ASHBURN — Geron Christian was accustomed to starting every game.
From his days of youth football through college, the left tackle had been always anchored his teams’ offensive lines. He even started all 13 games as a true freshman at Louisville.
So when Washington drafted him in the third round in 2018, with Trent Williams and Morgan Moses as established fixtures on the depth chart ahead of him, Christian had a hard time adapting. Looking back now, he admits he didn’t handle the situation as well as he should have.
He admits he didn’t put in the work.
“It was really just a mindset,’ Christian said. “I just really didn’t see myself playing because of the guys that we had here at the time.”
To date, Christian has only logged 189 offensive snaps across his first two seasons. For context, his 146 snaps last year represented just 15.5% of the team’s offensive plays. But in this third year, the 23-year-old now has the chance to earn his most playing time yet.
After trading Williams to the San Francisco 49ers in April, Washington relied on internal competition to determine his replacement — and in training camp, the Christian has emerged as a clear favorite for the spot, taking most of his reps with the starters. The 315-lb. Christian has also benefitted from the absence of fourth-rounder Saahdiq Charles, who most thought would win the competition. Charles missed more than a week with a calf injury.
Having spent part of the offseason training with Christian, running back Adrian Peterson said he could tell the tackle recognized the opportunity in front of him. The two trained together in Houston, where Peterson co-owns a gym with Williams.
“You could tell that he was on a mission,” Peterson said. “He showed that by how he worked and how he came in and the effort that he put in. … There’s a different feel of ’Wow, the spot is open finally for sure. This is something that I can take over.’”
Peterson has openly admitted he wasn’t a fan of Washington trading Williams. And over the weekend, when he spoke to reporters, the 35-year-old back reiterated that you can’t just replace a seven-time Pro Bowler and have the same level of productivity. But Christian, he said, was doing a “great job” of working to improve.
Christian’s development is startling, given that he barely played last year, even as Williams sat out the season due to an ongoing dispute with management. Instead of handing the reins to Christian, Washington signed veteran Donald Penn — and stuck with him through most of the season.
Late in the year, interim coach Bill Callahan benched a number of veterans and gave reps to the team’s younger players. It was a logical move for a team that finished 3-13. Washington had to evaluate what it had on the roster.Even then, Callahan didn’t turn to Christian.
“He just hasn’t had a chance to play a lot of football, so we’re really interested in watching him, especially if he’s going to play and participate and do some of the things he’s done,” coach Ron Rivera said. “He’s done some really good things. He’s caught our eye.”
Rivera praised Christian’s athleticism and his ability to pick up concepts. He added that the coaching staff was getting a good feel for the 6-foot-6 lineman’s skillset. Still, he cautioned that there will be moments when Washington will look at its other tackles for the starting spot.
That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday, Washington’s last practice. Veteran Cornelius Lucas and rookie Keith Ismael were bumped up to the starting line to fill out the left side of the line, with Christian and guard Wes Martin demoted to the second-team.
Christian knows the competition isn’t over yet.
“I’m not complacent,” Christian said.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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