Where does the Colts OL Rank in the NFL?

[NewColtsFan]

 

An ESPN Premium story uses analysts to rank all the offensive lines.

 

And,  believe it or not,  out of 32 o-lines,  the Colts' line ranks............   12th.         Yeah,  I didn't believe it either.

 

They used 5 categories....   and inexplicably,  the Colts line ranked 1st (Best) in two categories,  and 30th (near last in two others) and 7th in the final category.

 

We were first (Best) in fewest runs that got stuffed for no gains or a loss,   and we were first in fewest penalties by our o-lineman.       Seriously!  

 

We were 30th in sacks and pressures,  and we were 30th in pressures and hurries.

 

We were 7th in effectiveness per run with the credit divided equally between the line and the RB for yards gained.

 

There's more to each metric,  but this gives you the basic idea.

 

So, with these metrics,  who are the 5 best o-lines?       Some head scratching involved here too...

 

5.    Oakland,     4.    Dallas,      3.     Washington,     2.   Pittsburgh and 1.    New Orleans.

 

The worst 5?

 

28.   San Diego,   29.    Carolina,    30.   Seattle,     31.    Buffalo,   and 32.   Cleveland.

 

So.....     there you have it.     The Colts have the 12th best line according to ESPN analytics.      To me,  this is the kind of result that gives analysts a bad name,  but maybe that's just me.

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

An ESPN Premium story uses analysts to rank all the offensive lines.

 

And,  believe it or not,  out of 32 o-lines,  the Colts' line ranks............   12th.         Yeah,  I didn't believe it either.

 

They used 5 categories....   and inexplicably,  the Colts line ranked 1st (Best) in two categories,  and 30th (near last in two others) and 7th in the final category.

 

We were first (Best) in fewest runs that got stuffed for no gains or a loss,   and we were first in fewest penalties by our o-lineman.       Seriously!  

 

We were 30th in sacks and pressures,  and we were 30th in pressures and hurries.

 

We were 7th in effectiveness per run with the credit divided equally between the line and the RB for yards gained.

 

There's more to each metric,  but this gives you the basic idea.

 

So, with these metrics,  who are the 5 best o-lines?       Some head scratching involved here too...

 

5.    Oakland,     4.    Dallas,      3.     Washington,     2.   Pittsburgh and 1.    New Orleans.

 

The worst 5?

 

28.   San Diego,   29.    Carolina,    30.   Seattle,     31.    Buffalo,   and 32.   Cleveland.

 

So.....     there you have it.     The Colts have the 12th best line according to ESPN analytics.      To me,  this is the kind of result that gives analysts a bad name,  but maybe that's just me.

 

Yeah using this criteria is a bit misleading, by the eye test alone I wouldn't say we are in the Top 20 and our Pass Blocking is awful which is the main part of our game.

[southwest1]

58 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

We were first (Best) in fewest runs that got stuffed for no gains or a loss,   and we were first in fewest penalties by our o-lineman.       Seriously!  

INDY leads in TFLs & lowest yellow flags. Nice. Hey, I gotta hang my horseshoe loyalty on something right? 

 

I'll take it after this challenging yr. 

[Smoke317]

These stats tell me that Chud and his gameplans are a joke...  Our Oline is young. Of course they're gonna struggle in pass pro when you're calling plays with 7 stop drops more often than not...  Of course they're gonna struggle when the HC & OC relied too much on TY and not getting others more involved in the gameplans earlier in the year.  So when TY gets taken away, Luck ends up holding the ball longer and taking more hits and pressures because he has gained the timing and trust with his other weapons... Get Josh McDaniels in here and get us a quick rhythm passing attack and watch this young Oline continue to gel and get better. 

[NewColtsFan]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah using this criteria is a bit misleading, by the eye test alone I wouldn't say we are in the Top 20 and our Pass Blocking is awful which is the main part of our game.

 

Well said.

 

In some cases the eye test is better than analytics and this is one of them.

 

You can't watch our total offense and not come away with a view that our line is what holds our offense back from being a great offense.     The line is the problem.      

 

To be clear,  I like analytics.      I think they're hugely helpful.     But they're not perfect,  and when you wind up with results that are head scratching you might want to question the formula....

 

 

[LockeDown]

I think Matt H. would have been even better with this years oline than he was with last years.   He makes faster decisions and is more accurate than Luck.  Luck was compared to Elway.  Elway made it to his first 3 Super Bowls making miraculous plays when things broke down with inferior talent around him..  Oddly enough, Luck has played that way since came in the league.  Elway couldn't win the SB until they got a good Oline and T. Davis.  Took all the pressure off Elway to carry the team.  Luck needs the same thing.  IMO, Luck is never going to be the quick strike, small ball QB throwing 7 yard passes 25 times a game.  Square peg.  Our Oline is young and getting better.  Draft a great RB and pass rusher this year. I would put best tackle at LT. Regardless of who it is.   Invest in defense like the Giants just did.  Right players though.  And just like Elway, maybe Luck needs a different coach like Shanny who always had productive run game. That's my take anyway.

