Post by Funkytown on Jun 22, 2023 14:40:50 GMT -6
Pun intended. The good OL days. I nearly fell over when I saw this post over at r/nfl.
Which teams have the best legacy on the Offensive Line since the merger? by JPAnalyst
More about the Steelers, Cowboys, Rams, and Dolphins here at the link:
reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/14ciziq/oc_which_teams_have_the_best_legacy_on_the/
Love for our DL here at this link:
reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/145yw7q/oc_which_teams_have_the_best_legacy_at_defensive/
The Cowboys and Rams get a mention here, as well.
Which teams have the best legacy on the Offensive Line since the merger? by JPAnalyst
Vikings
When I think of the team with the best legacy at offensive line, recency aside I think of the Vikings, a team that has had almost as many Hall of Fame seasons on the OL as they have had total seasons in existence since the merger (0.92 HOF offensive linemen per seasons). Here I share my thoughts on my top three teams (and two honorable mentions) when it comes to the OL.
For this analysis, I combed through the data from 1970 to present and calculated the average annual number of Pro Bowlers, first-team AP All-Pros, and Hall of Famers by franchise and by positional group to help determine which teams were the best at each position. The data was used to help guide some of my choices here (chart at the end). This ranking spans 50+ years, so although there might be some all-time great units over a smaller window, that will get diluted if a team wasn't consistently good for long periods of time.
This is a piece of a much longer post I made for a site I wrote for in 2022, but I'm breaking it up by positional group to make it more consumable and focus on one position at a time.
Notes:
- All references to All-Pro are first-team Associated Press All-Pro only
- HOF seasons for each team are tabulated only from the season the player played for each team (example: Washington gets 5 Champ Bailey seasons, Denver gets 10)
- All data on charts and information considered was through the 2021 season, as I wrote the original piece in mid-2022
Vikings
Iron sharpens iron…when a player’s job is to line up against the storied Purple People Eaters defensive line in practice each day like Hall of Famers Ron Yary (RT) and Mick Tingelhoff (C) had to do, the end result is a battle-tested unit who has experienced every challenge, trick, and tactic the rest of the league can throw at them. Yary and Tingelhoff were a consistent and indispensable presence for the Vikings offensive line in the 70s. During the ten years when their careers overlapped, the Vikings made the playoffs in nine seasons and reached four Super Bowls. In quarterback Fran Tarkenton’s 18-year career he was only in the top-5 for lowest sack % four times; all four times came during the Tingelhoff/Yary era (1974-76, 1978). Tingelhoff started in 240 consecutive games—the most starts in a row for a center. He made five first-team All-Pros, all of them coming before the merger, but he continued to start every game for the Vikings until he retired at the age of 38. Ron Yary was selected first-team All Pro for six consecutive years from 1971 to 1976. Like Tingelhoff, Yary was also durable, starting every game and never missing time due to injury from 1970-1981.
The Vikings league-leading 48 seasons with a Hall of Famer on the offensive line since the merger continued into the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Gary Zimmerman (LT) and Randall McDaniel (LG) played together fortifying the left side of the offensive line from 1988-1997. They helped the Vikings reach the playoffs seven times in their ten years together despite little consistency at the quarterback position with five starting quarterbacks across the ten seasons. With Zimmerman retiring after 1997, McDaniel would continue to make Pro Bowls and contribute to team success as the Vikings averaged 12 wins per season and were top five in scoring each season from 1998-2000. McDaniel’s twelve career Pro Bowls and seven first-team All-Pros are the second most for an offensive lineman since the merger.
Continuing a tradition of excellence, center Matt Birk earned six Pro Bowls while merging the gap between Hall of Famers. He began his Vikings career playing beside the HOFer McDaniel and ended it playing beside Hall of Fame guard, Steve Hutchinson. Hutchinson signed with the Vikings as a free agent in 2006 after five seasons with Seattle. Adding to the two All-Pros and three Pro Bowls he already earned with Seattle, he was selected to three more All Pros and four more Pro Bowls with Minnesota. Future HOFer Adrian Peterson averaged 1,400 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns a season from 2007-2011 running behind the offensive line led by Steve Hutchinson. Since 1970, the Vikings average an NFL-leading 0.92 Hall of Fame offensive linemen per season and, a third best 0.35 All-Pros on the offensive line per season.
When I think of the team with the best legacy at offensive line, recency aside I think of the Vikings, a team that has had almost as many Hall of Fame seasons on the OL as they have had total seasons in existence since the merger (0.92 HOF offensive linemen per seasons). Here I share my thoughts on my top three teams (and two honorable mentions) when it comes to the OL.
For this analysis, I combed through the data from 1970 to present and calculated the average annual number of Pro Bowlers, first-team AP All-Pros, and Hall of Famers by franchise and by positional group to help determine which teams were the best at each position. The data was used to help guide some of my choices here (chart at the end). This ranking spans 50+ years, so although there might be some all-time great units over a smaller window, that will get diluted if a team wasn't consistently good for long periods of time.
This is a piece of a much longer post I made for a site I wrote for in 2022, but I'm breaking it up by positional group to make it more consumable and focus on one position at a time.
