Pro Football Focus: Detroit Lions have 6th best offensive line in NFL

Football analytics website Pro Football Focus released their rankings of each offensive line unit in the NFL up to this point in the season Wednesday. The rankings seem to be based on their popular player grades they release after every game. The Detroit Lions came in sixth on the list http://www.authenticsdetroitlions.com/cheap-quandre-diggs-jersey , showing just how far the unit has come over the past few seasons. According to the PFF grades, right tackle Rick Wagner is the best of the Lions offensive lineman. He has earned a 76.7 through five games this season. Rookie first round pick Frank Ragnow rounds out the group with a respectable 60.6.General manager Bob Quinn has made a huge investment into the offensive line the past few years, and it is obvious that it has paid off. Both Ragnow and left tackle Taylor Decker were first-round picks. Wagner and guard T.J. Lang were big money free agents the Lions snagged in the spring of 2017 and center Graham Glasgow was a Day 2 draft selection. Every single one of them was a player brought in by Quinn and the new-and-improved unit seems to have lived up to his expectations. The Los Angeles Rams top the list, as they do seemingly every list this season. The Green Bay Packers also find themselves in the top five at No. 4. Former Lions first-round draft pick Laken Tomlinson is a member of the San Francisco 49ers unit that ranks fifth. There is an NFC North team in the tail end of the rankings, as the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in 27th.One interesting note is that the three teams directly above the Lions, the New Orleans Saints, Packers and 49ers, all have at least one player grading in the 50s. While the Lions do not have elite talent all across the board, there seems to be no obvious weak link in their ranks either. The offensive line’s success shows up in the box score as well. Matthew Stafford has only been sacked nine times through four games this season. This is a huge upgrade from last season where it felt like he was in danger on almost every snap. Remember a month ago when the Detroit Lions general manager was on thin ice, and fans were already preparing to slot Nick Bosa to Detroit in their 2019 NFL mock drafts? That seems like ages ago in the NFL season Color Rush Christian Jones Jersey , as the Lions are now winners of two straight, including a decisive win over the then 4-2 Miami Dolphins. They’ve now taken down three teams that currently hold winning records, despite losing three games to teams with losing records. If that seems confusing, it’s because it is. However, Lions fans have never been more confident in this 2018 team. In our weekly FanPulse survey, Lions fans posted a season-high confidence level of 86 percent. As you can see, Lions fans didn’t even enter Week 1 with this level of confidence in the direction of the franchise. Detroit remains third in their division at 3-3 overall, but fans are riding the wave of a two-game winning streak. Their 86 percent confidence level is not only their highest of the season, but it’s the fifth highest of all NFL teams in Week 8. Only fans of the Chiefs (99 percent), Saints (97 percent) Youth Frank Ragnow Jersey , Colts (91 percent???), and Rams (100 percent) have higher confidence than Detroit right now. Oh, and this survey was given before the Lions traded for Damon Harrison Sr. Imagine how high confidence levels would be right now had this been taken into account. The rest of the NFC North remains relatively unshaken after Week 7, with only the Packers seemingly in panic mode right now. Here are the corresponding confidence levels:Packers: 32 percent (down 2 after bye week)Bears: 84 percent (down 1 after loss to Patriots)Vikings: 80 percent (up 5 after win over Jets)With all four teams in action this week, we’re likely to see a little more movement in confidence levels for Week 9. Want to be a part of these weekly surveys? Join SB Nation’s FanPulse, a survey of fans across the NFL powered by SurveyMonkey. Each week, we send 32 polls to 100+ plugged in fans from each team. Lions fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.