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Falcons' Andy Levitre and Alex Mack among NFL's best run blockers in 2017

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The Falcons' offensive line should not be overlooked. Experience and consistency have helped make the unit one of the more formidable ones in the league, and a number of players on the Falcons' offensive line have received recognition in various forms due to their solid play.

That recognition continued for a pair of offensive linemen, as both left guard Andy Levitre and center Alex Mack were named among the best run blockers last season by Pro Football Focus.

Levitre was named the top guard in terms of run-block success percentage, succeeding on 17.3 percent of his run snaps. That percentage was also the fifth-highest among all qualifying offensive linemen in the category.

"Levitre has earned 78.0-plus overall grades in all three seasons with the Falcons while playing a combined 3,048 offensive snaps," writes PFF's Austin Gayle. "And while his pass protection hasn't been awful by any means, Levitre's run-blocking takes the cake as his best attribute. Prior to being placed on injured reserve with a triceps injury, Levitre posted a 17.3 run-block success percentage across 412 run-block snaps in 2017, the highest mark among guards with at least 150 pass-block snaps."

At center, Mack was named the second-most successful run-blocker, achieving a success rate on 20.7 percent of his run snaps. His 20.7 percent success rate was the highest for any qualified Falcons offensive lineman and second only to Eagles center Jason Kelce, who earned a 24.7 percent success rate.

"After ranking No. 1 among qualifiers in run-block success percentage in 2016 (21.4), Mack turned in another great run-blocking season in 2017, finishing second in run-block success percentage at 20.7," Gayle writes. "He also earned the second-high run-block grade (90.7) this past season."

Here is PFF's explanation for how they determine a player's run-block success percentage:

"An offensive lineman's run-block success percentage represent the plays he is positively graded when run-blocking as a percentage of total run-block snaps in a given sample size (i.e. drive, game, season)."

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