Trench Warfare

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Commanders OL coach Bobby Johnson has spent the last 15 years coaching the tight end and offensive line positions in the NFL. He is coming off of a stellar season in Washington where he, along with head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, joined forces as recently fired coaches who had never worked together to assemble a stunningly impressive 2024 campaign. The Commanders posted a 12-5 record and appeared in the NFC Championship against the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles.

Overview - Topics covered

The legacy of NFL coaches from Ohio

The value of being able to coach the defensive line early in his coaching career at Akron

Understanding fronts, coverages, rotations and how to think like a defensive lineman

How coaching tight ends at the collegiate and pro level furthered an understanding of coverages as it relates to blocking schemes

Unpacking the unique skill-sets of Marcedes Lewis and Lee Smith

What “tough and smart” means in a practical sense and why it is vital for the offensive line

Some epic examples of these traits from Lee Smith, Dominic Raiola, Jon Feliciana and Matt Slauson

Unpacking “Making it easy for us and difficult for them” as a coaching philosophy

Evolving as a coach and the constant pursuit of improvement

Leadership 101: Accentuating the strengths of your players and minimizing the weaknesses

Specific examples of how coach Johnson has done that during his career

Diving into coach Johnson’s affinity and proximity to players with legendary toughness and their value to the room

Coach Johnson’s strategy for communication to the players in Washington that helped lead to them developing cohesion and chemistry throughout the season

Drawing on prior experiences and relationships to coach each playe

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Offensive line play has gotten more attention and credit over the last few seasons than anytime I can remember over the last decade of studying the position due to the unit’s repeated and undeniable impact on team success in the NFL. Naturally, getting to sit down and learn from Aaron Kromer, who has been one of the architects of great line play for ove…

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Kansas City Chiefs right guard Trey Smith enters his fifth career season with 80 career starts (67 regular season/13 playoff) under his belt, only one missed game over that span and two Super Bowl rings. He’s coming off his first Pro Bowl selection in 2024. The Chiefs placed the franchise tag on him this off-season ($23.4M guaranteed), which gives them …

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Duke and I selecting our first, second and third-team All-Pro teams with detailed discussions on each player and landscape of the position

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Video version:

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Topics covered this week

Eagles OL with multiple backups dominating (a bad Giants run defense) in the run game

Frank Ragnow dominating Harrison Phillips

Terron Armstead & Aaron Brewer as run blockers

The Chiefs elite, tier one interior trio

Arizona’s dynamic run game

Amarius Mims

Tristan Wirfs brilliance

Graham Barton putting on a show against very good competition

Spencer Brown’s developmental journey

Jared Verse is a menace

The Titans problematic right tackle position

49ers concerns on the interior defensive line

Tyron Smith’s over reliance on his outside hand getting him into trouble again

Texans continued issues at center/left guard and potential fixes

The Giants dramatic drop-off at left tackle without Andrew Thomas + a possible answer

Panthers’ bottom-feeder defensive line

Video version:

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Topics covered this week

Trent Williams unmatched physical prowess

Rashawn Slater’s dominant return to the lineup

Tristan Wirfs’ dominant performance against the Saints

Patrick Mekari/Daniel Faalele

Jackson Powers-Johnson’s aggressive demeanor and flashes of power continue to be notable

Sam Cosmi’s ascension and standout game against Nnamdi Madubuike

Andrew Thomas vs. Trey Hendrickson

Dion Dawkins vs. Michael Clemons

Seattle’s disastrous right side

Nick Allegretti

Roger Rosengarten

Blake Fisher, Juice Scruggs & Kenyon Green struggles

Taliese Fuaga’s repeated struggles in pass protection

Adding context to Joel Bitonio and Zack Martin’s struggles in Week 6

Adding context to the Cowboys struggles on the OL

Amarius Mims’ underwhelming start

Tyron Smith’s struggles

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Players discussed:LSU OTs Will Campbell & Emery Jones Jr.

Texas OTs Kelvin Banks Jr. & Cameron Williams

Ohio State LT Josh Simmons

Ohio State LG Donovan Jackson

Minnesota LT Aireontae Ersery

Arizona RT Jonah Savaiinaea

Alabama LG Tyler Booker

Georgia RG Tate Ratledge

Oregon OTs Josh Conerly Jr. & Ajani Cornelius

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit trenchwarfare.substack.com

A rundown of my weekly film study with a focus on the best/worst performances and adding context to each selection, including level of competition, outside factors & more

Topics covered this week

Cam Heyward

Zach Frazier vs Grover Stewart

Quinn Meinerz on double-teams

Vikings pass protection plan

Cody Mauch vs Jalen Carter

Jackson Powers-Johnson first start

Ronnie Stanley

JC Latham

Bears pass protection plan vs Rams

Adding much-needed context to the performance of the Commanders O-line

Jared Verse

Wanya Morris

Amarius Mims

Kenyon Green

Eagles O-line without Lane Johnson

Saints interior OL

Topics covered this week

Chris Lindstrom vs. Chris Jones

Quenton Nelson

Will Fries

Zach Frazier

Zion Johnson

Broncos DL

JC Latham

Dion Dawkins

Spencer Brown

Rams rookie DL Verse/Fiske

Brandon Coleman

Saints OL moving forward

Browns OL

Chargers OL/Slater (pec) & Alt (MCL) getting hurt

Bucs OGs

Titans right side of OL

Cody Whitehair

Bengals IDL

Andrew Thomas

True Pressure Rate introduction/methodology/overview

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