[NannyMcafee]

there has to be an answer somewhere to all these health concerns with the colts every year. It's like a dead horse we are all so tired of beating. 

[lollygagger8]

[WarGhost21]

I wouldn't disagree. I think we are only averaging about one O-line penalty per game and I've only seen Gore dropped for a loss 2 or 3 times all season. We need to give the line a bit more credit than what they have been getting.

[pgt_rob]

30th in sacks, pressures, and hurries is the huge one. I think a lot of it has to do with Luck looking down field and dropping back a lot. It's what we do, though. 7th in effectiveness per run is mind blowing to me and I would say some of this may be flawed statistics. Especially since Gore hasn't hit 1000 yards rushing in 2 years. Hard to properly grade out some of this stuff in my opinion. 

[will426]

4 hours ago, LockeDown said:

I think Matt H. would have been even better with this years oline than he was with last years.   He makes faster decisions and is more accurate than Luck.  Luck was compared to Elway.  Elway made it to his first 3 Super Bowls making miraculous plays when things broke down with inferior talent around him..  Oddly enough, Luck has played that way since came in the league.  Elway couldn't win the SB until they got a good Oline and T. Davis.  Took all the pressure off Elway to carry the team.  Luck needs the same thing.  IMO, Luck is never going to be the quick strike, small ball QB throwing 7 yard passes 25 times a game.  Square peg.  Our Oline is young and getting better.  Draft a great RB and pass rusher this year. I would put best tackle at LT. Regardless of who it is.   Invest in defense like the Giants just did.  Right players though.  And just like Elway, maybe Luck needs a different coach like Shanny who always had productive run game. That's my take anyway.

I disagree they changed the scheme entirely to fit MH because they Knew he couldn't throw the deep ball but refuse to dumb it down for luck 

[PeterBowman]

it may sound crazy but this O Line is trending in the right direction. Remember in years past when short yardage runs were routinely blown up in the backfield? That's really not the case anymore. Also I think the running game would be more successful if they stuck with it more instead of abandoning it at the first sign of adversity.

 

The pass blocking metrics I think could be better if they weren't such a downfield oriented offense. Mixing in those NE style quick hitters every so often to keep the defense honest would be nice.

[Myles]

Lousy metrics.   

[BullsColtsFan1]

33rd

[braveheartcolt]

How funny when we let our own biased views get in the way of real statistics. Nobody cares about our o-line having the least amount of penalties? Really? I remember many whinges on here when we are 'indisciplined'. Some people just want to cherry pick to suit their own negative vibe. Well done o-line, although plenty to work on for sure. 

[PeterBowman]

10 minutes ago, braveheartcolt said:

How funny when we let our own biased views get in the way of real statistics. Nobody cares about our o-line having the least amount of penalties? Really? I remember many whinges on here when we are 'indisciplined'. Some people just want to cherry pick to suit their own negative vibe. Well done o-line, although plenty to work on for sure. 

yep, pretty much nailed it. Injuries and youth are the primary culprits of the O line but you can't deny there's been big strides made from the beginning of the season to now....most of the damage done sack and pressure wise was done in the first half...now they're not perfect by any means but denying that there's been no improvement is wrong.

[DarkHorse]

They started working as one unit the last pass games which is a improvement I'll take it.  Can only get better from here

[Coffeedrinker]

12 seems about right.  I don't watch pother teams as closely as I do the Colts but I think over the course of the year I've seen just about every team and if someone were to ask me I would have said the Colts are in the 12-15 range.

 

They do somethings really well, they are improving overall as a unit and Philbin is showing he's a very good oline coach.  I mean, even Harrison is doing a pretty good job out there when called into action.  

[UKColt13]

We look better than last year on the Oline.

 

But leading the league in QB hits and sacks allowed for most of the year. And we're 12th?

 

Seems legit.

[OffensivelyPC]

I think it's better than it gets credit for, but it's not in the top half.  I'd say somewhere between 16-24.  I'd vote on the higher (better) end of that range.

[theanarchist]

11 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

An ESPN Premium story uses analysts to rank all the offensive lines.

 

And,  believe it or not,  out of 32 o-lines,  the Colts' line ranks............   12th.         Yeah,  I didn't believe it either.

 

They used 5 categories....   and inexplicably,  the Colts line ranked 1st (Best) in two categories,  and 30th (near last in two others) and 7th in the final category.

 

We were first (Best) in fewest runs that got stuffed for no gains or a loss,   and we were first in fewest penalties by our o-lineman.       Seriously!  

