Games are won and lost in the trenches. This is especially evident at this time of year with the playoffs fast approaching.
One of the unsung heroes during the Washington Commanders' unlikely run to the playoffs in 2020 was veteran offensive line coach John Matsko. When he arrived along with Ron Rivera, he inherited a protection that had three veterans on the right side. Center Chase Roullier, guard Brendan Scherff and tackle Morgan Moses formed a decent core, although the edge protector was struggling after the ugly departure of Trent Williams.
The plan was for young draft picks Wes Martin and Geron Christian to take over at left guard and tackle respectively. That’s not what happened.
Matsko got a bounce-back season from Moses and plugged in a couple of journeyman free agents, Wes Schweitzer and Cornelius Lucas, on the left side when the younger players were not up to the task. The line stayed healthy all season and Washington ended up with the NFC East title.
Roullier, Scherff, and Moses were all gone within a few seasons. The Commanders attempted to replace them with Day 2 draft picks — the likes of Saahdiq Charles, Sam Cosmi, Ricky Stromberg, and Braeden Daniels. Aside from Cosmi, none of those players remain with the club.
It became sadly apparent that despite his success in molding a group of veterans into a quality unit, Matsko simply could not work the same magic with young players. Other than Cosmi, who had to move from his college tackle position to guard, Washington failed to develop any of its young draft picks or free agent pickups into professional-caliber linemen.
Commanders must get more from their young defensive linemen
Though it is far too early to reach any conclusion, it is beginning to look like new defensive line coach Darryl Tapp is going to confront the same challenge as Matsko.
Tapp has a perfect resume for an up-and-coming coach. He had a long and successful playing career. He entered the ground floor at a college program and quickly worked his way up to assistant line coach with the San Francisco 49ers. As such, he helped preside over one of the best defensive lines in the league.
General manager Adam Peters thought highly enough of Tapp to bring him to Washington when he took over. He is layered under Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. and has support from Sharrif Floyd and Ryan Kerrigan, who works with the pass rushers. The results have been noticeable.
Over half of the Commanders’ defensive line snaps have been credited to players who were not with the team last year, most of whom had never played together before 2024. When cornerstone tackle Jonathan Allen went down early in the season, it forced even more newcomers to take on greater roles.
Although the Commanders’ defensive line has not exactly been a dominant force, its play has been respectable. It has been improving over time thanks to familiarity and development.
The only fly in the ointment is the same issue that eventually doomed Matsko on the offensive side of the ball. That improved play has come almost entirely from veterans whose play and habits were already developed before Tapp and company got ahold of them. The younger ones have yet to make significant strides forward.
Tapp and his fellow coaches deserve credit for helping veterans like Dante Fowler Jr. and Dorance Armstrong Jr. play up to what was expected of them. Clelin Ferrell had his best game of the year against the Philadelphia Eagles last week. And the sample size of the younger players is still far too small to draw any conclusions.
However, there are troubling trends to keep an eye on.
Commanders are relying more on veteran players down the stretch
The Commanders currently have three young defensive linemen who should constitute the future of the position. Johnny Newton and Javontae Jean-Baptiste were drafted by Peters this year, and Phidarian Mathis is a holdover from the Ron Rivera years.
Newton has been pressed into greater service by the injury to Allen and he has played reasonably well for a rookie. Jean-Baptiste was a seventh-round pick who has performed as well or better than expected. Mathis, who has no ties to the current regime and has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, has never figured into the plans, though it had been hoped that he could have a resurgence if healthy.
These players have not been bad. But you could make the case that three veteran castoffs from other teams have been just as productive. As the season reaches crunch time, coaches are relying on them more than the higher-profile youngsters.
Sheldon Day was scooped up after teams made final cuts in late August. Jalyn Holmes and Carl Davis were signed much further into the season. They have primarily served as backups throughout their careers. Yet those players, on a per-snap basis, have been just as productive as the trio of younger linemen.
In some cases, they have been more productive. Day, Holmes, and Davis have played fewer than half the defensive snaps as Newton, Mathis, and Jean-Baptiste but are making relatively more tackles.
Day is averaging better than a tackle for every 10 snaps he plays — better than any lineman on the team. Holmes has as many tackles for loss as Mathis and Jean-Baptiste combined despite playing just a quarter of their snaps.
Davis has played just 43 snaps on defense this season. The three tackles he mustered versus the Eagles match the best games from Mathis and Jean-Baptiste. It's also above what Newton has been averaging on the season.
Given the limited snaps involved, some of those numbers may not mean much. More significant is how frequently the defensive coaches seem to be turning to those veterans as the season nears its end. Mathis has been a healthy scratch for the past several weeks. Day, Davis, and Holmes all played more snaps than Jean-Baptiste in Week 16.
Newton did outsnap Day, but it was only by a 41-33 margin.
Again, this may not matter very much in the long run. Mathis will almost certainly be with another team next season. Jean-Baptiste is a seventh-round rookie. Newton missed his entire offseason recovering from a foot injury. There is no need to panic at this point.
For those fans who remember the way Matsko went from hero to unemployed in a few seasons, the hope is that Tapp proves to be better at developing his young players. That is clearly the route Peters wants to go in building this team.
In order for that plan to work, the Commanders need a group of position coaches who can work with both young and old alike.