The 5 O’Clock Club: The Washington Commanders’ Week 1 offensive line unit - starters and backups (2024)

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With training camp still more than 2 months away and a lot of unknowns still surrounding a number of Washington’s offensive linemen, I thought today might be a good day to consider the depth behind the presumed starters.

Of course, it’s probably fair to say that even the starting-five is still open to some level of debate (and, hopefully, upgrading), but I’ll lay out my own thoughts here to provide a jumping-off point for agreement, disagreement and refinement.

I think it’s a fairly safe bet that the team will go into the season with 9 or 10 offensive linemen on the 53-man roster (The unit can, of course, be bolstered by practice squad elevations in any given week, but that discussion is probably over-the-horizon).

In my mind, I think we can pencil in 7 names with a high degree of certainty that — barring injury — will be on the Week 1 roster.

Michael Deiter
I think the shakiest name on that list is Michael Deiter, a 27-year-old, 6th year veteran center that was a 3rd round pick of the Dolphins in 2019. After starting 15 games at LG as a rookie, he has basically played every-other-year, with just 22 combined offensive snaps in 2020 & 2022, but 8 starts at center (546 snaps) with Miami in 2021 and 10 starts at center (686 snaps) with Houston in 2023. He was actually on and off the Texans’ practice squad last season.

I toyed with leaving Deiter off of the list of 7 roster ‘locks’, but his $320,000 signing bonus was enough to tip the scales in favor of penciling him in as the backup center. I’m guessing that, with a rookie QB, the coaching staff wants a veteran in the backup role in case anything happens to Tyler Biadasz.

Left & Right Tackles

1. It is certainly possible that the team will acquire one or more veteran tackles to supplement the current roster before the season. For now, however, I think it’s clear that the coaches would roll with Lucas, Wylie & Coleman if the season started today.
2. I understand that some people will want to put Coleman into either (a) a starting role or (b) the right side of the line. In mid-May, I find it hard to project our 3rd round rookie as a Week 1 starter, and I’m equally hesitant to pencil him in at RT despite reports that he ran a few reps on the right side at this week’s OTAs.

That leaves 8 guys battling for 2 or 3 roster spots

Typically, the three backups will be:

a. a swing tackle, capable of playing both RT and LT

b. a center who can also play guard

c. a guard who can slide out to tackle if needed OR a tackle who can slide in to play guard

Ricky Stromberg (C/G)

Yes, Stromberg was a 3rd round pick last year, but that was a different coaching staff. Ricky Stromberg has 26 offensive snaps in the NFL, and in the only game where he got more than 3 snaps, he injured his knee.

Stromberg would appear to be the 3rd center on the depth chart, though he’ll likely have the opportunity to try to beat out Michael Deiter for the backup role behind Biadasz.

Stromberg’s best route to a roster spot would seem to be as a jack-of-all-trades interior lineman, able to play center and both guard positions. With Stromberg under contract through 2026, I doubt the team will give up on him easily, but he’ll have to show an entirely new set of coaches that he was worth the investment of draft capital made in him in 2023. I like Stromberg’s chances of making the 53-man roster.

Chris Paul (G)

Paul is the only other drafted interior lineman on the Commanders roster. As a 7th round pick from the ‘22 draft, however, his clock is ticking.

Paul started 7 games for Washington last season after Saahdiq Charles suffered an injury. It’s notable that no one thought he managed to earn the starting role. The incoming GM paid Nick Allegretti $5.3m per year to convince the career backup LG to come to Washington as the presumed starting left guard.

Paul started 10 games at Right Tackle in college (Tulsa), but I don’t think many people are advocating for him to play at any position other than LG or RG.

Braeden Daniels (T)

The only other drafted lineman on the Washington roster is a tackle. Braeden Daniels was selected by the Commanders in the 4th round of last year’s draft. He tore his rotator cuff in preseason and spent his rookie year on injured reserve. Daniels is smallish for an NFL offensive tackle, standing 6’4”, and weighing in at less than 300 pounds.

It’s possible that one reason that the Washington decision-makers haven’t been more aggressive about pursuing an OT in free agency or the draft is because they like what they have in Daniels. After all, his draft profile on NFL.com from Lance Zierlein rated him as a decent prospect: “Daniels is an impactful down blocker with the quickness to handle zone-blocking duties. Firing out and sustaining drive blocks, however, will require much better patience and footwork to keep from whiffing or falling off blocks. Good backup with the potential to develop into starter.”

The other tackles

• Trent Scott
• Alex Akingbulu
• David Nwaogwugu

Trent Scott - Of the undrafted tackles, Scott seems to be the most familiar to Washington fans. Undrafted in 2018, he spent 2 seasons with the Chargers, 2 seasons with the Panthers (not with Ron Rivera), and a season with the Steelers before signing with Washington last offseason.

Scott is 30 years old, and is listed at 6’5”, 320 pounds. He has been active for 71 career games, with 22 starts. Per Pro Football Focus, he has played 1,803 career offensive snaps, with about 360 of those coming at guard (mostly LG) and the rest at tackle. Scott played 138 offensive snaps for Washington last year — nearly all of them at Left Tackle in the final 3 weeks of the season.

Akingbulu went undrafted out of UCLA & Fresno State in 2022, and started his professional career in the USFL with the Philadelphia Stars. He spent almost the entire 2023 season on Washington’s practice squad. I remember hearing a podcast report on Akingbulu from Nicki Jhabvala during training camp last year. She talked about his athleticism and said that he had a shot at making the roster as a backup. Akingbulu is 26 years old and is listed at 6’5”, 300 pounds.

David Nwaogwugu (last name is pronounced wuh-GOO-goo) is an undrafted free agent out of Toledo and Rutgers. Interestingly, he is not currently listed on the team’s website; this is likely due to an intern taking a sick day. His college website lists him at 6’6”, 301 pounds. I don’t think he has any realistic shot at the 53-man roster, but he could find his way onto the practice squad as a developmental prospect.

The other guards

• Mason Brooks
• Julian Good-Jones

Mason Brooks was signed as an undrafted free agent last year. Ron Rivera’s front office gave him a $35K signing bonus and a $150,000 salary guarantee.

Brooks became something of a camp sensation based on reports from the Commanders’ first padded practice in early August:

Of all the reps that the offensive and defensive linemen ran during 1-on-1’s, the matchup between Mason Brooks and Phidarian Mathis got the most hype. Brooks, an undrafted free agent from Western Kentucky, stood up Mathis on back-to-back plays, causing plenty of excitement from the offensive players and coach Juan Castillo.

The excitement was bolstered by his pre-season form:

The legend that is Mason Brooks has simply grown since the dog days of August 2023 despite never having taken a snap in a regular season NFL game. It feels like Brooks has an opportunity to earn his way onto the roster of a team that is fairly thin at the guard position — especially as he seems to be the most accomplished right guard on the roster after Sam Cosmi.

Julian Good-Jones was undrafted in 2020, but played two seasons of professional football in Canada for the Calgary Stampeders in ‘21 & ‘22. Listed at 6’5, 313 pound, JGJ spent most of the ‘23 season on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad before being signed by Washington in early November, when injuries bit deep into the Commanders roster. He only appeared in the final game of the season, playing 2 snaps against the Cowboys

Here’s my projected 10-man OL depth chart for 2024