Fantasy Football: 8 Offensive Line Takeaways From 2016
The Chargers Need to Upgrade at Tackle
Melvin Gordon went absolute beast mode the first part of this season. We should expect his touchdown totals to regress a bit from what he did early on, but it's possible he could be even better next year if the San Diego Chargers get him some help at tackle.
Whether the Chargers were rushing to the left or to the right, the end result was largely the same this year: they probably weren't doing much. But when the run went up the middle, Gordon and company made some sweet things happen, showing this isn't all about the talent of the guys toting the rock.
| Direction | Rushes | Rushing NEP | Rushing NEP/P | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Running Left | 85 | -8.05 | -0.09 | 32.94% |
| Running Middle | 186 | 7.30 | 0.04 | 45.16% |
| Running Right | 102 | -10.39 | -0.10 | 29.41% |
Seeing these numbers without context doesn't really do a whole lot for us. It's possible that teams league-wide are simply more efficient when going up the middle, which would mean the Chargers' tackles don't need upgrading. That really couldn't be further from the truth, though.
Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Chargers to the league-wide marks while running each direction.
| Metric | Chargers | League Average |
|---|---|---|
| Success Rate Left | 32.94% | 41.04% |
| Success Rate Middle | 45.16% | 39.50% |
| Success Rate Right | 29.41% | 39.27% |
Although the Chargers are almost six percentage points above average when running up the gut, they are roughly 10 percentage points below average when rushing outside to either direction. No matter the direction, things just weren't popping.
Left tackle King Dunlap shouldn't get all the blame here. He missed four games due to injury, and the ground game stalled in all four. Right tackle Joe Barksdale, though, missed just one game, meaning there isn't as much of an explanation for their struggles that way.
Gordon showed this year what he can do behind a battered and mediocre offensive line. The Chargers have the seventh overall pick in the draft, meaning they can likely snag one of the nation's best linemen if they deem him worthy of the selection.
In that event, Gordon's stock would be on the rise for 2017, even if that dreaded touchdown regression does come as expected.
