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Breaking down the rookie left tackles performance in his first full game.
Officially, Coleman gave up zero sacks and zero quarterback pressures, so on the face of it he did well. But stats can be misleading sometimes, so let’s dive into the All-22 to see how he actually fared.
First it’s important context to say that the Commanders had a gameplan to help Coleman on the edge. They’ve done this all year on both sides of the line to help out whichever player is playing tackle and it’s been extremely effective in helping the offensive line protect rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Help for Coleman came in multiple forms.
In this clip we can see a few examples of how the Commanders looked to help Coleman out in pass protection against Brian Burns. On the first play of the clip, The Commanders use receiver Noah Brown to help chip Burns on the edge, while also using a play-action fake inside. Both left guard Nick Allegretti and tight end Ben Sinnott pull to the right side of the line, trying to give Burns a strong run key to read. Brown then initiates contact on the chip, forcing Burns inside to Coleman and protecting the edge.
On the second play of the clip, running back Jeremy McNichols aligns to Coleman’s side of the field and chips Burns before releasing into his route. The Commanders again use some misdirection in the backfield with Austin Ekeler motioning from the slot to the backfield just before the snap, but that’s all to try and distract the defense and slow them down. Burns is a little quicker to read pass this time without a strong play-action fake, so he starts to rush a little more directly up the field. However, McNichols meets him on the edge with a strong chip to force him inside towards Coleman. Coleman gets a little sloppy with his hands and nearly loses control of the block, but does enough to keep Burns in front of him with the help of the play design and the chip from McNichols.
The third play of the clip is another chip example, this time with receiver Luke McCaffrey. He takes a position not too dissimilar to a tight end and is aggressive with his chip, ensuring Burns can’t rush straight up the field. Coleman only has to land a punch or two on Burns after that chip and the ball is thrown to the end zone for a touchdown.
I’m showing these clips not to say Coleman was bad, far from it. But it’s important to contextualize his performance. The Commanders did a great job helping out their young left tackle throughout the game, as they have done all season really. They’ve used a variety of different chippers from...
