Ashburn, VA – The Washington Redskins were once synonymous with great offensive line play and the team had several in-house characters at the position. Long gone are the days of left tackle Joe Jacoby and his epic battles with New York Giants’ linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Left guard Russ Grimm and center Jeff Bostic were in the trenches against some of the NFL’s best defensive tackles. The famed “Hogs” became a national storyline with an identity to match in a city that loved the power running game of former head (and Hall of Fame) coach Joe Gibbs and his bruising full/running back John Riggins.
When the redskins won their third and last Super Bowl, the offensive-line was made up of a mixture of guys from the “Hogs” (Jacoby and Bostic) to Pro-Bowlers Jim Lachey (offensive tackle) and Mark Schlereth (guard). But even not so long ago, players such as Chris Samuels and John Jansen (both tackles) held the fort and kept the great offensive line play intact.
Now the lone player up front who is widely regarded as one of the best left tackles in the game today — Trent Williams — has had to carry the torch lit before him with little to no help. Fortunately, this year’s Redskins brain trust recognized that the offensive line unit had to get better and it was upgraded with depth and competition.
There are two paths to take in the NFL to get better at any given position. You can obtain players either via free agency or the NFL draft. The Redskins decided to go the latter route in the case of their offensive line.
Even though Washington did not bring in the available really big-name offensive linemen during this off-season’s free agency signing period (although they signed five-year man Shawn Lauvao from Cleveland), the team did address the depth issues by drafting two linemen that can be developed: tackle Morgan Moses (University of Virginia) and guard Spencer Long (University of Nebraska). Gruden and company thought both players would be able to contribute soon after they were drafted and currently Long is ahead of Moses in getting acclimated to the NFL. Even if he is not the starter in Week One of the regular season, he definitely could get a significant number of snaps this year.
Long has been steady in his progression since training camp opened. Coming off ACL damage he sustained while playing for Nebraska, he has garnered the attention of some of his teammates.
The former Cornhusker feels like he has gotten better as each day passes. And fortunately, there have been no signs of the injury… he has practiced and taken every rep asked of him throughout all of training camp.
“It feels great to be playing football again,” he told me after a recent practice. “During OTA’s (Organized Team Activities) it had been like six or seven months since I had been on the field but I feel good. I try not to think about it. Obviously you’ve got your little soreness here and there but when I’m out there I don’t think about it. It doesn’t bother me. I feel great.”
There have been murmurs around Redskins Park that perhaps Long could unseat nine-year veteran, Chris Chester (right guard). While this would be a dream come true for any player to start as a rookie in the NFL, Long has kept everything in stride regarding his status.
“That’s up to coach,” he told me when asked whether he thought he had a chance to start. “I mean, right now for me, I think I have a long ways to go. But that’s the mentality you have to have in my position. [I just] keep soaking everything up every day and keep getting better.
“But if that’s what the team needs from me,” he went on, “I will be happy to step up. I’ll be ready. I’m just trying to be ready to go and make that active roster and, if someone goes down, I’ll be there. And if I win that job, so be it. I just focus on what I can control.”
While Chester has the edge in experience, Long has the power that could come in handy when playing against the better interior defensive linemen.
While at Nebraska, Long — who arrived in Lincoln as a defensive lineman — found the weight room. The Nebraska alum, who was teammates with Redskins running back Roy Helu, Jr., and tight end Niles Paul at the college, commented on a remark Paul recently made about how much smaller Long was in college.
“Out of high school I was 250 pounds… a defensive end,” he said. “So I was skinny. I wasn’t really developed yet. So it was kind of the ‘perfect storm’ when I got there to Nebraska. I put on 60 pounds since day one. Niles saw me when I was real little. Straight out of high school… a freshman in college… fresh-faced. So I did a little bit of developing there over the last five years.”
Long feels like he is starting to see things better as the speed of the game has slowed down.
“I’m starting to see things a little better even though it’s faster,” he commented. “But I’m getting more used to it now. The more reps you get the better you are going to be.”
For this team to take the next step and get back to the playoffs, they will need major contributions from their offensive line.
The skill positions jump right out on paper. For quarterback Robert Griffin, III to be effective in a new offense, and for workhorse running back Alfred Morris to wear down defenses late in games, the offensive line will have to establish themselves. With all-world wide receivers and an up-and-coming threat in tight end Jordan Reed, the speed on the outside is there. But the question is: who will the starting three offensive linemen be along with Williams and center Kory Lichtensteiger? Five-year veteran offensive guard Shawn Lauvao has the edge for one of the guard spots. Six-year vet Tyler Polumbus should be the opening day right tackle barring an injury, trade or unexpected major signing off of the waiver wire. So the final piece of the puzzle will be whether or not Long can beat out Chester for the right guard position.
If this team can capture even a small resemblance of the Washington Redskins’ offensive line’s glory days, they could be a special group. As for Long, if he can make an impact as a rookie, perhaps things will finally start to look up for this much-maligned group up front.