Smashmouth: Offensive Lines Impacting Fantasy Football (Week 11)

Week 10 in the NFL has come and gone and fantasy teams are now getting into position for the playoff run. It’s time to sell off your bench depth and add those stars to your teams. Fantasy owners should be thinking of the two for one trades that will add the player that will put your team over the top and have a chance at a fantasy title.

Those players can come in a variety of situations, some may be coming back from injury, and some may have great schedule situations. Some of those players could have swapped teams in the middle of the season and found themselves in a better situation. That has certainly been the case for Amari Cooper after coming to the Cowboys that is the dumpster fire that is the Raiders.

There are certainly some skill players in situations that are getting better with improved offensive line play. The Titans have clearly improved over the past few weeks, but can we trust their skill players going forward? The Cowboys have taken some pressure off Zeek and crew by adding Amari Cooper, but will Dak Prescott be consistent enough for fantasy production when we need it the most? Those questions and more answered below.

Offensive Line to Watch - Tennessee Titans

It can be very hard to score points, let alone win football games when your quarterback cannot feel his fingers and properly grip the football. That was the issue plaguing the Tennessee Titans over the first half of the season. Not only was Marcus Mariota feeling the pain, but starting right tackle Jack Conklin was on the way back from ACL surgery as well. Unfortunately, Conklin is back on the shelf, but the Titans have some depth across the offensive line.

Dennis Kelly has filled in well for both Conklin and Taylor Lewan when they’ve missed time. Kelly is currently the number 21 ranked offensive tackle according to Pro Football Focus grading out above a 70 in both the run and pass game. It’s a massive asset to have a player the ability of Kelly on the bench in case of emergency. It’s apparent the combined health of Marcus Mariota and at least two of the three top tackles on the team healthy have produced results for the Titans. After their 11 sack debacle in Baltimore, the Titans have given up eight sacks in the last three games. This isn’t a great number, but a modest improvement for sure.

The pass protection has improved like in this clip. Both Lewan and Kelly do a solid job of building a pocket around Marcus Mariota allowing him to step and up deliver a rainbow touchdown to Corey Davis. The middle of the line is stout as well with right guard Josh Kline holding strong in one-on-one pass pro while Ben Jones at center and Quinton Spain hold down the left side.

Even though there has been more success in the passing game of late, the basis for any Shanahan/McVay system is the zone running game. Offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur has re-established the running game over the last three weeks. While the yardage totals have not been massive, the Titans have continued to run the ball at least 30 times per game in their last three resulting in two wins. The running game has been extremely important to the Titans this season as in all five of the Titans wins they have rushed at least 30 times.

Having the ability to control the ball and the clock are some of the keys for this team. The zone running game can manifest itself in both the inside zone and outside zone. In this first clip, an inside zone run to the left, the interior of the Titans offensive line does a great job of getting an inside push. The push by left guard Quinton Spain and Brent Jones defeat the down lineman and allow Spain to get to the second level and pick up a key block. This allows Dion Lewis to put his foot in the ground and turn up-field for a good gain on first down.

The yin to the inside zone’s yang is the outside zone run where the running back is running on an angle towards the sideline before cutting up-field. On this second down run, David Fluellen, of all backs, is able to get the edge of the Patriots defense for a big gain. Left tackle Taylor Lewan gets just enough of the defensive end, but the key block is again by Spain. He gets to the second level and is able to turn his hips ever so slightly to cut off the play-side linebacker. This allows Fluellen to get the edge of the defense.

The Titans offensive line has been much maligned for most of the season, but has started to come together as the season has progressed. It will be hard for them to resemble the team of two seasons ago, but if they can stay healthy up front, this offense has the pieces to be above-average going forward.

Fantasy Impact

Trust: Dion Lewis

Since the Titans have returned from London, the key back in the Titans offense has been Lewis. He’s seen at least 20 touches in each of the last two games. Even though his rushing average has been below 3.5 yards per carry in those games, the volume is the key going forward. As they have some easier matchups against the Colts, Jets, and Giants, Lewis should be seen as an RB2 regardless of format.

Trust: Corey Davis

Fantasy owners thought they saw the Corey Davis breakout against the Eagles where he dominated for 9-161-1, but there weren’t a lot of fantasy points after that game until this last week. Davis has a couple of tougher matchups against Jalen Ramsey in the next couple of weeks, but he should continue to see near double-digit targets going forward. He will be an every week WR3/Flex going forward with high-end WR2 upside.

Offensive Line to Watch - Dallas Cowboys

Starting the 2018 season, the Dallas Cowboys were considered one of the top offensive lines in the NFL. The unfortunate diagnosis of an auto-immune disease for All-Pro center Travis Fredrick certainly hurt the outlook of the unit as a whole. Joe Looney has replaced Fredrick and done a fairly solid job, coming in at the number 19 center in the NFL according to PFF. He has not been a liability in pass protection or run blocking rating above a 60 in each of those disciplines, but nowhere near the all-world Fredrick. Even after losing Fredrick, the Cowboys still have two of the 20 best offensive linemen in the NFL in Zack Martin and Tyron Smith. Martin is the number one guard in the NFL grading out at an 83 according to PFF. He’s been a dominant force in the middle of the offensive line when in the lineup.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the other guard spot has not been as strong. Xavier Su’a-Filo filled in the rookie Conner Williams in Week 10 against the Eagles. He struggled against Fletcher Cox for most of the night as the majority of guards in the NFL would. The clip below demonstrates one of the pressures on Prescott as Cox gets some interior push on Su’a-Filo. Nearly anything is better than Williams who struggled mightily to start the season.

La’El Collins was supposed to be the second coming of, well, Tyron Smith, but that just has not been the case as of yet. Collins is the 48^th ranked tackle in the NFL right now and continuing to be incredibly average in both the run and pass game grading in the 60s across the board. On the opposite of the line, Tyron Smith has regained his All-Pro form from years past, grading out as the number eight tackle according to PFF. He’s been great in both the run and pass game, grading out above an 80 in pass blocking and above a 74 in run blocking. He’s still an absolute stud and one of the best athletes at the position in the NFL as you’ll see in this clip. Smith pulls out on this toss play and is able to get out in front of the play and allow Zeek to get to the outside. Smith even tries to get a second block after securing the edge. He is certainly back.

Overall this offensive line isn’t the dominant group that it once was, but with the addition of Amari Cooper, some of the pressure is taken off the team's need for this group to control the game. Having an outside play-maker is starting to loosen up the defensive fronts allowing some better performances for all of the skill players.

Fantasy Impact

Acquire: Amari Cooper

Cooper has been nothing but productive since being traded to the Cowboys. He’s seen at least eight targets in his two games in Dallas and scored a touchdown in one game. He’s facing a lighter schedule coming up with games against the Falcons, Saints, and Eagles in three of his next four. He can be considered a locked-in WR2 in all formats going forward.

Top Five Offensive Lines

1) New Orleans Saints
2) Los Angeles Rams
3) Pittsburgh Steelers
4) Green Bay Packers
5) Atlanta Falcons

Bottom Five Offensive Lines

32) Buffalo Bills
31) New York Giants
30) Arizona Cardinals
29) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
28) Minnesota Vikings

For any questions about offensive line play in the NFL, feel free to contact me @TheRealHalupka on Twitter.

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