On we go with Rankings Week and today we get to my favorite positional rankings on the board — seriously — the offensive lines.
It's not exactly glamorous analyzing those five giants in the trenches, but if you think about it, five is almost half of the 11 men on offense! These guys almost never touch the ball outside of snapping it, but even in 2025, football is still won and lost in the trenches.
No position group in football is more impactful yet overlooked than the offensive line — and that can give us an edge as bettors and analysts.
Look no further than the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. It won't come as a big surprise to see them atop these offensive line rankings, because the Eagles won the Super Bowl in the trenches. Their offensive line had its way with the Chiefs, and their defense shredded Kansas City's offensive line and turned Patrick Mahomes mortal for the night.
A good line can elevate an average supporting cast, but even the most talented quarterbacks and skill players can't do much if the defense is living in the backfield on every play. Offensive lines are more multiplicative than additive. A great line multiplies an offense's greatness, while a bad one can stymie the entire attack.
Last year's offensive line rankings gave us the Lions and Eagles at the top and pointed to surprising Chargers and Steelers playoff contention, and they also warned us off the Cowboys, Bengals, and Dolphins, who all went on to disappoint.
So, what are some of the key considerations when ranking offensive lines?
- Offensive lines are a team effort. It's less about one or two stars elevating the unit and more of a "weakest link" game. Much like an NBA defense, an O-line needs five guys working together in sync at its peak.
- That means continuity is extremely valuable, especially early in the season, since the five guys on the line are working together. This season in particular, there's an especially high amount of turnover on the lines for some teams.
- Depth and versatility are huge value adds. Guys will inevitably miss time during a long, grueling season, so which teams are built to withstand?
- Scheme matters. It's typically easier to run block (attack!) than pass block (react and defend!). Run-heavy teams tend to get better O-line results, and play-action-heavy schemes make things much easier on lines. Run blocking can be floor raising for bad teams, but elite pass blocking is harder to come by and more meaningful at the top of the league.
Let's rank all 32 NFL offensive lines, focusing on continuity, depth, scheme, and balance as we head into the new 2025 season. Plus, what are the implications for NFL bettors?
2025 NFL Offensive Line Rankings
| Tier Number | Category |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Alone at the Top, Like Usual |
| Tier 2 | The Upper Echelon |
| Tier 3 | Good, But Not Great |
| Tier 4a | Wild Cards That I Believe In |
| Tier 4b | Wild Cards That I’m Skeptical Of |
| Tier 5 | Not Great, But Could Be Much Worse |
| Tier 6 | Even League Average Would Be a Pleasant Surprise |
| Tier 7 | Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel |
| Tier 8 | Houston, We Have a Problem |
| Betting Takeaways |
Tier 1 — Alone at the Top, Like Usual
1. Eagles (Last Year: 2)
Nobody needs to tell you how good Philadelphia's line is at this point, but the fact that analysts make arguments for both LT Jordan Mailata and RT Lane Johnson as the single best lineman in football sort of speaks for itself.
This unit will start a new right guard, likely Tyler Steen, and he and Landon Dickerson are week-to-week with preseason injuries, but as long as elite OL coach Jeff Stoutland's guys stay relatively healthy, they should be number one with a bullet.
Like usual.
Tier 2 — The Upper Echelon
2. Broncos (16)
3. Vikings (13)
4. Bears (18)
5. Buccaneers (15)
Offensive line rankings are typically pretty stable near the top, but there's a ton of volatility and change this year, and it starts already in the top five where all four of the teams in this tier are projected to make the leap from projected league average just one year ago.
Denver's offensive line is a relative consensus No. 2, but I think the Broncos are a clear tier below the Eagles. Ben Powers and Quinn Meinerz may be the best guard combo in the league, and this was the best pass-blocking line in the league by PFF grade last season, but how much of that is just Bo Nix getting the ball out at lightning speed in a gimmicky offense with a ton of screens and quick throws?
