Now is the time in fantasy seasons where owners are adding what they believe will be the final pieces to the puzzle to deliver a fantasy championship. Whether it’s via trade or the waiver wire owners that are really paying attention are able to spot the players that will see increased opportunity as the season go on as other players are ineffective on the field.

The perfect case of this is happening right now in New England where Week 1 fantasy darling Mike Gillislee was a healthy scratch in Week 10 in favor of the combination of Rex Burkhead and Dion Lewis. Teams are consistently optimizing their on the field lineups and that should happen in fantasy lineups as well.

This week we take a look at two offensive line situations that are improving as the end of the 2017 season approaches, the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins. The Vikings have improved by leaps and bounds over their 2016 performance with the addition of Left Tackle Riley Reiff and the Redskins are finally getting their top linemen back on the field who missed time of the last three weeks.

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Offensive Line to Watch - Minnesota Vikings

What a difference a year makes. This group was one, if not the, worst offensive line in football in 2016. Additions in the offseason of Left Tackle Riley Reiff and Right Tackle Mike Remmers helped solidify the edges of this group. Remmers has been a consistent performer throughout the season, and even though he has been out of action the last two weeks, he was able to stabilize what was a mess a year ago. Remmers replacement, Rashod Hill has been a stalwart in the pass game, grading out at a 84.3 through his two extended stays in the starting lineup. On this play in the first quarter the combination of the offensive line and tight ends Kyle Rudolph and David Morgan create a totally clean pocket against a five-man rush from the Redskins. Case Keenum is able to let the downfield routes develop and step up to deliver a great ball to Stefon Diggs.

Again, in this obvious pass rush situation on 3rd and 12 in the fourth quarter the Vikings are able to pick up a five-man pressure with the help of a chip from Kyle Rudolph. The pocket is clean enough, even as Reiff starts to lose his man for Keenum to deliver a strike to Adam Thielen.

Not only has their pass protection been cleaned up, but their running game which was near the bottom of the league in 2016 has improved by leaps and bounds. Rookie Center Pat Elflein is nowhere near the top rated center from Pro Football Focus, but he is handling his own in the middle. Right Guard Joe Berger is as solid as they come, grading out as the number 19 guard according to Pro Football Focus. He and the remainder of the right side of the offensive line do a great job in getting push on this power scheme allowing Left Guard Nick Easton to pull through untouched and up in the second level. The running back has a clear vision of who to cut off of and when which delivers a first down for the Vikings.

The overall improvement of this offensive line has been one of the keys to the Vikings offensive turnaround. Their quarterback, whether it was Sam Bradford or Case Keenum or potentially even Teddy Bridgewater should be able to continue to make plays in the passing game after feeding off the progress the team has made in the running game.

Fantasy Impact

Stock Up: Jerick McKinnon

McKinnon should see a lot more playing time going forward because he has simply been the better back between him and Latavius Murray throughout this season. Even though he was stopped on a 3rd and 1 in this game, McKinnon is able to take advantage of most of the creases this offensive line can produce for positive gains. He has even been the beneficiary in the passing game, catching five or more passes in three of his last five games. In tighter matchups expect his usage to increase and his production to follow suit.

Offensive Line to Watch - Washington Redskins

After a few weeks of mixing and matching along the offensive line, the Redskins had the majority of their top group back for their Week 10 game against the Minnesota Vikings. The difference could be seen in an instant as one of the top pass rushing units in the NFL struggled to get consistent pressure on Kirk Cousins. Left Tackle Trent Williams was back to his typical Pro-Bowl self and Right Guard Brandon Scherff was solid in the running game for the majority of the afternoon. There were some bright spots like this zone run in the first quarter where Scherff is able to ride out the defensive lineman, allowing Center Chase Roullier to get to the second level of the defense. Roullier takes linebacker Eric Kendricks for a ride as the Redskins running back gets a nice gain on first down.

The center position was one of the inconsistencies for the Redskins this past week as prior starter Spencer Long tried to play through his injury, but was unable to do so, giving way to Roullier for most of the game. In the first quarter it is clear that Long can just not get the job done as he tries to pull and lead this running play, but is beaten to the point of attack by the Vikings linebacker for no gain. If Long is able to get his block, he may have created an alley for the running back to turn up for a positive gain. Even though there are some inconsistencies in the run blocking, there are some tried and true Washington Redskin schemes that continue to work today. In the second quarter the Redskins call one of their favorite plays from yesteryear, the “Counter Trey” where the backside guard and tackle pull to the front side to lead for the back. In this instance Scherff and Right Tackle Morgan Moses do a great job of getting out in space and occupying defenders while leading Samaje Perine to the second level of the Vikings defense. Moses has been a great run blocker this season, grading out even above Trent Williams with an 82.7 run blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus versus the 79.8 run blocking grade of Williams.

As the Redskins offensive line comes back fully healthy better days will be ahead for their running game. Samaje Perine was a lot better in gap scheme plays like the counter trey and power runs as he was able to get downhill on those plays and gain some momentum instead of the zone running schemes where he would have to stop and cut. Chris Thompson on the other hand, has the cutting ability to work the zone runs, put his foot in the ground like the clip before and gain positive yardage.

Fantasy Impact

Stock Up: Kirk Cousins

It’s so important for a quarterback to feel comfortable in the pocket against a defense, and while he was able to pull out a victory in Seattle in Week 9, Cousins simply wasn’t right without nearly his entire starting offensive line around him. Expect Cousins to continue to deliver QB1 results going forward. The Redskins face a shockingly tough test in the Saints in Week 11, but Cousins should be able to put up some great fantasy numbers as he plays catch-up in New Orleans.

Stock Up: Vernon Davis

Davis has found a great home in Washington and become a presence in an offense that likes to target the middle of the field. He has seen at least nine targets in his last two games without Jordan Reed, and if Reed continues to miss time, expect Davis to deliver low-end TE1 numbers going forward as he will not be asked to block nearly as often with the majority of the Redskins offensive line back and healthy.

Top Five Offensive Lines

1) New Orleans Saints

2) Pittsburgh Steelers

3) Philadelphia Eagles

4) New England Patriots

5) Tennessee Titans

Bottom Five Offensive Lines

32) Miami Dolphins

31) Cincinnati Bengals

30) Arizona Cardinals

29) San Francisco 49ers

28) Seattle Seahawks

For any questions about offensive line play in the NFL, feel free to contact me @TheRealHalupka on Twitter.

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