Taking a look forward, while seeing what went wrong or right during the season for the Washington Redskins at each position. Today: offensive line.
Under contract for 2015: Trent Williams, Shawn Lauvao, Kory Lichtensteiger, Chris Chester, Tom Compton, Spencer Long, Morgan Moses, Josh LeRibeus, Rishaw Johnson, Ty Nsekhe, Tyler Larsen
Pending free agents: Tyler Polumbus
Best bargain: Compton. He counted only $570,000 against the cap last year. The problem is, it’s not as if he showed that he should be a future starter. But he can help as a backup.
2015 cap hits:
Williams: $13,730,388
Chester: $4,800,000
Lichtensteiger: $4,300,000
Lauvao: $4,000,000
LeRibeus: $864,081
Moses: $729,394
Long: $673,450
Johnson: $660,000
Nsekhe: $510,000
Larsen: $435,000
The review: They went for bigger interior linemen, but yet guys who could still move in Lauvao and Long. But Long’s rookie year did not unfold the way they had hoped; he struggled to adapt to the offense and on his assignments. But after missing his senior season at Nebraska, an adjustment period was natural. Williams played well and, again, played hurt. But he could also play better and more consistent. It wasn’t just the other four allowing pressure. The coaches seemed more sold on Lauvao than I was; it took him time to contribute in the run game. They liked his protection skills; for too many games, though, he did not seem to help. Lichtensteiger was solid this season, though size always will be a factor (and he’s now playing for a general manager, Scot McCloughan, who drafted one player who was under 315 pounds while in San Francisco). Chester is a smart player and can block on the move, but they can do better. Compton was fine as a run blocker, but not in pass protection. He says his strength is fine, but sometimes his angles on his sets are off and that leads to issues. Polumbus was dealing with a personal matter early in the season; whether that caused his play to plummet I don’t know. But he struggled.
The outlook: I know the focus is on improved protection, but a lot of factors go into that area. My take would be: Do better on your first-down runs, set up more third-and-shorts, and watch how both the quarterback play and the protection improves. So: I’d like to see stronger run blocking for that reason. I don’t know that the Redskins will make major changes, but I could see two new starters up front. They have some young players they’re trying to develop, which is good. People seem to forget that it takes time to develop, and just because a guy didn’t play as a rookie doesn’t mean you automatically go in a different direction a year later. However, it’s asking a lot for both Long and Moses to both become starters in their second seasons -- and make it work playing side by side. We saw more of Moses and I wasn’t sold he’d be ready in 2015, but you can see how his size matters. In limited time, it definitely helped, and at times defenders had to run around him, creating potential lanes. Williams is Williams; it would be nice for him to stay healthy, because of his importance to the offense. I love the addition of line coach Bill Callahan. I had no problem with Foerster, but Callahan has a terrific reputation as a line coach -- and I think he’ll help the run game with his vision.
Key questions: Will they cut Chester? They could save $4 million against the salary cap if they did so. One front office executive said of Chester, "I thought he was better the year before. I was disappointed in his play this year. He’s probably a better center than guard in the long run." Also, how do the Redskins evaluate Long and Moses? What the Redskins do in the draft depends in part on how closely they feel these two are to being starters.
Stat that jumped out: The Redskins ranked 11th in the NFL in pass protection percentage (50.9), according to ESPN Stats & Information. That measures the number of times a team won the line of scrimmage (yes, tough to gauge sometimes because so many factors involved, but the metrics are the same for all teams). Seattle, for example, ranked last at 43.9 percent and New England was 28th. The Redskins were next to last in coverage sacks allowed (28.6 percent). The Redskins were 17th in third down pass protection (47.5 percent), so there’s obviously room for improvement.
Stat that jumped out, part 2: The Redskins were 14th in yards per carry at 4.22 (and 12th in yards before contact at 2.69). The latter number surprised me; I thought it would be worse. On runs of third-and-2 or less, they were 18th in the NFL at 2.70 yards per run, an indication that they weren’t getting much push (which isn’t a surprise).
Free agent options: If Dallas lets right tackle Doug Free walk, then the Redskins have a line coach who knows him well in Callahan. Free improved in Dallas, but it’s not as if he’s a budding Pro Bowler. Still, he could be the veteran they need for a couple years while Moses develops.
