The Washington Commanders have their quarterback of the future in 2024 No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels.
Now the biggest question remaining is who will protect Daniels’ blind side in the immediate future.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano listed the uncertainty around left offensive tackle as the biggest question regarding the quarterback position on the Commanders on May 15 in breaking down all 32 NFL teams’ biggest questions at signal caller.
“Do the Commanders have enough around Jayden Daniels to keep him healthy?” Graziano wrote. “This is the biggest question for the Commanders after a busy offseason in which they added running back Austin Ekeler, tight end Zach Ertz, center Tyler Biadasz and guard Nick Allegretti to their offense. The offensive line additions should help —Washington gave up 65 sacks in 2023, tied for the second most in the NFL — but the team still doesn’t have an obvious answer at left tackle.”
Who Will Protect Blind Side for Franchise QB?
According to Graziano, the race to protect Daniels’ blind side in the immediate future comes down to two very different levels of experience — 11-year veteran Cornelius Lucas and rookie Brandon Coleman, the Commanders’ third-round pick (No. 67 overall) in the 2024 NFL draft.
“Rookie third-rounder Brandon Coleman will get a chance to win the job this offseason, competing with veteran Cornelius Lucas and others,” Graziano wrote. “It looks like a potential weak spot until someone claims the job outright, and it’ll be a massive question mark that follows Daniels into his rookie season.”
Lucas, 6-foot-8 and 327 pounds, went undrafted in 2014 out of Kansas State and played for four different teams before catching on with the Commanders in 2020. He started a career-high 12 games in 2022 and started 4 games in 2023, allowing just 1 sack in 231 snaps, according to PFF.
Coleman, 6-foot-4 and 312 pounds, was a three-year starter and two-time All-Big 12 Conference selection at TCU, including on the Horned Frogs’ national runner-up team in 2022. He was also a team captain in 2023.
Coleman impressed scouts with a 4.99-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine in February.
“Coleman will be scouted and drafted as a guard but might be able to handle a move to tackle in an emergency,” NFL analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation of Coleman. “He’s broad and fits up blocks with pretty good accuracy when his hands are right, but he’s never going to be a lane clearer in the run game. Coleman’s experience at tackle helps his chances of protecting NFL quarterbacks as a guard. He pass protects with efficient hands and sound technique, but his reactive athleticism is very average, which could be trouble against sub-package rushers.”
Commanders Haven’t Drafted OL 1st Round since ’15
The Commanders haven’t drafted an offensive lineman in the first round since taking Iowa offensive tackle Brandon Scherff at No. 5 overall in the 2015 NFL draft, although Scherff moved to guard as a rookie.
The last time the Commanders picked an offensive tackle in the first round that stayed that way on the next level, it was three-time NFL All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams with the No. 4 overall pick in 2010.
Williams played for Washington from 2010 through 2019 and was named to the Washington Commanders 90 Greatest Players of All Time in 2022.
