The Washington Commanders have done well this season using a steady diet of rookie Brandon Coleman and veteran Cornelius Lucas at offensive left tackle — the spot that protects rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ blind side.
Through 9 games in 2024 and a 7-2 start to the season, Lucas has started 5 games and Coleman has started 4 as they’ve both battled injury concerns. Lucas missed a win over the New York Giants in Week 9 with an ankle injury. Coleman missed a win over the Chicago Bears in Week 8 with a concussion.
While the Commanders took extreme measures to shore up their defensive backfield with a trade for New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore on November 5, they should make a subtle, smaller move that could be just as important and sign 2-time Super Bowl champion Donovan Smith to add depth at offensive tackle.
Smith has been a primary starter on Super Bowl champions for 2 different teams in the last 5 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 and has 136 career starts in 136 career games.
Smith Was Immediate Starter for Bucs as Rookie
Smith was a plug-and-play starter for the Buccaneers after they selected him in the second round (No. 34 overall) of the 2015 NFL draft out of Penn State, making 64 consecutive regular-season starts over his first 4 seasons and only missing 2 games in his first 7 seasons in the NFL.
Smith started 124 games for the Buccaneers in 8 seasons and won a Super Bowl in 2020. He signed a 1-year, $3 million contract with the Chiefs before the 2023 season. He started 12 games during the regular season and 4 more postseason games on the way to a win in Super Bowl LVIII.
Along with his 136 career regular season starts, Smith has started an additional 15 postseason game. Smith scored a couple of massive paydays with the Buccaneers and has $62.9 million in career earnings through the 2023 season. It’s not outside the realm of possibility to think the Commanders could bring him in on a 1-year, $1 million deal for the rest of 2024 with escalators for starts and postseason starts that could double the contract’s value.
For the analytics crowd, Smith only allowed 2 sacks in 749 offensive snaps in 2023, he was 11th in the NFL among offensive tackles with 9 penalties, according to PFF.
Coleman Could Be Long-Term Solution for Commanders
If Coleman has already shown he can be even a part-time starter for the Commanders as a rookie, it’s safe to say there’s potential for him to be the long-term solution at the position.
ESPN’s John Keim reported on August 5 that Coleman was neck-and-neck with Lucas in the competition to be the starting left offensive tackle — a competition Coleman eventually won.
“It’s the one spot along the line most up for grabs,” Keim wrote. ” … Coleman has impressed early with his footwork and balance. If Coleman can win the job, Washington would solve a premium position for a few years.”
Either way, the Commanders will have pulled off a minor miracle if they can make it through the season with the combination of Lucas and Coleman, a third round pick in the 2024 NFL draft, or Lucas, Coleman and Smith. Mainly because Lucas and Coleman are making a combined $4.8 million in 2024 and dding Smith won’t do much to bump up that number at a position where the average pay of the Top 10 highest paid players in the league is over $20 million per season.
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