The (New) Offensive Line Thread

[AlwaysBeRedskins2Me]

Does anyone think that Lucas should continue to be the starting RT over Cosmi, even after he heals up?  I mean, it may stunt the development of Cosmi but clearly one of the reasons the oline is doing better, is Cornelius starting instead of him 🤔

[FootballZombie]

8 minutes ago, AlwaysBeRedskins2Me said:

oes anyone think that Lucas should continue to be the starting RT over Cosmi, even after he heals up?  I mean, it may stunt the development of Cosmi but clearly one of the reasons the oline is doing better, is Cornelius starting instead of him

 

Unless we are playing for something meaningful, it would defeat the purpose to not have Cosmi out there. As long as we are dregs of the league let Cosmi take his lumps and improve.

 

You have to figure he plays some part in the long term future of the Oline, and he already missed a chunk of his rookie year due to injury. Gotta give him his reps.

[Warhead36]

2 hours ago, FootballZombie said:

 

Unless we are playing for something meaningful, it would defeat the purpose to not have Cosmi out there. As long as we are dregs of the league let Cosmi take his lumps and improve.

 

You have to figure he plays some part in the long term future of the Oline, and he already missed a chunk of his rookie year due to injury. Gotta give him his reps.

As long as we're still mathematically in it, the best players should play, period. You're doing a disservice to guys like Allen, Payne, McLaurin etc. by trotting out a clearly worse player. 

 

Personally I'd move Cosmi to G and replace Norwell.

[Wyvern]

Granted, Norwell had some bad moments vs. Tennessee -- but in the Bears game, I saw a bigger problem with Charles -- he had a  poor performance in pass protection at Right Guard. 

 

I thought Charles was worse at guard than Norwell, as Charles was frequently getting beaten badly and quickly, in straight out one-on-one matchups  

 

So if you move Cosmi inside, it should be to replace Charles, not Norwell. (Also,  Cosmi has been working the right side of the line in the NFL, so he might be able to handle RT.)

Edited October 16, 2022 by Wyvern

[Going Commando]

You need a better tackle prospect than Cosmi to move him inside to guard, and we're going to have to get that from the draft.

 

I would also want to see how Cosmi plays when he comes back healthy before kicking him inside.  Looks like he might have been playing hurt in the Eagles game, before he got the thumb injury that shut him down following the Cowboys game.  It's a lot easier to find worthwhile guard prospects than tackle prospects, so I'd only make plans to move Cosmi if a good tackle prospect falls into our lap.

[Wyvern]

1 hour ago, Going Commando said:

You need a better tackle prospect than Cosmi to move him inside to guard, and we're going to have to get that from the draft.

 

I would also want to see how Cosmi plays when he comes back healthy before kicking him inside.  Looks like he might have been playing hurt in the Eagles game, before he got the thumb injury that shut him down following the Cowboys game.  It's a lot easier to find worthwhile guard prospects than tackle prospects, so I'd only make plans to move Cosmi if a good tackle prospect falls into our lap.

Overall I agree. 

 

Right now Washington is thin at Guard as well as other spots on the O-line. No real good answers

 

What I was reacting to was an folks speculating on how to field the 5 best O-linemen, if they could handle different roles than what they'd started with in preseason.  My post was that Leno-Norwell-Tyler-Cosmi-Lucas would be better than Leno-Cosmi-Tyler-Charles-Lucas, because Charles is such a poor pass-protector.  I'd rather have Leno-Norwell-Tyler-Schweitzer- with either Cosmi or Lucas being the RT, depending on Cosmi's play upon his return.

[Ball Security]

 

Though I don’t mind the idea of kicking Cosmi inside (it allows them to have their best five linemen on the field), it’s a shame Charles couldn’t take a guard position in year 3.

[Renegade7]

Love this...

 

 

[Playaction2Sanders]

Losing Cosmi and Larsen was huge today. We saw earlier in the season when we lost some guys on the Oline how it was a s***show until they played together and worked on chemistry. It was the same way today after we lost both of them.. The bye week is gonna be so huge for our line, and I feel we should make a concerted effort to address a backup center in the draft someone who could play guard in a pinch to backup Roullier.. Its the little acquisitions that make the difference...

 

I'm talking like, anyone remember the tackle who blocked Reggie White in SB 32 when John Elway won his first title? Few do but many remember the fact The HoFer White was basically a non factor in that Super Bowl thanks to him..

