Hogs Haven
In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked Hogs Haven readers to identify which position on each side of the ball (special teams wasn’t included) they were most concerned about.
As a quick reminder, here’s a graphical look at the 53-man roster by position:
Looking at this chart, I feel no surprised whatsoever that 4 out of 10 survey respondents identified Guard/Cener as the offensive position group of greatest concern.
Firstly, right guard is really the only position on the roster with an injured starter as the Commanders head into the Week 1 home game against the New York Giants. Sam Cosmi, as you will no doubt recall, tore his ACL in the divisional round of the playoffs in the comprehensive victory over the top-seeded Lions. He had surgery in late-January and simply isn’t ready to return to play. Cosmi spent the entire training camp and preseason on the PUP list, and there he will remain for at least the first four weeks of the regular season. While Andrew Wylie should be a capable replacement, Cosmi’s absence will certainly test the Commanders depth.
Also, while Brandon Coleman, the expected starter at left guard, is a 2nd-year player, he spent his rookie season at left tackle. Fortunately, he’s had several months to adjust to the new position and he’s backed up by last year’s starter (and super bowl starting lineman with the Chiefs) Nick Allegretti, so the depth at this position should be solid.
Finally, while Tyler Biadasz is a very good center, the depth behind his is…uncertain. The two veteran specialist backup centers, Michael Dieter and Nick Harris, were both released in last week’s roster cut down. The guard who had been working as a backup in OTAs and minicamp, Nate Herbig, unexpectedly retired in the first week of training camp. Allegretti has been getting work at the position, in his 6-year career, he has only played center on 78 total snaps — 13 in the 2022 season and 65 in 2023.
Biadasz missed all of Weeks 15 & 18 and most of Week 17 last year, and the offense seemed to stutter a bit without him — a 1-point win in New Orleans, an overtime win vs the Falcons, and a comeback victory in Dallas to close out the regular season. Many Commanders fans seem to be crossing their fingers and hoping that the starting center is healthy for all 17 games this year.
Defensively, 88% of the votes went to the front-7, with nearly 6 out of 10 voters focused on the DE/Edge position.
This was, perhaps, the weakest position on the 2024 defense, and many observers were a bit bemused by the approach that GM Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn took to the group this offseason.
Firstly, the Commanders seemed perfectly content to let Dante Fowler Jr, last year’s team leader in sacks and a guy who had played under Dan Quinn in...
