Who has the worst offensive line in the NFL? Protecting the quarterback is more important than ever in the NFL, but there’s only so much talent to be had. With the widening gap in development in the trenches, some of the worst NFL offensive lines will be to blame for letting their quarterbacks down in 2024.
It’s an issue that will plague several teams all season and for some, there’s no solution. NFL free agency doesn’t offer any surefire answers and player development takes years. As a result, the worst NFL offensive lines are going to cause some real problems this season. Let’s dive into our list.
22. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys spent the least money in the NFL this offseason, letting two starting offensive linemen (Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz). With both players gone, Dallas will leave it up to journeyman Brock Hoffman and rookie Cooper Beebe to battle it out for the center gig. At left tackle, one of the most important positions in the NFL, Dallas is expected to start Chuma Edoga, who has bounced around the league. Weaknesses at left tackle, center and right tackle make this one of the worst NFL offensive lines in 2024.
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23. San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams is one of the best linemen of his generation. We’re also not the least bit concerned about a training camp holdout impacting his availability this season. The reason San Francisco has one of the worst NFL offensive lines this season is because guard Aaron Banks and right tackle Connor McKivitz were two of the worst starters at guard and tackle in the league last season. Quite frankly, center Jake Brendel isn’t that much better. Williams, Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan help mask a lot of issues, but this is a bad offensive line collectively.
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25. Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence is stuck with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Being saddled with Urban Meyer derailed his chances of real development in his rookie season. In 2023, Lawrence was let down by offensive coordinator Press Taylor and the team’s offensive line. While Jacksonville finished 11th in sack rate allowed (6.2 percent). However, the Jaguars offensive line finished 29th in ESPN pass-block win rate (51 percent). While we suspect adding veteran center Mitch Morse will help, every starter on Jacksonville’s offensive line projects to be average or well below average this season. That could pose a problem for a team that added deep threat Gabe Dabis.
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26. Seattle Seahawks
The offensive line is the lone thing holding the Seattle Seahawks offense back from being a top-10 unit. Seattle ranked 25th in ESPN pass-block win rate (53 percent) with the interior line primarily responsible for dragging this unit down. We’re fairly confident new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will have a system that makes life a little easier for the O-line and further improvements from Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas would go a long way. With that said, the interior remains a problem.
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27. Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are on the rise but the road back is a bumpy one. Kyler Murray now gets to work with a true No. 1 receiver in Marvin Harrison Jr. and the secondary weapons are excellent. Unfortunately, the Cardinals offensive line also ranked 22nd in sack rate (7.04 percent) and 19th in ESPN pass-block win rate (57 percent) last year. For those banking on free-agent signing Jonah Williams, know that he has allowed 21 sacks over the past two seasons.
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28. New England Patriots
One of the main reasons some suggested the New England Patriots shouldn’t use the third overall pick on a quarterback was because of the lack of supporting cast. New England ranked 24th in sack rate allowed (7.93 percent) and placed last in ESPN pass-rush win rate (43 percent) a year ago. Heading into the 2024 season, center David Andrews and guard Mike Onwenu are the only quality starters on the offensive line. Having one of the worst NFL offensive lines right now is exactly why Jacoby Brissett will open the season as the Patriots’ starting quarterback.
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29. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans were one of just five teams to allow 60-plus sacks last season. Fortunately, Tennessee added center Lloyd Cushenberry III in NFL free agency and used its first-round pick on JC Latham. The best move, of course, was adding the best offensive line coach in the NFL (Bill Callahan) to work with this group. We do expect improvement from the Titans offensive line in 2024, but the youth on the left side with Will Levis under center still leads us to believe this will be one of the five worst NFL offensive lines this season.
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30. Washington Commanders
No NFL team put its rookie quarterback behind an offensive line worse than the Washington Commanders. Frankly, it’s inexplicable that a front office didn’t spend any of its four top-60 picks on an offensive lineman after this group allowed 65 sacks last season. As much as we like Jayden Daniels, he didn’t always handle pressure well at LSU and he exposed himself to big hits. Those issues will be magnified behind the Commanders offensive line, hurting his chances of reaching a very high ceiling.
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31. New York Giants
The New York Giants allowed the most sacks in the NFL last season. A club has to finish last every year, but what puts the Giants offensive line in some awful company is the fact that New York allowed 20 more sacks (85) than the second-worst team (Commanders, 65). Here’s the good news for New York, that’s unlikely to happen again with a healthy Andrew Thomas paired with the additions fo Jon Runyan and Jermaine Eluemunor on the right side. With that acknowledged, there still isn’t remotely enough talent on the offensive line to lead to a 2024 turnaround. It also won’t help that opponents probably won’t have much respect for the Giants’ run game or passing attack this fall.
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32. New Orleans Saints
We believe the New Orleans Saints will have the worst NFL offensive line in 2024. Ryan Ramczyk has already been ruled out for the reason, which means former first-round pick Trevor Penning gets to start again. Penning, Nick Saldiveri and Cesar Ruiz are three of the worst starting offensive linemen in the NFL. Plus, there’s a very realistic chance that rookie Taliese Fuaga will struggle in his first season at left tackle. Oh, Derek Carr is also one of the worst quarterbacks in football when pressured. New Orleans won’t lead the NFL in sacks allowed because Carr checks it down more than just about anyone, but every Sunday will be a reminder of how bad this Saints offensive line is.
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