Handicapping the Markys
August 12, 2019
by Eric Hill
Week one of the preseason is in the books and fans finally have some game action to look at. We’ve nitpicked Dwayne Haskins to death, we’ve swooned over the People’s Corner, Jimmy Moreland, forcing turnovers and we’ve criticized the offensive line’s atrocious performance enough. Now it’s time to get down to business. Who will win this year’s Marky?
What? You haven’t heard of the Marky Award? Does the rock you’re living under not have cable? OK, fine. Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:
The Marcus Mason/Marko Mitchell Pre-Season Superstar Who The Team Will Rue The Day They Let Go Award—‘Marky’ for short—is a prestigious award handed out every year after final cuts are made to the Redskins player who made the biggest impact in the second half of preseason games. Previous winners include the aforementioned Mason and Mitchell, Lache Seastrunk, Colt Brennan and Babe Laufenberg, who somehow won it before either Mason or Mitchell were born.
Criteria for the award are as follows: The player must make an impact in the preseason, the player must be cut, practice squad members are eligible, and, um. . .yeah. that’s about it. A player is still eligible if he has been on the active roster in previous years, as long as he hasn’t done anything of note. Getting cut was optional until a few years ago, when Brandon Banks showed us what a disaster it would be to actually keep a Marky winner around, so making the active roster is now an automatic disqualifier.
Now that you’re caught up, who are the front runners for the award after week one? Let’s handicap the race.
Darvin Kidsy
Kidsy quickly became Dwayne Haskins favorite target against Cleveland, hauling in five catches for 86 yards. He’s a longshot to make the roster, with 5 receivers clearly ahead of him but he showed he can make plays against other team’s backups. He’s a strong candidate for a practice squad spot and he’s the clear front runner in the Marky race since no one else did much of anything against Cleveland.
Marky Odds: 5-1
Robert Davis
The freakishly athletic Georgia State product has been a strong Marky candidate for the past two preseasons, only to have his campaigns derailed by injuries. Davis has wowed in practice thus far and helped his Marky stock by scoring the only touchdown in the first preseason game, a bomb from Case Keenum on a blown coverage. Davis has an outside shot at making the 53-man roster, which hurts his Marky chances, but he’s still on the short list for the award at this point.
Marky Odds: 8-1
Ryan Bee
Bee, an undrafted rookie free agent defensive end out of Marshall, recorded four tackles and the only sack of the night for the Redskins, which puts him on the list of players to watch. There are a lot of defensive linemen ahead of Bee on the depth chart and, honestly, this is the first time I’ve heard of him so he is one to watch as a dark horse candidate as the preseason progresses.
Marky Odds: 15-1
Aside from these three, no bubble player did much of anything to warrant consideration, but I have a word count to meet so here are a few other players I have my eye on in the Marky race:
Cam Sims
Sims has been a training camp darling among fans but that didn’t translate to the field against the Browns, where he had just one catch for six yards. I’m not convinced he’s a roster lock yet as he tends to round his breaks and he lets the ball get into his body too much. He is potentially a strong Marky candidate as he could very well land on the practice squad and a few nice grabs in the coming weeks could vault him to the top of the list or land him a roster spot.
Marky Odds: 20-1
Craig Reynolds
Reynolds has pedigree of a Marky winner. He was a record setting running back at Division II Kutztown University, has virtually no chance to make the roster, and looks to get plenty of playing time late in preseeason games. Reynolds showed decent burst in his limited week one action but only gained 21 yards on nine carries behind a godawful offensive line group. If he can pop off a big gainer or two in the late stages of coming preseason games, he could shoot up the leader board. As of right now though, he’s still just a guy.
Marky Odds: 25-1
So there you have it: Your first glimpse of the 2019 Marky Award candidates. I’m sure others will emerge in the coming weeks as well. Let me know in comments if I missed anyone or who you have your eye on as a Marky winner.