Best NFL Offensive Lines in the Modern Era

They are the forgotten stars in the National Football League. While the media and fans hype quarterbacks and wide receivers, it’s the five guys up front that usually determine how good – or how bad – a team will be in any given season. 

From week to week in an NFL season, the very best of sports bettors will track injury reports. When they see a starting offensive lineman out of that week’s game, a red flag goes up. When a team has more than one starting offensive lineman out, it’s an all-out SOS. 

The guys up front are extremely important because they create the lanes for running backs to do their thing. Offensive linemen are also responsible for protecting the passer. Old coaches used to say that only three things happened when you threw the ball and two of them were bad. Interceptions and sacks are definitely bad for offenses and sacks can be limited by a strong offensive line. Limiting sacks doesn’t always equate to wins. Just ask Dan Marino.

Here are the best offensive lines that we found in the modern era of the NFL.

1988 Miami Dolphins

On this list, this group of offensive linemen is probably the one you know the least. You are not likely to recognize any of the names: 

• Jon Geisler
• Roy Foster
• Jeff Dellenbach
• Harry Galbreath
• Ronnie Lee

After the 1987 season, perennial All-Pro Dwight Stephenson (a Hall of Famer) was forced to retire due to injuries. Minus Stephenson, it was thought the ‘88 Dolphins O-line would struggle. They did not.

Those five guys would set an NFL record that still stands today. In ‘88, Miami’s offensive line allowed Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino to be sacked just seven times. Now, some of those members of the ‘88 O-line were also around during the period from 1982 to 1990. The Dolphins actually own another record related to sacks. Miami led the NFL in fewest sacks allowed in nine consecutive seasons. 

It’s almost hard to believe, but, as good as Miami was at protecting the quarterback, they just couldn’t win games. The 1988 season was the only season in Marino’s 17-year NFL career that the Dolphins had a losing record (6-10). Four years earlier, the Dolphins offensive line helped Marino set records for passing yards (5,084) and passing TDs (48). Those records were broken by another Hall of Famer – Peyton Manning.

1960s Green Bay Packers

If you don’t know what the Lombardi sweep (aka Packers sweep) is, go to YouTube right now and watch a thing of beauty. The Packers were dominant during the years of Lombardi (1959-67). Green Bay won five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967. These five guys were the reason why.

• Forrest Gregg
• Jim Ringo
• Jerry Kramer
• Fuzzy Thurston
• Bob Skoronski

Over the course of their time together, this Packers offensive line would account for 95 wins in 131 games. They won the NFL championship three times and then won the first two Super Bowls. Among the group were 28 All-Pro selections and 20 Pro Bowls.

Their iconic Packers sweep was led by Kramer, a pulling guard who at 6-3 and 245 pounds was considered huge in his day. Gregg and Ringo were both enshrined in the Hall of Fame but it took a few years for Kramer. He finally made the Hall in 2018, 45 years after he first became eligible.

Mid 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers franchise had been horrendous for years. That all changed when the Rooney family, who owns the Steelers) hired a man named Chuck Noll to be the team’s head coach. In 1972, one of the great moments in NFL history – the Immaculate Reception – occurred at old Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. 

That season, the Steelers went 11-3 (they had gone 6-8 the year before) and made the playoffs for the first time since 1947. It was only the second time the franchise had ever played in the postseason. Pittsburgh would go on to lose to Miami in the AFC championship game.

That win sparked a period of domination by the Steelers organization. From ‘72 to ‘79, Pittsburgh would win at least 9 games and make the playoffs every season. They also won four Super Bowls in eight years.

The Steelers were loaded with weapons. QB Terry Bradshaw, RB Franco Harris, WRs Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, but the big reason why Pittsburgh was so good was an offensive line that played together, for the most part, through the entire decade of the ‘70s.

• Mike Webster
• Jon Kolb
• Ray Mansfield
• Sam Davis
• Gerry Mullins

Webster is the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He, Kolb, Davis, and Mansfield made a number of All-Pro teams and the unit received 11 total. During their tenure together, their overall record was 101-77. Of course, the most impressive statistic is the four Super Bowls that these men helped win.

1980s “The Hogs” 

If you know the name, you know we’re referring to the ‘80s era Washington Redskins. Joe Gibbs embraced the Air Coryell offense featuring deep pass plays, but also loved power football. The counter gap or counter trey that so many teams still run today was popularized by Gibbs and his “hogs.” 

In 1982, Washington rolled out an offensive that averaged nearly 275 pounds per man. By today’s standards, that seems small. Then, however, that was a large O-line. One of them, Joe Jacoby, was listed at over 300 pounds. Collectively, this group became known as the Hogs.

• Russ Grimm
• Mark May
• Jim Lachey
• Joe Jacoby
• Raleigh McKenzie
• Jeff Bostic
• Mark Schlereth

McKenzie and Schlereth came during the latter part of the Hogs tenure which lasted from 1981 to 1993. In that span, the Redskins went 128-72. The group had 10 All-Pro selections and made 13 Pro Bowls. They also own three Super Bowl rings. Despite being an absolute force through the entire decade, only Grimm is currently in the Hall of Fame.

Late ‘90s Denver Broncos

The Hogs of the ‘80s led to a serious increase in the size of NFL offensive linemen. Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan favored the outside zone or wide zone run. In order to execute his style of running game, Shanahan and the Broncos required more nimble offensive linemen. None of these five was listed over 300 pounds.

• Gary Zimmerman
• Tom Nalen
• Tony Jones
• Mark Schlereth
• Brian Habib

In a short four-year span, this O-line group and the Broncos won 43 games and two Super Bowls. RB Terrell Davis was the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 1996 and 1998. In ‘98, he ran for 2,008 yards, averaging 5.1 per carry. Zimmerman, who was one of the bigger guys on this line at 6-6 and 294 pounds, is the only one of the group in the Hall of Fame.

1990s Dallas Cowboys

In 1989, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones went out and hired one of buddies, Jimmy Johnson, to coach his team. Johnson was not only a master on the field, but he was also great at identifying talent. From ‘89 to 1997, Johnson would acquire the following:

• Mark Stepnoski
• Nate Newton
• Mark Tuinei
• Erik Williams
• Larry Allen
• Kevin Gogan
• John Gesek

These men would combine for 25 Pro Bowls, 14 All-Pro selections and three Cowboys Super Bowl victories. They paved the way for RB Emmitt Smith to lead the NFL in rushing four times and win the 1993 NFL MVP award. During this nine-year span, Dallas won 84 regular season games.

Allen is considered by many to be one of the very best offensive linemen to ever play the game. He is the only member of this unit in the Hall of Fame. If not for a car accident at the middle of his career that caused some physical challenges, Williams would have likely been the second Hall of Famer from this group.