Same as always - love hearing about your team's line. Oline especially difficult because of the lack of stats, gotta dig deeper here. Just listing starters.
14. Rutgers: Raiquon O'Neal, Nick Krimin, Reggie Sutton, Sam Vretman, Mike Lonsdorf
Yeesh. So it's no secret that Rutgers was bad last year and their offense was particularly bad (121 on SP+). This was in large part due to a nonfunctioning offensive line. You might assume they were young and learning, but you would be wrong, as they had two fifth year seniors who are gone. On top of that, both their centers transferred out. They are left with one full time starter, Nick Krimin, plus their left tackles who switched out with each other due to general ineffectiveness. I listed "starters" though it's pretty unclear how they will patch together this line - I assume Krimin will continue to start. O'Neal looks to be their most talented lineman and I'll assume he gets the left tackle position. The rest is just me filling out names because I'm not sure who will start and I doubt they do, either. I've been optimistic about Rutgers new offense (former Princeton and Okie State OC Sean Gleeson takes over, and his replacement at Princeton is the new oline coach). However, with no spring practice you have an even tougher time patching all this together. Good luck, Schiano.
13. Maryland: Jaelyn Duncan, Austin Fontaine, Johnny Jordan, Evan Gregory, Marcus Minor
Speaking of being bad, Maryland. I've been looking at Football Outsiders offensive line statistics, one of them is line yards per carry, which essentially rewards lines that consistently get some yards. Maryland ran the ball some last year, but only ranked 85th in the country in this statistic. Their stuffed rate (stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage) ranked 106th. They were miserable in short yardage situations. Also, they gave up 38 sacks at a rate that ranked 116th in the country. Is there any hope? Maybe. The tackles, Duncan and Minor were both 4 star top 200 recruit types, and they return. The middle of the line is murky - Fontaine and Jordan have some previous starts, but it's not clear how they will line up. They do have a couple JUCO guys that may step in, as well. It may be another work in progress season in the middle of the line as they try to figure out a group that can function.
12. Michigan State: AJ Arcuri, JD Duplain, Matt Allen, Kevin Jarvis, Jordan Reid
Due to injury and ineffectiveness, Sparty's offensive line felt like a game of musical chairs last year. They had seven different starting lineups and four different starters at left tackle. It's no surprise, then, that their effectiveness was limited. In fact, by the advanced stats their run blocking was 121st in the nation. Somewhat shockingly, their pass blocking stats were great, as they led the conference in sacks allowed. Part of that was probably due to having an experienced quarterback, which they don't have anymore. Of course, they don't have that offense anymore, either. The good news for this group is they have a lot of different guys who have started games and played meaningful football, which should help as they change offenses without the benefit of spring football. Reid has been a stalwart at right tackle. Three guys have at least 20 starts including Jarvis, Reid, and Luke Campbell, who has started at tackle and guard. They have flexibility, and there is some talent here, but getting it all together seems like a tall ask.
11. Purdue: Grant Hermanns, Mark Stickford, Victor Beach, Jimmy McKenna, Will Bramel
I could just repeat my Sparty section here. Purdue was brutal running the ball last year; they were worst in the conference both by raw numbers and advanced stats. A large part of that was the uncertainty up front - only left tackle Hermanns started all 12 games. The group was more comfortable pass blocking, which is good, because Purdue led the conference in passing attempts (520) and was almost 50 more than the next highest team, Indiana, despite the fact that Indiana played an extra game. Purdue doesn't have nearly the experience returning that Sparty does, but I placed them a notch higher because they aren't changing systems and do return most everyone from last year. Jeff Brohm has not been shy about playing young guys and we'll see if that pays off this fall. If their rushing attack can just improve to middling, this would be a very dangerous team.
10. Indiana: Matthew Bedford, Dylan Powell, Harry Crider, Mackenzie Nworah, Caleb Jones
Indiana's line last year was somewhat middling by the advanced stats, ranking pretty low in rushing and middle of the pack in passing. They have some work to do, as they return both tackles and and Harry Crider, who appears to likely move from guard to center. The tackles are the highlight here - Bedford played as a true freshman and when Coy Cronk got injured and played well enough that Cronk is now at Iowa. Very Large Man Caleb Jones was reliable at right tackle. Filling out the guard positions shjouldn't be too difficult - Nworah has been around for a while and Powell is a Stanford transfer. They shouldn't be lacking for options, but they have to deal with an offensive coordinator switch and a quarterback switch. The talent around the line is pretty strong, so another average performance from the line will be enough.
9. Northwestern: Rashawn Slater, Nik Urban, Sam Gerak, Sam Stovall, Gunnar Vogel
Despite the offense being mostly lifeless, the offensive line wasn't too bad last year. Kind of a reverse Indiana, where the line was functional, though instead of great players around them, they had a bunch of jobbers. They are in pretty good shape this year, as well. They lost long time center Jared Thomas, but return everyone else. Rashawn Slater returns at left tackle and has already started 37 games. That is important for a team that has 15 quarterbacks and a new offensive coordinator. Depth is a bit of a concern, while they return four starters, they only return six guys who have a start. They did bring in a pretty good recruiting class on the line, headlined by five star guard Peter Skoronski. It wouldn't be shocking if he gets some early playing time.
8. Nebraska: Brendan Jaimes, Trent Hixson, Cameron Jurgens, Boe Wilson, Matt Farniok
At the very least, this position should be fairly stable for the Cornhuskers. The guys above started every game last year, and they all return. Experience and stability are too important factors in ranking offensive lines. The problem is Nebraska's line was middling to poor last year, and returning players who aren't any good don't necessarily help the team. We will see - there is talk of moving guys around a bit and trying some new lineups, which is a weird thing to say when you return your entire line including most of the two deep.
