OL Analysis

Enough offensive linemen are taken for the average to be above one player per team per draft. Given that teams need at least five offensive linemen to take the field, that is probably the minimum level of investment that’s actually reasonable. Starting offensive linemen are found at nearly every level of the draft, and the position is one of the few where actual starters (even at “premium” performance levels) can be found in every round. The average first-round offensive lineman will play in 63 games and start 59 of them, numbers that more or less coincide with the median levels of 66 and 65 (four of the 61 first-rounders in the pool all recorded fewer than 40 games and 20 starts, skewing the average low). However, the second round holds strong and even in the later rounds it remains possible to find regular starters. 

There is some indication, though, that teams are fairly willing to move on from late-drafted offensive linemen even if they have been starting. Whereas in the fifth round the number of contributors is double that of the number of starters (14 vs 7) as might be expected, in the final two rounds the number of reliable contributors (with 60+ game appearances) is actually lower than the number of starters (with 40+ starts). However, it works the other way as well. The profile for the six successful 7th-round offensive tackles is consistent–they played games without starting, and did not start more than half of the games available to them until after 1.5 seasons had passed. Teams can develop offensive tackles from late-round picks if they are patient.