Tyler Biadasz is used to being part of a strong offensive line, coming from one in Dallas – but almost no one outside of Ashburn expected his current Commanders unit, which is all new from the middle left, to be as good as it has been in the first four weeks.
Outside of Ashburn being the key word, because this group has been working hard since the jump to make sure they were a strength, and not the weakness the group had been in the past.
“I think the biggest part is just making sure we’re all locked in and consistent, and that goes all the way back to OTAs. We’re all coming here and bringing it every day, and showing our personalities to see how each piece of the puzzle can fit and how we gel together,” Biadasz told Grant & Danny Thursday. “The biggest thing is having experience with one another, so Dan Quinn had us together in preseason and joint practices, which was huge towards building chemistry and untiy. It comes from experience and learning what we need to do.”
But as good as they’ve been, they’re also living up to Dan Quinn’s mantra that it can always be better, and you need to be where your feet are.
“I think we’ve done some pretty good stuff to this point but still have a lot to work on,” Biadasz said. “That’s the standard we hold ourselves to, so we have stuff to clean up and do better. There’s still huge growth we can get to.”
It is amazing, though, that not only have they done this not only with a new center and a new left guard in Nick Allegretti, but also with a rotation at left tackle, the most important spot, that includes a rookie third-round pick in Brandon Coleman.
“I’ve seen rotations before, but we’ve handled that through OTAs and camp and now into the season,” Biadasz said. “BC and (Cornelius) Lucas have done a great job helping each other out with what they’re seeing on the field, and we’re gelling. It’s still early in the season where you still have to keep stacking those good days and lessons and have that growth, but we’ve done a good job so far.”
All while the league is cracking down on offensive line penalties – ‘every year there’s emphasis on certain things, so you just take that into your prep,’ Biadasz said – while they’re trying to protect a rookie quarterback who is making great strides in this offense.
“Who he is on and off the field, and his work ethic shows tremendously.
The way he handles himself and how poised he is in any scenario…it doesn’t matter what the situation is, he’s always in the moment,” Biadasz said of Jayden Daniels. “The biggest thing is the growth I’ve seen from OTAs through now; there’s huge growth points where he’s taking those steps and handling success in the right way, anf learning every game. He’s done a great job. He’s always having fun but he’s a competitor who wants to find an edge to get better, and he’s an in the moment guy.”