What DE Dorance Armstrong brings to the Washington Commanders
Breaking down what the Commanders are getting in new free agent defensive end Dorance Armstrong
One of the first moves the Washington Commanders made when free agency began last week was probably one of the most obvious. The Commanders signed defensive end Dorance Armstrong, who follows in the footsteps of head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. to Washington. Armstrong was a fourth-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2018 and worked his way more and more into the defensive line rotation over the course of the past six seasons. His production jumped when Dan Quinn took over as the defensive coordinator in Dallas so when Armstrong became a free agent, the Cowboys faced some cap trouble and Washington had a big need at defensive end, the move felt almost inevitable.
So what exactly are the Commanders getting in Armstrong? The 26-year-old edge rusher is listed at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds and has incredibly long arms. He has nearly 35-inch arms which is a huge asset when used correctly.
On this play, Armstrong lines up against Eagles’ right tackle Lane Johnson, one of the best tackles in the NFL over the last decade. Armstrong comes off the snap and quickly gets up the field, convincing Johnson he’s working a speed rush on the edge which forces Johnson to focus on getting outside to cut it off. Armstrong then suddenly switches to a long-arm rush, extending his inside hand and landing it on Johnson’s chest. From there, Armstrong locks out that arm and makes full use of his length, with Johnson unable to clear the hand or reach him. That enables Armstrong to drive Johnson back towards the quarterback before quickly disengaging and getting inside to sack the quarterback.
Lane Johnson is 6-foot-6 and has 35-inch arms too, so this rep just goes to show how effective that length can be when used correctly by Armstrong. Unfortunately, he doesn’t make the most of that length advantage often enough.
This time we see Armstrong working against Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater, who notoriously was criticized for having 33-inch arms that many deemed too short to play tackle at the NFL level. He should be a prime candidate for Armstrong to attack and take advantage of with his length, but as we see here he fails to do so. Armstrong gets up the field quickly but Slater is able to cut off his speed outside. Armstrong does then get his hands inside on Slater’s chest, but keeps his elbows bent, allowing Slater to stay close. By doing that, Slater is able to grab on and shut down his rush, but had Armstrong been able to lock out his arms at full extension, Slater wouldn’t have been able to reach him and grab on in this way.
It’s definitely an area he can still improve, but it’s something that he really should be making more use of. The issues length can cause even the best tackles, as we saw with that play against Lane Johnson, shouldn’t be understated and Armstrong should really lean more into developing his long-arm rush into a consistent weapon. At 26, he’s certainly still young enough to improve so that’s something to keep an eye on.
Armstrong also offers the ability to rush from all over the field. The Cowboys under Quinn loved to move guys around and rush them all from different positions and I’d be shocked if Quinn and Whitt didn’t look to do the same in Washington. Armstrong is already well versed in doing that from his time under Quinn in Dallas and because of that he understands how to use his quickness against slower interior lineman to cause them problems.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Bullock's Film Room to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.