Dan Quinn confirms suspicion that Commanders' key starter will change positions after huge trade during free agency
Upgrading the tackle position was one of the Washington Commanders' biggest priorities heading into the offseason. Sure enough, Adam Peters made it happen thanks to his decision to trade for All-Pro left tackle Laremy Tunsil.Immediately, it put the future of two players in question: Brandon Coleman and Andrew Wylie.That's because both players started at tackle […]
Upgrading the tackle position was one of the Washington Commanders' biggest priorities heading into the offseason. Sure enough, Adam Peters made it happen thanks to his decision to trade for All-Pro left tackle Laremy Tunsil.
Immediately, it put the future of two players in question: Brandon Coleman and Andrew Wylie.
That's because both players started at tackle last year. 999 of Coleman's 1,000 snaps on the offensive line came on the left side of the line and all of Wylie's 1,097 snaps were on the right side. With Tunsil now on the left side, one of these guys are guaranteed to lose their starting status in 2025.
Considering Wylie's versatility, a lot of people assumed Coleman would get the first crack at the starting right tackle gig while Wylie became the swing tackle. Especially after Wylie agreed to a restructured deal that took a year off the contract and cut his cash flow from $6.75 million to $4 million in 2025.
Sure enough, Dan Quinn confirmed that suspicion when he spoke with reporters at the NFL's Spring Meetings on Tuesday. Coleman will move over to right tackle, where he and Wylie will battle it out for the starting job. Off the bat, it makes more sense to go with Coleman as the true right tackle instead of Wylie since the second-year player has a higher ceiling. Wylie's shown he can play both the left and right side, therefore, Wylie makes a better swing tackle candidate at the start.
There's also a chance Coleman could help at guard while Sam Cosmi recovers from the ACL injury he suffered in the playoffs. That also makes sense, as he could play right guard and Wylie could plug in at tackle. Either way, Coleman's new home is on the right side of the offensive line.
If Coleman can step up and provide quality snaps on a consistent basis at right tackle, then the Commanders offensive line will be really good shape heading into 2025. Especially once Cosmi returns to the fold.
And if he can't, Washington has a guy in Wylie who can be a band-aid for the year. Sure, his ceiling may be low, but he's proven he can at least go out and get the job done at a certain level. He knows the offense and has chemistry with the current group, which always helps.
Either way, the Commanders have a sound plan up front and it should help them improve quite a bit after an up and down 2024 season in the offensive trenches.
Commanders can surprise a lot of people by making a move in the first round of the draft that no one is talking about
We are just barely more than three weeks away from the NFL Draft and the Washington Commanders' path for that weekend is a lot more clear than it was at season's end. The franchise's moves in free agency really helped with the big picture, as decisions like the Deebo Samuel/Laremy Tunsil trades and Javon Kinlaw/Will […]
