Commanders take shut take a look at high offensive linemen forward of NFL draft
Though formal interviews usually are not good gauges of curiosity — a crew can like a prospect however not “formal” him — they do supply perception into what a crew prioritizes with one among its most dear mix belongings.
Overall, Washington appeared to prioritize measurement, versatility and expertise. Thirteen of its 19 O-line interviews have been seniors, and the crew spoke to many prospects who began at a number of positions in faculty and a number of other who weighed close to the highest of their place teams, together with Ohio State sort out Dawand Jones (6-foot-8, 374 kilos) and Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 330).
This spring, Washington is anticipated to choose a lineman within the early rounds of the NFL draft as its entrance workplace tries to rebuild a line that was one of many league’s worst in 2022. The unit appears to solely have two starters solidified: left sort out Charles Leno Jr. and guard/sort out Sam Cosmi, whose spot shall be dictated by the crew’s offseason acquisitions. In interviews, Coach Ron Rivera has stated he’d prefer to get youthful at heart and wouldn’t be involved about pairing quarterback Sam Howell with a rookie.
“In my three years here, we haven’t had a season where [our interior line] has played the majority of our starters in the majority of the games,” Rivera added. “[Improvement is] about staying healthy.”
Washington’s prioritization of measurement is sensible. In Kansas City, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy virtually at all times had tall tackles and guards — just one common contributor was shorter than 6-foot-5 — and most of them weighed between 304 and 321 kilos. The solely true bodily outlier was left sort out Orlando Brown Jr., who was 6-foot-8 and weighed 340 kilos.
At heart, the Chiefs had a sort. Either Austin Reiter (6-3, 300) or Creed Humphrey (6-4, 302) made almost each snap of Bieniemy’s tenure. Washington interviewed a number of facilities with almost an identical measurements, together with Minnesota’s John Michael Schmitz (6-3, 301), Oregon’s Alex Forsyth (6-4, 303), Troy’s Jake Andrews (6-3, 305), Arkansas’s Ricky Stromberg (6-3, 306) and Michigan’s Olu Oluwatimi (6-2, 309).
Though Washington didn’t interview Ohio State’s Luke Wypler (6-3, 303), he would match the mould. The crew additionally had formal interviews with larger heart prospects who’re thought-about among the many greatest within the class: Wisconsin’s Joe Tippmann (6-6, 313) and TCU’s Steve Avila (6-3, 332), who might additionally transfer to protect.
If Washington picks a lineman within the first spherical, it’d in all probability be a high sort out (Skoronski, Johnson, Georgia’s Broderick Jones) or guard (Torrence, Avila). The crew might goal a high heart prospect within the second or third (Schmitz, Tippmann) or the subsequent tier afterward.
Washington has one benefit in evaluating linemen this yr. Assistant offensive line coach Travelle Wharton labored with prospects for every week final month on the Senior Bowl. He coached a number of linemen the Commanders interviewed in Indianapolis (Andrews, Oluwatimi, Dawand Jones, North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch) and towards a number of others (Torrence, Schmitz, Avila, Alabama’s Tyler Steen, Syracuse’s Matthew Bergeron, Tennessee’s Darnell Wright and Oklahoma’s Wanya Morris).
Wharton stated the firsthand expertise with gamers would “help a lot” in terms of constructing the draft board and finally making picks.
“Sometimes, you only see them on the film and at the combine doing drills,” Wharton added final month on the Senior Bowl. “I get to see them [up close], how they play football, how they react, how they took something from the classroom and they work that technique on the field. It gives me a chance [to say], ‘I like the guy. He did this. He did that.’”
In the mix interview room, a number of gamers stated Commanders offensive line coach John Matsko started their conferences by asking them for a bodily demonstration. He needed them to interrupt the huddle, stroll as much as an imaginary line of scrimmage, get right into a stance and narrate their pre-snap analysis of an opposing protection.
“It was very old-school,” Stromberg, the Arkansas heart, stated. “I enjoyed it.”
Andrews, who performed at Troy, didn’t suppose a lot of the task as a result of the Trojans used a pro-style offense his final yr and huddled usually. Forsyth, from Oregon, felt as if he have been being examined as a result of the Ducks ran an up-tempo scheme and infrequently huddled.
“He’d show a play on the board, and I’d have to go through my process,” Forsyth stated.
Forsyth remembered explaining that earlier than a cross play, he reads the linebackers first after which the line of defense. If he can, he seems to be on the security rotation, but when the offense is utilizing tempo, “it’s a little bit harder to do that.” Forsyth stated he dove into the finer particulars of schemes, combo blocks and pre-snap motion that might lead him to flip a safety name.
“[Matsko] was asking me a bunch of questions, showing me some different coaching points as well,” Andrews added. “There were just a few little plays where we talked about positional leverage, hat placement here and there.”
“It was so interesting,” Morris, the Oklahoma proper sort out, stated of the Commanders’ course of. “I enjoyed the experience.”