O Line Woes

The NFL has an offensive line crisis

By Adam Kilgore September 13

NFL quarterbacks like Tom Savage are getting throttled behind porous offensive lines. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

(This article has been edited and shortend)

Two years ago, an NFL executive surveyed the college landscape and offered an associate in the industry some friendly advice. “You better hit on an offensive lineman now,” the executive told his pal, because he could see the supply of capable blockers dwindling.

The words seem prophetic after the dismal product the NFL rendered in Week 1. The league has for years fretted over a scarcity of capable quarterbacks, and starting appearances from the likes of Tom Savage and Scott Tolzien on Sunday highlighted the notion there are more NFL teams than competent professional quarterbacks in existence.

But an equally alarming problem surfaced as offenses reached new levels of putridity. It was not only the men throwing the ball, but also the men charged with protecting them. The NFL is amid an offensive line crisis, and the talent drain at the position is damaging the quality on the field in even uglier fashion than poor quarterbacking.

“I believe that the lineman shortage is a bigger problem,” said the executive, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “I don’t know if I can compare the two. They’re both not real good.”

“I hope the play gets better as the year goes on,” said former NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz, now a SiriusXM NFL Radio analyst. “There’s some young offensive lines that need to get better. There is an issue with a lack of just good offensive linemen in the NFL.”