When Steve Hutchinson put his pen to a $49 million offer sheet in March of 2006, the agent of every elite offensive lineman in the NFL whose free agency status was imminent did a little happy dance. And as we have seen, the 2007 salary cap bump from $102 million to $109 million has teams spending Yankees-style on every position. But can a guard really be worth this much? Until recently, guard was a position seen as low-cost and fungible.

The attempt to answer that question leads us to the Football Outsiders stats for the offensive line: Adjusted Line Yards (which takes all running back carries and assigns o-line responsibilities based on yardage) and Adjusted Sack Rate (sacks per pass attempt adjusted for opponent, down and distance). In addition, we have the “blown blocks” numbers from the FO game-charting project. These are “whiffs” that led directly to quarterback sacks.

One caveat: Offensive line stats as they relate to individuals aren’t perfectly conclusive, because the efforts of one are related so closely to the efforts of many. We measure five directions – left end, left tackle, mid/guard, right tackle, and right end – but responsibility is more fluid than a one-on-one correspondence. (Left tackles should not be measured only by "left tackle" runs, etc.) The "blown blocks" numbers are still incomplete, as the game-charting data only includes Weeks 1-16 with about 20 missing game-halves.

Still, we can get a better insight into the value of each of the five linemen who have signed combined contracts in the last fiscal year worth almost a quarter of a billion dollars on their face.

Steve Hutchinson, Minnesota Vikings

Contract: Seven years, $49 million, $16 million guaranteed. The Vikings signed Hutchinson to a now-legendary “poison pill” offer sheet which would have made the entire contract guaranteed for the Seahawks if they had matched the offer after Seattle gave Hutchinson the transition tag instead of the franchise designation. This was the Shot Heard ‘Round the World for offensive linemen – between this and the increasing salary cap, things would never be the same.
Games Started (Position) 16 of 16 (16 LG, Minnesota Vikings)
Positional Adjusted Line Yards: Left Tackle, 4.85 (Rank: 6, League Average 4.37) Mid/Guard 4.33 (Rank: 19 League Average 4.32)
Blown Blocks: 3
Penalties: 0 (the second straight season Hutchinson hasn’t been penalized)
Comments: You’ll get arguments, but most would agree that the first big-money guard is still the best. Spent some time adjusting in Minnesota, but this is a technician with a brawler’s soul … the complete package. And if you want to know how good he really is, don’t look at the Minnesota line – check out at the Seattle line he left behind. Quite possibly the league’s best in 2005, the Seahawks’ front five dropped from sixth to 30th in Adjusted Line Yards, from ninth to 28th in Adjusted Sack Rate, and from second to 31st in Mid/Guard ALY.

Kris Dielman, San Diego Chargers

Contract: Six years, $39 million, $17 million guaranteed in the first two years alone. Dielman and his agent had been negotiating with Seattle, but left as much as $10 million on the table – of course, the guaranteed money offered would have been a lot closer.
Games Started (Position) 15 of 16 (15 LG, San Diego Chargers)
Positional Adjusted Line Yards: Left Tackle, 5.04 (Rank: 4, League Average 4.37) Mid/Guard 4.38 (Rank: 16, League Average 4.32)
Blown Blocks: 0
Penalties: 5 (2 False Start, 1 Clipping, 1 Chop Block, 1 Holding)
Comments: Perhaps the most coveted pure guard in free agency (at the Combine, all the talk about Dielman and Steinbach was about how the former would prove to be the better player over time), Dielman got to the altar with the Seahawks on Paul Allen’s private jet only to balk and fly coach back to sunny San Diego, and the best offensive line in the NFL. He’ll continue to shore up the Chargers’ left side with Marcus McNeill, who had such a great rookie season in 2006.

(For people who don't know the specifics on Adjusted Line Yards, one aspect of the stat is that it cuts off the extended yardage on long runs, when a running back is mostly gaining yardage with his own talents rather than his blocking. That explains how an offense with LaDainian Tomlinson could possibly rank 16th in anything rushing-related.)