 

We were 30th in sacks and pressures,  and we were 30th in pressures and hurries.

 

We were 7th in effectiveness per run with the credit divided equally between the line and the RB for yards gained.

 

There's more to each metric,  but this gives you the basic idea.

 

So, with these metrics,  who are the 5 best o-lines?       Some head scratching involved here too...

 

5.    Oakland,     4.    Dallas,      3.     Washington,     2.   Pittsburgh and 1.    New Orleans.

 

The worst 5?

 

28.   San Diego,   29.    Carolina,    30.   Seattle,     31.    Buffalo,   and 32.   Cleveland.

 

So.....     there you have it.     The Colts have the 12th best line according to ESPN analytics.      To me,  this is the kind of result that gives analysts a bad name,  but maybe that's just me.

 

Well I guess when you consider that the NFL is by far a passing league and we rank 30 in both passing catagories that pretty much says it all. I would definitely not say we r the 12th best OL in the league. I think our line is a little better this season than last but still really rough.

[Creekside]

2 hours ago, PeterBowman said:

it may sound crazy but this O Line is trending in the right direction. Remember in years past when short yardage runs were routinely blown up in the backfield? That's really not the case anymore. Also I think the running game would be more successful if they stuck with it more instead of abandoning it at the first sign of adversity.

 

 

 

not crazy....  why the Colts don't run the ball more is a mystery to me. They open the last game with Gore running 12 yards (I think), then he gets 8 more carries for the rest of the game....it makes no sense...

[indyagent17]

Stats are silly things, Ask Andrew's body if it feels protected

[#12.]

3.8 yards a carry + the most QB hits in the league = 12th?

 

What a joke.

[#12.]

1 hour ago, egg said:

 

not crazy....  why the Colts don't run the ball more is a mystery to me. 

They're averaging 3.8 yards a carry.  If you stick to the run, you lose.

[Solon]

9 minutes ago, #12. said:

They're averaging 3.8 yards a carry.  If you stick to the run, you lose.

Not necessarily. Frank Gore hits the hole he's supposed to. That's his M.O. I love Frank, but we need a #2 running back who's capable of breaking it to the outside. I've seen plenty of yards left on the field as Gore hit the hole he was supposed to on the play. If he would've broke it outside, he would've easily had a 10 yard gain.

[Creekside]

13 minutes ago, #12. said:

They're averaging 3.8 yards a carry.  If you stick to the run, you lose.

3.8 isn't terrible. They have very few long runs. They get many carries that are within the 3-7 yard range. They have been successful in moving the chains with running the ball. And that's what you want in a ground game:  move the chains and maintain possession .

[jet1968]

I dont think the offensive line is real consistent. The looked great against the Jets and then lousy against the Texans.It's as if it takes a couple of terrible games for them to get it together to look good one game. Nevertheless I am not impressed by the Colts offensive line.

The offensive and defensive lines are where the games are won and that is where Grigson needs to be spending the draft picks instead of on fast receivers who cant catch or giving up high draft picks on running backs that cant run.

[richard pallo]

2 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

12 seems about right.  I don't watch pother teams as closely as I do the Colts but I think over the course of the year I've seen just about every team and if someone were to ask me I would have said the Colts are in the 12-15 range.

 

They do somethings really well, they are improving overall as a unit and Philbin is showing he's a very good oline coach.  I mean, even Harrison is doing a pretty good job out there when called into action.  

I have to agree with you. They are improving as a unit and our young lineman are getting better every game.  Too bad we just got hit with all of the new injuries on the line. We are going to have a real good look at Clark this week. Overall I think the ranking is just about right.  Let's be honest the majority of us only watch the Colts every week and who they are playing.  Throw in a few other games week each week and we really aren't watching everyones lines.  Everyone loves to believe the media; Dallas is the best and we are one of the worst. Not so much. 

[Coffeedrinker]

2 hours ago, #12. said:

They're averaging 3.8 yards a carry.  If you stick to the run, you lose.

That's not true at all.  If they run on 1st and 2nd down that would mean they would average and 3rd and less than 3, which is what teams want on 3rd down.

[SteelCityColt]

3 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

That's not true at all.  If they run on 1st and 2nd down that would mean they would average and 3rd and less than 3, which is what teams want on 3rd down.

 

At that rate I'd run it on 3rd too, if only it was that easy.

[braveheartcolt]

10 hours ago, #12. said:

They're averaging 3.8 yards a carry.  If you stick to the run, you lose.

Quite the contrary. If you gain 3.8 yards every down, you probably never lose.

[IinD]

Gore probably helps that TFL stat. He is an all time great and knows how to always squeeze out at least a couple yards positive gain so I think he helps the line more then it helps him so to say.

 

To me they're an enigma. We still can't get a RB to 100 to save our lives and some games they're just bad.