The Washington Commanders had one of the NFL's worst offensive lines in 2023 and while general manager Adam Peters and head coach brought in some guys to try and help remedy the situation, things are still questionable heading into Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
At right tackle, there's veteran Andrew Wylie, who is a serviceable player. But the peak of ceiling ranges in the "average" area, with slight "above average" ability from time to time. Right guard Sam Cosmi is the line's foundational piece and easily the best player on the front five, evidenced by the four-year, $74 million extension he signed Wednesday. Center Tyler Biadasz was brought in via free agency and so far, he's done a good job, based off training camp reports.
Left guard is where Nick Allegretti starts and while Quinn and co. have talked him up, he's in the same category as Wylie: average, at best. And then, lastly, there's the left tackle job. It appears as if third-rounder Brandon Coleman won the job, but he's been dealing with a strained shoulder/pec that held him out of preseason action. He was a full participant in Wednesday's practice, but Quinn wants the week to play out before making an official determination on his availability for Sunday. If he can't go, career backup Cornelius Lucas will play in his stead.
Altogether, on paper, there are questions, especially at tackle. And the questions are even more magnified when zooming out and adding in the fact that these guys haven't spent a lot of time together on the practice field or in preseason games.
As mentioned earlier, Coleman sat out a good chunk of training camp and didn't play a snap in the preseason. Wylie missed the first team portions of camp dealing with "tightness" and missed the first preseason game. Then, Lucas missed some time due to personal reasons and Cosmi missed a few practices due to illness.
It's easy to see why the lack of time together, heading into a matchup against a defense like the Bucs, is a concern. And a rather big one.
But Quinn isn't allowing any excuses. He expects the front five, whatever that group looks like, to play up to the winning standard he is trying to establish in Year 1.
"I do expect that," Quinn said when asked if he expects the offensive line to be ready to go on Sunday. "Because that's what has to be done. There's not a 'Ah, if it doesn't happen, it's okay.' Like, that has to go down. Even when you're injured, you can go through a lot of times, the walkthroughs, and so it allows you to play it mentally, although you can't play it physically.
"You do have to have that, and it's really important. And so knowing that not all we're together the whole time, it's not what you like, but in terms of the communication, it's not an excuse at all."
Jayden Daniels is the obvious concern with the Commanders' questionable offensive line
The Bucs defense is a blitz-happy, pressure-oriented defense that sends guys from all angles. Todd Bowles' pressure packages are some of the most exotic a team will face, so communication and cohesion is the utmost priority for the offensive line. The defense finished 2023 with a 40.1% blitz rate, which finished as third-highest in the NFL.
Especially when a team has a valuable asset like Daniels behind center.
"This group is really known for their blitz packages," Quinn told reporters before Wednesday's practice. "I think that's one of the things you know through the years, with time, that we've been impressed with by watching their team's run defense and then defensive playmakers, both safety, defensive line, they've kept a deep crew, it feels like for a while [when talking about the] defensive line."
The Bucs received some good news of their own on Wednesday when leading pass rusher Yaya Diaby practiced in full after missing the vast majority of training camp with a high ankle sprain. He's on pace to have a breakout year as the No. 1 guy in the Bucs' pass rush rotation.
Said rotation is a pretty solid one, too, but it's not just the outside linebackers, as Quinn mentioned. Vita Vea is one of the most fearsome nose tackles and Calijah Kancey is a former first-rounder and his quickness/power combo provides the perfect complement to Vea's game, which is simply mauling guys at the line of scrimmage.
"It's going to be a challenge, obviously, [because of] what he's [Bowles] has done over there," Daniels told reporters Wednesday. "[It's] a top-10 defense [and] they like to get the ball out, bring blitzes [to] get you in a long situation, so they can pin their ears back and get after the quarterback."
And we're only talking about the outside linebackers/defensive line. We haven't even mentioned the inside linebackers like Lavonte David or All-Pro defensive back, Antoine Winfield Jr., who routinely find themselves careening at quarterbacks via Bowles' design(s).
Overall, it's going to be a huge first test for this group, but as Quinn says, they have to find a way to get the job done. Daniels can only do so much himself, ultimately.
And if they do, there's a very good shot Washington wins this game. If they don't it's going to be a long Sunday, which could also lead to a long year.