Edited December 5, 2022 by Playaction2Sanders

[Stadium-Armory]

Keith Ismael is on the 49ers practice squad.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Stadium-Armory

[NeverSurrender]

1 hour ago, Stadium-Armory said:

Keith Ismael is on the 49ers practice squad.

That means we can sign him to the active roster.

[Wyvern]

Is anyone curious why Washington has made no moves to bolster their depth at either center or guard? 

 

Has Rivera been persuaded that Schweitzer can make up for the deficiencies of Martin at center, or even play a full game or the rest of the season? With all the injuries, there's not much depth and fewer quality options.  Saahdiq Charles is barely an answer at RG--he's shown that he can range from poor to somewhat adequate in run-blocking, but he's essentially a turnstile in pass protection. 

 

And Washington needs to improve its O-line to successfully meet the challenge of last four games, if they are committed to making the playoffs.  It's sad enough that to cover for the weaknesses of O-Line, Washington is constantly having to fall back max protection in their passing situations, often keeping its TEs and RBs in to help block, and praying one of the few Washington receivers they do send beyond the line of scrimmage, can get open enough for Heinicke to complete a pass and keep the chains rolling.  Thank god for McLaurin's success in reliably getting open on many of those short out patterns over on Heinicke's right side; but teams are getting wise to that, and to be candid, Washington's going to be facing better secondaries soon. 

 

This bye is an opportunity to improve the performance/depth of this O-line for Washington's attempt to secure a playoff berth, but it doesn't seem like there's any urgency by Rivera & Co, to take advantage of that extra time and really work on addressing the problem.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Wyvern

[dswerdlw]

6 minutes ago, Wyvern said:

Is anyone curious why Washington has made no moves to bolster their depth at either center or guard? 

 

Has Rivera been persuaded that Schweitzer can make up for the deficiencies of Martin at center, or even play a full game or the rest of the season? With all the injuries, there's not much depth and fewer quality options.  Saahdiq Charles is barely an answer at RG--he's shown that he can range from poor to somewhat adequate in run-blocking, but he's essentially a turnstile in pass protection. 

 

And Washington needs to improve its O-line to successfully meet the challenge of last four games, if they are committed to making the playoffs.  It's sad enough that to cover for the weaknesses of O-Line, Washington is constantly having to fall back max protection in their passing situations, often keeping its TEs and RBs in to help block, and praying one of the few Washington receivers they do send beyond the line of scrimmage, can get open enough for Heinicke to complete a pass and keep the chains rolling.  Thank god for McLaurin success getting open on many of those short out patterns over on Heinicke's right side; but teams are wise to that, and Washington's going to be facing better secondaries soon.

 

This bye is an opportunity to improve the performance/depth of this O-line for Washington's attempt to secure a playoff berth, but it doesn't seem like there's at urgency by Rivera & Co, to take advantage of that extra time and address the problem.

Agreed! I'd proposed that we pick up Ismael off the 49ers practice squad. Keim, however, gives a good reason why Ismael may not be the answer. Ismael is more of a finesse blocker, and that doesn't fit into our new blocking scheme that features the run game and calls for more power. I don't know enough about Matt Paradis's style of play, but he was just cleared to play and is now available. I think he played center for Rivera during Rivera's last, truncated season in Carolina. Austin Reiter is still out there as well.

[method man]

8 minutes ago, dswerdlw said:

Agreed! I'd proposed that we pick up Ismael off the 49ers practice squad. Keim, however, gives a good reason why Ismael may not be the answer. Ismael is more of a finesse blocker, and that doesn't fit into our new blocking scheme that features the run game and calls for more power. I don't know enough about Matt Paradis's style of play, but he was just cleared to play and is now available. I think he played center for Rivera during Rivera's last, truncated season in Carolina. Austin Reiter is still out there as well.

Doesn’t explain why Nick Martin is on the roster. If Ismael is finesse, what is Nick Martin?

[dswerdlw]

Martin, so far, is a mistake. 

[Koolblue13]

It's probably somewhere in here, but I remember something about Ismael just not wanting to be on our team any more.

 

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https://theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/26751/Raiders-release-former-starting-offensive-lineman

 

The Raiders are releasing guard John Simpson, a source confirmed to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The 2020 fourth-round pick saw his most extensive action since Week 2 on Thursday when he played 56 snaps in relief of the injured Alex Bars in the loss to the Rams.

