Chiefs Offensive Line: Underrated?
Matt Cassel's o-line might be better than he, or anyone else thinks
One of the most disturbing stats from Matt Cassel's mostly awesome starting debut was his league-high 47 sacks taken. The Patriots' offensive line is widely regarded as among the best in the league (although it's really closer to above average), so Cassel gets knocked as a sack waiting to happen. That, perhaps, could further the idea that Cassel was a one-year wonder -- a product of Randy Moss and the Patriots' quarterback-friendly system -- and that he'll struggle in his new digs.
The good news is Chiefs coach Todd Haley's system is also passer-friendly, and like New England's, very shotgun-happy. The Chiefs' offensive line is also apparently on the rise.
I'm not saying the Chiefs' line is better than New England's, but the Football Outsiders reveal that Kansas City held up better than one would've guessed during a miserable 2008 season. The unit is broken down in the Kansas City Star's Chiefs blog.
Theoretically, the Chiefs would've given up more sacks in '08 because they attempted 541 passes, their second most since the Dick Vermeil era and the ninth most in the NFL. But they cut their sacks allowed at every position save center and only left guard (Brian Waters) committed more penalties (1 in '07, 2 in '08). Their directional rushing rank also improved significantly at left tackle (Branden Albert), left guard, and right tackle (Damion McIntosh). They were a little worse at center and stayed the same at right guard.
The Chiefs have upgraded from C Rudy Niswanger to Eric Ghiaciuc, a 28-year-old 42-game starter. The new right guard is ex-Chargers stalwart Mike Goff. A guard at Virginia, the 24-year-old Albert is likely to improve drastically in his second season at left tackle since high school. The much-maligned McIntosh is way more effective than he's given credit for, at least according to the Outsiders. It doesn't hurt that Haley also has a history of "coaching up" offensive lines. The Cards' front five suddenly got much better when Haley took over as coordinator in 2007. (Russ Grimm didn't hurt, either.)
The receiver corps is a downgrade for Cassel. He isn't going to win 11 games or finish as the fantasy QB8 again. But while projecting Cassel to throw the third-most passes in the league (behind only Drew Brees and Tom Brady), we still confidently rank him as one of the most desirable QB2s in fantasy football. He'll be a high-quality matchup play by midseason, when he's fully comfortable in Haley's offense. That's also when Kansas City's schedule gets a whole lot easier.
Comments
Rudy Niswanger is the starter and is an upgrade over Eric Ghiaciuc. I havent heard one single good thing about Ghiaciuc. Niswanger is still young, athletic, very smart, and hasnt started a ton of games. I think Rudy will get a lot better.
This oline is much better than last year, just cause Niswanger and Albert have another year of experience under them.
KC also has Bill Muir, the old Bucs coordinator, as the oline coach. He is one of the best at that position, from what I hear.
Posted by: Blake | July 16, 2009 01:21 PM
This unit just isn't the same without Roaf. He was a powerhouse.
And we're definitely NOT sold on Cassel!
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Posted by: FantasyIQ.com | July 16, 2009 02:55 PM
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