Earlier in the offseason, my fellow Undroppables did some divisional breakdowns for the “more relevant” players in the eyes of the fantasy community. I’m here to provide similar analysis, but for the more unknown fantasy assets: The Offensive Line. As we get into minicamps and training camps and look forward to the season, here’s a recap of the offseason moves and draft picks from the teams in the AFC West. Be on the lookout for future divisional previews roughly bi-weekly leading into my preseason Offensive Line Rankings. For continuity and projected team starters, follow my current Offensive Line Rankings here.
Kansas City Chiefs
After coming up short in the Super Bowl and the salary cap shrinking, it was going to be interesting to see what the Chiefs could muster for protection. They released Pro-Bowl Left Tackle Eric Fisher and All-Pro Right Tackle Mitchell Schwartz, both of which were head-scratching decisions. The team took on nearly $7 million in dead cap to do this, per OverTheCap. This left them in a near lock to draft a tackle at #31 overall in the NFL Draft. They did have two players returning for 2021 that had opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID. One of those players was 2020 third-round pick Lucas Niang. His competition for the starting Right Tackle spot will be Mike Remmers, who they re-signed in late March.
The other player returning for 2021 is Dr. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. He was one of the notable opt-outs of 2020 as he served on the front lines of the COVID battle. He started 14 games for the Chiefs at Right Guard in 2019, but that starting job will also be a battle. The Chiefs signed Kyle Long, who had retired following the 2019 season. This seems like it will be Duvernay-Tardif’s job to lose depending on the health of Long, who says he is ready to go.
Biggest Moves
The Chiefs first splash move up front came with the signing of Left Guard Joe Thuney. He has not missed a game since he came into the league in 2016 including post season play. He was also named a second-team All Pro in 2019.
The second move was trading their first-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for Orlando Brown. There have been lots of questions about this move. On one hand, you are strengthening your rival and making your path to the Super Bowl tougher. On the other, the Ravens had no choice, as Brown wanted to play Left Tackle and they already have Ronnie Stanley. Giving up their second-round pick was the more questionable part to me. Brown has been to the Pro Bowl each of the last two seasons and is still on his rookie deal. The latter part might be the reason for the pick, as the Chiefs did not have a deal in place for Brown as part of the trade.
Draft Picks
The Chiefs did not use the pick they got back from the Ravens for Offensive Line. A few picks later they did select someone who many thought was slipping in Creed Humphrey. He posted the highest Relative Athletic Score (RAS) possible with his incredible Pro Day. Humphrey has a Pro comp that sticks out to me in Frank Ragnow (courtesy of MockDraftable), a player who had an arguable All-Pro year in 2020. There will be battles from Center to Right Tackle, as the Chiefs also signed Austin Blythe from the Rams. Blythe has shown he can stay healthy, missing only two games in three years. My final grade on Creed Humphrey is 9.6/10; you can find my small writeup on Humphrey here.
One of the biggest fallers of the draft was Trey Smith out of Tennessee. This was mainly due to medical reasons, as he has dealt with blood clots in the past. If that is cleaned up, the Chiefs could have a very solid line for the majority of Mahomes’ contract. At this time I have not finished my evaluation of Trey Smith.
2021 Outlook
I love the moves that the Chiefs have made this offseason. Everyone always says that the salary cap is a myth. While I don’t believe that, they certainly did a lot with a little. They have an arguable top-five Offensive Line now. It will really depend on the C-RT positional battles. Either way, they showed that they are willing to improve one of the areas that often goes overlooked until it’s too late. They now have viable starters and the depth to compete for 20 games. The pass protection might take a slight hit, but the run game will be drastically improved. This is part of the reason I have been trying to get shares of Clyde Edwards-Helaire wherever possible.
