Cold Patch at Left & Tackle

It's not permanent but it does have to work

With Chris Samuels out three to six weeks (which BTW may cross over into the regular season), the Redskins need to get a plan of action to cover Chris' position of left tackle. As we noted when Chris turned 30, he has been blocking the left side of the Redskins line for his entire eight years in the NFL, has been to four Pro Bowls, including the last two and was a major player on the only unit that did not disappoint in any way last season.

Mike Wise and Jason LaCanfora in the Washington Post both have good pieces on this, and it merits some discussion.

So if Chris is out, then who plays left tackle? I guess it depends on how you look at it and who gets to decide. Undrafted University of Maryland rookie Stephon Heyer took most of the snaps with the first team Tuesday, but that probably is more of an experiment, or a reminder to veteran backups Taylor Whitley and Jason Fabini that nothing is guaranteed. As an undrafted rookie, Stephon has no expectations, but Taylor and Jason are expected to cowboy up and play.

But wait you say, there's a natural left tackle right there on the roster, Todd Wade. He played left tackle in Houston in 2005, messed his knee up good, went on IR and was signed by the Redskins just before the 2006 season. Todd appeared in three games last season, starting one, mainly in place of Jon Jansen at right tackle, and played well.* When Derrick Dockery left in free agency to the Bills, Todd was re-signed and moved to left guard to replace Derrick.

So it would make sense to move Todd over to left tackle and move Taylor or Jason up in the order to left guard, right? Guys shuffle around all the time. In fact, Mike Wise points out that Joe Bugel, the Redskins offensive line coach, is a guy who

... comes from the Woody Hayes school, in which you're either a football player or you're not -- specialization be damned. He told his linemen yesterday he would shuffle them around like a "deck of cards." He told them the story about Joe Jacoby tripping on the carpet at Giants Stadium in the 1980s and wrenching his knee, how Buges turned to Russ Grimm and said, "Grimmy, you're starting at left tackle."

Chris Samuels to Joe Jacoby I can go with but whoa nellie, you just compared Todd Wade to Russ Grimm.

Joe Bugel does not want to move Todd back from guard to tackle, as Todd still has a learning curve to getting at guard play, where the physical sets and action space are different from tackle. Joe Bugel says Jason Fabini will get the reps at left tackle before Todd will, which is probably why the rook is first in the depth chart in practice. Might as well paste yesterday's depth chart on Jason Fabini's locker, circle Stephon's name in red ink with a big arrow saying GET IT?

There's still time to test out the rook and the vets before making a decision, but in the end I tend to agree with Mike Wise; there's a former starting left tackle, a second round draft pick with over 80 NFL games experience on the roster. If all you have to do is get through two, maybe three regular season games at the most, put the guy with the experience, the body and the tools in the position. I don't want the Redskins to come out 0-2 because Jason Campbell keeps getting blindsided.



* After the New Orleans game last season, Joe Gibbs praised Todd as 'super-conscientious,' which I guess means he doesn't litter and thinks before he speaks.

Asphalt cold patch from here.