Pass Blocking Productivity — Part 2

In Part 1, Pro Football Focus' Khaled Elsayed broke down the Pass Blocking Productivity of the tackles in the NFL. Now in Part 2, he turns his attention to the guards and centers to see which had the most success in keeping pressure away from their quarterback…

Following on from Part 1, where we went into detail looking at how the offensive tackles performed, the next logical step is to break down how the interior members of the offensive line performed. Naturally centers have lower ratings than anyone else because often they are the free man with no assignments, while guards have lower ratings than tackles as they are not faced with teams' premier pass rushers and quarterbacks have the advantage of often seeing the men they are guarding.

One of the most interesting things about the rankings for guards and centers is who ended up with the best rankings. The top three, most noticeably, are players who were backups for their team and only got their chance through injury. Quinn Ojinnaka is not the mauler that Harvey Dahl is and lacks that nasty streak, but in the 200 snaps he had in pass protection he gave up two hits and one sack, compared to Dahl's three sacks, one hit and 11 pressures on twice as many snaps. In similar fashion, Dolphins guard Nate Garner ranked high with one sack, two hits and two pressures given up. He played at both guard positions and was more efficient than either of Miami's starting guards, who ended up with ratings of 2.63 (Justin Smiley) and 3.82 (Donald Thomas) compared to Garner's 1.49. Rounding out the top three is little-known Texans guard Chris White, a player who rotated in-game with Antoine Caldwell after Mike Brisiel went down. White outperformed Caldwell enough that while the former ranked third, Caldwell was outside the top 40. The relatively low snap count of the top three admittedly brings into question how accurate this rating can be at times. There is no doubt that further study of the top performers is required to imply anything more concrete from the PBP Rating, but the difference between Caldwell and White goes a way to showing the worth of measuring those who didn't see as many snaps.

Outside of the top the we see more full-time starters and players with name recognition. The most notable is free agent guard Steve Neal, who is likely to be one of the most in-demand free agents. Neal was in pass protection for 486 snaps and allowed two sacks, a hit and seven pressures (with three of those pressures coming against the AFC Champion Colts) and though Logan Mankins received many of deserved plaudits, it's worth bearing in mind that Neal conceded eight fewer pressures than the All Pro guard, who still finished 13th.

A bit further down the list is the interesting case of Steve Hutchinson. Hutchinson made it to the Pro Bowl, although anyone who watched the Vikings' pitiful attempt to open holes for the massive talent that is Adrian Peterson was left wondering how. Other than people sticking to what they know, it should be noted that Hutchinson had a very good year in pass protection, where his nous and experience played a big part in preventing penetration up the middle. He finished seventh and, while by no means should his sub-standard (compared to his previous efforts) run blocking be ignored, he warrants praise in this regard.

Other players to rank well include Rob Sims, a guard who received little attention because of the state of the Seahawks and the remainder of their offensive line. Sims is one of the league's better young guards, decent in run blocking but excellent in protection. In a similar situation is Stephen Peterman. It was a shame when he went down with a season-ending injury and, as Lions Coach Jim Schwartz confirmed, it was the incident that hurt their offensive line more than any other considering the level he was playing at. Peterman played up to his surprise contract by allowing two sacks and six pressures.

On the other end of the scale we saw some really poor guard play. Ben Hamilton did not convert well as the Broncos changed scheme and was subsequently benched after giving up sour sacks, five hits and 17 pressures during his 338 snaps in pass protection. The Broncos got noticeably better play out of Russ Hochstein, who gave up 12 fewer total pressures on a near-identical snap count. Behind Hamilton, it is a little unfair to judge Mike Williams and Daryn Colledge, as both men had their struggles at tackle, so we look at Floyd Womack and Mike Goff instead. Goff was terrible in Kansas City, and it was no surprise whatsoever when he was released after giving up 18 total pressures on 282 pass blocks. Womack posted nearly identical stats and played worse than the continually abysmal Eric Steinbach, who finished eighth after giving up 30 total pressures starting at left guard all season.

One of the most surprising things is how the Bengals rotated their left guard position when both were fully fit. Evan Mathis is the better run blocker and is leagues ahead of Nate Livings when it comes to pass protection. Mathis ranked in the top 10 and Livings finished just outside the bottom 10. Mathis played more than 100 additional snaps but gave up no sacks throughout the season, compared to the three Livings allowed. This makes you wonder why the Bengals featured Livings more when both were fit; it's something to watch heading into free agency and the offseason.

We haven't touched on the center position, in part because the correlation isn't quite as strong as what you would see with guards and tackles. That said, it's noticeable that you see a center like Geoff Hangartner, who played on a Buffalo line generally regarded as one of the worst in the league, finish at the bottom of the center rankings. Or a guy like Justin Hartwig with a ranking that confirms what everyone knows about him — he is one of the worst starting centers in the league in the Steelers' scheme. His seven sacks given up were three more than the next center on the list, and perhaps the only surprise is that the PBP ranks two centers lower than him (the other being Jeff Faine).

When people talk about the best centers in the league, Nick Mangold is always brought up, and understandably. His fourth-place ranking may surprise to some, but it highlights that Mangold is (while very good in pass protection) in a league of his own when it comes to run-blocking centers. With the top of the leaderboard home to many veterans, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think Mangold is going to improve his pass protection (a sack, two hits and five pressures allowed) as the years go on.

Top ten guards

Bottom ten guards

Top ten centers

Bottom ten centers