THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608260141
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: REDSKINS BREAKDOWN
FIRST IN A SERIES
TUESDAY: RUNNING BACKS
WEDNESDAY: PASS-CATCHERS
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 100 lines
Last offseason, when Jim Hanifan looked at the Washington Redskins' offensive line he figured to coach in 1996, he saw a Mona Lisa - former Pro Bowler Jim Lachey at left tackle; strong, savvy John Gesek at center; rock-solid Ed Simmons at right tackle; and two young, man-mountain guards in Tre' Johnson and Ray Brown.
With the season opener against Philadelphia less than a week away, Hanifan looks at the line and sees a jig-saw puzzle. It still might make a pretty picture, but not the one he expected.
Lachey is gone, retired last June because of several injuries that slowed him. So is Gesek, waived last week with a neck injury so severe he risked permanent injury had he continued to play. Brown signed a free-agent contract with San Francisco and was replaced from Bob Dahl, a free agent from Cleveland.
But Dahl went out early in training camp, undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. He returned in time to play against New England last Friday in his first work in a month. Dahl's backup, Brian Thure, remains out with a pinched nerve.
As a result, Joe Patton, who had been expected to replace Lachey, was pressed into service at guard and lost his starting left tackle position to former Canadian Football League star Shar Pourdanesh.
``I told Joe, `You're my Rallo,' '' Hanifan said recently, referring to Raleigh McKenzie, who was so versatile that against Philadelphia in 1990, he played three different positions in four downs.
Tre' Johnson, last year's starting right guard, moved to the left side after the Redskins signed Dahl.
Only Simmons, 32, remains. He hasn't had the type of training camp coach Norv Turner expected, but he was the team's most consistent lineman last season.
``It's kind of hard to believe,'' Simmons said of his ascension to the position of the grizzled veteran. ``I am the old man. I have to take over the responsibility of (carrying on the legacy of the Hogs). I try to live up to that group on the field.''
A group that figured to be Washington's most solid was in enough disarray that Redskins general manager Charley Casserly brought in two new players in the last 72 hours - center-guard Vernice Smith and center Jeff Uhlenhake, a free-agent who spent the last two seasons with New Orleans. Smith was released Sunday.
Here's how the line breaks down:
Center - Cory Raymer. He's in his second season from Wisconsin, where he was the No. 1 center in the nation two years ago. A baby at 6-2, 297 pounds, Raymer was expected to share time with Gesek. Now the job is his, with Uhlenhake (6-3, 283) and Trevor Matich as the backups. Raymer is a player scouts from every team in the league were high on.
Right guard - Dahl, who signed as a free agent from the Baltimore Ravens, will start. He was a defensive lineman in college at Notre Dame before hitting the pros and becoming a four-year starter on the other side of the ball. Very strong and an excellent run blocker. Patton and Thure, a beefy second-year pro from Cal, will back him up.
Left guard - Tre' Johnson, who will challenge Dallas' Nate Newton as the NFL's largest offensive lineman at 6-2, 344 pounds, enters his third season and is on the verge of Pro Bowl status. Last season, the Redskins were 5-2 and averaged more than 148 yards rushing in games in which he played. In the nine games he missed, the Redskins were 1-8 and averaged just 102 yards rushing.
Alas, the question is: Can Johnson play all season in good health at 340-plus pounds?
Right tackle - Simmons, 6-5, 336 pounds, owns this position. He has started the last 35 games and played all but three of last season's 1,042 snaps. A streaky player, when he is in a groove, he can dominate his side of the line as well as any tackle in the league. Equally adept at run- and pass-blocking, the Redskins consider him to be in his prime.
Rookie Andre Johnson, the team's first-round pick, will back up Simmons. He shouldn't play much this season, but is highly regarded by scouts throughout the league and is being groomed to replace Simmons.
Right tackle - Pourdanesh. The unquestioned surprise of training camp. At 6-7, 325 pounds, the Redskins were of a mind set to send him to London of the WLAF for additional grooming. Then assistant Russ Grimm saw him work out at Redskin Park one day and scratched that plan. Now, Pourdanesh is starting at what is considered the most important position on a right-handed team's line because he protects the quarterback's blind side.
Early on, look for him to get some help from tight ends Scott Galbraith and James Jenkins, especially against speed rushers. Pourdanesh struggled against Detroit's Robert Porcher and against New England's Willie McGinest. But he also makes enough plays and learns quickly enough that the coaches are confident he'll have a positive impact at the position.
``I told him after the game not to worry about the way he played against McGinest,'' coach Norv Turner said. ``I told him McGinest was a great player, the type we'd give him help with during the season. But I had to see what he could do one-on-one against him. We had to have the full read. I think he's going to be fine.''
Patton - who else? - will back up Pourdanesh.
``You look around and see all the changes we've made and you tend to think, `My gosh, we've got a problem here,' '' Turner said. ``But I've looked at the (practice) film and I say we're going to be one hell of an offensive line. The best we've had since I've been here.''
Maybe. But the odds are a lot longer that they were a few months ago. by CNB