Just days ago, the Washington Commanders' defensive line had four first-round picks starting for it, all of them under the age of 28 and selected in four consecutive years from 2017-20 - but that unit just never seemed to dominate the way it should've, and after three-plus years together, they're now split with Jon Allen and Daron Payne still here with new deals, and pending free agents Montez Sweat and Chase Young in Chicago and San Francisco.
And to former Washington defensive lineman Kedric Golston, last week was déjà vu all over again, only with a different ending.
“It’s super interesting, right, because this time last year, we were thinking Daron Payne was gonna get traded, right?” Golston said to Craig Hoffman Thursday. “You looked at conventional wisdom and asked if they’d dedicate that many resources to two defensive tackles, and they did, even though we all assumed they’d just pick between the two – but now, with the season going the way that it’s going, if you’re not going to be able to re-sign those guys, then it was a real shrewd move to be able to get some type of compensation back for them and give them the opportunity to go out there with a new organization, and hopefully both hit free agency and then make all the money they can.”
The big question, of course, is why that unit just never became dominant – forget “Steel Curtain” or “Fearsome Foursome” level – and got to that next level.
“You just look at the pedigree of those guys, and from an individual standpoint, they have some really big moments. I have a ton of respect for those interior guys, I really enjoy watching Sweat play, and Young, he came here as a rookie and was all that we thought he would be, and then obviously had the setbacks with injuries,” Golston said. “You hear a lot about Chase freelancing and kind of doing his own thing, and without being there I can't speak to that, but I do know that if you are a dominant defense, everybody can't be doing their own thing, you know what I mean?”
It’s a gift and a curse to have such talent in so many spots up front, Golston says, because the talent can sometimes outweigh the scheme.
“You have four guys that all have the ability at some point to take over a game, but you can't really plan for all those guys that kind have the flexibility to get off script sometimes, if that makes sense,” Golston said. “When I was playing, (Brian Orakpo) had that leash to lose contain or stay outside and we would play off him, but when you have other guys like that with the pedigrees they have, it kind of sometimes maybe put them in a bad situation, and sometimes quarterbacks were able to get out and so on and so forth. But, at the end of the day, as dominant as this defensive line was, I would always wonder if we can really expect them to get eight or nine sacks a game?”
A dominant D-line has been a Commanders/Redskins hallmark for a long time, but as great as this group was individually, it’s still a team game, and if they can’t play together, they had to be taken apart.
“The defensive line to a certain extent depends on coverage, depends on the offense to be able to put points on the board,” Golston said, “and that's a long way around to saying that when you dedicate that many resources to a front, to a defense in general, from a draft and money perspective, they have to play better than they've been playing.”
Take a listen to Golston’s entire call-in, where he recalls playing alongside Orakpo and what everyone meant to those early-2010s defenses, how the current line changes the dynamics by playing through the interior, Chase Young and Montez Sweat’s futures, and more!