The UKHTTC Roster Lowdown Part 4: the OL

Over the coming weeks, UKHTTC founder, Christian Burt, will take a positional group each blog and give a broad overview and grade of their NFL win-level readiness and what could go right or wrong.

Welcome to blog four of The Roster Lowdown as we focus on the guys helping to keep QB Sam Howell on his feet, the OL.

You would be hard pressed to argue that the OL has been anything other than undervalued by Head Coach Ron Rivera and the Washington Front Office.

Only Sam Cosmi (RT/RG) was taken as a high pick in the draft since Ron arrived and the FAs have been mediocre at best with the likes of Andrew Norwell and Trai Turner performing at a level that could be classed as less-than-JAGS.

Does the lack of OL draft and FA action, at a high level, align with the neglect at QB? You could argue Yes considering that the expected QB for the Commanders, Sam Howell, was taken in the fifth round of the 2022 draft.

A glance across to Meadowlands perhaps shows how an OL should be built. The Giants first round QB Daniel Jones is being blindside protected by Andrew Thomas (pick 4 of the 2020 draft) coupled with Evan Neal (pick 7 of the 2022 draft) at the tackle positions.

New York further added to the OL with John Michael Schmitz Jr who was taken in the second round this year; have they given their QB better protection as they fully are behind their first rounder QB of the 2019 draft?

There are some minor positives.

Despite it likely being a weak position group for the burgundy & gold, it is still better on paper than in 2022.

Sam Howell does have a degree of elusiveness about him, and you’d expect that new OC Eric Bieniemy will scheme well and get Sam moving around rather than hanging in the pocket like a statue. Howell looks a ballsy QB who won’t get caught in the headlights under pressure and be static in the pocket.

The expected starting five are Charles Leno Jnr, Saahdiq Charles, Nick Gates, Sam Cosmi and Andrew Wylie (who followed Bieniemy from Kansas City).

If they stay healthy, the OL is lower tier serviceable. If nothing else, they’ll face high calibre team mates in the Washington DL front four, but injuries have been a problem for Charles, Gates and Cosmi and that remains a potential headache.

The group does align to the Rivera mantra of positional flexibility with Gates able to produce at Centre and Guard, Charles at Tackle and Guard, with Cosmi and Wylie also interchangeable at RG and RT.

How have they looked at training camp so far?

UKHTTC reached out to George Carmi Host of @FPC_Commanders Podcast on YouTube for an inside training camp view:

George: “The offensive line is one of my biggest questions mark of the season. The hope and expectation is that can be serviceable this season. But if there is an injury to one of their starters, this could all fall apart. When I attended training camp, I became more concerned. It is clear that the defensive line outmatched and bullied the OL. They were not only generating pressure, but they were much quicker in terms of being reactive and getting to the boundary and stopping the run. It was clear they were more athletic.

Yes, I understand the pads don't come on until Tuesday, but it was a clear red flag that I will be watching for over the next few weeks”

Final thoughts

The OL group in Washington will not be near the top of any positional group rankings in the National Football League.

A minor positive is there is a decent degree of positional flexibility, and at the Guard spots there are two guys (Charles and Cosmi) who might well transcend into solid NFL starters given their potential. However, the OL trenches have very much been the poor relation to the DEF in the Rivera-era and this group are the biggest red flag going into the 2023 season.

There is some depth with guys like Chris Paul at LG and the third-round acquisition of Ricky Stromberg might give the Commanders some solidity at the Centre position in seasons to come, although Year One might be a watch & learn exercise for Stromberg.

However, this OL group contains no-one of the calibre of a Trent Williams or Brandon Scherff who both now seem a distant memory in terms of real star quality: bend don’t break might be the best we can hope for in 2023.