Can Sam Cosmi help Washington Football Team re-establish dominant offensive line?

When the Washington Football Team was at its best, it was led by a dominant offensive line, most famously The Hogs, the NFL’s best offensive line in the 1980s and early 1990s. That big, brawling line decimated opposing defenses and led the way for running back John Rigging to become a Super Bowl MVP and earn a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Since then, the team has yet to put together a line that even vaguely resembles the dominance of the group that included tackles Joe Jacoby and George Starke, guards Russ Grimm and Mark May and center Jeff Bostic. There have been elite blockers since then in the nation’s capital, like tackles Jim Lachey, Chris Samuels, Jon Jansen and Trent Williams, and current guard Brandon Scherff. But the organization has been on a relentless quest to assemble the kind of line that can — to fall back on a popular coachspeak cliché — impose its will on the opposition, able to dominate even when the defense knows what’s coming.

The next piece to the puzzle might well be Sam Cosmi, the best Texas offensive lineman in years. The Longhorns’ former left tackle was drafted by the WFT in the second round — with the 51^st overall selection — in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Expectations in Washington are high … but how he fits with the team, at least initially, is unclear. The hope within the team is that Cosmi becomes a fixture at left tackle … at some point.

“We’re going to put him out at left tackle and see how he does,” Washington head coach Ron Rivera said when asked where Cosmi fits with his new team. “That’s what he did in college, he played it very well in college, and that’s why we think he’s a really good pick for us, because of what he does. He’s going to get an opportunity to compete, and we’ll see how it goes.

But is he ready for that role?

Start with the [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level3)]team’s returning linemen. Since Williams and the team went through a messy divorce, ending with the team trading him to San Francisco, the team has gone through a slew of candidates at the position. Former third-round draft pick Geron Christian was given another chance, but struggled to stay healthy, and struggled to block anyone when he got on the field.

The hope was that the left tackle of the future was uncovered in last year’s draft, when Washington grabbed former LSU left tackle Saahdiq Charles. But he was limited in training camp by injuries, moved to left guard, played exactly two snaps and suffered a season-ending injury.

Rivera and his staff were left to choose from a few journeyman-type linemen, and settled on former Kansas State Cornelius Lucas, a career backup who, to be fair, performed admirably in 2020. But he is viewed as a stopgap at best, so the search continued, leading to the selection of Cosmi.

While critics have suggested Cosmi’s technique and footwork needs improvement (hint: that can be said about just about every lineman entering the NFL), he has prototypical NFL size and elite athleticism for the position. And while some linemen enter the professional ranks a little green after waiting their turn to crack the starting lineup in college, Cosmi got on the field as a redshirt freshman at UT, and remained in the starting lineup throughout his career.

“The more experience you have under your belt, the better,” Cosmi said after the first day of Washington’s rookie mini-camp. I think … my experience at Texas (was) constantly going against great competitors. It’s going to help me, going forward, with all these great competitors here, I think my experience at Texas really helps me with that aspect.”

However, the competition at tackle has changed since Cosmi was drafted. Washington signed former Chicago Bears Pro Bowler Charles Leno, who surprisingly was released after the Bears drafted former Oklahoma State tackle Tevin Jenkins. Leno is not Jacoby or Lachey or Samuels or Williams, but he is a solid, proven veteran, it’s safe to assume that after he inked a one-year deal worth $5 million, he will be given every chance to start.

One of the traits Rivera prizes is what he calls “position flex” — the ability to move around and fill multiple roles — and after drafting Cosmi, Rivera said he saw the former Longhorn as a player who theoretically could play other positions. But barring injury, the right tackle spot belongs to Morgan Moses, who has started 97 of 104 games in his first NFL season.

What all of this likely means is that, barring an injury, Cosmi will share the team’s “swing tackle” role with Lucas, becoming a valuable backup at both tackle positions, able to learn from Leno, Morgan and offensive line coach John Matsko. If he picks everything up as quickly as Rivera seems to think he can, Cosmi might slide in to a starting role as soon as next season.
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level3)] [horns3] [/s2If]