Denver Broncos
One of my sleeper favorites from last year find themselves in just about the same position in 2021. We saw Left Tackle Garett Bolles make a big leap forward and play at a near All-Pro level. Guards Graham Glasgow and Dalton Risner played above average on the year. They had two positions that kept them from being that Tampa Bay level of sleeper. The first was 2020 third-round pick Lloyd Cushenberry III. His first year was a bit bumpy, but a full offseason under Mike Munchak should do a world of good.
The other was their Right Tackle spot. Ja’Wuan James chose to opt-out of 2020 due to COVID concerns as his family welcomed a new baby. He has been in the news recently after tearing his achilles while working out outside of the team facility, and later being released. Elijah Wilkinson and Demar Dotson split duties depending on who was healthy each game. Neither are with the team anymore, so that should tell you all you need to know.
Biggest Moves
The Broncos have not made any splash moves like the Chiefs. Their two biggest signings came after the release of the aforementioned Ja’Wuan James, and both went a little under the radar: veterans in Bobby Massie and Cameron Fleming. Massie has had an average career but missed time in 2020 due to a knee injury and is on the wrong side of 30. Fleming reunited with Jason Garrett in New York and started all 16 games last year. That does not mean he played well, as the Giants were in a pretty heavy rotation of young players. My hope is that they are not done addressing the Right Tackle position, as there are two free agents I would prefer here in Rick Wagner and Mitchell Schwartz.
Draft Picks
The player I was keeping a close eye on for draft day was Quinn Meinerz. There was plenty of buzz being generated that he could’ve been the highest D3 player ever drafted. However, Ali Marpet will hold that crown for at least another year. We all saw Meinerz draft stock rise after being chosen to participate in the Senior Bowl, which he performed very well in. He has also been training with the notable Duke Manyweather. Most famous for his mountain man workouts and his belly, Meinerz will most likely be in a backup role for 2021.
2021 Outlook
This all comes down to the improvement of the two positions mentioned earlier; the development of Center Lloyd Cushenberry III and the winner of the Right Tackle spot. Either way, I trust Mike Munchak to improve on 2020 and be competitive no matter who the starting QB is. A few things that should help out the offense as well is the development of Jerry Jeudy and the return of Courtland Sutton. The other is that this will be the second year in Pat Shurmur’s offense. Opening up the field with more weapons to cover means the defense can’t blitz nearly as much. It will also help if a WR doesn’t start at QB at any point in the season.
Los Angeles Chargers
2020 had an abysmal start for the Chargers, as we saw Mike Pouncey go out very early with a season-ending hip injury. This injury created a snowball that would not stop compounding the entire year. In my preseason writeup for 2020, I had hoped Justin Herbert would sit all year due to how bad this line could be. While I still wish that would have been true, Herbert played outstanding under pressure. He needed to in order to survive. The only projected starter to take 100 percent of the snaps was Dan Feeney, and he switched positions after the Pouncey injury. Neither of the big signings of last offseason, Bryan Bulaga or Trai Turner, played more than 50 percent of the snaps. They also tied for dead last in my Pass Protection Coefficient.
Biggest Moves
Arguably the best Offensive Line free agent in 2021 was scooped up early by the Chargers. Corey Linsley signed less than two days into free agency. Coming off an All-Pro season in 2020, he comes as a drastic improvement to the interior. Linsley is going to bring an extra edge to this group. In addition to Linsley, they signed a pair of Guards in Matt Feiler and Oday Aboushi. Feiler has been reliable the last few years for the Steelers, starting 39 games in the past three years. Aboushi played in a rotation role for the Lions last year and was serviceable, but not great.
Draft Picks
A lot of people’s favorite lineman this year (even over Penei Sewell) went to the Chargers at pick 12 in Rashawn Slater. While I am certainly not as high on Slater as I am on Sewell, it doesn’t mean that Slater can’t be a solid starter for the Chargers. I think he looks more like a guard, but that’s just me and I very well could be wrong. However, he is smart and strong enough to win match ups. His RAS as a Tackle is the number 14 overall lineman. However, as a Guard he would be number 7. On the field this doesn’t mean much, but there just hasn’t been many players with his measurables that have been successful as a tackle. My final grade on Rashawn Slater is 8.2/10, and you can find my full writeup here.
