackle.

Last year, Seattle ranked fifth in schedule-adjusted early-down passing efficiency, according to my numbers. Geno Smith was cooking there. But when it got to third down, the offensive line issues flared up, and they struggled to sustain drives. They were just 29th in schedule-adjusted late-down success rate. There's a big risk that happens again this year.

That dings Smith's appeal as a late-round quarterback option, and it also hurts Kenneth Walker III's outlook as the RB16.

After returning from injury last year, Walker exceeded 81 yards from scrimmage just once in his final five games, and he handled just 6 of 28 red-zone opportunities (carries or targets) in that span. That old coaching staff was more than willing to filter in Zach Charbonnet, hurting Walker's volume. If he struggles for efficiency behind a poor offensive line, it'll be hard for Walker to provide great return on his draft slot.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens figure to have a better offensive line than the other teams on this list.

But among legit contenders with top-end fantasy pieces, they've likely got the biggest concerns up front.

The Ravens are replacing three of five starters along the line from last season. They're likely to start a rookie -- Roger Rosengarten -- at right tackle, and both guards are transitioning into expanded roles.

That's a lot of question marks, and they come even without mentioning that left tackle Ronnie Stanley has played just 31 games the past 4 seasons, many of which last year involved rotating snaps with Patrick Mekari.

This could make you a bit nervous about drafting Lamar Jackson, the current QB4. The bigger risk -- at least to me -- is around Derrick Henry.

Henry's the RB9 as the 20th pick off the board right now. You can understand why, given he's likely to have gobs of scoring chances this year playing alongside an elite quarterback for the first time in his career. And Henry played last year behind arguably the worst offensive line in the game.

But Henry is also entering his age-30 season, doesn't catch many passes, and may be behind a line that will need a good chunk of time to gel. Maybe you don't want to push him behind any other backs in that range -- he's the RB11 in numberFire's season-long fantasy football projections -- but it could make the idea of taking a receiver like Chris Olave or Drake London in that range more enticing.

Arizona Cardinals

I was hesitant to include the Arizona Cardinals here because they didn't have great talent up front last year, either, and still managed to be somewhat efficient down the stretch as Kyler Murray got more comfortable. But there are enough red flags to at least make them worth discussing.

With 2023 first-rounder Paris Johnson Jr. transitioning to left tackle, Jonah Williams figures to start at right tackle. Williams had his worst season to date last year while shifting to the right side, which led to the Cincinnati Bengals' letting him walk. Williams got a decent contract from the Cardinals, including a reported $19 million guaranteed over two seasons, but you don't often see difference-making stud tackles hit the open market.

The two guard slots are the bigger concern, and that could be the biggest issue facing James Conner.

Conner is super interesting this year, and he's coming off the board at just RB21. Similar to Kamara, I think he's well worth that despite my trepidation with the line thanks to his likely meaty red-zone role.

The likely poor guard play will just ensure I keep a lid on this enthusiasm. After all, Conner is just the RB28 in numberFire's season-long fantasy football projections, so it's important to get a reality check should Conner's ADP start to fall.

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