Every week until the season begins, I’ll be going through each position group in the NFC South, ranking them by team from fourth to first. Today we look at starting offensive lines across the division, where arguably the best two units in the league reside. As the Panthers and Falcons look to rebuild their struggling fronts, the Saints and Bucs already boast elite O-lines. Differentiating between those two NFC South foes will be among our toughest challenges in this series.

Offensive Line Rankings: Bucs Vs. Saints

4. Carolina Panthers

LT Cam Erving
LG Pat Elflein
C Matt Paradis
RG John Miller
RT Taylor Moton

Panthers HC Matt Rhule – Photo by: USA Today

What a mess this group is for Carolina. In one of the more puzzling moves of the offseason, the Panthers went out and secured deals with Erving and Elflein just a few hours into free agency, despite both players being widely regarded as busts. The Panthers will now look to start the underwhelming duo on the left side, where the team struggled mightily last season.

In the middle, Paradis is an average starter, but he’ll be 32 this season. At his best Miller is an undesirable starter, which probably makes him the third-best player on the Panthers offensive line. Perhaps rookie Brady Christensen can supplant him, although the move to guard will be a big position switch for the third round pick.

Moton is one of the better right tackles in the NFL, but I’m not sure that will matter much for the unit’s performance this season. The Panthers will need several veterans to play well above their career sample size this season in order to avoid being a bottom five offensive line.

3. Atlanta Falcons

LT Jake Matthews
LG Jalen Mayfield
C Matt Hennessy
RG Chris Lindstrom
RT Kaleb McGary

Unlike the Panthers, the Falcons have actually put valuable resources and energy into their offensive line over the past few years. But the results haven’t been impressive. Matthews will hold down the left side as he has for years, consistently playing like a Top 10 left tackle. Beyond that, the Falcons line is full of question marks.

The team would love for Lindstrom and McGary to establish themselves as long-term desirable starters, as the team used a pair of 2019 first-round picks on the duo. Lindstrom took a nice step forward in his first fully healthy season in 2020, but McGary has continued to struggle. Atlanta desperately needs career years from both third-year linemen to field an above-average unit in 2021.

Long-time center Alex Mack is gone, which leaves Hennessy and rookie fourth-rounder Drew Dalman battling it out in preseason action. Hennessy is expected to win the job, despite struggling in a small sample size in 2020. At left guard, the competition is wide open, but the rookie Mayfield should be considered the favorite. If he wins the job, that will give the Falcons four offensive line starters with two seasons of experience or less.

It’s not a good group yet, but at least Atlanta has some reason for optimism, unlike Carolina.

2. New Orleans Saints vs 1. Tampa Bay Bucs

The Saints have unquestionably a Top 5 offensive line in the NFL, and perhaps the best tackle tandem in the league. But in a head-to-head battle with the Bucs, they come up just a little short of first place. Here’s the comparison at each spot.

Bucs LG Ali Marpet – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Left Tackle – Terron Armstead vs. Donovan Smith: Winner – Armstead
Left Guard – Andrus Peat vs. Ali Marpet: Winner – Marpet
Center – Erik McCoy vs. Ryan Jensen: Winner – Jensen
Right Guard – Cesar Ruiz vs. Alex Cappa: Winner – Cappa
Right Tackle – Ryan Ramczyk vs. Tristan Wirfs: Winner – Wirfs

In my opinion, the Bucs have the two best offensive guards in the division in Marpet and Cappa. Peat is a solid starter for New Orleans, but Cappa’s 2020 season passed up Peat’s average output over six seasons. I think Ruiz will ultimately be a better player than Cappa, but as a part-time starter last year the rookie endured the expected ups-and-downs.

At center, the competition is fiercest. McCoy is a very good starter who probably has more upside than Jensen, but can he be elite? Jensen may already be at that level, as one of the top 3-5 centers in the NFL. McCoy isn’t far off after an impressive second season, but his size can be an issue at times.

But even if that one is a push, the Bucs collect a three-win edge with Wirfs over Ramczyk. The latter is a fantastic right tackle who is remarkably consistent, but Wirfs was elite as a rookie and has more potential than Ramczyk. On the left side, Armstead is clearly better than Smith, despite the latter’s improvements.