What does Charles Leno bring to the Washington Football Team?

Taking a closer look at Washington's new left tackle

Washington made a surprise move by signing left tackle Charles Leno after he was recently cut by the Bears. Washington entered the offseason with a need at left tackle, but drafted Sam Cosmi in the second-round while Cornelius Lucas was solid down the stretch as the starting left tackle last year. The team surprised again when it decided to release starting right tackle Morgan Moses along with Geron Christian, who started at left tackle going into last season before getting hurt. This now leaves Leno as the clear starter at left tackle while Lucas and Cosmi battle it out for the right tackle spot. 

But was this a necessary move for Washington? Was Leno an upgrade for Lucas and Cosmi at left tackle and should this signing have caused them to release Moses? Let’s take a closer look at what Leno brings to Washington.

What stands out immediately with Leno’s game is how good his feet are. He’s athletic and has quick feet which enables him to do a lot of things that not every tackle can. He’s excellent at mixing up his pass sets, meaning instead of always using a typical kickslide to cut off a pass rusher, he’ll mix in different techniques to keep them from getting a rhythm on his sets. Leno loves to use quick sets regularly, where instead of dropping back, he steps towards the defender and closes the gap between them in order to land an early punch and cut off the initial rush.

This play comes against Buccaneers pass rusher Shaq Barrett, who led the league in sacks back in 2019. Barrett is quick off the edge and can beat a lot of tackles with his speed, so Leno decides to use a quick set rather than dropping back and potentially getting beat for speed. He takes a half step back before then stepping out towards Barrett. This closes the gap and allows Leno to get his hands on Barrett early, before the defender was expecting contact. Leno lands a strong punch which nullifies Barrett’s initial rush to the edge and also allows him to keep his hands on Barrett’s chest. From there, the defender is forced to change his rush to plan B, but Leno already has all the leverage and the ball is being thrown.

That quick set is a huge weapon for Leno. He used it regularly throughout every game I watched of him last season, switching up his sets against various styles of pass rusher.

This time, Leno works against former Washington pass rusher Preston Smith, now with the Packers. Smith doesn’t have the burst and speed to the edge that Barrett does, and wins more with his length than his speed. That can be an issue for tackle’s that let Smith come to them and engage in the block, because Smith has a longer reach than them. So instead of letting Smith come to him, Leno uses that same quick set to close the gap and prevent Smith from dictating the rush. Smith reacts ok to the quick set, getting his hands on Leno’s chest, but because Leno attacked the block so quickly, Smith isn’t able to fully extend his arms and make use of his length. Leno then resets his hands to grab underneath the shoulder pads and Smith is completely negated. 

Leno is very good at mixing up his sets throughout the game to keep defenders guessing what is coming. This can slow down some rushers because they’re waiting to see what kind of set they’ll get, which gives Leno an advantage. This isn’t to say Leno is a flawless tackle, however. He does have a few issues in pass protection at times when he’s not winning with quick sets.

Leno likes to use a two-hand punch, which if it lands can stun a rusher and win the block almost instantly. However, the issue with it is both hands are being thrown at the same time and if the defender anticipates it, they can use a side swipe to knock both hands down and leave Leno with no ability to recover. That’s exactly what happens here. Leno lunges a bit at Smith, throwing a two-handed punch but doesn’t follow it with his feet. That leaves him bending from the waist and pulls his center of gravity forward and off balance. Smith anticipates the punch coming and swipes with his outside hand to knock both of Leno’s hands down. That clears a path to the edge for Smith, who works past Leno to pressure the quarterback as he throws.

The better rushers in the league can and will take advantage of Leno’s two-handed punches. Occasionally he misses with his outside hand too, rather than hitting the outside pec of the defender, he can throw it down the middle, which leaves him vulnerable to the same swipe move. 

Overall though, Leno is a solid, reliable pass protector. He’s not one of the top 10 left tackles in the league, but he’s not in the bottom 10 either. He can be trusted on that left side, certainly for a year while Cosmi works on some technical issues he has. I’ll actually be very interested to see how he does in training camp. His use of various pass sets will be a good test for the likes of Chase Young and Montez Sweat, but Young has a tremendous side swipe move that could take advantage of Leno’s flaws too.

In the run game, Leno fits with what Washington had success with late on last season. The interior trio of Wes Schweitzer, Chase Roullier and Brandon Scherff generated tremendous movement in the zone run scheme. Leno is a solid zone scheme blocker too, with the feet and quickness to reach and seal runs on the back side as well as generate movement on the front side.

Here against the Giants, the Bears run an outside zone play to the right. Leno is tasked with reaching across the face of the defensive tackle in the B gap and sealing him off on the back side, allowing the left guard to climb and reach the linebacker. Leno gets a strong jump off the snap and quickly reaches across the face of the defensive tackle to prevent any penetration. He gets a little help from the left guard who lands a decent punch to the defender to hold him up, but Leno quickly takes over to allow the guard to move on. Leno secures his position on the defender before turning to cut him off. The guard works up to block the linebacker, leaving a huge cutback lane for the running back, who hits the hole on his way to nearly 25 yards on the carry.

While Leno is an athletic tackle that can create movement in the zone scheme, he also has power to shove guys out of position when he needs to.

On this play, the Bears run an inside zone scheme from the shotgun. Inside zone schemes from the gun typically end up being cut back behind the tackle on the back side, in this case Leno. Leno has Aaron Donald aligned in the B gap over the outside shoulder of the guard, so he works with the guard to ensure Donald doesn’t have one of his highlight plays of bursting into the backfield. Donald works across the face of the guard initially to play the back side A gap, but the guard manages to hold him up and buy time for Leno to work across. Leno arrives and shoves Donald down the line, knowing the ball is likely to be cut back behind him anyway. Leno’s shove washes Donald out of the play, but also puts him in a perfect position to pick up the linebacker, cutting him off and washing him down the line too.

If Washington continues to lean on the zone scheme, as it did successfully with Antonio Gibson last season, then Leno is a strong fit at left tackle in the run game. Overall he’s a solid player that is likely the best tackle on the roster for 2021. He’s not Trent Williams, which is why he’s only on a one-year deal. But that could work out well for Washington if he can hold down the left side for a year, allowing Cosmi to work out some flaws on the right side or as the primary back up behind Leno and Lucas before taking over at left tackle in 2022. I’d imagine Cosmi is still the long-term plan at left tackle, but Leno is likely the most dependable option at left tackle in 2021.