In a matter of minutes on Saturday afternoon, the Washington Redskins saw their veteran left tackle walk out the door, only to make room for their newest LT to enter.
It was announced that Trent Williams was traded to the San Francisco 49ers just as Day 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft was kicking off, giving the Redskins a fifth-round pick later in the day, as well as a third-round pick in 2021. Just minutes later, with their first pick in the fourth round, the Redskins selected Saahdiq Charles, an OT from LSU, seemingly a future replacement for Williams.
He may not be ready to start right away in his rookie year — few LTs are — but Charles is confident that he has what it takes to eventually fill the shoes that Williams left open in Washington. He has some experience of what a challenge that will be.
“Growing up as an offensive lineman, I watched Trent’s film millions of times,” Charles said via NBC Sports Washington. “I have a lot of respect for his game.”
While it may be a big challenge to eventually replace Williams, Charles will also have to overcome a few reported disciplinary issues that he struggled with in college, leading to a multi-game suspension at one point. We don’t know exactly what happened, but from what we’ve seen circling around the internet, it was due to bad grades and a failed drug test. Charles later described them as “dumb and boneheaded mistakes.”
If these issues don’t pop up in the NFL, then the Redskins got a real steal in Charles, who some had graded as a second-round talent who only dropped because of the reported character issues. Now that he’s on a new team, the path to realizing his potential in the NFL is right in front of him.
“They traded [Williams] and picked me, it just shows what they might have in mind for me,” Charles said. “I’m gonna come in there [work hard] and do my thing.”
