According to some estimates, 18-wheel trucks haul over 70 percent of American goods. The behemoth machines are integral to the nation’s economy and weigh in at a legal maximum of 80,000 pounds when fully loaded.

Still, an 18-wheeler packed to the lawful limit isn’t as heavy as the SEC’s offensive lines. Those collectively weigh in at 83,197 when accounting for every player listed as an offensive lineman on an SEC roster ahead of Week 1′s games.

Taking every offensive lineman into account, from the future NFL stars in starting roles to the lowest man on the practice squad totem pole, here’s a look at where SEC schools stack up in terms of the beefiest groups.

The Beef Index

Measuring an offensive line’s weight can be done in a variety of ways. Teams keep large numbers of players on the roster in that spot, both for depth and to fill out practice drills.

But many of those players don’t affect games at all. Impactful weight is different from total weight.

For example, Alabama. The Crimson Tide are huge up front with the players who will mostly be on the field, like twin 360-pounders JC Latham and Kadyn Proctor.

Others include Tyler Booker at 352 pounds, Terrance Ferguson at 322, Darrian Dalcourt at 320 and Seth McLaughlin at 305. It’s a hefty bunch at the top.

However, the Tide also has 235-pound walk-on Davis Peterson from Mountain Brook on the roster. He’s the lightest offensive lineman in the entire league and one of six on Alabama’s roster at less than 300 pounds.

Taking everyone in the SEC into account, the Crimson Tide has the third-lightest offensive line group in the league. Alabama’s offensive lineman weigh in at an average of 307.4 pounds.

If you’re having trouble seeing the chart, click here.

By average weight, Florida has the heaviest offensive line in the league at 317.1 pounds, beating out Mississippi State by just 0.1 pounds. The Gators were buoyed by only having four players under 300 pounds out of 19 rostered offensive linemen, and none under 265.

UF also has the heaviest offensive lineman currently on an SEC roster in Jordan Herman, who weighs in at a listed 375 pounds.

Ole Miss sits in last place at 302.9. That’s exactly four pounds behind Kentucky, with the Wildcats the only other team lighter on average than Alabama.

Again, that’s not to say the Rebels are small up front in games. Their average gets dragged down by seven rostered players under 300 pounds.

Alabama’s Week 2 opponent, Texas and its rival Oklahoma are not yet in the SEC and were thus not included in the chart. However, if they had been, the Longhorns would have ranked fourth in the league at 315.6 pounds and the Sooners 13th at 307.9.

Total weight by team

Another way to measure a team’s offensive line heft is by total weight. This one also gets trick, as there’s understandably a direct correlation between a team’s total poundage and the number of linemen it carries on the roster.

For example, Arkansas tops every team in the league by over 200 pounds at 6,797 total pounds. However, the Razorbacks are the only team in the league with 22 total offensive linemen on the roster.

Conversely, Mississippi State, with 4,755 total pounds, sits in dead last. The Bulldogs have 15 offensive linemen on the roster, two less than the next lightest team, LSU.

The below chart shows the total weights of each SEC offensive line group. The number of offensive linemen on each roster is in parenthesis after the school’s name.

If you’re having trouble seeing the chart, click here.

Alabama, Auburn and Missouri each have 18 linemen rostered. Of the three, Missouri is the heaviest at 5,678 pounds, with Auburn (5,602) and the Crimson Tide (5,534) trailing.

Texas would sit fifth in the SEC in total offensive line weight at 6,312 pounds, counting 20 linemen. Oklahoma also has 20 on the roster, weighing in at 6,158 pounds, which would be ninth in the league.

Average weight for starters

Another way to judge the heft of an offensive line, one that might be more useful for judging the impact of a line’s weight, is to only look at the starters. On that metric, Alabama reigns supreme.

The Crimson Tide’s starting offensive line weighs in at 339.4 pounds on average. That’s well ahead of second-place Vanderbilt, which hit 325.

Below is a chart showing the average weight on every SEC team’s starting offensive line. The starters were taken from Week 1 depth charts released by the schools and if two players were listed at the same spot, both were counted.

If schools did not release any depth chart ahead of the game, television footage of the first offensive play was used to determine starters.

If you’re having trouble seeing the below chart, click here

The slimmest player on the Alabama starting line is McLaughlin, who is the only one below 320 in a starting role for the Tide. He’s not the lightest listed starter in the league though, that honor belongs to South Carolina’s Tyshawn Wannamaker, who tips the scale at a comparatively svelte 290.

The Gamecocks have the SEC’s lightest average weight across their starting offensive line. The group weighs in at an average of 309.8 pounds, with guard Nick Gargiulo (327 pounds) its heaviest member.

The next-lightest starting line in the league belongs to Kentucky, at 313.3 pounds on average. As for Texas and Oklahoma, they would rank third (323.5 pounds) and 15th (311.4 pounds) respectively if included in the SEC this season.

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