The reality is that just might not matter. Sean Payton and Bo Nix aren't going anywhere, and this line returns all five starters so it should be terrific once again. Per PFF, they were the only team in the NFL to allow under 100 pressures last season.
If you had to bet on any one line to top Philadelphia in play this year, Minnesota might be the pick.
The Vikings saw their season go up in flames as the offensive line fell apart the final two games and returned the Sam Darnold of old, and Minnesota was clearly determined to fix the issue. The Vikings brought in a pair of former Colts in C Ryan Kelly and RG Will Fries, then also spent a first-round pick on Ohio State G Donovan Jackson, who played left tackle during the team's title run.
Kelly's veteran presence should be a big help calling out coverages for a debut QB in J.J. McCarthy, and his partnership with Fries should be useful too, especially as the youngster broke out last season before getting hurt. That trio will be bookended by Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill, one of the top five tackle duos in the league.
Minnesota needs health and time to gel, but this could be as good an offensive line as any.
Chicago rehauled its entire interior line too. New LG Joe Thuney is the best interior pass blocker in the league, and new C Drew Dalman is top five at his position and an outstanding run blocker. New RG Jonah Jackson struggled through injury last year, but adding that trio to a pair of talented young tackles gives this unit a ton of upside once it comes together.
Ben Johnson's presence should also elevate the line. He runs a very friendly scheme that helps the line a lot by emphasizing the run and playaction, and look no further than Detroit's domination in recent years for the results. If Johnson can also coax Caleb Williams into not holding the ball quite as long, this line can make a huge leap into the top five, all the way from last in the league in my ranks three years ago.
With Tampa Bay, the big question is Tristan Wirfs.
The rest of the line is set after a breakout from RG Cody Mauch and a return of all five starters, but Wirfs is as good as any lineman and the absence of an anchor like that can derail the entire offense — just check the splits with and without for guys like Trent Williams, Terron Armstead, and Tyron Smith in recent years.
Wirfs was the best pass blocker in the league last season, per PFF. Once he's healthy and out there, this unit has an argument at No. 2. Without him, the dropoff could be steep.
Tier 3 — Good, But Not Great
6. Bills (14)
7. Ravens (27)
8. Lions (1)
9. Falcons (8)
10. Packers (12)
We have to start with Detroit here, because the Lions ranking at No. 8 is not a compliment after tumbling all the way from No. 1 last season. Penei Sewell is still the best right tackle in football, but the loss of C Frank Ragnow could be massive.
Per Nate Tice, the Lions ranked top three in both EPA per play and Success Rate since 2022 in non-garbage time with Ragnow on the field but plummeted to 12th in EPA and bottom 10 in Success Rate without him.
The Lions also lost RG Kevin Zeitler and will start two new unproven young guards, and the loss of Ben Johnson could be just as significant. Detroit kept OL coach Hank Fraley, but Johnson's offensive scheme made things so much easier for this line.
Other teams fell further in the rankings, but Detroit's slip might be the most significant.
Buffalo is ranked top three by many good sources, but I think the Bills line is more good than great. Buffalo has benefited greatly by continuity and health, starting the same five guys each of the past two years and again this one, with just a single game lost to injury by everyone combined over that stretch.
That's elevated what's really a very average collection of talent outside of LT Dion Dawkins to top six by PFF grade each of the past two years, but it's not wise to bet on that health lasting forever. Buffalo also gets a slight penalty for how good Josh Allen is making his line look since he's practically unsackable at this point.
While we lacked continuity at the top, a few of the other names here are familiar.
I was pretty skeptical of Baltimore entering last season with three new starters, but a healthy season from LT Ronnie Stanley and a great mix of run and pass blocking versatility kept the Ravens right on pace.
Atlanta lost its center but should continue to be outstanding run blocking. Less so against the pass, which could be problematic since Michael Penix can be statuesque in the pocket. Chris Lindstrom remains the best right guard in football.
As for Green Bay, the Packers just always seem to find a way at offensive line, don't they? Green Bay needs to settle on one of its left tackle options, but much like the skill positions, the Packers simply have a lot of good options, plus a creative Matt LaFleur scheme that makes things easier on the line.
