Left Tackle: 2024 Options

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June 12, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

The offseason has seen the Commanders’ new front office rebuild the offensive line, which was a huge issue last season (they gave 65 sacks, tied for second worst with the Panthers behind league leader Giants, 85 total sacks given up). As it remains right now, Samuel Cosmi is the only assured returning starter from 2023. Tyler Biadasz and Nick Allegretti were signed in free agency to shore up the interior of the offensive line. Andrew Wylie figures to retain the right tackle spot given the dearth of other candidates and his 2024 salary cap numbers.

So, that leaves the big question of who plays the left tackle position. The team re-signed Cornelius Lucas (47 career starts, 231 snaps last season) and returns holdover Trenton Scott (22 career starts, 138 snaps last season), who both received playing time last season when Charles Leno was injured.

General manager Adam Peters did not sign a bigger name free agent to complete at the left tackle position, instead electing to draft Brandon Coleman in the third round. The remaining free agents at this point are Donovan Smith and three players coming off injuries, David Bakhtiari, D.J. Humphries and Charles Leno.

The current focus of the team seems to be getting Coleman in a position to compete with Lucas and Scott for the starting left tackle position. Coleman’s upside is his size, strength and agility.  In that regard, he has the basic tools to succeed at the position. In the NFL though, for offensive lineman, footwork and handwork are equally important. These are the areas that Coleman at which needs to develop. In college at TCU, Coleman could just use his size and strength to overpower a lot of the players he faced. At the NFL level, every week he will be facing a top-level player, unlike the few times a season he saw one in college.

Some Coleman Highlights

Coleman is wearing #77 in these videos. The first is actual game highlights and the second is from Senior Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdNTHpJjzGk&ab_channel=Prospects

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJd3JrkcGW8&ab_channel=ScottKennedy

John Keim had Coleman’s offensive line coach coach from TCU on his podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Fsc4KUT4w&ab_channel=AmpireMedia

As I watched these and other videos, here are some of the things I noticed:

Positives

  • He sticks with his blocks until the play is over.
  • He can overpower people and move them up the field.
  • He has the athletic quickness to reach the second level blocks which needed in NFL run schemes.
  • When he engages, he is difficult to get by.

Negatives

  • Even i he does get his center of gravity low enough with the proper foot positioning, he can be driven back.
  • In college, he took some plays “off” mainly because he was better than most everyone he faced. He will not be able to do that in the NFL.
  • His handwork needs to improve so defensive linemen do not gain leverage advantage on him.
  • He will need to learn how to better engage speed rushers to negate their abilities.

Wrap-Up

Coleman has the potential to be a good left tackle in the NFL. Like a lot of drafted players, he has the basic tools needed to be successful. The big questions are whether this coaching staff can correct the deficiencies in his game and if Coleman can mentally adjust to the speed and tempo of the NFL game. From his college coach. Coleman is the type of player to put in the work and continues to develop. That is a trait seen in a number of the draft picks this year, including both Jayden Daniels and Luke McCaffrey.

The big question of whether Brandon Coleman the right player to protect Daniels blindside this season will not be answered until the hot, humid, dogs day of August are upon us. The reality is that Lucas will probably win the starting job, but Coleman may finish the season as the starter.

This year training camp is going to be very interesting and competitive.