Could the Commanders pursue OL Andrew Wylie in free agency?
If the Chiefs allow starting right tackle Andrew Wylie to hit the market, should the Commanders be interested?
Earlier this week I wrote about the possibility of the Commanders potentially pursuing Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown should he be allowed to hit the open market. Much of the idea of that post was based around the link between the Chiefs and the Commanders now that Eric Bieniemy has joined Washington. I don’t think Brown is particularly likely to hit the open market or sign in Washington if he does. But one Kansas City offensive lineman could be a better fit in Washington.
Both of the Chiefs’ starting tackles are set to hit free agency and while it is anticipated the Chiefs will do their best to retain both, right tackle Andrew Wylie could well hit the market if Brown takes up a significant chunk of the Chiefs available cap space. Wylie went undrafted back in 2017 and bounced around a few different teams in his rookie year before eventually landing with the Chiefs. Kansas City then developed him, initially using him at guard before he shifted outside to tackle a few years ago. He appears to have found a home at right tackle.
Interestingly, Wylie is a very different type of tackle to Orlando Brown on the other side of the Chiefs offensive line. At 6-foot-8, 340 pounds, Brown is a monstrous force that can pancake defenders in the run game and shut down bull rushes in pass protection. Wylie isn’t small, listed at 6-foot-5, 304 pounds, but he doesn’t have the same power as Brown. Instead, he’s more agile and relies more on his quickness than his strength. This makes him more of a fit for a zone running team.
Here we have an example of Wylie working on the back side of a zone run play. As the right tackle, his job here is to reach across the face of the defensive tackle aligned in the B gap inside of him and cut him off from the front side of the play. Off the snap, you can see Wylie’s quickness. His first few steps are used to gain ground and get play side of the defender. By his third step, he’s done such a good job reaching the defender that he’s able to flip his body around and completely seal him off on the back side of the play. Had the front side of the run been blocked better, this could easily have opened up a huge hole in the middle of the defense for the running back to cut into.
Having that type of ability to reach blocks at tackle has a big knock on effect down the line. Many tackles can’t reach that block so easily and thus need a guard to stay with them to help secure the block, but because Wylie can reach that block, the guard inside of him is free to work to the play side and help the center which then has a domino effect all the way down the line.
But it’s not just his ability to reach blocks that stands out in the run game. That athleticism helps him in lots of situations.
This is another zone scheme run to the right, but the Chiefs mix in a twist. The running back starts to the left side of the quarterback, which would typically indicate to the defense that the running back would be working to the right side of the line. The 49ers respond by having a linebacker slide over a few extra steps to the right side of the line, but actually, all this does is take him out of position. Wylie is ultimately responsible for that linebacker, but his first job is to work inside and help the right guard secure his block.
Thanks to the scheme helping pull the linebacker out of position, Wylie knows he can fully commit to helping the right guard before peeling off to account for the linebacker. He quickly shuffles across and lands a strong punch to force the defensive tackle down the line. With that defender now secured by the guard, Wylie peels off and works backwards towards the linebacker. He picks up the block and opens up a big cut back lane for the running back, who hits the hole and works freely into the secondary.
Having that mobility on the offensive line can really help the coaches get creative with designs and set up plays on the edge because they know lineman like Wylie are mobile enough to get out in front of plays like screens and jet sweeps and make critical blocks in space.
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