As the old football adage goes, you win and lose games up front. As cliche as that saying may be, there’s no denying the truth behind the message.

The simple tasks of football is to give your quarterback time and to not allow the opposing quarterback to have time.

With that said, let’s take a look at the most intriguing offensive line battles heading into training camp.

Arizona Cardinals – When it comes to the ground game, you’ll be hard pressed to find one less efficient than Arizona’s in 2014. The Cardinals ranked 31st on the ground, averaging just 81.8 yards on the ground per game, while only accumulating six rushing touchdowns throughout the season.

Despite their inept rushing attack, the Cardinals still managed to compete with the Seattle Seahawks for the division crown. Arizona ended up finishing with an 11-5 record, landing a wildcard spot.

Their lack of a rushing attack ended up costing them at the end. Carson Palmer isn’t getting any younger, which puts more emphasis on the running game moving forward.

It all starts up front and by picking up D.J. Humphries with the 24th overall pick, Arizona is hopeful he’s able to anchor the right side of the offensive line.

However, Humphries won’t be handed the starting job as he’ll be competing against Bobby Massie. The 25-year-old Massie allowed a team high seven sacks last season, as well as 27 hurries. With that being said, you have to believe Humphries has the advantage.

New York Giants – It’s no secret that Eli Manning is a statue in the pocket and at his age of 34, there’s no signs of his mobility or lack thereof improving anytime soon.

It’ll be vital for New York to protect Manning so he’s able to find Odell Beckham Jr. amongst others down the field.

Veteran Will Beatty has started at left tackle for majority of the last four seasons in the Big Apple, but he recently injured his pectoral muscle and will miss the next 5-6 months. Now, rookie Ereck Flowers or Justin Pugh will have to fill the void at left tackle.

New York spent their ninth overall pick on Flowers, in hopes that he’ll be the anchor of their line at some point. General manager Jerry Reese has high praise of the rookie.

“He’s just a big, tough guy. That’s one of the things when you talk to the coaches down there, it’s like this guy doesn’t take any crap from anybody. We like that and you can see that in his play. He likes to finish guys off and that kind of fits the offensive profile that we like. We like some big, tough guys with a little bit of a nasty streak,” Reese said.

While New York invested a lot in Flowers on draft night, they probably didn’t envision him starting at left tackle in week one. Pugh could play left tackle, but that would mean you’ll be having him and Flowers playing out of position. At the same time, it’s not ideal to have a rookie protecting your quarterbacks blind side.

Expect New York’s offensive line to work itself out during training camp and preseason.

Cleveland Browns – Head coach Mike Pettine will definitely have his work cut out for him this summer. As if the quarterback position didn’t create enough of a headache, Pettine will also have to figure out who’ll be protecting his starting quarterback this fall.

Cleveland used one of their two first round picks on Cameron Erving. The Florida State product was a major part of the Seminoles recent success, as he started in 42 consecutive games for FSU.

With Erving’s versatility, he could virtually play anywhere up front, but he’s thought to be challenging John Greco at right guard and Mitchell Shwartz at right tackle.

Erving doesn’t really care what position he’s playing, as long as he’s out there.

“There’s not a position I love to play better,” the Moutrie, Ga., native said. “I love to play offensive line, I love to play ball. That’s not just a politically correct answer, that’s my honest answer.”

Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Joel Bitonio are locks to start and considering the competition, I’ll be surprised if Erving doesn’t find a spot in the starting lineup as well.

Buffalo Bills – With Rex Ryan in charge, Buffalo is sure to become one of the most physical teams upfront on both sides of the football. It’s just in Ryan’s blood to build his football team that way.

As training camp nears, it appears his offensive line is beginning to shape up. Cordy Glenn, Eric Wood, Richie Incognito and even rookie John Miller all appear to have the inside track on starting right away.

Ryan has been very impressed with Miller.

“This guy’s got a big, wide, square body. We are hitting bags and all that stuff, (and) the guy’s technique looks pretty good. But he has really been impressive – for a kid you just took out of college, and now he jumps right in, he doesn’t make mistakes,” Ryan said. “That’s going to give him an opportunity to showcase what he can do physically, and I believe that he’s got the right make-up to be an outstanding player.”

When asked about Miller’s status moving forward, Ryan gave him an early vote of confidence.

“He might be the opening guy there. He’s been very impressive.”

The position in question as of right now is right tackle. Last year, Seantrel Henderson beat out Cyrus Kouandijo for the tackle spot, but it appears there will be another open competition between the two this summer.

Kouandijo, who was a second round pick last year out of Alabama is determined to win the job this time around.

“This is my profession. This is what I do. … I’m a professional athlete and that’s what I do. When I’m not doing right at work, it kind of worries me, so I fix that. And that’s what I’m trying to do this offseason.”

While the casual fan visiting a local NFL training camp won’t pay attention to the offensive linemen, I can assure you the coaches will have a very close eye on them. You can’t expect to win in this league if you can’t win the battle upfront.