Another Block for Redskins' Offensive Line

By Rick Maese
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

On the day Coach Jim Zorn learned he would be without his Pro Bowl left tackle for at least one week, he uncomfortably fielded questions about how the Washington Redskins had built their shaky offensive line. He said that the team made "a strong effort to seek a free agent" in the offseason, and, when asked whether the team should be addressing its line needs in the draft, Zorn said: "Yeah, yeah, sometimes you have to do that."

But for the most part, the Redskins haven't done that in recent years, and they're now faced with fielding a patchwork offensive line against the winless Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Left tackle Chris Samuels is expected to miss the game because of a neck injury, which means Zorn has to shuffle a group of offensive linemen that already had been struggling. Taking over at left tackle and charged with protecting quarterback Jason Campbell's blind side will likely be starting right tackle Stephon Heyer. Mike Williams will play right tackle, and either Chad Rinehart or Will Montgomery will line up at right guard, a spot vacated two weeks ago when Randy Thomas was placed on injured reserve.

Losing Thomas and Samuels is the nightmare scenario coaches had hoped to avoid. In Heyer, they have an undrafted free agent who has struggled mightily on the right side. In Williams, they have someone who on Sunday played his first pro game since 2005. Rinehart has played in two games during his brief two-year career, while Montgomery, after not playing a down last season, has been active and played sparingly in all five Redskins games this season.

"You can only work with what you have right now," Zorn said.

Zorn said Samuels has been playing the past three seasons with stenosis -- a narrowing in the spine -- which is why he plays with large neck pads protruding from the back of his jersey. He suffered a stinger early against Carolina, and, after he had an MRI exam Monday morning, Zorn decided to shut him down for a week, "just to quiet this thing down."

Zorn said he didn't know how long Samuels might be out, and until he's ready to play again, the Redskins will try their best with the spare parts that remain, which probably isn't good news for Campbell. While protecting his quarterback's blind side, Samuels had earned his way to six Pro Bowls.

With Samuels watching from the sideline, Campbell was sacked five times against the Panthers. He has been sacked 13 times on the season; only five quarterbacks in the league have been sacked more. With little time in the pocket, Campbell was unable to make his progressions, and the Redskins had to limit their game plan. Tight end Chris Cooley, one of Campbell's favorite targets, was forced to block at the line rather than run pass routes. He was held without a catch for the first time since November 2004.

Of Campbell's 17 completions Sunday, only three were for more than 10 yards; of his six incompletions, only two came on deep routes.

Zorn said Campbell can't afford to play differently, even if the line charged with protecting him doesn't resemble the team's preseason vision.

"Part of the game for the quarterback is to go at every snap. It doesn't matter who's out there. Every snap he has to go as if he's going to get fully protected," Zorn said. "That's how he has to play the game, so we have no excuses that way, especially at the quarterback position. He goes back and he can't have a sense that there's not going to be protection because he can't do his job."

The Redskins' running game also will be affected. The Panthers' rush defense entered Sunday's game last in the NFL, allowing more than 182 yards per game. The Redskins managed just 74 yards on 24 carries.

"There's room for improvement across the board," said center Casey Rabach. "I'm not singling anybody out. We just need to go back to work."

Through the first five games, the Redskins have favored running the ball behind Samuels and the left side of the line. In fact, they've run 55 plays in that direction, compared with only 34 to the right side.

"We're just trying to improve as a line overall and we're gonna keep pushing," said Williams. "You know, [offensive line coach Joe Bugel] always talks about us, and we stick together and we're gonna make this line the best line we can."

These problems aren't new for the Redskins. They existed before Samuels went down Sunday, and before the first game of the season. In fact, after the Redskins lost six of their final eight in 2008, management identified the offensive line as the single biggest reason for the second-half collapse. But while many in the organization acknowledged the unit was in need of an overhaul, the Redskins in the offseason signed Albert Haynesworth and re-signed DeAngelo Hall. In the draft, they chose defensive end/strong-side linebacker Brian Orakpo with their first pick and didn't select a single offensive lineman.

The team, in fact, has selected only seven offensive linemen in its past 10 drafts and just two since 2004. They haven't used a first-round pick on an offensive lineman since drafting Samuels in 2000.

This offseason, the team's sole upgrade on the line was bringing back Derrick Dockery to replace left guard Pete Kendall.

Now five games later, already two-fifths of the line is composed of reserves.

"The guys we bring in, we expect them to come out to play," said wide receiver Antwaan Randle El. "And certainly they're going to get better at the position they're in."

Asked what gives him confidence in his line's ability, Zorn said: "I think it's the will of the players themselves. I think these guys are staying together and they're trying to pull things together. I think Buges is doing a wonderful job trying to keep them fit together. And not everything is jelling. That doesn't mean we can't overcome these things, and that's what we're aiming to do."

Staff writers Dan Steinberg and Barry Svrluga contributed to this report.