The State of the O-line

What do you think about our Offensive Line?

Right now, I think the o-line is set with all our starters back, Samuels, Kendall, Rabach, Thomas and Jansen however almost all of them went down one time or another last year. Jon Jansen has only started running and blocking on his injured ankle in the mini-camps and OTAs. We are pinning our hopes of a winning season on a healthy o-line but the injury toll in the last 3 years seems to grow every season as we head towards December. I am hoping this year is the exception however logic tells me we have to anticipate probably a long list this year especially since we have quite a few over 30's vets on the team.

Jon Jansen and Pete Kendall are 33 and 34 (??) and have had multiple injuries to their knees and ankles, which as linemen, are criticial to their performance as blockers. Even stalwarts such as Randy Thomas and Chris Samuels have missed quite a few games due to injuries. Todd Wade is a solid backup for Jansen but he is also over 30 and oft injured himself. Stephon Heyer is a solid pickup for us at LT but we have to remember he is an undrafted FA though he did very well against Strahan and Ware towards the end of the season but got exposed by Kearney in the playoffs. He has room to grow and potential to be a solid starter for us.

We probably need to get another guard next year in the draft and move Rinehart to tackle. Or if we can land a big (6'7) top 5 tackle in next year's draft, we can keep Rinehart at guard to backup Kendall. Jason Fabini ia another solid backup at guard though he has experience at tackle as well. He is 33 and may retire next year. Lorenzo Alexander is officially a guard now and hopefully he can cover center as well. We probably have 2 more roster spots left if we decide to take 11 o-linemen. I like the rookie Kerry Brown, I hope he can show Bugel some promise and potential, enough for us to keep him like we did Heyer. The rookie C Kyle DeVan is also an unknown but hopefully shows promise for our practice squad. Tavares Washington and Justin Geisinger are some guys who have NFL experience to compete for a backup spot.

So next year, we should definitely get a center that can play guard as wll, somewhere in the 3rd round. We should probably get a tackle too if Jansen and Wade do not come back in 2009.

Cheers

I think the o-line is in much better shape than the d-line.

The biggest thing, as you said, is the probability that the starters don't stay healthy.

I like Heyer, Wade and Fabini for depth. If Reinhart can get in the mix the depth is real. 

HTTR!

I think the OL is in good shape if we do not suffer injuries like last year. The Redskins have some depth and can handle one starter going down, not three or four. Stephen Heyer is a decent backup not much more. He is not a stud OL and in my opinion never will be. Chad Rinehart has a chance to a very good guard in my opinion. If our starters stay healthy we have a very good OL. Injuries are part of the game and we need to start getting younger on the OL. Rinehart is a start however after that we do not have much. We can add some youth via free agent next year and or the draft. I was kind of surprised we did not try and draft one more OL this year. I also like Todd Wade and Jason Fabini are good backups, not good starters. Overall the OL is not a great concern this year I would like to see us continue to add youth.

Hail to the Redskins

Whats up skins Raiders fan here what do you think of Colt Brenan

Age isn't too big of a deal for our Oline meaning they haven't really lost a step and would still be starters on many other teams in the NFL.  Jon Jansen and Randy Thomas have both suffered pretty significant injuries over the past few years but they weren't due to age more just fluke accidents.  We definitely need to start getting younger because the days are numbered on our olinemen.  The next injury may also be the one they decide I just go through the rehab again.

Ke101,   you dont think Stephon Heyer will ever be a good starter?  I think I will have to disagree with you here.  Stephon is going to be a great player for the Redskins.  He did a really good job only starting the last four 5 redskins games.  Stephon is a rookie with only a few starts under his belt so it isn't too surprising that a sack specialist such as patrick kearney from the Seahawks could find ways to take advantage of him.  I know we all think Chris Samuels is a great Tackle but even chris has days were facing certain players they beat him for sacks.  I think stephon will we great once he gets a little more seasoning.

Redskins take the NFC East, Cowboys follow in a distant second, Eagles take third and the Giants sweep up the basement.