Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy - Offensive Line Analysis

San Diego Chargers

2008 Projected Starters:
Left Tackle: Marcus McNeill
Left Guard: Kris Dielman
Center: Nick Hardwick
Right Guard: Mike Goff
Right Tackle: Jeromey Clary

2007 Injuries:
C Nick Hardwick: Weeks 8 to 11
T Shane Olivea: Weeks 3, 13 and 14

2007 Statistics:

LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END		Passing
ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	Sacks	Rank
4.36	12	3.67	28	3.97	22	3.6	29	4.39	11	24	8

ALY (Adjusted Line Yards): It is an alternate measure for yards per carry developed by Football Outsiders that takes into account various factors including down, distance, situation and opponent.
Source: www.footballoutsiders.com

Overview:
The San Diego Chargers offense faced a lot of challenges entering the 2007 season with an entirely new coaching staff after the firing of Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer and the departure of Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron for Miami. The offense managed to rank in the top five for points scored for the fourth consecutive season but was surprisingly only 20th in yards of offense. This had a lot to do with the team having the best takeaway / giveaway ratio in the NFL. The offense should only improve this season with a second season under Head Coach Norv Turner and Offensive Coordinator Clarence Shelmon.

The Chargers will once again have 2006 second round pick Marcus McNeill protecting the blind side of quarterback Philip Rivers. The 6’7” and 335 lbs McNeill was a four year starter at Auburn who adjusted very well to the NFL game and has not missed a start in two seasons. He would have been drafted much earlier if it had not been for his back problems which bothered him throughout his senior year in college. McNeill had a very good rookie season but seemed to slow down in his second year and was not as impressive. He is known for his very good pass protecting skills but had a little trouble against more agile defensive ends last season. McNeill was disappointed by his performance even though he was named to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season andt he did show much improvement as the season progressed. There’s no reason to believe that McNeill will not be back to the level he was as a rookie when he gave up only five sacks. Starting on the right side will be Jeromey Clary; a sixth round pick in 2006 who started six games last season in replacement of Shane Olivea. Clary impressed with his performances and kept the starting job over the last few weeks of the season. He is an upgrade over Olivea in pass protection because of his much quicker feet but needs to show more intensity in run blocking. Nonetheless, in the last five games of the season, the Chargers averaged 4.7 yards per carry and allowed 11 sacks against defenses that allowed 4.4 yards per carry and had 2.2 sacks per game. The right tackle position will remain a weak link for this line but Clary should improve with more experience as a starter and could be a surprise this season. Providing depth at tackle will be the 2008 seventh round pick Corey Clark. Clark has decent physical skills but is more of a long-term project for the Chargers because he has to improve his mobility and strength to be more effective as a run blocker.

Starting at left guard for the fourth consecutive season for the Chargers will be Kris Dielman. Dielman was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chargers in 2003 and has been quite impressive since then. Dielman was selected to his first Pro Bowl last season, a well-earned selection for the 6’4” and 310 lbs guard. He is known for his very physical play and will be intense on every single play. He is especially impressive as a run blocker and has the agility to pull to the outside to block. Most would agree that Dielman was the best player on this line last season and he should continue his solid play this season. The right guard position however is not looking as good with 32 year old Mike Goff. Goff has started every game for the Chargers since being signed as an unrestricted free agent in 2004 but his run blocking abilities are well-below average. Goff has some good agility but he is getting older and is losing his ability to block in motion. Goff remains a decent pass blocker so will be the starter for at least one more season but the Chargers will look to replace him in the near future. The only depth at guard for now however is the Chargers seventh round pick in 2005 Scott Mruczkowski. Mruczkowski has only started one game in his first three NFL seasons but the team obviously liked what they have seen from him as they offered him a three-year extension this off-season. His versatility to play guard, center and right tackle is a very nice asset for this team. Mrcuzkowski will likely get a chance to start at the right guard position in camp but he is more likely to be the main backup at guard and center this season.

Starting at center for the Chargers will once again be Nick Hardwick. Hardwick has been the starter for the past four seasons since being drafted in the third round in 2005 but has only managed to stay injury free one time, in 2006. Hardwick is probably the most important player on the line and it has been obvious in the past three seasons as the running game averaged only 3.3 yards per carry in the seven games he missed and 4.7 yards per carry when he was playing. Cory Withrow was Hardwick’s replacement for four games last season and at 33 years old he is starting to slow down. He has been a career backup and it would not be surprising to see Mrcuzkowski as the backup center this season if Hardwick were to be injured.

2008 Outlook:
The Chargers will start the same five linemen who started the last five games of the 2007 regular season. This line is dominant as a unit in run blocking as we saw in those last five games when they had over 120 yards rushing in each game and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. The Chargers did cut Pro Bowl fullback Lorenzo Neal in the off-season but he missed the last three games of the regular season and the running game was equally impressive without him. This line is very young with an average age of only 27 years old and Mike Goff is the only lineman who is over 28 years of age. The downside of this line is that it has very little depth and as we saw last season, an injury to Hardwick makes the running game very average. Mrczukowski should be improved and ready to step in as a decent backup but if more than one lineman goes down with an injury, the offense will be in trouble. Nonetheless, this group is young so should be able to stay healthy and will improve as it continues to build chemistry. Overall this line is good in both pass blocking and run blocking and will improve slightly with the departure of Olivea and if Hardwick manages to stay healthy for all 16 games.