Eric Steinbach, Cleveland Browns

Contract: Seven years, $49.5 million, $17 million guaranteed. Some reports have indicated that he’ll move to the right side (guard or tackle) for Cleveland, though nothing is set in stone for the versatile Steinbach.
Games Started (Position) 16 of 16 (14 LG, 1 LT, 1 C, Cincinnati Bengals)
Positional Adjusted Line Yards: Left End, 4.19 (Rank: 16, League Average 4.12) Left Tackle, 4.45 (Rank: 13, League Average 4.37) Mid/Guard 4.34 (Rank: 16, League Average 4.32)
Blown Blocks: 3
Penalties: 5 (5 False Start)
Comments: Interesting note: While the Bengals’ injury-depleted line finished around the league average at four of the five directions, the Right Tackle direction was the NFL’s best with an Adjusted Line Yards rating of 5.29, more than a yard over the league average. RG Bobbie Williams and RT Willie Anderson would be primarily responsible for that.

Derrick Dockery, Buffalo Bills

Contract: Seven years, $49 million, (sensing a trend here?), $18 million guaranteed.
Games Started (Position) 16 of 16 (16 LG, Washington Redskins)
Positional Adjusted Line Yards: Left Tackle, 4.95 (Rank: 5, League Average 4.37) Mid/Guard, 4.58 (Rank: 7, League Average 4.32)
Blown Blocks: 0
Penalties: 7 (6 False Start, 1 Offensive Holding)
Comments: The Redskins were below the league average in Adjusted Line Yards for Left End, Right Tackle and Right End – basically, each of the five directions we measure in which Dockery didn’t play a fairly major part. Think they’ll miss him?

Leonard Davis, Dallas Cowboys

Contract: Seven years, $49.6 million, $18.5 million guaranteed. Yeah, this one had a lot of people wondering. And the numbers below put Davis in the vicinity of the dreaded Alex Barron Statistical Cluster, which is the rough equivalent of the Mendoza Line.
Games Started (Position) 16 of 16 (16 LT, Arizona Cardinals)
Positional Adjusted Line Yards: Left End, 4.08 (Rank: 17, League Average 4.12) Left Tackle, 3.96 (Rank: 26, League Average 4.37)
Blown Blocks: 7
Penalties: 10 (8 False Starts, 2 Offensive Holding)
Comments: It’s quite simple, really. If Leonard Davis is worth $18 million guaranteed, especially since initial reports indicate that the Cowboys will move him to the right side, I’m the President of the Skip Bayless Fan Club. In an offseason of big-money signings (some more ridiculous than others), this is the goofiest. If Hutch’s deal was the equivalent of the attack on Fort Sumter, Davis’s signing was the rubber chicken upside the head.

Post by Doug Farrar

Ben Maller's rumors and notes page is a really useful feature here at FOXSports.com because it aggregates stories from a bunch of newspaper websites you wouldn't check otherwise. But not every newspaper story is worth highlighting.

The top headline on the NFL page today is "Eagles McNabb to Vikings?" That story is featured in a link on the main FOXSports.com NFL front page as well. If the Eagles are really considering trading Donovan McNabb to Minnesota, that's a huge story. That's really great reporting by whichever reporter discovered that one.

Except it isn't.

The rumor comes from the "Overheard" column at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The column is anonymous, and this is what it says:

Intriguing thought: If the Philadelphia Eagles were to beat the Saints on Saturday in New Orleans with quarterback Jeff Garcia, they would advance to the NFC championship game without starting QB Donovan McNabb, who's out with a knee injury.

Would Eagles coach Andy Reid, a pal of Vikings coach Brad Childress, who was McNabb's offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, then be willing to trade McNabb, 30, to the Vikings, who need a blockbuster playmaker to retain their season-ticket base?

Or would the Vikings try to sign the unrestricted free agent Garcia, 36, who runs the same West Coast offense as Childress, allowing Tarvaris Jackson more time to develop?

