Scoring across the NFL is down for the third year in a row, dropping from 24.8 points per game in 2020 to 21.7 points per game this year with four weeks remaining. Some are chalking that up to improved play on the defensive side of the ball, but offenses are struggling more than they have in recent years – in part because the protection up front has not been great in 2023.
Former Rams All-Pro Andrew Whitworth appeared on Kevin Clark’s “This Is Football” show to talk about the offensive line problem that’s growing across the league, and he shared his thoughts on what’s causing it.
For starters, Whitworth says some of the O-line he’s seen has been “rough.”
“If you went into the totality, it’s rough. There’s a lot of weeks where you look and go, ‘Man, I don’t know how we can’t find another guy – another three or four guys that are better than this,’” Whitworth said.
As for what’s causing the regression in offensive line play, Whitworth credits defensive linemen, but he also says linemen don’t have to block in college the way they have to in the NFL.
“I think there’s a lot of things. Really, you look at it, the mixture of D-linemen we’re seeing are more and more athletic. They’re bigger, they’re stronger – in the sense that they’re not worse competition, but that may be some of your offensive tackles that are now playing D-tackle or defensive end in a 3-4 that could’ve been left tackles,” he said.
He continued: “The college system isn’t anything like the NFL system. These guys barely have to block, so I just think they’re coming in unprepared.”
Is there an offensive line crisis in the NFL? I put it to @AndrewWhitworth. "It's rough," he said in an incredible explanation on the decline of line play. "The college system..these guys barely have to block." INCREDIBLE This Is Football episode with Andrew out now. pic.twitter.com/EiaDeBj1U6
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) December 13, 2023
Whitworth went on to say the NFL has gotten a little bit too strict when it comes to limiting how much players can be in the team’s building working during the offseason.
“In the offseason, when the season ends to when we begin again in late-April or mid-April, you’re actually not allowed to even go in and work with your coach, even if you want to because of PA rules,” he said. “To me, if I’m a first-year, second-year, third-year player, I want to go in the building. This is how I’m going to provide for my family, my life. This is the game, the job I want. I’m not allowed to work with the person that’s employing me? That to me seems a little crazy. That’s a little too far. And I understand, ‘Oh, don’t pressure them to come up here.’ Last I checked, we’re all grown adults. You make your decisions for yourself. If you want to be great at your job and your boss offers you an opportunity to come get mentored and tutored, how about you take advantage of it. And if you don’t want to do it, just say you don’t and take the risk that that won’t affect you going forward.”
Whitworth makes a lot of good points in his take on O-line play, and the whole segment is worth listening to.