Tier 4a — Wild Cards That I Believe In
11. Jets (6)
12. Titans (26)
13. Panthers (23)
14. Chiefs (5)
Kansas City will catch your eye first here, and get ready to hear a lot about Josh Simmons this season. The rookie left tackle looks like an absolute steal after slipping in the draft because of a knee injury he appears to have recovered from. OL expert Brandon Thorn had Simmons as his best lineman talent in the draft, and Simmons has looked the part so far with an outstanding training camp.
The Chiefs have really struggled to find the right bookends for Mahomes and now, finally, Kansas City's stronghold on the interior is broken with Joe Thuney gone. C Creed Humphrey and RG Trey Smith are elite, but the other three positions look subpar unless Simmons hits.
A hit there would free free agent signing Jaylon Moore to challenge one of the other spots, and the Chiefs hope Andy Heck can coach Kingsley Suamataia into a rebirth at LG after he failed as left tackle his rookie season.
The Chiefs were top five in all four of my previous offensive line rankings, but the other three teams hare are hoping to make big leaps.
New York has spent two years rebuilding its line and suddenly there are five good options. The interior looks more than passable with LG John Simpson and C Joe Tippmann next to RG Alijah Vera-Tucker, but the Jets need their last two first-round picks to step up with Ola Fashanu and Armand Membou at tackle.
New offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand comes from the Ben Johnson tree so that could mean a creative, run-first boost for a line that may struggle to pass protect for Justin Fields, who holds the ball as long as any QB in the league.
I'm voting Tennessee as the most improved line in the league, and that has to be music to the Titans ears after being ranked dead last two years ago. This unit finished bottom five by PFF grade each of the past two years but started to find some answers late with youngsters T J.C. Latham and G Peter Skoronski.
Now the Titans will add three plus starters to the mix, with LT Dan Moore and RG Kevin Zeitler coming over in free agency and C Lloyd Cushenberry successfully off the PUP list returning from his Achilles injury.
The Titans also have a secret advantage in Bill Callahan, for my money the best OL coach in the league. It's year two with Callahan and that should mean a big step in his complicated system, especially now that Will Levis and his sack eating are gone.
It might sound crazy for now, but Tennessee has top 10 potential if everything comes together.
Carolina is just getting a little better each year. The Panthers return all five starters on a relatively young line, and they've invested a lot in guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt, two big dudes who help keep the interior of the line clean for the diminutive Bryce Young. Dave Canales's run-first play action-heavy scheme helps too, but Carolina will need another step forward from LT Ikem Ekwonu to hit a next level.
Tier 4b — Wild Cards That I’m Skeptical Of
15. 49ers (10)
16. Colts (3)
17. Commanders (32)
18. Rams (10)
San Francisco is almost entirely dependent on Trent Williams.
That's a tricky bet on a 37-year-old, but as long as Williams is healthy, the 49ers are mostly invincible under Kyle Shanahan. Brock Purdy is 37-9 with Williams on the field and just 2-6 without. Sophomore RG Dominick Pudi looks like a future star too.
This is about as low as you'll see Indianapolis ranked, but I have real questions after the team lost Kelly and Fries to Minnesota. LG Quenton Nelson has faded since a Hall of Fame start to his career, and Indy's tackle duo is underrated but struggles to stay healthy. The Colts may be slightly above average, but I see more downside than upside at this point.
Washington could end up ranked higher as the season goes along, but the Commanders will miss key RG Sam Cosmi at the start of the season as he recovers from an ACL tear in January. Washington continues to invest in depth on the line, and the Commanders also spent big to trade for LT Laremy Tunsil, one of the league's elite pass blockers.
Tunsil had a really off year in Houston, and he could be starting across from first-round RT Josh Conerly, and projected LG Brandon Coleman has also missed some injury time. This unit started out great last season despite expectations that it would be worst in the league, perhaps a credit to good coaching, but the line fell off late in a the year too — a Kliff Kingsbury specialty. I remain skeptical.
