With the 2023 NFL season upcoming, we wanted to take time to focus on an essential, but often underdiscussed position group: The offensive line. Specifically, we wanted to see how the Baltimore Ravens rated in 2022.
So BetMaryland.com, your source for the best Maryland sports betting promos, explored the league’s offensive line hierarchy, as judged by value based on production and salary.
We used Pro-Football-Reference.com to rate the teams based on how many sacks they allowed in 2022, assigning 32 points to the team allowing the fewest, 31 to the team allowing the second-fewest and so on down to 1 point for the team allowing the most sacks. Then we used PFR’s metric for approximate value for the top 10 o-linemen on each team (by games played) and again gave 32 points to the team with the highest combined approximate value for linemen, down to 1 point to the team with the lowest combined AV.
We added those two numbers together, used the combined salary cap hit of each team’s top 10 offensive linemen (according to Spotrac.com) and divided that cap figure by the point total for the other two categories. This rendered a dollar per point total, giving us our unit rankings and some good analysis for sports betting in Maryland.
NFL’s Most Overvalued Offensive Lines
Surprising Place For Ravens On List
Customers at Maryland betting apps might be surprised at where the Ravens rank on our list.
By far the most productive offensive line in the bottom 10, the Ravens – rated the No. 10 most overvalued line in our rankings – are the team that deviates most from the consensus viewpoint. Indeed, Pro Football Focus graded Baltimore as the league’s second-best overall line in 2022.
So how did they land 23rd in our rankings, among the top 10 most overvalued O-lines? It was based on only average sack and approximate value numbers, plus high expenditures on the unit.
Line play will be a key factor as always as bettors keep an eye on the Baltimore Ravens playoff chances in 2023.
Baltimore surrendered 38 sacks last season, tied with New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Houston for 13th in fewest allowed. However, the Ravens passed the ball less than all but four other teams, including all of those just mentioned, resulting in a 7.2% sack percentage, which ranked 20th leaguewide.
Baltimore did a tremendous job mitigating the effect of these sacks though, losing only 162 yards, tying Buffalo for the second-fewest yards lost on sacks in the NFL (2 yards behind league leader Tampa Bay). The Ravens’ offensive line also allowed the fewest penalties of any line across the league per PFF, a major positive for the team in a stat that was not captured in our rankings.
Baltimore Ravens 2023 Super Bowl Odds
Those using the BetMGM Maryland promo can get +2000 odds on the Ravens to win the Super Bowl in the 2023 season (as of Tuesday morning) if they believe in the O-line and the offense as a whole.
Our system’s slant towards pass protection impacted its perception of Baltimore as well, given that the Ravens excelled at run blocking last year. Baltimore averaged 5.2 yards per carry, the third-highest of any team, while PFF credited them with the NFL’s top run block win rate in 2022.
Despite these figures, approximate value viewed the Ravens offensive line as merely average. Their top 10 linemen combined for an approximate value of 39 according to Pro-Football-Reference, tied for 17th in the league. Right tackle Morgan Moses had the unit’s highest AV at 8.
Former first team all-pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley missed six games, but otherwise Baltimore enjoyed relatively good health along its line last year, with every other starter playing at least 15 games and 85% of the team’s offensive snaps. Backup guard Patrick Mekari was the only reserve linemen to log more than 200 snaps all season.
Spending On O-Line Influences Ranking
The Ravens lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2022 and have -160 odds with the Caesars Maryland promo code to return to the postseason this winter. Their odds of missing the playoffs are +130.
Where the Ravens fell in our rankings was heavily influenced by compensation, as Baltimore spent the sixth most of any team on its line last season. Stanley and right guard Kevin Zeitler accounted for over half of the unit’s cap hit, with both among the 15 highest paid players at their position.
This spending on the line should increase even more in 2023. Spotrac expects the Ravens to spend 23.8% of their total cap on offensive linemen this season, up from 18.6% last year, as Stanley’s cap hit nearly doubles from $12.2 million to $23.7 million. However, Baltimore looks like it will only roster four other linemen making over $2 million this year, after carrying six others in 2022.
The overall makeup of the Ravens’ line remains similar to last season, with one major change. Left guard Ben Powers signed with the Denver Broncos in free agency, leaving a hole in Baltimore’s starting lineup. Backup Ben Cleveland, ex-Raider John Simpson, or rookie sixth round draft pick Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu are competing to fill that void.
Stick with BetMaryland to track the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl odds all season plus get the latest updates.
