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The good news for Coleman is that he has some experience playing left guard already, having played some in college. Many draft analysts projected him as a guard at the next level. The Commanders have been bullish on his ability to play tackle, but with Tunsil and Conerly likely the bookend tackles, the only available spot for Coleman to start at is guard. But is Coleman actually better suited to guard and how will that move mesh with his strengths and weaknesses? Let’s take a closer look.
Run blocking
As a run blocker, Coleman showed a lot of tenacity and the ability to move defenders off their spot last season. In a lot of their gap scheme runs, Coleman would be responsible for helping a guard secure a block inside before working up to the second level, which he proved effective at.
However, at guard, Coleman’s responsibility on a lot of these gap run schemes will be slightly different. Instead of helping the guard secure a block and then working up to the second level, Coleman will be the guard that has to secure the block on the defensive tackle inside. Fortunately, there were a few different instances where he had to do just that last season.
Martin, a second-round pick from the 2023 season, had the best campaign of his career so far, recording 87 tackles in the regular season and two total interceptions, one of which was the touchdown he scored in the Divisional round against the Detroit Lions. He started 16 games, compared to just five in 2023, and forced three fumbles as the team’s strong safety.
But Martin’s growth has been a work in progress under Whitt and his defensive staff. Whitt had him playing with the second group during last year’s OTAs, primarily because he was making mistakes that the defensive coordinator said, “We can’t afford to make.”
After that, Martin ripped off three consecutive strong practices. He worked his way back onto the starting defense, which is when he made one of the more impressive plays of the offseason by catching an interception behind his back.
Now, Martin has taken his development a step further and become a leader in terms of communicating on the field with his teammates.
After last season’s struggles to stop the run, Washington has spent the offseason confronting some weighty issues
After losing longtime tackle Jonathan Allen and last season’s sack leader, Dante Fowler Jr., in free agency, the Commanders bulked up...
