9 Offensive Line Notes With Fantasy Football Implications

Situations to Monitor

Not all news in training camp is bad. So let's start things off on a positive note here before delving into things a bit less rosy.

We've long had questions about Melvin Gordon's efficiency as a runner, which is justified given that he has never averaged more than 3.9 yards per carry in any season. But he's getting some big time reinforcements up front this year.

The obvious things are the signing of center Mike Pouncey and the return of guard Forrest Lamp. The reason this is noteworthy in a discussion of training camp is that Lamp started camp on the sidelines, still recovering from a torn ACL last year. But the 2017 second-round pick is now back in action.

On top of that, they figure to get a full season of Dan Feeney at left guard. Feeney became a starter in October, and as you can see in these numbers from The Quant Edge, he was a big boon for their offense.

The Chargers' offensive line is totally new, and they were already great at pass blocking. Gordon's easy to stomach as the seventh-ranked running back, based on Fantasy Football Calculator's average draft position (ADP) data.

Now, we turn to situations that are a bit more dicey, starting with the Baltimore Ravens.

Left tackle Ronnie Stanley suffered a knee strain Monday in Week 2 of the preseason. He's out until at least Week 1. They also lost center Ryan Jensen in free agency. If Stanley's able to play, they've got enough talent up front to remain afloat. But an absence of any length for Stanley would be a downgrade to someone like Alex Collins.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have almost an identical situation with their left tackle, Donovan Smith.

Smith's injury isn't a long-term thing, but with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting at quarterback the first three games, the loss of Smith would make streaming defenses against the Buccaneers and using them in DFS mighty attractive.

If you watched Monday's game between the Ravens and Indianapolis Colts, you likely saw Andrew Luck get his welcome-back-to-the-NFL moment via Terrell Suggs.

Part of the reasoning that Suggs came virtually untouched is that left tackle Anthony Castonzo has been dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of that game. Castonzo told Mike Chappell of Fox59 that it "would have to be a catastrophe" for him to miss the season opener, but we'll have to keep tabs here, regardless. The biggest losers in a Castonzo injury would seem to be Luck and Jack Doyle.

Finally, the Tennessee Titans have a solid offensive line when everybody's healthy. But one of their biggest pieces isn't ready yet.

Right tackle Jack Conklin tore his ACL in the team's playoff loss to the New England Patriots and is still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. If he can't get cleared by Week 1, it'll be a big blow to the entire Titans offense. Derrick Henry would require a downgrade as he can't buoy inefficiencies on the ground with passing-game work, which Dion Lewis will be able to do.