Could the Washington Commanders actually be getting stronger on the offensive line?

Mysteriously, for the last three consecutive weeks, the Commanders have not played nor even permitted starting guard Brandon Coleman to be active. It is strange because, after all, the Commanders drafted Coleman in 2024 and immediately talked about him being their left tackle. He played in all 17 games of the 2024 season, starting the final 16 games at left tackle.

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After starting the first two games at left guard, Coleman hasn’t even put on the pads on game day the last three weeks. The Commanders surprised the DMV by inserting Chris Paul into Coleman’s starting role.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was asked Wednesday about the competition between Paul and fellow G/T Andrew Wylie. Wylie has been inserted at right guard for Allegretti. Is there competition at guard to see who is going to start?

“I’d say there’s competition all the time,” replied Quinn. “But as we’re going into it, let’s wait till [Sam Cosmi] gets back and gets going. I think that’s more appropriate for it because even then, you know, how much are we going to go right when he does get back? I think we got some time to work through where we want to get to there.”

Speaking of Coleman, Quinn was asked about him, Wednesday as well.

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“Yep, I was pleased to see the practice by BC last week. What he did, how he played [in practice], and then we’ll go back through the whole thing again. But I thought he had a really good week last week, and it’s a good group that we have, and so it is high competition, and we’ll continue to play it out. But I was pleased with what I saw last week and then we’ll head that into this week as well.”

Coleman was injured in training camp, missed noteworthy time, while Paul had a good training camp, impressing coaches. Quinn reportedly said last week (according to Bram Weinstein), that the Commanders are not actually down on Coleman, but that Paul had looked better. They decided to go with him, give him his shot, and it’s about competition at the spot. Truly, Paul has moved ahead of Coleman and Allegretti on the depth chart.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Dan Quinn remains high on Brandon Coleman