For this episode, longtime NFL analyst Greg Cosell joined me for a wide-ranging conversation on how offensive structure shapes offensive line play.
Greg has spent nearly five decades at NFL Films studying quarterback play, offensive design, defensive structure and the evolution of the league and is someone whose work I admired for years. We first met in the stands at the NFL Combine during offensive line workouts. Shortly after, we had the opportunity to spend more time talking football at OL Masterminds, and those conversations have continued at each summit since. I wanted to use that lens alongside my own work evaluating offensive line play to discuss a topic that has become increasingly important to me:
How much does the offensive environment change what linemen are being asked to solve?
Offensive line play is often evaluated in isolation. A tackle gets beat, a guard gives up pressure, a center gets walked back, and the conversation quickly turns into whether that player is good or bad. But the reality is usually more layered than that.
Scheme, quarterback timing, play-action usage, protection structure, down-and-distance, formation, help, screen game, RPOs and pocket movement all shape the job description up front.
That was the center of this discussion.
We talked about examples like Mike McGlinchey in Denver, Aaron Brewer in Miami, Coleman Shelton returning to the Rams, Atlanta’s shift away from heavy play action and how quickly narratives around individual linemen can change depending on the system they are playing in.
We also spent a lot of time on the quarterback’s role in offensive line evaluation. Greg discussed how timing, pocket depth, drifting, premature pocket exits and post-snap processing can make a line look better or worse than it actually is. That led into a broader discussion on quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins and Drake Maye, and how different styles of quarterback play affect protection.
One of the more interesting parts of the conversation centered around prospect evaluation. If modern offenses are better than ever at raising the floor for offensive line play through quick game, play action, movement, chips, screens, RPOs and other constraints, should that change how we think about rawer, higher-trait OL prospects compared to more polished, lower-ceiling players?
We discussed that idea through the lens of recent prospects like Monroe Freeling and Blake Miller, along with the broader challenge of evaluating players for the league in general versus evaluating them for a specific offensive system.
Among the topics covered:
• How offensive structure can raise or lower the floor for OL play
• Why pass-game design is often shaped by the strengths and weaknesses of the offensive line
• Mike McGlinchey, Denver and how system can minimize a player’s weaknesses
• Aaron Brewer, Miami, parallels to Jason Kelce and the value of marrying player traits to scheme
• How play action, movement, quick game and constraints affect protection
• Why third down remains the ultimate test for offensive tackles
• The rise of five-man fronts, simulated pressures and one-on-one pass-protection stress
• How quarterback timing and pocket location affect OL evaluation
• Why some pressures are created by the quarterback, not the line
• The difference between evaluating an OL unit and evaluating individual players
• Whether modern offense changes the risk equation with raw, high-trait OL prospects
• Joe Thomas, Lane Johnson and what elite tackle play looks like at the highest level
This was one of my favorite football conversations I’ve had because it hit on something that sits at the center of offensive line evaluation:
The player matters. The coaching matters. The scheme matters. The quarterback matters. And if we want to properly judge offensive line play, we have to understand how all of those pieces connect.
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