As for Los Angeles, I'm typically happy to believe in Sean McVay's scheme helping things out, but I'm worried about the absence of LT Alaric Jackson with blood clots in his legs. The Rams signed veteran D.J. Humphries to fill in at LT but that would represent a big drop, and this line already saw 12 different guys play 50 snaps last year so it's not a great sign that the injuries are already starting early.
Tier 5 — Not Great, But Could Be Much Worse
19. Steelers (9)
20. Cowboys (20)
21. Raiders (17)
22. Cardinals (25)
23. Browns (4)
I'm somewhat bullish on the Pittsburgh line. C Zach Frazier was awesome as a rookie, and this line has a lot of talent that could bounce back after a pretty unlucky season. Aaron Rodgers manages the pocket well so that's a boon to the pass blocking here, and Arthur Smith has done wonders getting elevated play from his lines in the run game. That duo could be a perfect fit to help the Steelers shine.
Arizona's loss is Dallas's gain, as the Cowboys hire away former Cardinals OL coach Klayton Adams to run the offense. Adams runs a creative, gap-based, downhill run scheme that really helped out Arizona's line. LT Parris Johnson took a sophomore leap under Adams, and the Cowboys will hope he can do the same for sophomore LT Tyler Guyton.
Dallas has lost a lot of talent on the line with Tyron Smith and Zack Martin departed, but Klayton Adams gives the Cowboys hope.
Las Vegas just looks solidly below average outside of LT Kolton Miller. We'll see if Chip Kelly's rushing attack can make a difference.
No team has fallen farther in the ranks than Cleveland, who ranked top four each of the past four years before dropping all the way into the bottom 10 after a miserable season. This line is just old. Guard combo Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller should bounce back a bit, and the Browns added some decent depth pieces, but this is a far cry from the dominant line this once was.
Tier 6 — Even League Average Would Be a Pleasant Surprise
24. Patriots (31)
25. Saints (30)
26. Chargers (26)
27. Giants (24)
28. Dolphins (22)
We have to start with Los Angeles here, because the Chargers have taken a tumble.
A week ago, LA would've ranked safely inside the top 10, with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt one of the best tackle duos in the league. Now Slater is out for the season after an elite season, and it could have a cascading effect on the entire unit.
Alt suddenly has to be the guy and moves to left tackle, while the Chargers will have to run out past failures at right tackle. That's also a downgrade next to free agent acquisition RG Mekhi Becton, especially since Zion Johnson tries yet another position as the new center. Remember, this team just lost star C Cory Lindsey a year ago too.
Rashawn Slater was as big an injury loss as we've seen this preseason at any position.
The other teams in this tier probably won't be very good, but I'm most optimistic about New England.
The Patriots had arguably the worst line in football last season but invested heavily to address the problem. Rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson will start on the left side, while veterans RT Morgan Moses and C Garrett Bradbury give the team some floor as G Cole Strange fights to return from injury.
New England played 16 different linemen last season and couldn't pass block to save its life. These aren't exactly star additions, but even improving from worst in the league to 24th would be a huge win for Drake Maye.
Not much to say about the other teams.
New Orleans starts a rookie left tackle a third straight season and is still searching for answers and a plan. Jacksonville and Miami have precious few answers and even less talent, and their bad lines would probably look even worse if not for Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa getting the ball out so quickly.
Tier 7 — Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel
29. Giants (29)
30. Bengals (19)
31. Seahawks (6)
Most rankings have a consensus bottom three, but I'm including New York in the bottom tier too.
LT Andrew Thomas is a stud but can never seem to stay healthy, and the rest of this Giants line is an absolute mess and won't exactly be helped out by Russell Wilson or rookie QB Jaxson Dart either.
Cincinnati continues to invest heavily in its line without getting any results.
This year the Bengals will start a new pair of guards, and unless sophomore RT Amarius Mims takes a big step forward, this unit won't be doing Joe Burrow any favors.