2021 Outlook
It seems every year the Chargers are living with the injury bug. If they can stay injury-free, I see them being a top-half offensive line. Bryan Bulaga at his age is going to be a big question mark for this. Corey Linsley dealt with a little injury last year as well. The problem that they will have is if anyone goes down, their depth gets thin very quick. The Chargers very well could have a similar fate as 2020. However, it would be tough to not improve. Herbert bailed them out a lot in the passing game. The line will do enough to make this offense efficient, but not enough to blow the doors off.
Las Vegas Raiders
Time to start addressing the elephant in the room. The Raiders blew up their offensive line and that makes it trash, right? That’s what everyone says. However, as we look at each piece individually, it doesn’t seem as bad. From left to right, we start with Kolton Miller. We have seen DRASTIC improvement from him each year. In his rookie year he allowed 15 sacks; last year he allowed only two.
Next up we have Richie Incognito returning from a dreaded achilles injury. However, this was not a full achilles tear, it was just a nagging injury and the Raiders decided to shut him down for the year. I figured he would retire, but this gives me hope.
The center position is where things get a little dicey, as we have Andre James and newly-signed Nick Martin from Houston. The hope that I have for James comes from hearing Kolton Miller in an interview with Sanjit T. As for Martin, he has played nearly every game the last four years. Other than that experience, he doesn’t have much edge on James. This will be a good camp battle to watch.
On the right side I expect to see Denzelle Good start at Right Guard. We saw him play very well when he went to Left Guard during Incognito’s absence. Playing the opposite side isn’t always easy, but Good played Right Tackle to start 2020 with Trent Brown’s calf “injury”. I’ll save the Right Tackle position for just a little later.
Biggest Moves
Trading cornerstones Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson were some of the biggest moves for the Raiders. They also parted ways with Trent Brown, but he wasn’t nearly as welcomed as the former two. Jackson arrived in 2014 and Hudson shortly after in 2015. All three were going to be released as the Raiders were slated to save a lot of money, but they ended up getting some additional compensation for each. Neither player netted very much, but it’s better than nothing. Their biggest move was a well-deserved contract extension for Kolton Miller. They also signed Donald Penn for a day so he could retire as a member of Raider Nation.
Draft Picks
Finally, time to reflect on that elephant. Alex Leatherwood was not the pick I expected for the Raiders at number 17. Tom Cable got his way with this one, as apparently Leatherwood was his favorite tackle in this class. Don’t get me wrong, Leatherwood is a fine prospect. There was a couple players I would’ve rather had in Christian Darrisaw at #17 or Teven Jenkins later. As for Leatherwood, his RAS comes in one spot below Slater’s as the number 15 lineman. He has some interesting comps at MockDraftable. His highest is Trent Williams, one of the most dominant tackles in the game last year. Another is Roger Saffold who was a top-notch guard last year for the Titans. Leatherwood’s tape is inconsistent at times, and you leave wanting more. Length and athleticism will be his savior. My final grade on Alex Leatherwood is 7.0/10, and you can find my writeup here.
2021 Outlook
This group certainly does not have the same outlook as the 2020 season. However, they are definitely not as bad as they seem. Having three solid starters is nothing to sneeze at in the NFL. I don’t expect this to be a top-10 group. I do expect this group to challenge for top half and be good enough to support Derek Carr and Josh Jacobs. Just on rushing volume alone Jacobs still has high-end RB2 abilities. A lot will rely on the health of the line overall and the battle for the Center position. They do have some versatility if an injury or two do occur, but Tom Cable will have his work cut out for him.
For more Undroppables Offensive Line analysis, check out Brad’s full rankings here, and be sure to follow Brad on Twitter, @BradWireFF.
