Left tackle is an underrated and overlooked position of need for Washington this offseason. Washington found a good interior combination with Wes Schweitzer at left guard, Chase Roullier at center and Brandon Scherff at right guard. Morgan Moses had his best year in recent memory at right tackle too, leaving the biggest hole on the line at the most important spot. Cornelius Lucas played solidly after taking over for the injured Geron Christian during the season, but neither player made a strong enough claim for the position long term.
Quality left tackles rarely hit the open market in free agency, and unless Ron Rivera decides to make a move to bring back Trent Williams a year after trading him, Washington’s best bet to find its left tackle of the future is in the draft. One player that has been regularly mocked to Washington is Virginia Tech left tackle Christian Darrisaw.
Darrisaw is an intriguing prospect not only because he played locally and is from the area, but because on paper he fits in well with what Washington has on the offensive line. With Schweitzer, Roullier and Scherff, Washington found lots of success running the zone scheme. It’s a scheme that requires more athletic lineman to get defenders running horizontally in order to open up vertical rushing lanes for the back to cut into. Schweitzer and Scherff are particularly effective in this scheme as they are able to reach blocks that bigger, slower lineman can’t. Darrisaw is of the same ilk. Virginia Tech regularly asked him to reach tough blocks and seal defenders off and he was consistently up to the task.
These three plays are all the same scheme, zone plays to the right with Darrisaw on the back side of the play. Each time, Darrisaw is tasked with reaching across a gap to get across the face of the defensive tackle aligned closer to the left guard. On each occasion, he manages to do so and makes it look far easier than it is. He reaches across the face of the defensive tackles and seals them off on the back side, creating a big gap between himself and the left guard for the running back to cut into.
Those were only three examples, but Virginia Tech ran this play five or six times and Darrisaw executed his assignment perfectly each time. His athleticism clearly stands out and that makes him a good fit with what Washington is looking to build up front. Darrisaw isn’t just athletic though, he also has natural strength to bully smaller defenders when he climbs to the second level.
First play timestamp: 0:00
Notes: On this first play, Virginia Tech runs another zone scheme to the right. However, while Darrisaw initially works to the defensive tackle, he doesn’t look to reach him and seal him off. Instead, he just looks to help the guard gain control of the block before peeling off to work up to the linebacker. Darrisaw gets up to the linebacker and initially seals him off. The linebacker does his best to get back inside to plug the clear lane that opens up, but Darrisaw gets his hands on the defender and begins driving him back. Darrisaw drives the linebacker about 20 yards down the field before the whistle is blown and then a further five yards after the whistle just for good measure.
Second play timestamp: 0:12
Notes: Here we see more athleticism from Darrisaw. He and the left guard exchange roles, giving the left guard the easier down-block while Darrisaw wraps around him before working up to the second level. Darrisaw makes the move look easy and latches onto the linebacker. Once engaged in the block, Darrisaw drives the linebacker 10 yards down the field.
Third play timestamp: 0:21
Notes: This time Darrisaw climbs to the second level and picks up a safety in the box. His first shove knocks the defender back and off balance and Darrisaw spots an opportunity to finish the block with a statement. He attacks the defender with a second shove that pushes him to the ground. This gives the running back a lane to work with as he cuts back behind Darrisaw and into the open field on his way to a long touchdown run.
In terms of the running game, Darrisaw would be an excellent fit in Washington. He has the required athleticism to execute the zone scheme that the rest of the offensive line excel at, while also having some power to switch it up occasionally. The primary role of the left tackle, however, is to pass protect on the blind side of the quarterback. Darrisaw is somewhat raw as a pass protector. Virginia Tech appeared to be more focused on the run game than passing, so Darrisaw is more refined in that aspect of his game, but that’s not to say his pass protection isn’t good or will be a fatal flaw for him at the NFL level. In fact, his athleticism should stand him in good stead against the explosive edge rushers he’ll face every week in the NFL.
One trait I noticed from Darrisaw that was encouraging was his patience. Some tackles are afraid of getting beat to the edge and are too eager to try and get their hands on defenders so they feel like they have some control. This can lead to lunging at defenders and playing off balance, which can be easily taken advantage of. But Darrisaw regularly showed patience in his pass sets, allowing the block to come to him.
These are two examples from the game against Miami. Notice how the edge rusher works outside and takes a wide path to the edge on both plays. Some tackles, probably less athletic than Darrisaw, might panic about getting beaten outside and lunge at the defender, but Darrisaw shows good patience. He kick-slides calmly and waits for the defender to engage him. Once the defender gets in range and commits to his rush move, that’s when Darrisaw strikes with his hands to negate the rush.
Having patience is a good trait and it’s likely enhanced due to his athleticism ensuring him that he’s unlikely to get beaten to the edge. He does have to be careful that he doesn’t get sloppy with that patience and leave himself exposed to rushers that convert speed to power.
On this play, we see that patience again from Darrisaw, but he makes a slight mistake. Instead of landing the first strike to the chest of the defender, he’s slightly slow with his hands, almost surprised by the defender suddenly converting to a power rush. That leaves his chest exposed and the defender transitions into a power rush, landing a punch with his inside arm to Darrisaw’s chest and locking out his elbow to try and drive Darrisaw back. Fortunately, Darrisaw is able to drop anchor and absorb the rush. He gets both hands under the shoulder pads of the defender and uses that leverage to drive the defender up, taking his forward momentum and pushing it upwards to negate the rush.
Being able to drop an anchor like that and change the direction of the defenders momentum is a good ability to have, but he’ll need to make sure he does a better job with his hands to prevent defenders getting into his chest as easily as that one did. A better rusher might have gone with a single long-arm rush and Darrisaw might not have been able to reach the shoulder pads to change the direction of the momentum.
His hands are something that I think he can improve, as is the case with just about every tackle that enters the league. His placement can be off occasionally, which can lead to some issues on the edge.
Both of these plays show Darrisaw struggling to cut off a rush to the edge. On both occasions, he looks to cut off the rush by landing his outside arm on the outside shoulder of the defender. However, both times the placement is off and his outside arm ends up sliding up to the facemask of the defender, which is a penalty. With both plays, the inside hand is also poorly placed, which is natural with the first hand misses the initial placement. Landing that outside hand to the outside shoulder of the rusher can be an effective way of cutting off their path to the edge, but it can also be risky. If the hand placement misses, it can work too close to the center of the defender’s body, which leaves it vulnerable to be swatted down and the edge unprotected.
The rawness of his pass protection likely prevents Darrisaw from becoming a top 10 pick that his athletic profile suggests he has the potential to be. For Washington, this could allow them to land a player with a tremendous athletic profile and huge upside at 19 overall. The technique can be coached up while the athleticism can’t be taught, but there is always risk that the player doesn’t reach his full potential. Given the upswing in performance we’ve seen from Schweitzer, Roullier and Moses under offensive line coach John Matsko, Washington should feel confident in his ability to develop the raw talent. If the team decides to go for an offensive lineman early in the draft, Darrisaw could be an ideal fit.
Hoping that 1 of the top 4 QBs or top 4 pass catchers (Chase, Smith, Waddle or Pitts) drops to us at 19. In the likely even they don’t, I would have no issue in them selecting Darrisaw. Having a starting OL on a rookie deal is important given the amount of money they have tied up at that position group (assuming Sherff resigns).
Without a combine, will the pro days give the tale of the tape? It’s not all about the measurables, but I would like to see how his athleticism stacks up. The chance to get a LT at #19 is an easy choice in my POV. Run to the podium.