Chris Samuels has quietly put together his best season as a pro thus far. But perhaps the greatest task in his career, and one of the biggest tasks a single offensive lineman has had in awhile, will be his on Sunday. The Washington Redskins will be without Randy Thomas again, and Casey Rabach was downgraded to questionable on Saturday. If the Redskins have to start four linemen who were not on the first team in the middle of training camp, it will be the responsibility of the fifth member to make sure the unit functions efficiently.
Fans often assume that line chemistry is the most important factor for an offensive line. While this principle has certainly been overblown by the media, good lines do tend to stay together for a long time. Well, the Skins line had been together for awhile going into this season, but if Samuels looks to his right on Sunday, he may just wonder to himself if and when he got traded.
What the Redskins need from their big left tackle against Arizona is simply to do his job. That’s going to be easier said than done. I’m not going to guess what Al Saunders’ gameplan is going to be, but I can tell you that any gameplan he can come up with is going to rely on big 60 to play flawlessly. To date, the backs have been asked to do a lot of blocking on defensive ends, and it seems like a smart move for the Cards to overload blitz Jason Campbell and test this young offensive line. If Samuels can anchor his side of the line, no overload blitz will be very effective. The overload blitz relies on confusion to create gaps for guys to run free. If the offensive line keeps their discipline and makes the blocks they are supposed to make, the defensive players will get lost in the wash of their own scheme.
If they can’t blitz off of the left side, Jason Campbell should be able to find his hot route. The Redskins have clearly preferred running left all year. While the right side of the line didn’t even play well enough to keep the backside from blowing the play up last week, it will help a young makeshift line if the left tackle can help the running back get the corner on all running plays. Samuels has help on his right side with veteran Pete Kendall. Kendall has done a good job protecting his gap on pass protection, and allowing Samuels to ride his speed rushers outside. Last year, the Redskins line struggled to protect against the speed rush, but clearly Todd Wade and Samuels both have the quickness to nullify the speed rusher.
All of this is why Chris Samuels has his work cut out for him this Sunday. His passing game is counting on him putting in another dominating performance.
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