Smashmouth: Offensive Lines Impacting Fantasy Football (Week 13)

The final push towards the fantasy playoffs is upon us. This is the make-or-break week for a lot of teams as playoffs start for a majority of leagues in week 14, so this is must win. You’ve worked so hard this year trading for the “right” players and scouring the waiver wire to pick up those diamonds in the rough that you think will lead you to a fantasy championship. Now you have to put together your best roster of players to take down one final opponent and claim your spot in the fantasy playoffs. This is certainly the scenario for thousands of fantasy players out there.

For those of you who have already clinched a playoff spot, congratulations, and for those who have no shot at the playoffs, better luck next season. There are still lessons to be learned even when our fantasy teams are doomed. Just as NFL teams my turn to younger players when they are out of it, take this time as fantasy owners to study the next crop of top fantasy assets. I can think of no better team to start with than the Baltimore Ravens.

This week I’ll take another look at the Ravens and how their offense has morphed with Lamar Jackson at the helm. Clearly, the Ravens have tried to change their play-calling to better suit Jackson’s skill set including running the read-option and many more plays out of the pistol than when Joe Flacco was running the ship. The question is if the Ravens offensive line has been able to adjust to this new scheme to allow the Ravens offense to flourish. Will the rest of the skill players be able to be fantasy viable with Jackson leading the way?

Offensive Line to Watch - Baltimore Ravens

A change a quarterback can certainly impact an offense’s philosophy, and that’s exactly what’s happened to Ravens. Joe Flacco has missed the last two weeks giving way to the exciting rookie, Lamar Jackson. Jackson’s emergence has changed the Ravens play-calling, personnel groupings, and formations as the coaching staff have done a nice job trying to tailor their offense to the versatility of Jackson in the run and pass game.

Over the last two weeks, the Ravens have essentially flipped their passing and rushing output, rushing for at least 242 yards during this timeframe and throwing for 136 and 174 yards. This rush-heavy attack has worked against two of the worst defenses in the NFL in the Bengals and Raiders, but it remains to be seen if match-ups against the Chiefs and Chargers during the fantasy playoffs will curtail the fantasy goodness we’ve seen from the Ravens.

A lot of these changes have been integrating more read-option runs into the Ravens playbook out of various formations. The Ravens have been very effective like on this read option on first and 10. Jackson is reading the right defensive end and makes the right decision to give the ball to rookie running back Gus Edwards. The right side of the line (rookie Orlando Brown at right tackle and Marshall Yanda at right guard) use some influence steps on the defensive lineman to have them move laterally to open up a larger hole for Edwards. Center Matt Skura is able to get just enough of the middle linebacker as well, and Edwards has enough strength to break out of an arm tackle.

Another of these read options had Jackson read the left defensive end after Orlando Brown released to block the outside linebacker. Brown is a monster of a man at 6’8”, 345 pounds, so while he isn’t that mobile as a pass blocker, he can be a force in the running game. Brown took over for James Hurst in week 7 and has been a modest upgrade, grading out at a 64 according to Pro Football Focus. Jackson can read the crashing defensive end and pull the ball. He follows the massive hole created by his tight ends for a nice gain.

This new running game has been effective over the last few weeks especially in short yardage where the Ravens as a team are ranking second in the NFL in Power Success according to Football Outsiders at 80% of runs converting. This measures the short yardage and goal line success and includes quarterback runs, so the dual-threat nature of Lamar Jackson certainly has helped.

Not only has the rushing attack improved, but the Ravens’ pass blocking has been stellar throughout the entire season. The team currently ranks fifth in sack rate at giving up a sack on just 4.8% of dropbacks. The pass protection work is really being buoyed by the play of both tackles. Ronnie Stanley has been stellar at left tackle with an 83.7 pass pro grade. Brown has performed well in his own right grading out at a 74.5 in pass protection as well. Not to be outdone Marshall Yanda has been a stalwart for the last decade-plus at guard. He’s currently the number five guard according to PFF and great in pass pro with an 82.5 grade.

In this clip, it shows the offensive line in pass protection in perfect harmony. A third and long with a four-man rush from the Raiders and the Ravens block it up beautifully. The tight end does chip on the right side to help Brown out, but the rest of the line stonewalls their pass rushers. Jackson is then able to stand in a clean pocket and deliver a strike for a first down.

This offensive line has performed well over the last two weeks against inferior talent. It will be intriguing to see if they can continue to utilize the zone read running game against better competition this week in Atlanta against the Falcons. No doubt the fast track will help Lamar Jackson utilize his speed even more this week.

Fantasy Impact

Trust: Gus Edwards

It’s hard to argue with Edwards’ production over the last two games rushing for over 100 yards in each. While Edwards is not going to give a ton in the passing game with zero receptions over his last three games, his groundwork has been magnificent. He, no doubt, has been helped by Lamar Jackson keeping defenses honest, but it’s hard to argue at least 115 yards rushing over this last two outings. He should be considered an RB2 this week and going forward due to his volume.

Trust: Lamar Jackson

What’s not to love about the fantasy gold mine that is Lamar Jackson. He still clearly needs to improve his accuracy and pace on some of his passes, but his rushing more than makes up for it. Jackson has run for at least 119 yards or 71 yards and a touchdown in the last two games and should be able to supplement any passing he can provide. Expect to see his attempts increase even further this week as the Ravens should be in a higher scoring game against the Falcons. He’s a low-end QB1 for sure this week and going forward.

Top Five Offensive Lines

1) New Orleans Saints
2) Los Angeles Rams
3) Pittsburgh Steelers
4) Indianapolis Colts
5) New England Patriots

Bottom Five Offensive Lines

32) Buffalo Bills
31) Arizona Cardinals
30) New York Giants
29) Minnesota Vikings
28) Jacksonville Jaguars

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

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