Redskins: Five pleasant surprises halfway through the 2019 season
By Ian Cummings
No. 3 – Donald Penn and Ereck Flowers forming a decent left side
Before the regular season, if you asked any Redskins fan about the state of the offensive line’s left side, they would quickly retreat into a state of dazed dysphoria, and walk away, frantically grumbling about Shaun Lauvao, Arie Kouandjio, and Josh LeRibeus.
In a surprising development, however, the Redskins once-makeshift left side has delayed dissatisfaction after eight games. There’s no talk of Ereck Flowers walking through the ongoing revolving door at left guard. There’s still talk of the Trent Williams situation at left tackle, but those talks do not entail the performance of Donald Penn.
Penn and Flowers have both been decent overall, and solid at best, in their new roles on the Redskins offensive line. Penn’s experience at left tackle is clearly a boon for him, while Flowers has quickly developed in his newly assigned role at left guard. Bill Callahan spoke Flowers’ praises in a recent press conference, and he clearly sees Flowers as a potential long-term solution.
Penn won’t be a long-term solution at his age, but for a Redskins team that had their starting left tackle so suddenly hold out, Penn has been a stabilizing figure. He hasn’t looked completely out of place, he’s generally done what’s asked of him, and he could buy the Redskins some time at left tackle if they need to restart. These two starters clearly have some chemistry with one another, and against all odds, they’ve combined to form a formidable left side.