While Stork might take time to get up to speed on the playbook and protection calls, he should prove to be an upgrade for Washington. He has an old-school attitude when it comes to blocking, playing through the whistle and blocking defenders to the ground. It can cause friction with opposing players.

On this play, Stork turns to his right after snapping the ball. Denver stunts its defensive end and defensive tackle. The edge rusher gets passed on to Stork, who gets his hands inside on the chest of the defender. Stork then drives him back and ends up throwing him to the ground. As the defender attempts to get back up, Stork pushes him back down. Another defender spots this block from Stork and takes a swing at him.

That mentality to finish every play is exactly what teams like in an offensive lineman. A mean streak is a good trait for an offensive lineman, particularly a center who is in the middle of all the action. But Washington will have to make sure they can keep Stork in check. He has got into a number of fights, including one recently in training camp with the Patriots that resulted in him being ejected from practice. He can only help the team if he is on the field.

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Stork stood out in pass protection in the games that I watched him in. As we saw in the play above, he helped pick up a stunt. In the same game, he did an excellent job establishing blocks and passing them off to pick up others.

Here, Denver stunts two defensive linemen to the left of Stork before a third rusher comes into the play. Stork stays patiently, waiting for the defenders to come to him. He lands a punch on the initial block before his left guard passes off his block inside. Stork has no troubles securing the block after the guard passes it to him without losing any ground. Stork pushes the defender to the right side, passing him off to the right guard before disengaging to pick up the third rusher. He gets off the defensive tackle just in time to pick up the extra rusher, landing a hand to the chest and forcing him towards the outside of the pocket.

Quick and fluid exchanges aren’t easy to do, but Stork and the Patriots’ guards did an excellent job of making it look easy on that play. It requires plenty of awareness, and most importantly, communication. The center is the quarterback of the offensive line. He’s in charge of the protection calls and getting everyone on the same page. This is something Jay Gruden has mentioned a number of times in reference to Lichtensteiger. It will take Stork a while to get on the same page with his new teammates, but he certainly appears to be an intelligent player and good communicator from watching him.

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As a run blocker, Stork is an interesting fit with Washington. He isn’t particularly athletic, which is a trait typically required by a team that predominantly uses the zone-blocking scheme. He’s more of a phone-booth mauler than a finesse zone blocker.

The Patriots opt to run an inside gap play here, requiring Stork to block Sheldon Richardson with help from the left guard. Stork gets a good angle on the double team against Richardson, landing a strong punch to his chest. Stork and the guard manage to drive Richardson back off the line of scrimmage before the guard peels off to block a linebacker. As the running back runs through the hole, Richardson attempts a spin move to get back into the play. Stork manages to keep his hands on Richardson and maintain his position inside, cutting him off from the back. The runner eventually cuts back into the path of Richardson, but not before picking up a solid gain.

Washington has struggled to get much push on these types of plays, which has at times been attributed to the lack of size and strength at center. Stork certainly has the attributes to help fix that problem. He can also provide plenty of power pulling to the edge.

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This time, the Patriots run a toss sweep against the Eagles. Stork pulls from his center position and attempts to get to the edge. As he works outside, the right guard loses control of his block as an Eagles defensive tackle manages to work to the edge. As he starts to close on the running back, Stork explodes into a powerful block that knocks the defender to the ground. Stork then continues to block the defensive lineman and make sure he can’t get off the ground and back into the play.

The added power from the center position will be welcome in Washington. However, Washington primarily runs the zone scheme, something Stork has been inconsistent with. He can sometimes struggle working to the second level and making blocks in the open field.

Here, Stork does well to work across the nose tackle and up to the second level. But after identifying his block, he completely misses the linebacker. Fortunately, the Patriots right tackle managed to bail him out and pick up the block on this occasion.

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Washington’s centers had similar troubles last year and often got driven into the backfield instead of working up to the second level. Stork was rarely driven into the backfield in the games I watched, but he did have inconsistencies making blocks in the open field. How he fits within Washington’s running scheme will be interesting to keep an eye on going forward.

Overall, Stork should be an upgrade over the current centers on the roster. At 25, he has plenty of time to improve too. The attitude he brings to the offensive line should fit in well with right guard Brandon Scherff and left tackle Trent Williams, who have similar mentalities. But I suspect it may take a while for him to build a chemistry with his new teammates and get up to speed with the playbook.

Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here.