When Washington Redskins fans talk about NFC East players who have given the team a hard time over the years, offensive linemen aren’t always at the forefront of the conversation.
After all, the Redskins have had to deal with Eli Manning’s prime years, Tony Romo and a host of others.
Yet Evan Mathis had been one of the biggest problems for the Redskins over the years, as Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus detailed:
As I mentioned in the Cowboys’ team-killer section, Mathis was one of the best offensive linemen in the league, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that he was one of the few players with multiple appearances on the list. He allowed just eight pressures — none of which were sacks — on 342 career pass-blocking snaps against the Redskins. Mathis graded above 80.0 in six of his eight career games against Washington.
This is especially impressive considering the Redskins have had a strong defensive line for years. If he were still in Philadelphia, it’s a safe bet Mathis would have even held his own against the likes of Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen.
It isn’t hard to see why the Redskins keep going back to the well and beefing up in the trenches. While he isn’t a flashy name and isn’t playing anymore, Mathis is a good representation of the types of talent the Redskins will have to keep facing in one of the league’s toughest divisions.
