Commanders position battle becomes summer blockbuster after OTAs shake up

Of all the changes the Washington Commanders made to their roster during the offseason, no unit will look more different than the offensive line.

First, Washington made a blockbuster trade to acquire five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Houston Texans. Then, the Commanders selected Oregon's Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at pick No. 29.

Beyond them, there are some question marks.

Washington will have plenty of hungry mouths fighting for a place at the table — and that's even before starting right guard Sam Cosmi returns at some point from a torn ACL he suffered during January's divisional playoff success against the Detroit Lions.

Commanders' offensive line is the most unpredictable roster battle of the summer

Tunsil will start at left tackle; that much is a given. Conerly, though he mostly played on the left side in college, figures to slot over onto the right tackle position and be a Week 1 starter. Tyler Biadasz is also firmly entrenched as Washington's starting center. Those three positions, barring injuries, should not feature much drama.

The two guard positions are where things get interesting. Nick Allegretti and Andrew Wylie seem likely to start for the time being (in the latter's case, until Cosmi returns), but it feels like Washington has room to experiment if either of them underperforms.

Nate Herbig was brought in as a free agent from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Former seventh-rounder Chris Paul, who has made spot starts at times throughout his career, is still in D.C. as well. The Commanders have quality backups at both tackle positions in veteran Trent Scott and 2024 third-rounder Brandon Coleman, who will be looking for ways to get involved. The team also signed Foster Sarell from the Los Angeles Chargers.

Including Cosmi, that's 11 offensive linemen who will be at least fighting for a roster spot on the Commanders. That's not even counting Michael Dieter and Julian Good-Jones, who both appeared in games for Washington last year.

Washington will likely select about 10 offensive linemen for its initial 53-man roster. That means some of those names are going to be left out. Aside from Tunsil, Conerly, and Biadasz (Cosmi will almost certainly start the season on injured reserve), it's any guess as to who.

They say iron sharpens iron. Those buried on the Commanders' offensive line depth chart will have to push both themselves and each other throughout training camp if they're going to carve out a role.