Greatest offensive guards ever

Iron men make all-time team.

Rank, player, years, total
1. Gene Upshaw, 1967-1981, 14530.7
2. Bruce Matthews, 1983-2001, 14403.8
3. Larry Little, 1967-1980, 13317.9
4. Danny Fortmann, 1936-1943, 13061.0
5. Tom Mack, 1966-1978, 12947.2
6. George Musso, 1933-1944, 12878.2
7. Randall McDaniel, 1988-2001, 12755.3
8. Will Shields, 1993-2006, 12641.5
9. John Hannah, 1973-1985, 12575.4
10. Gene Hickerson, 1958-1973, 12466.2
11. John Niland, 1966-1975, 12321.5
12. Ed White, 1969-1985, 12244.3
13. Ray Bray, 1939-1952, 12129.2
14. Alan Faneca, 1998-2007, 12075.8
15. Russ Grimm, 1981-1991, 12041.9
16. Nate Newton, 1986-1999, 12015.2
17. Jerry Kramer, 1958-1968, 11941.6
18. Steve Wisniewski, 1989-2001, 11859.0
19. Ed Budde, 1963-1976, 11837.4
20. Walt Sweeney, 1963-1975, 11780.5
21. Bob Kuechenberg, 1970-1983, 11728.9
22. Stan Jones, 1954-1966, 11672.2
23. Abe Gibron, 1949-1959, 11639.6
24. Mike Munchak, 1982-1993, 11558.9
25. Ed Newman, 1973-1984, 11511.0
26. Larry Allen, 1994-2007, 11471.3
27. Max Montoya, 1979-1994, 11182.0
28. Joe DeLamielleure, 1973-1985, 11019.9
29. Duane Putnam, 1952-1962, 10974.2
30. Ken Gray, 1958-1970, 10440.0
31. Bruno Banducci, 1944-1954, 10408.2
32. Bob Talamini, 1960-1968, 10388.9
33. Dennis Harrah, 1975-1987, 10303.8
34. Wayne Hawkins, 1960-1969, 10246.3
35. Billy Shaw, 1961-1969, 10187.7
36. Jim Ray Smith, 1956-1964, 10167.4
37. Kent Hill, 1979-1987, 9841.5
38. Harley Sewell, 1953-1963, 9719.7
39. Ruben Brown, 1995-2006, 9554.2
40. Bruce Bosley, 1956-1969, 9382.3

Few will argue that Gene Upshaw and Bruce Matthews deserve top mention. One guy farther down the list may be a surprise. John Hannah at No. 9.

Hannah played in 10 pro bowls and was first team all-pro nine times. The teams he played on though were good, never great. The only playoff wins he was a part of came in his final seasons when the 1985 Patriots snuck into the Super Bowl, where they were annhilated by the Super Bowl Shuffle Chicago Bears.

The Patriots offenses in those days also were good but not great, so Hannah didn't receive high point totals there either. His ranking shows, absent of statistics, how much lineman rely on the overall totals.

Of course, that shouldn't detract from Upshaw and Matthews. Upshaw was first team all-pro five times, missed one game in his career, blocked for one of the most potent offenses of the 1960s and 1970s and played in three Super Bowls, winning two.

Matthews was a nine-time all-pro who played in one Super Bowl and played every game in 18 of his 19 seasons. He thrived when the Oilers were both a grind-it-out offense with Earl Campbell and Eddie George and when they ran the run and shoot with Warren Moon.