Random Musings from Week One of Training Camp

July 31, 2018

by Steve Thomas

First of all, doesn’t it feel great to be into the heart of training camp?  The NFL’s offseason is just so, so long.  The first game of the preseason is this Thursday, August 2, between the Bears and the Ravens in Canton.  In case you’ve forgotten, legendary Redskins GM Bobby Beathard will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Saturday.  Read my February column on his selection here.  It is inarguable that the Redskins would not have three Lombardi trophies, probably not even one, without Beathard’s contributions, we should all celebrate his enshrinement accordingly.  I feel like his selection has flown under the radar a bit, so it’s time to end that.  Let’s all celebrate the glory years in grand style one more time and show Bobby how much he means to the franchise.

On to training camp.

The first thing to remember is that it is very, very early in the process.  As is the case with all teams, the Redskins have a long way to go and you shouldn’t read too much into any observations at this point, either good or bad.  The way these players perform now is not how they will look in week one.  We’re just at the starting point – which, by the way, is a starting point that was much less visible to the public even a few years ago – and while it’s important, please just put everything you hear in the proper context.

With that having been said, what have we learned so far?  First, it appears that the tone being set by head coach Jay Gruden is much like previous camps – not overly harsh or tough.  It hasn’t served the Redskins particularly well in previous years, but this is a new season, so all we can do is watch and hope.  Regardless, Jay doesn’t appear to have changed at all, and those of you rooting for a tough camp shouldn’t get your hopes up.  The second thing is that the defense appears to be much improved along the front 7.  We’ve heard reports, including from our own Jamual Forrest (read it here) that Jonathan Allen, rookie Daron Payne (before his injury), and Tim Settle have all showed a newfound aggressive attitude that has put significant pressure on the offense.  This is going to be critical for the season, so starting off with an aggressive attitude is definitely a step in the right direction.  Payne’s ankle injury is very unfortunate in that it sidelines him for essentially the remainder of training camp, which happens to be a critical time for a rookie who is expected to play a significant role from day one.  Don’t be fooled into believing that this isn’t a big deal – while it isn’t the end of the world, training camp is a crucial development time for all rookies, and it’s a shame that Payne is going to miss it.  There’s no sugarcoating it: it’s a major blow to Payne’s development.

In the defensive backfield, the secondary has apparently done well against new quarterback Alex Smith, with multiple interceptions in 11 on 11 drills.  We’ve heard that Fabian Moreau has been lining up at slot corner, which is a wise move given that the principal competition for that role is Orlando Scandrick (read my film study of Scandrick here).  I’ve neither seen nor read anything in this early going that would suggest to me that Scandrick should play a role bigger than the veteran backup.  There’s an air of confidence around this group, stemming largely from D.J. Swearinger, who has clearly assumed an even bigger leadership role this season.

On the offensive front, Alex Smith appears to be progressing nicely as the new starter.  Although the defense won the day in the early going, we’ve heard nothing but good things in terms of his leadership, and he’s been steadily making plays.  It’s clearly a different vibe on the team with Smith installed now versus how it was with Cousins.  No, I’m not bashing Cousins – he had his strengths – but Cousins led in a different manner than does Smith.  It’s pretty clearly a new era of Redskins football.

Rob Kelley, Samaje Perine, and Derrius Guice have all had their moments thusfar, setting up a major battle that will go through the entire preseason, even with the waiver of 2016 draft pick Keith Marshall.  It’s apparent even this early that both Kelley and Perine are ready and do not intend to go gentle into that good night[1] just because a guy named Derrius showed up.  This will be one of the biggest and most interesting of the roster battles, because the Redskins most likely aren’t going to keep both Kelley and Perine on the roster in the regular season.

In terms of the pass catchers, Jordan Reed has looked good in limited action thusfar, which bodes well in terms of his ability to recover and look like Healthy Jordan once again by the time the regular season starts.  We’ve not heard much yet one way or the other from new signee Paul Richardson, Jr., but Josh Doctson disavowed health problems (read about it and listen to it here) despite his recent MRI, and has made several impressive catches in one on one drills.

The injury front has been fairly clean so far (fingers crossed), with Payne being the only serious setback so far.  Let’s hope the grim reaper only does a quick flyby of Redskins Park this year instead of building a permanent base as he did last year.

What should we expect going forward in camp?  Aside from the obvious, which is the continuing development of Alex Smith, first and foremost, Guice needs to grab hold of the feature back role.  In an ideal world, he becomes the standout back he was drafted to become.  It’s way too early to see that at this point.  Second, with Payne out, I want to see Jonathan Allen become the unquestioned leader of the defensive line.  The soft, weak, injury-riddled group from 2017 must remain in the past.  Third, I don’t think the battle at corner is as open as some might think – I expect to see Quinton Dunbar assume the starting role and for Fabian Moreau to be the slot corner.  On the special teams front, the competition for punt returner is going to last for the entirety of camp.  The Redskins seem determined to replace Jamison Crowder in that role, so expect to see a variety of players auditioning for the job for the next month.  It’s going to come down to the final preseason game, and someone’s spot on the active roster depends on it.

Overall: a decent start, in that Smith appears to be everything he was advertised to be, and progress is being made across the board.  We’ll just have to see how it goes from here.  Stay tuned.

[1] My apologies to Dylan Thomas for corrupting his poem.