The offensive line was a question mark for the Commanders, and they beefed it up with a few signings this offseason, including center Nick Gates – but is it possible that the team makes a move to Tyler Larsen this week, either due to injury or ineffectiveness?
“I just looked this up and I had a bunch of people tweet me and text me: should they make a move to Larsen?” JP Finlay asked. “It is possible this is dictated because of a Saahdiq Charles injury that I'm starting to feel like may exist, but we don't know definitively yet, and maybe you’re gonna put Gates at guard?”
“Whatever move you make, I hope it brings some improvement,” BMitch replied.
Gates has played guard in his career, and if Charles misses this weekend’s game, the team could slide Gates over to left guard instead of using Chris Paul or Ricky Stromberg – but right now, it’s about what gives them the best chance to win this Sunday.
Even if, as JP notes, you have to question the roster mechanics that are leaving a guy cut at the end of camp coming back off the practice squad to now start at a spot with multiple other options.
“I don't disagree that you are making a move to try to get the best result this weekend, and that's what the coaching staff has to focus on,” JP said. “What I point to is the evaluation process that signed a new dude and drafted a new dude, and now you’re possibly dependent upon a guy you cut coming out of camp that you signed back to your practice squad.”
“Could it be that they just trust the veteran guys more than they do the young guy at this point?” BMitch replied. “Gates can play both positions, so I don't know if it's necessarily a knock on them drafting, because we watched Stromberg play and we seemed to like Stromberg when he's on the field.”
As JP noted, Stromberg “didn’t look great” against the Giants, but he did like what he saw in camp. Still…
“I liked him in camp, he’s got some nastiness to him, so a lot of moving parts here,” JP said, “but just for me, I continue to point at the disconnect between the evaluation process and the coaching process, and the fact that the one dude is in charge of both of them continues to be inconsistent.”