Om Field: ISO - Redskins Offensive Line

[Om]

It's March 15, 2010 ...

Do you know where your offensive line is?

Today marks the beginning of "voluntary" workouts at Redskins Park. At some point during this damp, overcast day, one suspects new Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan will turn his gaze upon the group of offensive linemen working out in the shiny new weightroom in Ashburn.

Assuming he gets the 100% turnout he envisions, this is who he will see:

Dockery, Derrick G 6-6 326 6th Season
Fanaika, Paul G 6-5 327 2nd Season
Hicks, Artis G 6-4 335 8th Season
Lichtensteiger, Kory G 6-3 295 2nd Season
Rabach, Casey C 6-4 295 8th Season
Rinehart, Chad G 6-5 310 3nd Season
Williams, Mike G/T 6-6 337 5th Season
Oldenburg, Clint OT 6-5 310 2nd Season
Robinson, William OT 6-6 297 2nd Season

[Note: tackles Stephon Heyer (restricted) and Levi Jones (unrestricted) are listed on the Redskins roster page but remain unsigned free agents as of this writing.]

Don't panic fellow Redskins fan. At least not yet.

If you don't believe you see a starting NFL offensive line in among that list, you are not alone. You can bet Mike Shanahan doesn't see it either ...

More...

 

[Yusuf06]

With Hicks backing up Dock, BMW and Rabach, we're not looking too bad on the inside. If we draft an interior guy that pans out, we'd be pretty well set there.

OT on the other hand is obviously a joke at this point. If Allahan drafts the pickle (Claussen) at #4, there had better be some kind of a plan to trade up with our 2nd round pick to get a tackle somewhere towards the late middle area of the first round. Either that or they'd better have a big time diamond in the rough in mind to take in the 2nd or 4th round that would literally have to pan out. Otherwise, the guys I'd like to see playing backup OT for us, i.e. L. Jones and Tra Thomas, could very well be our starting "bookends" (to use the term very, very loosely.) If that happens, I want to get in line to get a piece of the "pre-need" plans being sold to JC, scratch that, ALL our QBs.

 

[Aston Gambino]

Once again, Om, you've allowed me to rest my head tonight knowing something that I didn't know when I woke up - there's a Manny Ramirez in the NFL.

As for our current platoon of lineman, well, my first reaction would have been to quote the guys in the diner at the beginning of Major League when they first see the roster of their new Cleveland Indians, but I'll restrain myself and, well, just breathe.

For those interested, these are the free agents that played in zone blocking schemes last year *:

Morris, Chris G RFA 6-4 305 4th Season OAK TBD
Wade, John C UFA 6-5 300 12th Season OAK TBD
Walker, Langston G UFA 6-8 366 8th Season OAK TBD
Butler, Rashad T RFA 6-4 308 4th Season HOU TBD
Pitts, Chester G UFA 6-4 308 8th Season HOU TBD
Reyes, Tutan G UFA 6-3 310 10th Season HOU TBD
Salaam, Ephraim T UFA 6-7 310 12th Season HOU TBD
White, Chris G RFA 6-2 290 5th Season HOU TBD
Colledge, Daryn G RFA 6-4 308 4th Season GB TBD
Spitz, Jason C RFA 6-3 307 4th Season GB TBD
Petitti, Rob T RFA 6-6 327 5th Season CAR TBD
Vincent, Keydrick G UFA 6-5 325 9th Season CAR TBD


* The most reliable source of information. Ever.

 

[Jimbo]

ICK!!! Looks even scarier on paper. I'm a little surprised we didn't tender Levi. We need starters AND quality depth. It looks more and more like we'll be doing some wheeling and dealing come draft day.

 

[LoyalSkinsFan]

Umm.....Randy Thomas gets a 4-star rating?

We could be in trouble here, guys....

HTTR

 

[the Omniscient]

I can't help but think that with this coaching staff, our o-line will be much better than what we saw last year, even with many of the same faces. I do not think that the coaching, schemes, and predictability of our offense helped our o-line situation at all.

Of course, I am not saying it is all fine and dandy. We definitely need a couple of tackles. But, I agree that the inside is looking, well satisfactory right now. I definitely see the draft being used to enhance the line further (that's obvious of course).

With the Shanny's run game, and unpredictable play calling, the QB, whoever he may be, will get more time to throw. This line needs work, but maybe it is more serviceable than us fans realize. Maybe this is all far fetched, who knows.

I kind of hope that they let Rabach go back to calling line protections instead of the QB. If he is so smart, like we keep hearing, well let him do it. I know having the QB do it is a little more advantageous in the since that he sees more, but Rabach was fine doing with it until Zorn made the switch. This may have been part of the problem as well.

Although, I am just talking, at the end of the day, I do not know crap.

 

[Jimbo]

Although, I am just talking, at the end of the day, I do not know crap.

That applies to most of us when it comes to what we think Shanahan will do or even how the coaching staff sees this O-Line. Still, based on results, we desparately need to improve the Tackle position.

It sounds like you're a glass-half-full guy and there's nothing wrong with that but it's no secret that Shanahan made sure he had a good LT, whether he traded for one or drafted one. We don't have a guy currently on the roster that fits the bill or even seems capable of filling it.

 

[the Omniscient]

It sounds like you're a glass-half-full guy and there's nothing wrong with that but it's no secret that Shanahan made sure he had a good LT, whether he traded for one or drafted one. We don't have a guy currently on the roster that fits the bill or even seems capable of filling it.

I agree, we need two solid tackles, which we do not currently have. I just think we will see improvement from the playcalling and coaching alone.

I am going to have to show my wife the 'glass-half-full' comment. I am sure she will get a laugh out of it.

 

[Bulldog]

You simply can't bring Jones back, at least not at LT given his numbers last year.

At 30 giving him a full offseason and camp and perhaps moving him to the right side, I could see signing him to a minimum deal.

But this is still most likely a case of dumpster diving.
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