Will Saahdiq Charles or Chris Paul win the battle for the Commanders starting LG spot?
Taking a closer look at the battle for the starting left guard spot
One of the biggest objectives for the Washington Commanders this offseason was to improve the offensive line. The team signed Andrew Wylie and Nick Gates in free agency and followed that up by drafting Ricky Stromberg and Braeden Daniels in the middle rounds of the draft. Most of the offensive line spots can be penciled in now, with Charles Leno at left tackle, Gates battling rookie Stromberg at center, Sam Cosmi moving inside full time to right guard and Wylie securing the right tackle spot.
However, there is one spot still up for grabs and that is left guard. Ron Rivera has consistently mentioned Saahdiq Charles and Chris Paul as the two candidates in an open competition for the starting role this offseason. Now it is still possible that the Commanders add a veteran to the competition during training camp or if another offensive lineman gets cut elsewhere. With the flexibility of Wylie to play either tackle or guard, the team could be on the lookout for a veteran left guard or right tackle knowing that Wylie can fill the other spot. But as things stand, the competition appears to be a two horse race between Charles and Paul.
So what can we expect from the battle for the left guard spot and who is most likely to win? Let’s take a closer look.
Run Blocking
In Charles’ four games last season, he was inconsistent when it came to run blocking. There were times when he flashed some real potential and other times when he was disappointing.
On this play against the Bears, Charles works from the right guard position and looks to take on the linebacker blitzing in the A gap. He anticipates the linebacker attacking that gap, so quickly positions himself to pick up the defender off the snap. After taking a step to position himself correctly, Charles then waits for the linebacker to approach before exploding into him. Charles latches onto the linebacker and keeps his feet moving, washing the defender down the line and taking him out of the play completely.
But for every play that showed promise, there were plays that disappointed.
This time, Charles looks to be a little more aggressive in climbing to reach the linebacker on the second level, rather than letting the linebacker come to him. Climbing to the second level can be tough on a lot of offensive lineman because it requires a certain level of athleticism to first get up to the second level of the defense and then it’s another thing entirely to engage and maintain a block in space. Charles does a really good job here climbing up to the second level in a hurry and making up ground to close in on the linebacker. However, once he gets there, he fails to really engage in the block. The linebacker reads him coming and spots the running back cutting back behind him, so he falls back a gap behind Charles, who struggles to slow his momentum and change direction in space. That allows the linebacker to work off Charles relatively easily and make a play on the running back.
Being able to climb to the second level and being able to engage in blocks in space are two very different skills. Charles is clearly capable of reaching the second level as we saw there, but he’s very inconsistent with engaging with and sustaining blocks in space on the second level. Paul, meanwhile, showed he’s very capable of doing both.
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