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 51st 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 [horns3]
