But is it possible to have a top 5 QB without a top 15 line? A top 5 QB makes everyone around him better, but we've all seen enough football to know that a QB on his back and running for his life every game never gets to show off what they can do.
Daniels' importance is greater than Coleman's, but Daniels' development depends on having a good o line protecting him and giving him time.
Yes, I think it is.
When you look at overall protection, there are a whole bunch of things which go into it:
1. QB play. Get the ball out quickly, the protection looks better.
2. Play calling, organizing the sequence of plays and the mix of plays to give the offense the advantage, not be predictable, and not put the QB in bad positions.
3. Scheme, using matchups and play design to get players open
4. Skill position players winning at the top of routes immediately giving the QB somewhere to throw the ball in the timing of the play
5. OL play.
And for me, that's the order.
If you are doing offense correctly in this particular iteration of football, if you have your QB drop back and read a defense out and really put pressure on the OL more than 7-10 times a game, you're doing it wrong or you stink like the south end of a north bound skunk on 1st and 2nd down.
Between the run game, quick game and screens, that is the majority of modern offenses. Do those things well, the ball should be out and the OL play is greatly minimized, at least form a pass protection perspective.
Don't do those things well (or in the case of EB, don't even try to do them), and you put the QB and the offense in known passing situations, and then you need to have the hogs in order to be successful.
I will caveat, I think OL play is important, but I think it's also one of the things fans fixate on when other things are more important. I'm generally in the minority in most conversations on this, where a lot of fans of this team put OL second behind QB in terms of importance. I put it much lower down the list. It's my opinion, it flows counter to the grain.
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