By Adam Aniba
Clearly Washington's offensive line is a lot worse without Chase Roullier and their 9 sacks given up against the Eagles, were testament of that. Sunday's starting center, Wes Schweitzer’s skill set is better suited to play guard and not center.
Nine year veteran G Andrew Norwell has visibly lost his edge and second year RT Sam Cosmi still has a long way to go technique wise. These issues are at the forefront of the offenses struggles, which has led to Carson Wentz being hit 28 times over the last two weeks.
Wentz hasn't helped the cause, displaying his lack of pocket awareness and an obvious decline in athleticism, since his time in Philadelphia. In saying that, Wentz has sporadically displayed the ability to get the ball down field and find his top receivers when given time.
Adding another interior lineman seems like a no brainer at this point, even though they just added veteran center Nick Martin.
Signing free guard Ereck Flowers would be a step in the right direction, albeit not the solution. After being selected #9 overall by the Giants in '15, the former Hurricanes tackle struggled against NFL pass rushers.
Flowers had a resurgence when moved to guard in Washington, having two separate stints in '19 and '21. It came as a surprise to many fans, when Flowers was released by Washington in a cap saving move, saving the team $10 million against the '22 CAP.
Per ESPN Advanced Analytics, Washington's offensive line as a group finished the '21 season ranked #9 in regards to pass blocking win rate with 62% and a 75% run blocking win rate, which ranked #1 in the league. Of course the loss of Brandon Scherff, has also lead to the decline in production and amount of pressures/hits Wentz has sustained thus far.
It's a mystery to many fans why Flowers is still available, considering there are no reports of an injury or a desire to retire. Although Washington only has $2.57 million in available cap room, that should be more than enough. Flowers made $3 million in '21 and should come significantly cheaper with playing time/performance incentives, which would lower his potential cap hit.
Flowers was dependable, displaying his durability, playing in 16 games in both seasons during his time in Washington. Only 3 games in, the Commanders may have already lost Roullier for the season and inexperienced interior depth compounds the issue.
If Ron Rivera wants to seriously challenge for the NFC East title with the 3-0 Eagles clearly the current favorite, the time is now. Signing Flowers and potentially getting Young & Robinson back next week, could be the boost needed to turn their season around.
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