3 young offensive tackles with uncertain futures Commanders could sign in 2023

Commanders should monitor Roderick Johnson

Here’s a good shortcut for scouting players. Look first at teams that have a bunch of other good players in the same position.

That suggests two things. One, the other team has a knack for identifying and developing quality at the given position. And two, it will be harder for some players to make the final roster.

If you’re looking at the offensive line, you want to look at the Philadelphia Eagles. This is the team that adjusted to the injury of projected starting left tackle Andre Dillard by turning late-round draft pick Jordan Mailata into one of the best tackles in the league.

Simply put, they are loaded across the line.

Roderick Johnson has been with five teams in his short NFL career and has only played significant minutes for the Houston Texans back in 2019. When the lineman was coming out of college after a couple of good years at Florida State, I worried he was another Geron Christian – tall and athletic but underpowered.

He was not a good run blocker, but Johnson's length and movement made him look like a good developmental left tackle. And in the very little game film I have seen on him since, I think he has developed more strength and surer technique than Christian displayed when he was here.

At this point, he can play on both the right and left sides, and as such, could be a potential younger swing tackle for the Washington Commanders. The aforementioned Jaryd Jones-Smith looks a lot more like Cornelius Lucas, but Johnson could be a quicker more athletic version of that player, and this is a team that seems to favor those more athletic tackles.