It looked for awhile like Seattle had fixed its line with young tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas, but the duo can't stay healthy and Lucas has really fallen off.
The Seahawks add NDSU Grey Zabel, a likely guard, but they ranked last in pass protection last season with a whopping 233 pressures on 670 pass snaps, more than one every three snaps. Maybe new OC Klint Kubiak can help with his run-first scheme.
Tier 8 — Houston, We Have a Problem
32. Texans (20)
Houston's line was an abject disaster last season, so what did the Texans do? They got rid of their only two good veterans, T Laremy Tunsil and G Shaq Mason.
There are reports that that duo just didn't fit the locker room and were intent on doing their own thing, and Houston is clearly pivoting toward chemistry, but reports out of training camp have the Texans trying as many as 10 different linemen in every different combination possible, desperate to find answers that might just not be there.
The Texans are as unanimously the worst line entering the season as the Eagles are the best. This looks ugly.
5 Key Takeaways for Bettors
1. Look at that top five again — could the Broncos, Vikings, Bears, and Bucs really all make the leap?
Those four teams all ranked between 13 and 18 in these preseason ranks just one year ago, and it's rare for an offensive line to make such a huge leap from one year to the next.
The truth is, though, that some of these units were already well on their way last year. The Broncos had one of the best lines in the league by season's end, and the Bucs had gelled and keep adding talent, while the Vikings were on their way up before a slew of injuries. That trio all made the playoffs last season but will need great line play to make it back again.
As for the Bears, could this finally be Chicago's season to return to the playoffs? The Bears are kings of the offseason, but that remade interior under Ben Johnson could flip the script for Caleb Williams and this offense in a hurry.
2. These rankings should be at least an orange flag for two top Super Bowl contenders: the Lions and Chiefs.
The Browns are the biggest fall in the ranks, but the Lions and Chiefs could be the most meaningful drops.
Detroit was the clear No. 1 line a year ago but loses two great interior starters and Ben Johnson, and a drop from No. 1 to No. 8 is much more significant than it seems.
The Chiefs lost stud LG Joe Thuney, so rookie LT Josh Simmons is a huge swing on that line and how Kansas City's offense plays out.
These are two of the top five teams in the NFL by Super Bowl odds, and we just saw how important line play is in the biggest game. Be careful!
3. Beware investing too heavily in the Bengals or Texans — and maybe now the Chargers?
There's no escaping it — the Bengals and Texans are in a lot of trouble on the line, and just about everyone has them near the bottom of the league in offensive line ranks. That could make for a very long season — or maybe worse, a short one — for Joe Burrow and C.J. Stroud, and it's possible the Chargers and Justin Herbert could join that list after the Rashawn Slater injury.
That's a stark contrast to other AFC contenders like the Bills and Ravens, both of whom rank top seven at quarterback and offensive line.
4. If you're looking for a sleeper, offensive line trends might suggest the Jets, Titans, or Panthers.
Offensive line play is overlooked, and that could make these three teams sneaky sleepers to consider investing in as they potentially leap from the lower half of the league to possible top 10 status on the line.
Be careful early with four new Titans starters and a rookie QB, plus two young tackles starting for the Jets, but these are lines that should gel as the season goes along and peak later in the year after a dip in value provides a big opportunity to buy low on futures.
Note that the Patriots could also be on their way up — just not quite as much or as quickly as the other three teams.
5. With so much change early on, be careful investing in the Bucs, Vikings, Bears, Lions, or Chiefs too soon.
There's much more turnover up and down the offensive line rankings than usual, and remember, continuity matters a ton on the line. That means you should be careful about betting five playoff contenders in particular at the start of the season:
- Chiefs: starting a rookie left tackle and unproven sophomore left guard
- Lions: starting three new interior linemen and a new offensive scheme without Ben Johnson
- Bears: starting three new interior linemen and a new offensive scheme with Ben Johnson
- Vikings: starting three new interior linemen, one of whom is a rookie
- Bucs: waiting on Tristan Wirfs, and possibly unbettable until he's cleared to play