Notes:
- All references to All-Pro are first-team Associated Press All-Pro only
- HOF seasons for each team are tabulated only from the season the player played for each team (example: Washington gets 5 Champ Bailey seasons, Denver gets 10)
- All data on charts and information considered was through the 2021 season, as I wrote the original piece in mid-2022
Vikings
Iron sharpens iron…when a player’s job is to line up against the storied Purple People Eaters defensive line in practice each day like Hall of Famers Ron Yary (RT) and Mick Tingelhoff (C) had to do, the end result is a battle-tested unit who has experienced every challenge, trick, and tactic the rest of the league can throw at them. Yary and Tingelhoff were a consistent and indispensable presence for the Vikings offensive line in the 70s. During the ten years when their careers overlapped, the Vikings made the playoffs in nine seasons and reached four Super Bowls. In quarterback Fran Tarkenton’s 18-year career he was only in the top-5 for lowest sack % four times; all four times came during the Tingelhoff/Yary era (1974-76, 1978). Tingelhoff started in 240 consecutive games—the most starts in a row for a center. He made five first-team All-Pros, all of them coming before the merger, but he continued to start every game for the Vikings until he retired at the age of 38. Ron Yary was selected first-team All Pro for six consecutive years from 1971 to 1976. Like Tingelhoff, Yary was also durable, starting every game and never missing time due to injury from 1970-1981.
The Vikings league-leading 48 seasons with a Hall of Famer on the offensive line since the merger continued into the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Gary Zimmerman (LT) and Randall McDaniel (LG) played together fortifying the left side of the offensive line from 1988-1997. They helped the Vikings reach the playoffs seven times in their ten years together despite little consistency at the quarterback position with five starting quarterbacks across the ten seasons. With Zimmerman retiring after 1997, McDaniel would continue to make Pro Bowls and contribute to team success as the Vikings averaged 12 wins per season and were top five in scoring each season from 1998-2000. McDaniel’s twelve career Pro Bowls and seven first-team All-Pros are the second most for an offensive lineman since the merger.
Continuing a tradition of excellence, center Matt Birk earned six Pro Bowls while merging the gap between Hall of Famers. He began his Vikings career playing beside the HOFer McDaniel and ended it playing beside Hall of Fame guard, Steve Hutchinson. Hutchinson signed with the Vikings as a free agent in 2006 after five seasons with Seattle. Adding to the two All-Pros and three Pro Bowls he already earned with Seattle, he was selected to three more All Pros and four more Pro Bowls with Minnesota. Future HOFer Adrian Peterson averaged 1,400 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns a season from 2007-2011 running behind the offensive line led by Steve Hutchinson. Since 1970, the Vikings average an NFL-leading 0.92 Hall of Fame offensive linemen per season and, a third best 0.35 All-Pros on the offensive line per season.
More about the Steelers, Cowboys, Rams, and Dolphins here at the link:
reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/14ciziq/oc_which_teams_have_the_best_legacy_on_the/
Love for our DL here at this link:
reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/145yw7q/oc_which_teams_have_the_best_legacy_at_defensive/
Vikings
A defensive unit doesn’t earn the moniker The Purple People Eaters unless they are one of the most commanding and fearsome fronts in the NFL. The Vikings dominant legacy on the defensive line stems from the 1970s but it didn’t end there. From 1970-1976 the Vikings had a top five defense in points allowed six times as they went 75-22-1 and made three Super Bowl appearances. The line was anchored by two Hall of Famers in Carl Eller and future Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, Alan Page. In the late ‘80s and ‘90s two more HOFers Chris Doleman and John Randle would continue the tradition that the Purple People Eaters began in the late ‘60s. Doleman would end his career with 150.5 sacks, the 7th most in NFL history. The four Hall of Famers, Doleman, Randle, Eller, and Page plus 4-time AP All-Pro Jared Allen combined for a total of 706 sacks and make up 25% of the top-20 list for career sacks. Kevin Williams a 300+ pound run stuffer who could also get after the quarterback (career best 11.5 sacks in 2004) was the linchpin of the defensive line in the early to late 2000s. He would go on to make six Pro Bowls and earn five AP All-Pros. All-in-all the Vikings had a HOF defensive lineman on their roster 44% of the time since the merger, and in thirteen of the 52 years they had two HOFers on the D-line, while averaging nearly a Pro Bowler every season.
A defensive unit doesn’t earn the moniker The Purple People Eaters unless they are one of the most commanding and fearsome fronts in the NFL. The Vikings dominant legacy on the defensive line stems from the 1970s but it didn’t end there. From 1970-1976 the Vikings had a top five defense in points allowed six times as they went 75-22-1 and made three Super Bowl appearances. The line was anchored by two Hall of Famers in Carl Eller and future Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, Alan Page. In the late ‘80s and ‘90s two more HOFers Chris Doleman and John Randle would continue the tradition that the Purple People Eaters began in the late ‘60s. Doleman would end his career with 150.5 sacks, the 7th most in NFL history. The four Hall of Famers, Doleman, Randle, Eller, and Page plus 4-time AP All-Pro Jared Allen combined for a total of 706 sacks and make up 25% of the top-20 list for career sacks. Kevin Williams a 300+ pound run stuffer who could also get after the quarterback (career best 11.5 sacks in 2004) was the linchpin of the defensive line in the early to late 2000s. He would go on to make six Pro Bowls and earn five AP All-Pros. All-in-all the Vikings had a HOF defensive lineman on their roster 44% of the time since the merger, and in thirteen of the 52 years they had two HOFers on the D-line, while averaging nearly a Pro Bowler every season.
... and neither is this Chris guy.