 

Simpson started the first two games of the season, but had not seen an offensive snap since getting benched before the Week 3 loss to the Cardinals.

The 25-year-old started every game for the Raiders in 2021.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Koolblue13

[Warhead36]

We absolutely need to address the IOL depth or we're gonna get smashed. Every team we play from here on out has really strong DLs. 

[skinny21]

12 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

It's probably somewhere in here, but I remember something about Ismael just not wanting to be on our team any more.

 

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https://theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/26751/Raiders-release-former-starting-offensive-lineman

 

The Raiders are releasing guard John Simpson, a source confirmed to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The 2020 fourth-round pick saw his most extensive action since Week 2 on Thursday when he played 56 snaps in relief of the injured Alex Bars in the loss to the Rams.

 

Simpson started the first two games of the season, but had not seen an offensive snap since getting benched before the Week 3 loss to the Cardinals.

The 25-year-old started every game for the Raiders in 2021.

I think it’s understandable if he didn’t want to be the 3rd or 4th center on the team (and would rather be out west all things being equal).  Assuming there wasn’t any acrimony though, I’d think getting the chance to start (for a team making a playoff push no less) to further showcase his talent, knowing it’s only a short term gig (he could re-sign with his current team in a couple of months or whatever), and that he’d make a bit more money over this stretch, would be fairly attractive. 

 

Forgetting Ismael though, surely there’s a center out there on a PS (or a FA) that 1) has some experience and 2) is on a team that has similar blocking schemes?

[Koolblue13]

4 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

I think it’s understandable if he didn’t want to be the 3rd or 4th center on the team (and would rather be out west all things being equal).  Assuming there wasn’t any acrimony though, I’d think getting the chance to start (for a team making a playoff push no less) to further showcase his talent, knowing it’s only a short term gig (he could re-sign with his current team in a couple of months or whatever), and that he’d make a bit more money over this stretch, would be fairly attractive. 

 

Forgetting Ismael though, surely there’s a center out there on a PS (or a FA) that 1) has some experience and 2) is on a team that has similar blocking schemes?

I gt why Ismael is done, but I agree. I'm shocked we didn't bring in anyone at all.

 

I'm assuming that Wes is moving to center.

[skinny21]

30 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I gt why Ismael is done, but I agree. I'm shocked we didn't bring in anyone at all.

 

I'm assuming that Wes is moving to center.

Yeah, I don’t blame them for ruling out Ismael, but something’s gotta happen.  Don’t think Wes is very experienced at center at all.  Not saying it’s bad to put him there, but it’s a risk.  I guess they’re not practicing this week, so they have still have time to make a move?

 

Did we hear about Cosmi’s injury yet?  Right now we’re hoping Turner (is healthy) and Schweitzer can fill in at C/RG, but then it’s just Charles as depth… and no center depth as far as I can tell.

 

Seems pretty apparent our season is about to fall apart.

Edited December 10, 2022 by skinny21

[Koolblue13]

4 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

 

 

Seems pretty apparent our season is about to fall apart.

I think that's kind of unavoidable TBH. I think a 2-2 split is optimistic. Scraping the bottom of FA this late in the season for Oline depth is grasping at straws.

[skinny21]

11 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I think that's kind of unavoidable TBH. I think a 2-2 split is optimistic. Scraping the bottom of FA this late in the season for Oline depth is grasping at straws.

True.  Feels like we could do better than Charles (particularly when pass pro is going to be significant) and Martin (yikes) in terms of depth.  At least if Cosmi manages to get healthy enough, he, Turner and Norwell give us a decent enough group.  Here’s hoping Schweitzer slots in well and stays healthy - he could literally “save” our season, IMO.  His injury history and lack of experience don’t give me much hope though.

Edited December 10, 2022 by skinny21

[NoVaSkins21]

Here's hoping that Matsko and Co. can come up with a OL combination that works or this team is looking at trouble down the stretch.  

[method man]

As someone else on this thread mentioned, there is no reason not to bring Paradis in for a tryout now that he has been cleared. Give him a practice squad spot to start and elevate him once he is in football shape. Hope he can be starting caliber - he is smaller, 33 and coming off an ACL

[MrJL]

I'm surprised we haven't brought anyone in, considering we'll have at least one roster spot when Larsen gets put on.  I know there's limitations on what a team can do with players during a bye but surely getting a guy the playbook would be useful.  I guess they might just be going with practice squad people