7. Illinois: Alex Palczewski, Kendrick Green, Doug Kramer, Blake Jeresaty, Vederian Lowe
Pretty similar to Nebraska, in that they return nearly everyone, only losing guard Richie Petibon. As always, Illinois was active in the transfer portal and landed Wofford grad transfer Blake Jeresaty to replace him. Palczewski was on the Big Ten team last year, and PFF rated this line #11 in the country. So why only 7th? Well, for one, I'm not a believer in Illinois. For two, despite the accolades, the Illinois offense was bad last year, ranking 87th in SP+. Their advanced stats on rushing are middling to poor, and their pass blocking stats were brutal. They were dead last in allowing sacks and they weren't particularly effective running the ball. So when some things say your good and some things say your bad, we'll even them out and place them right in the middle.
6. Michigan: Ryan Hayes, Chuck Filiaga, Zach Carpenter, Andrew Steuber, Jalen Mayfield
Michigan had a rough start to 2019 but rounded into form and developed into a pretty sturdy group. The advanced stats and the regular stats show a team that was pretty solid up front both run and pass blocking, if not great at any one thing. Of course, a lot of those guys are gone, so we have to get out the projection calculator to grade this team. On the plus side, they have a lot of talented players they've recruited, they return their offensive coaching staff and their oline coach, wizard Ed Warriner. On the downside, all five guys on last year's line made the all-conference team, and four of them left and were drafted. Returning possible first round pick Mayfield is a pretty good rock to build on, but the coaching staff will have to do some work to get this group back up to last year's standards. Outside of Mayfield, the other returnees have a combined four starts.
5. Penn State: Rasheed Walker, Mike Miranda, Michael Menet, C.J. Thorpe, Will Fries
The rebuild job is officially over in Happy Valley, as years of patching together offensive lines has turned into returning a deep, experienced bunch. They turned into a group that could consistently run the ball, and some of their advanced stats were great. In particular, their stuffed rate was fifth in the nation. The pass protection stats were not great, though part of that was breaking in a new quarterback. The big issue with Penn State may be the change in offensive coordinators. Having a ton of experience is great, though changing systems and blocking philosophies on the fly without spring football could have some rough consequences. While PSU definitely upgraded there, it's still a change and we will have to see how their play reflects it.
4. Iowa: Alaric Jackson, Kyler Schott, Tyler Linderbaum, Mark Kallenberger, Coy Cronk,
A bit of star power for the Hawkeyes this year. While they lost top 15 pick Tristan Wirfs to the Buccaneers, they do return some guys. Alaric Jackson was getting talked about as a possible first round pick, but injuries derailed his season last year and he returns. While replacing Wirfs will be difficult, they did pick up Indiana transfer Coy Cronk, who brings 40(!) starts with him. Finally, they return Linderbaum, who PFF rates as the second best interior line prospect in college football. They have some dudes. Last year was a bit of a mixed bag - their overall numbers were fine. Interestingly, they were great at power success (short yardage on third and fourth down) but not so great at getting stuffed at the line. All in all, this should be another fine Iowa offensive line.
3. Minnesota: Sam Schleuter, Blaise Andres, Connor Olson, Curtis Dunlap, Daniel Faalele
If you are going by returnees, Minnesota is number one. Along with John Michael Schmitz, the Gophers return their top six guys and they were pretty dang good last year. A lot of Gophers think Schleuter was their best lineman, though Andres was the one to make the All B1G team. Olson has 38 starts, and Dunlap and Faalele form a truly massive right side, as they are about 750 pounds between the two of them. The question marks are again the change in offensive coordinators. Going with co-coordinators, one a promotion and one an outside hire, makes it difficult to project what the change might be, if any. Still, with a talented and very experienced group, the Gophers are in great shape.
2. Wisconsin: Cole Van Lanen, Kayden Lyles, Josh Seltzner, Tyler Beach, Logan Bruss
The Badgers were a machine last year. Their advanced stats were wonderful and they were in the top quarter of every line stat except one (for some reason they were dreadful in the line yards on passing down metric). OF course, it's Wisconsin, and that's become the expectation. They do have some work to do this year, starting by replacing Rimington award winner Tyler Biadasz. It isn't clear who will fill in there at this point, but Wisconsin has recruited well on the line and has plenty of options. Former five star recruit Logan Brown redshirted last year but seems destined to get some time, which could push other guys inside. The machine continues in Madison.
1. Ohio State: Thayer Munford, Harry Miller, Josh Myers, Wyatt Davis, Nicholas Petite-Frere
While the skill positions got the glitz and glamour last season, Ohio State's dominant run through the B1G started with the offensive line. Their advanced stats rushing the ball were great and clearly showed on the field, where they led the nation in rushing if you don't count the non-passing schools. The B1G was hardly a soft touch on defense, too - counted in those opponents were Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin (twice). They return three starters in Munford, Myers, and Davis, all of whom made the Big Ten team last year. Davis in particular is a top NFL prospect. The replacements will be at left guard and right tackle, and the first crack at those will be former five star recruits Miller and Petite-Frere, who both played quite a bit last year so they aren't complete newbies. They also aren't lacking options depth-wise, which is an improvement from a few years ago. The big knock they had last year was giving up sacks, they were 12th in the conference in giving up 35. However, that had less to do with poor pass blocking and more to do with a young quarterback who held onto the ball. It says here that improves as Fields learns to have a quicker trigger, and this group will again be strong.
