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The left side of Washington’s offensive line is a complete mess. Most of us assumed this would be the case coming into the season after losing Ereck Flowers in free agency, and Trent Williams via a trade to the 49ers(even though he hasn’t played in nearly two years).
Now, after seeing live action in week one of the NFL season, and reading the advanced stats put out by NEXT GEN STATS and PFF, we see that assumption has come to reality.
The left side of Washington’s OL in Week 1 (grade, pos rank):
— PFF Washington (@PFF_Washington) September 15, 2020
LT Geron Christian: 37.9 (Last)
LG Wes Martin: 38.8 (71st of 72) pic.twitter.com/qsRfoutTql
According to NEXT GEN STATS, Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins ranked dead last in the NFL in time to throw with a paltry 2.25 seconds.
According to their glossary, this stats means:
Time To Throw (TT)
Time to Throw measures the average amount of time elapsed from the time of snap to throw on every pass attempt for a passer (sacks excluded).
Now, this stat could mean one of two things. One, it could mean the play design was to get the ball out of the quarterbacks hand quickly before pressure can arrive; or two, it could mean pressure got there that fast, that the quarterback HAD to get rid of the ball quickly.
In looking at the below tweet from Matthew Paras, I think it would be more of the latter.
According to Pro Football Focus, Washington’s line allowed 17 pressures on 36 dropbacks — tied for the second-worst pass-blocking efficiency in the league. And of those 17 pressures, Christian and Martin were responsible for nine of them (Five for Martin, four for Christian). https://t.co/eWqozVPOZd
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) September 15, 2020
Watching and re-watching the game, and looking at the advanced stats, it’s fair to assume that something needs to be done with the left side of this offensive line.
Below are some options that the staff could consider.
Option 1:
- Move Morgan Moses to left tackle: He played there as a senior at Virginia, and had his best collegiate season. His ankles are healthy, and he’s lost over 20 pounds.
- Insert Cornelius Lucas at right tackle and keep Geron Christian as a swing tackle.
- Insert Insert Wes Schweitzer, Saahdiq Charles or Josh Garnett at left guard.
*This plan allows veterans to be on both side of the offensive line, rather than have one strong side and one weak side.
Option 2:
- Insert rookie Saahdiq Charles at left tackle: Sure, Charles is a rookie, but it can’t get any worse than Christian, who was the worst ranked left tackle in the NFL after week one(per PFF).
- Let Geron Christian operate as a swing tackle.
- Insert Insert Wes Schweitzer or Josh Garnett at left guard.
*This plan allows a rookie to get some NFL seasoning; basically seeing if he’s the long-term answer at the position for Washington, and allows a veteran to assume the left guard position next to him.
Option 3:
- Sign free agent Cordy Glenn to take over at left tackle.
- Let Geron Christian operate as a swing tackle.
- Insert Insert Wes Schweitzer, Saahdiq Charles or Josh Garnett at left guard.
*This option allows a veteran to come in and take over left tackle to help protect Dwayne Haskins’ blind side.
Option 4:
- Keep things how they are, and hope the young guys on the left side improve.
*See Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Seeing as the development of second year quarterback Dwayne Haskins is absolutely paramount, and knowing this defense has the ability to keep us in many game this season, how would you handle the current state of our offensive line?
Poll
What choice would you like to see made to our offensive line?
This poll is closed
-
16%
Option 1
-
34%
Option 2
-
29%
Option 3
-
19%
Option 4