Pro Football Focus rates Browns OL second best in NFL

By foxsports
Published

By Michael Bode

The debate on the quality of the Cleveland Browns offensive line play returned this week as the Browns (2-6) reportedly nearly traded away Joe Thomas, a future Hall of Fame left tackle, to the Denver Broncos on the Tuesday NFL trade deadline. While there are many who have seen a significant drop off in play from a unit returning all five starters from 2014 (while adding a first round rookie as the sixth man in Cameron Erving), there are still those who believe most of the issues stem directly from the lack of quality at the skill positions.

Count Pro Football Focus amongst those who blame the skill groups as they currently have the Browns ranked as the second best offensive line unit in the entire NFL after Week 8. Here is what PFF had to say:

However, the given ranking certainly does not mesh with the statistics nfl.com provides for a glimpse on overall health of the offensive line play.

For pass blocking, the Browns rank among the worst in the NFL in allowing quarterback hits (30th, 59 QB hits) and sacks (28th, 27 sacks). And WFNY’s Joe Gilbert specifically broke down issues the Browns offensive line was having keeping the pocket clean in a recent a recent film room after the game against the St. Louis Rams when he noted:

For run blocking, the Browns also rank among the worst in the NFL in yards per carry (31st, 3.4 YPC), rushing touchdowns (31st, two touchdowns), and first downs generated by the run (28th, 11 first downs). Furthermore, 26 of their 195 rushing attempts have resulted in negative yards gained.

Once again, the issues in the run game is a topic WFNY’s Joe Gilbert has tackled this season as he laid blame on both the skill groups and the OL for the deficiencies. Here is what he had to say about the OL’s share of the blame:

Even allowing for PFF accounting for individual responsibilities, strength of opponent, and skill position player mistakes rather than offensive line mistakes, it is still perplexing to see the general statistics disagree so universally with the PFF grade.

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