Is Randy Thomas the outer bands of a bad storm coming?

The injury to Randy Thomas was not a stunner.  Big loss?  Sure.  But did anyone really expect Randy Thomas to finish the season as starter?  I know I didn’t.  He was already hobbled during training camp with knee pain.  Not a good sign. 

Jason Reid provides some additional feedback on the Redskins offensive line.

Right tackle Stephon Heyer has performed poorly in pass protection
at key moments in the first two games and been ineffective in run
blocking, league sources said, and center Casey Rabach was not
especially effective in the running game against the Rams. Pro Bowl
left tackle Chris Samuels still is the team’s best lineman, but how
long will his knee hold up? Second-year guard Chad Rinehart showed
promise at times in the preseason, and will move into the starting
lineup in place of Thomas, but he has never played in a regular-season
game.

Reid is right and wrong.  The Redskins did pick up Mike Williams, but that was not the biggest move in the off-season on the Line, that move would have been the signing of Derrick Dockery.  Dockery, teaming up with LT Chris Samuels, provides the best side of the Redskins offensive line, the side the Redskins choose to run to most of the time.  But even at that, though Dockery has done well, he has shown signs from his previous stint in DC, the knack for motion penalties.

I sound like a broken record, year after year, here at DCPSR, when we do an article on the offensive line.  It is almost like it has become an annual ritual, except this season, it comes just two weeks into the season.  But if any statement riles me more, it would be this one. 

In their internal
offseason evaluation of the roster, the Redskins identified the
offensive line as their main deficiency. Thomas sat out most of the
2007 season because of a left triceps injury and was slowed by neck and
knee problems in 2008. But the Redskins would have taken a $9.6 million
salary-cap hit if they released him, so that wasn’t an option.

So the internal evaluation identified the offensive line as the weakness?  Really.  A bunch of smart folks there in Ashburn.  The figured this out after, ummmm, 8 years!!!.  Wonder how they figured it out?  Yet, it was not addressed outside Dockery?  Right tackle was ignored. 

Consider this —-

The Redskins have drafted ONE offensive lineman in the last two years, that was third round pick Chad Rhinehart, who will likely start for Randy Thomas, but has otherwise been inactive.

The Redskins have drafted ONE Lineman in the first two rounds since 2000 (Chris Samuels, 2000). 

They don’t need to do evaluations to figure it out.  Ask us.  Ask you. 
Ask my Grandmother.  Ask your Grandmother.  Ask Santa Claus.  Everyone
knows it!

Yet, the Redskins failed to target the offrensive line’s aging problem
in free agency or the draft.  Folks, if you think the signing of
Derrick Dockey fixed the Line, well, do some more football research.  Any fan out there and any analyst out there will tell
you how important offensive lines are.  You wanna know why the Giants
win, look at the protection Eli Manning has.  Look at the holes they
open for the rushing attack.  The Giants Line is one of the best in the
NFL.  And they win.  Good offensive lines lead to better teams.  Good
offensive lines make good teams.  Good offensive lines can make an
average quarterback good. 

Dan Snyder is willing to spend cash.  He has proven that.  He
supposedly wants to win badly. Yet if any positions can deliver winning
more than any other, it is not QB, it is not RB, it is not WR, and it
is not DT, it is offensive line.  Offensive lines protect your
QB.  Offensive lines open lanes for running backs.  Without a good
line, you can have all the great position players you want, but success
won’t follow.  A good running back still needs lanes to run.  A good QB
still needs time to throw.  

And here in lies the problem.  The Redskins just don’t get that.  Look
at the pathetic draft history.  What other team has that bad of a
record drafting offensive line?  How can you build a successful offense
without any investment on the Line?  Two Lineman in the last 5 drafts,
none in the first 2 rounds.  I repeat that because I am still astounded
by that fact. 

It seems to me like we have been saying this for nearly 6 to 8 years,
over and over and over again, year after year after year;  yet,
off-seasons come and go, and all the Redskins manage on the Lines are
tweaks here and there and signing Lineman who have not played football
in 3 years.

Listen, the offensive line is not the sole problem for the Redskins
struggling start.  Heck, I don’t even think they have been a major
problem of the New York or St. Louis games, at least not to the level
of play calling, execution, poor tackling, and playing off recievers by
ten yards. 

But the problem is looming as a distaster on the horizon, like a hurricane on the way, and Randy Thomas could be the first outer band coming ashore.  
And it is going to get worse because of the age and health of the
current offensive front.  Samuels knees are not in the best of
conditions.  Heyer is struggling in pass protection, heck, Reid seems
to think he has been ineffective in rush blocking as well.  Who ya want
to put in, Mike Wlliams?  Rabach at times is getting pushed around in
the middle.    

Two lineman in 5 drafts, 2005 to 2009.  Still astounded.  They would be Chad Rhinehart in
2008 (3rd round) and Kil Lefotu in 2006 (7th round).  That’s TWO in 5
years, no 1st or 2nd rounders, only 1 third rounder, and ZERO middle
rounders.  Simply astounding.  And the Redskins front office wonders why our offensive line
is weak?

Imagine if Dan Snyder actually woke up and decided to maybe invest in
the offensive line.  Bring in a younger, solid free agent, spend two of
the first three picks on offensive line.  I get so sick and tired of
hearing that we draft the best player available in each round.  The
Redskins can’t afford to do that when they have such weak positions. 
How about trying a different appraoch in 2010.  How about drafting the best available Lineman
in the first, second, or third rounds, two of those first three
rounds.  What would Jason Campbell be like with a Giants-type line? 
How many yards could Portis rip defenses for with a Giants-type line? 

Try it Dan.  All your other models have been failures so far.  Why are
the Redskins so adverse to drafting offensive lineman, signing quality,
young offensive line free agents?  I am simply baffled at how the
evaluation identifies the offensive line as the weakness, yet it
didn’t in April?  Why?  Again, I title all this one simple thing —
front office malpractice.