The offensive line, ranked by how much sleep it should cost you

Every August somebody calls this line old, and every September the line responds by being fine. Fine is not the same as settled, though, so here is the honest ranking, from the spot you can stop thinking about to the one that deserves a second look.

1. Left tackle: sleep soundly. The pass sets looked the same in camp as they did in January.

2. Center: sleep soundly, mostly. The snap-count trouble from the spring did not survive the summer.

3. Right guard: one eye open. The competition was real, and the winner has not started a regular-season game.

4. Left guard: one eye open. Healthy, but the depth chart behind the starter is a rookie and a hope.

5. Right tackle: set an alarm. Not because the starter is bad, but because there is no second answer if anything goes wrong.

Notice that none of this is about talent. The line is talented. It is about the distance between the starting five and the sixth man, which is where September injuries turn into December problems.

If the top of the ranking holds, the reason this season needs may come from the trenches after all. Old lines know how many snaps they have left, and they tend to play like it.