O-Line Goes From Flatliners To Heartbeats
Follow
By DERON SNYDER
Entering this season, the Redskins’ offensive line wasn’t known for performing in beautiful harmony with precise choreography like “The Five Heartbeats.”
Washington’s group up front was more like “Trent Williams and the Flatliners,” with the lead facing questions about his dedication, concentration and maturity.
The O-line was considered one of the team’s biggest problems, an area with plenty of mediocrity but little depth. Aside from drafting third-rounder Josh LeRibeus, fifth-rounder Adam Gettis and sixth-rounder Tom Compton, coach Mike Shanahan had done nothing to bolster the unit in the offseason. When star left tackle Williams went down in Week 3, he was replaced by Jordan Black, a man who spent last year out of the NFL — and it showed.
“There are a number of people that were worried about our offensive line,” Shanahan said last week. ” The offensive line is a group of people working together as a unit that give you a chance to be successful. Everybody’s got a piece of the puzzle — your offensive line, your tight end, your quarterback, your wide receivers. That’s why we’re very successful right now, because we have a group of people all going in the same direction. They know the system, they know each other, they’ve been fairly healthy there. They’re working together.”
A funny thing happened as we were holding our noses and complaining about the O-line’s smell. The offense has continued to blossom, from the 40-point, 459-yard outbreak against the defense-averse New Orleans Saints in Week 1, through the turnover-impaired 23 points and 480 yards Sunday against the New York Giants.
