Prisco Rates Browns OL at No. 6

by Chris Pokorny on Jun 3, 2008 11:31 AM EDT in General News Comment 10 comments

CBS Sportsline writer Pete Prisco ranked all 32 NFL teams according to their offensive lines. Personally, I think it would've been a little bit easier to read the piece if Prisco had actually listed the rankings in descending order. In alphabetical order, it takes quite a bit of back-and-forth page-scrolling to compare one team to another.

For each team, Prisco highlighted the team's best player and weak link. Here's what he had to say about the Browns, a team that he ranked sixth (I list the five teams above and below us too):

1. Dallas
2. San Diego
3. New England
4. Indianapolis
5. Jacksonville

Best player: LT Joe Thomas. Weak link: C Hank Fraley.

The skinny: The addition of Thomas last year as a rookie and free-agent guard Eric Steinbach really improved the line, especially the left side. The right side isn't as good, but the addition of guard Rex Hadnot might help the run game. Fraley is solid at center, but he has trouble with the big nose tackles.

7. NY Giants
8. Minnesota
9. Philadelphia
10. Green Bay
11. Seattle
17. Cincinnati
24. Pittsburgh
25. Baltimore

I also provided the rankings for the Bengals, Steelers, and Ravens, respectively. Prior to last season, we didn't have a top-16 offensive line since returning to the league. Leaping to No. 6 and seeing everyone else in our division fall to the bottom half of the league only adds to the expectations the Browns have this season.

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How is New England number 3? Wasn’t that the same line that was destroyed by the NY Giants in the Super Bowl?

by Bernie19Kosar on Jun 3, 2008 3:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think it’s a fair ranking, you can’t knock them for having their worst game against a D-line that was on an absolute mission in the playoffs. They do have some concerns at tackle now though as Light is aging and RT has always been the weak spot.

by Roger Dorn on Jun 3, 2008 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

All I am saying is that the Browns had more rushing yards and less sacks given up. After giving up six sacks in the first game they only allowed 13 the rest of the season.

I think the Browns are underestimated on this list.

by Bernie19Kosar on Jun 4, 2008 1:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the rushing yards aspect with New England last season should be taken with a grain of salt. More times than not, it was Brady dropping back to throw on every single down. Because of that, it makes sense for NE to have less rush yards than us while giving up some more sacks.

I’d say the reason the Browns aren’t higher is due to a consistency issue. The first five teams have been playoff-contending locks the past several years; there’d be more risk involved if Prisco put the Browns ahead of those teams only to look like a fool if we fail. When our offensive line holds up again this season, we’ll take that next step forward in the media (by next step, I mean being considered in the top three).

Dawgs By Nature - Find out why Pittsburgh still sucks.

by Chris Pokorny on Jun 4, 2008 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs