Commanders' Stromberg, Larsen Practice At New Position?

You can never have too much versatility along your offensive line. 

The Washington Commanders have taken a step in that direction with centers Tyler Larsen and rookie Ricky Stromberg. At practice on Sunday, head coach Ron Rivera said the two centers have begun practicing at guard. 

“We've got three really good centers," Rivera said. "I like him. I think [C/G] Ricky’s done a nice job so far. I don’t know if you noticed today, but we started taking Ricky and Tyler and started working them at guard for some position flex as well. Because you know, if you have a guy up as the primary backup, he's going to have to be flexible and be able to play more than one spot. So, we started doing that with both those guys, get them both back in the groove of playing guard in an emergency situation.”

Larsen is entering his eighth season in the NFL and third with the Commanders. He started 11 games over the last two years in Washington, including eight in 2022, before a dislocated knee cap ended his season. 

He signed a one-year deal with Washington this offseason.

Stromberg played collegiately at Arkansas and started 44 games, including a stretch of 25 straight to end his career. He also won the SEC's Jacobs Blocking Trophy in 2022, which goes to the best offensive lineman in the conference.

If the Washington Commanders are going to improve on offense this season, they need to improve the offensive line. They allowed 48 sacks in 2022, the seventh most in the NFL. Larsen and Stromberg being able to move across the interior of the offensive line would give Washington much-needed versatility. 

Washington's offensive line will be put to the test in joint practices against the Baltimore Ravens before hosting them on Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. on Monday Night Football for their second preseason game.