That's right. This isn't reporting. There is no indication whatsoever that the Eagles are actually considering a deal to send McNabb to the Vikings. A Pioneer Press sportswriter -- who isn't even high enough in the Pioneer Press hierarchy to get a byline -- just sort of had an "intriguing thought" in an otherwise tossed-off notes column. And suddenly it's a story, and not only does it get NFL front page play here at FOXSports.com, but I'm sure they are talking about it all over sports radio in Philadelphia and Minnesota as if Andy Reid actually told a reporter, "We're considering trading Donovan to the Vikings, and going with Jeff as the starter next year."

Are you kidding me?

Tell you what, let's start one too and see if we can get everyone talking about it as if it is an actual possibility.

Intriguing thought: With Urban Meyer winning a national championship at Florida, and proving himself a world-class offensive mind, would Wayne Huizenga consider offering Meyer the largest contract in NFL coaching history to take over the Dolphins?

There you go. Urban Meyer is officially a leading candidate for the Dolphins job. Go and spread the word.

Post by Aaron Schatz

Craig Rotz: In your opinion, what were the keys to the Vikings going from 19th in defensive DVOA in 2005 to fourth this year? Also, they are the league's worst pass defense now at 238 yards per game, according to the NFL stats, but Football Outsiders has them at 17th. What do your stats show that has them only middle of the pack against the pass?

Aaron Schatz: The first important issue here is that the NFL's official system of rating pass defenses by total yards allowed may be the dumbest statistic in all of sports.  Think of all the things that statistic does not take into account. It doesn't consider how many attempts were required to gain those yards. It doesn't consider turnovers. It doesn't consider strength of schedule. It doesn't consider that when a team is losing games, opponents stop passing the ball because they are running out the clock. And it doesn't consider the opposite of that: that when a team is allowing fewer than three yards per carry, nobody in their right mind is going to want to run the ball against them.

That's what is going on with the Minnesota defense. The opposing offense passes on Minnesota two-thirds of the time, which is far and away the highest percentage in the league -- and the other teams at the top are all teams with winning records.

1. MIN 66.9%
2. BAL 61.7%
3. CHI 61.4%
4. SD 61.0%
5. NE 60.2%

The Vikings have faced 29 more pass attempts than any other defense in the league. One other issue not addressed in the official NFL rankings: Minnesota is third in the NFL with 21 interceptions.

The improvement really came last year, though, not this year. They finished 19th in defensive DVOA for the season, but the Vikings had a totally different defense in the second half of the season.

• Weeks 1-8: 15.1% DVOA, 28th
• Weeks 9-17: -10.1% DVOA, 9th

So this is just a continuation of that. Young players like E.J. Henderson and Kenechi Udeze have matured and improved, while Pat and Kevin Williams have just been playing out of their gourds this year. Pat Williams should have made the Pro Bowl.

Post by Aaron Schatz 

When two Pro Bowl players go up against each other, a pass-rushing defensive end and a sturdy left tackle, you will hear a lot about it during the broadcast. When those Pro Bowl players are a block-absorbing defensive end and a sturdy left guard, not so much. Watching the Patriots and Vikings play Monday night, I wanted to try to focus on the battle between Steve Hutchinson and Richard Seymour as much as possible.

Seymour suffered an elbow injury the week before so nobody knew how much he would play, but he clearly played a big role in Minnesota's game plan. In the first half, when Jarvis Green was in the game at right end, Hutchinson generally handled him by himself, with ease. When Seymour came in, elbow injury or not, the Vikings respected him enough to double team him with TWO Pro Bowl offensive linemen, Hutchinson and Matt Birk. There aren't a lot of guys Hutchinson needs help with, but Seymour is one of them.

