Pro Football Focus has sensible rating for Redskins’ offensive line for 2019

The Washington Redskins have talent on the offensive line but they lack depth. That’s why their Pro Football Focus rating makes a lot of sense.

The Washington Redskins’ strength on offense in recent years has been their offensive line play. Throughout their history, the Redskins have done a great job of scouting talented tackles and have often been strong on the outside. They haven’t always been as successful on the inside, but they’ve found more success in recent years.

Coming into 2019, the line is still looking strong. They have a lot of potential and they could certainly be one of the better offensive lines in the league. But, they also have some depth and injury concerns as well. And that’s part of the reason that the ‘Skins’ offensive line was rated so sensibly by Pro Football Focus.

In a recent article ranking all of the offensive lines from across the NFL ahead of the 2019 season, Pro Football Focus put the Redskins towards the middle of the pack. They ended up giving the Redskins the 14th overall ranking on the list and explained this as their reasons.

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"When everyone is healthy (and happy, as the case may be), this line has all the potential to be a top-10, even a top-five, unit. The problem is that nobody can seem to stay healthy, and the star offensive tackle is still, very publicly, unhappy. Be that as it may, Williams has allowed just one sack over the last two seasons. He’s earned 80.0-plus pass-blocking grades for six consecutive years, and he ranked 14th in pass-blocking grade (80.7) among offensive tackles with at least 300 snaps in 2018."

By my estimation, this is just about correct. If the Redskins do stay healthy for the season, they could have a top-10 offensive line. But if they can’t stay healthy or if Williams refuses to play for them, the team’s unit could be much worse. Thus, splitting the difference should rank the Redskins roughly in the middle of the pack. But, they have a bit more upside, so putting them at 14 is a good guess.

The only qualm I have with PFF’s projection is that they have Ereck Flowers listed as the starting left guard. While the team is looking to move Flowers to guard, he may have to split time between that position and tackle because of the team’s lack of depth at the latter position. If that happens, it’s hard to imagine him staving off competition from the team’s fourth-round rookie, Wes Martin, for the left guard spot.

Hopefully, the rosy projection for Washington line will come true. But at this point in time, it’s hard to find an issue with the ‘Skins notching the 14th overall ranking ahead of the season.