What you can say about this entire group is that most of them have been playing out of their natural position of strength in a 3-4 defense. With Jack Del Rio bringing in a 4-3, look for this group to be the strength of the defense, especially if they get run support from the linebackers.

Fourth year pro, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (6’3” /300) is the leader of this group and is one of five former first round picks on the defensive line. In two full seasons (his rookie year was cut short to five games by injury), Allen has 15 sacks, 31 QB hits and 139 tackles, including 18 tackles for loss. The Redskins exercised their 5^th year option on Allen for just over $10M for the 2021 season.

Daron Payne (6’3” / 320) is another first round pick who also plays defensive tackle. In Payne’s two seasons he has 7 sacks, 12 QB hits and 112 tackles with 9 tackles for loss.

Matt Ioannidis (6’3” / 310) was a fifth-round pick in 2016 and signed a 3-year $21.75M extension in 2019, which expires in 2023. In little over 3 years of play, Ioannidis accumulated 20.5 sacks, 44 QB hits, 130 tackles and 20 tackles for loss.

Tim Settle (6’3” / 308) was another fifth-round pick in 2018. Settle played sparingly the past two seasons, but his play has steadily improved. He has developed into a steady role player.

Ryan Kerrigan (6’4” / 265), a former first round pick, needs 1.5 sacks to break the official team record held by Dexter Manley (although Manley’s unofficial record is 97.5 including his rookie year, which is 7.5 more than Kerrigan). He had a down year in 2019 and figures only to play a couple more seasons, probably as a role player on obvious passing downs. The good news is that Kerrigan will be playing with his hand in the dirt which is better suited to his skills as this point in his career.

Montez Sweat (6’6” / 262), 2019’s first round pick, had 7 sacks, 13 QB hits, 50 tackles with 8 tackles for loss in his first season. Moving to left defensive end, don’t expect to see Sweat dropping into coverage much in 2020.

Nate Orchid (6’3” / 251) has bounced around the league for five years and was signed last year to fill in when injuries struck. Expectations are low here.

Jordan Brailford (6’3” / 252) was a 2019 seventh round pick who spent 2019 on the injured reserve list. He is a project at this point. Expectations are also low for him.

Chase Young (6’5” / 264) is the newest first round pick for the defensive line. Young is the latest Ohio State elite pass rusher. He was one of the top defensive players in college last year and is expected to man the right defensive end position. The #2 pick was the subject of a lot of offseason speculation but the Redskins did the correct thing and drafted the best player available.

James Smith-Williams (6’4” / 265) was a surprise as a 7^th round pick because most draft experts had him projected as an undrafted free agent. What sparked the team’s interest was mostly his raw athletic ability, being awarded the #1 jersey for his character, work ethic and leadership and being a team captain last year.

Predictions

The team will probably keep 8 defensive linemen on the active roster and one or two on the expanded practice squad. Look for Allen to play the 3-technique and Payne to play the 0-technique or 1-technique in 4-3 under fronts. Ioannidis and Settle figure are the other favorites to man the defensive tackle spots. That leaves Brantley as odd man out. Sweat, Young and Kerrigan figure to be the primary defensive end candidates with Smith-Williams, Orchard, Malveaux and Bee competing for the last roster spot. Bee and Smith-Williams could also be candidates for the practice squad.