Later in the game, the Patriots decided that the best way to deal with Hutchinson was to just go around him. They began to spread the defensive linemen out, shifting the defensive end over towards left tackle Bryant McKinnie right before the snap on a number of different plays. At the snap of the ball, Hutchinson would step forward and block … nothing. While Hutchinson stood in empty space, Tully Banta-Cain or Roosevelt Colvin would be coming around the side. The whole night, the Patriots abused McKinnie and right tackle Marcus Johnson, and stayed away from the Pro Bowler standing between them.

The next day, I sat down to do game charting with the tape of Sunday's Indianapolis-Denver game. This time I didn't mean to focus on an offensive guard, but while watching the first half of the game, it happened to be an offensive guard who stood out: Indianapolis right guard Jake Scott.

Jake Scott dominated the Broncos in the first half in the same way that Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne dominated the Broncos in the second half. The second Colts drive of the game went 56 yards, from a touchback to a field goal. On that drive, Joseph Addai ran the ball seven times. And all seven times, Jake Scott just took the guy in front of him and pushed the guy right out of the play. Usually it was Mike Myers. Another play it was Kenny Peterson. That was a first-and-10 on the Denver 29, where Al Wilson penetrated up the middle and Addai somehow avoided the tackle at his ankles and gained six yards. While everybody was watching that, Scott was still pushing Peterson over to the right. On another play, Scott was on the second level taking out D.J. Williams as Addai gained seven.

What's strange about this is that Scott is considered to be the worst of the Indianapolis linemen. Last year he subbed for right tackle Ryan Diem in the playoffs and was terrible. Part of the issue is that he has power but not quickness. I didn't notice him doing anything spectacular on the passing plays. But I think Denver noticed, because by the end of the half they were dropping the defensive end over Scott into coverage on passing plays, rushing only three and leaving Scott blocking thin air even though it meant that Manning had all the time in the world to throw.

I don't think the Patriots are going to do that, of course. They won't give Manning that kind of time. But with a 3-4 defense, you don't need to drop a lineman into coverage if you want to leave a guard free. You just use your linebackers on the edges. That's what the Patriots did with Hutchinson -- and if it sounds familiar, it also should remind you of the strategy that Pittsburgh used to upset Indianapolis in last year's playoffs.

Post by Aaron Schatz

Each week, the Football Outsiders staff e-mails one another with updates about Sunday's games. Here's what we were talking about this week:

"I think it's amazing that Joey Harrington threw 62 passes and Chris Chambers had TWO catches."

"Nice to see Ronde Barber clinch his Pro Bowl bid today. What I liked about the two touchdowns was that one was done with guile and one was done with physical skill. "

"I would rather see Donovan McNabb drained, puking, and throwing touchdowns than fresh and throwing easy interceptions."

"Can we check Matt Bryant for steroids?"

"The Jaguars only scored seven against the Texans because Byron Leftwich played like Drew Bledsoe on a bender."

"I really think Bengals tackle Willie Anderson should be named offensive player of the week for the job he did on Julius Peppers."

"The San Diego-Kansas City final score isn't really a big surprise. The halftime score was a big surprise, but not the final score. Losing by a field goal on the road isn't a huge upset."

"I think the two Steelers-Falcons games of the last five years might be the two strangest games of the last five years. Just so many different bizarre scenarios."

"I could read Bill Cowher's lips and he very clearly said after the false start, 'that's a bull---t call.' He's wrong. It was the right call."

"Oakland is beating Arizona, 17-0, in the second quarter. I'm off to buy stock in YouTube before the Dennis Green postgame press conference."

"I really think that the Washington offense with Brunell would be good enough if they had a defense even approaching last year's. Instead, it looks like the Jason Campbell era may be starting soon. "

"Ron Pitts after Chester Taylor’s 95-yard TD run – 'That’s probably the longest run Taylor’s had this season.' You think so, Detective? It's actually the longest run in Vikings history, and Steve Hutchinson was a factor as he walled off Peterson on the cutback. Meanwhile, Matt Hasselbeck'’s in the locker room with what we’re being told is a sprained MCL. Ladies and gentlemen, the value of elite guards has officially been established.