Final Roster Thoughts, 2019 Edition

August 31, 2019

UPDATED September 1, 2019, 6:15 pm.

by Steve Thomas

We now have a regular season roster, and that’s exciting and fun, and we’re certainly going to get into both here in this column and elsewhere, but I’d first like to remind everyone that a whole bunch of people lost their jobs today.  All of the professional beat writers, coaches, and players who’ve been around NFL teams for a long time say it’s the toughest day of the year.  Enjoy the start of real football, but don’t forget that some lifelong dreams died this weekend.

Enough of that.  Let’s get into the meat of the roster:

Quarterbacks (3)

Starter: Case Keenum

2nd string: Colt McCoy

3rd string: Dwayne Haskins

Reserve/PUP list: Alex Smith

Injured Reserve: Josh Woodrum

Cut: Jalan McClendon

Despite the months of hand-wringing, debate, and downright nastiness amongst the fanbase for the past several months, this was always going to be the result.  Gruden favorite and long-time backup McCoy was never going anywhere except possibly to injured reserve, but based on McClendon’s cut, it appears as though the team thinks McCoy is fine.  When Haskins grabs the starting job is a different story for another day.

Running backs (4)

Starter: Adrian Peterson

2nd string: Derrius Guice

3rd down back: Chris Thompson

3rd string: Wendell Smallwood

Reserve/NFI list: Bryce Love

Injured Reserve: Shaun Wilson

Cut: Samaje Perine, Craig Reynolds, Byron Marshall

The big news is that 2017 fourth round pick Perine was cut in favor of 2016 undrafted free agent Marshall, who was himself then cut less than 24 hours later once former Eagle Smallwood became available.  Samaje is strong as an ox and has some talent, but probably stuck around longer than he otherwise would’ve thanks to his draft status.  At the end of the day, Smallwood is a more complete back than Marshall, and Marshall was better than Perine.  Tough moves, but they were the right thing to do for the team.  Initially keeping Wilson then putting him on IR allows the Redskins to retain his rights for the year.

Wide Receivers (6)

“X” starter: Terry McLaurin

“Z” starter: Paul Richardson, Jr.

Slot starter: Trey Quinn

2nd string: Robert Davis

2nd string: Kelvin Harmon

2nd string: Steven Sims, Jr.

Cut: Josh Doctson, Brian Quick, Cam Sims, Jehu Chesson, Darvin Kidsy

The big news here is obviously the departure of 2016 first round pick and Scot McCloughan favorite Doctson, who has some natural skills, but ultimately just couldn’t produce enough to justify keeping him over others in a position group now loaded with lots of talented young players.  Also, losing 2018 camp favorite Cam Sims is a tough blow, but he was ultimately a victim of his two drops in Thursday’s final preseason game and the outstanding performance of Steven Sims Jr., who possibly along with RB Shaun Wilson will fill the crucial returner role that Cam Sims couldn’t.  Another tough choice, but, again, right for the team, particularly since the Redskins have had just about the worst punt and kick return teams in the NFL for past past few years.  If Steven Sims can make that better, then keeping him will be the far better move for the franchise.

Tight Ends (3)

Starter: Jordan Reed

2nd string: Vernon Davis

3rd string: Jeremy Sprinkle

Cut: J.P. Holtz, Donald Parham Jr.

Waived with injury designation: Matthew Flanagan

The biggest point to get out of this position group is that the front office apparently believes that Reed isn’t going to miss significant time due to his concussion resulting from the dirty hit by Falcons safety Keanu Neal; otherwise, one of Holtz, Flanagan, or Parham probably would’ve been the fourth tight end on the active roster.

Offensive line (9)

Starters: Donald Penn, Ereck Flowers, Chase Roullier, Brandon Scherff, Morgan Moses

2nd string guard: Wes Martin

2nd string center and guard: Tony Bergstrom

3rd string center: Ross Pierschbacher

Swing tackle: Geron Christian

Injured Reserve: Casey Dunn

Reserve/Did Not Report list: Trent Williams

Cut: Jerald Foster, Blake Hance, Zac Kerin, Timon Parris, Corey Robinson, Hugh Thornton

With Williams still pouting like a spoiled child who was spanked by his parents after getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar, the team has turned to Penn to start at left tackle.  That’s not necessarily good but it is less concerning than left guard, because while Flowers has had his moments this preseason, particularly in the run game, he’s also been wildly inconsistent at times.  It’s telling that Martin wasn’t ready to beat him out.  It was also a mild surprise that Pierschbacher made the roster as a 3rd string center, which seems like a luxury item brought on only because he was a fifth round pick.  One of the backup guards who were cut might’ve been a better choice for the active roster.

Defensive line (5)

Starters: Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Matt Ioannidis

2nd string: Caleb Brantley, Tim Settle

Cut: Ryan Bee, Jonathan Bonner, Khari Clark, Austin Maloata, JoJo Wicker

The only mild surprise here is Caleb Brantley, who in early August suffered what was described as a mild Lisfranc injury, which is something that has sidelined other players for much longer periods of time.  Apparently Brantley is now healthy since he made the 53.

Inside Linebackers (4)

Starters: Jonathan Bostic, Shaun Dion Hamilton

Nickel backer: Josh Harvey-Clemons

2nd string: Cole Holcomb

Injured Reserve: Reuben Foster

Cut: Andrew Ankrah, B.J. Blunt, Marquis Flowers, Gary Johnson

No surprises or complaints here.  It was possible that the Redskins could’ve kept a fifth player in this group, but the team decided to go in another direction.  For all of the grief the Redskins got for signing Foster last year, he turned out to be merely a case of “what might’ve been”, at least for this year.

Outside linebackers (4)

Starters: Ryan Kerrigan, Ryan Anderson

2nd string: Montez Sweat, Cassanova McKinzy

Injured Reserve: Jordan Brailford

Cut: Marcus Smith, Darrell Williams

Brailford was originally kept on the active roster on Saturday, then placed on injured reserve on Sunday.  As was the case with Shaun Wilson, this maneuver allows the Redskins to retain control of Brailford on his rookie contract while clearing a roster spot.  Brailford didn’t get any run during the preseason thanks to his health, but’s he’s a very talented and versatile player of whom I think highly (to read my film study of him click here).  He will be a tremendous player for the Redskins when he’s able to get back on the field.  McKinzy was one of the brightest lights of the preseason, and the rumor is that, fortunately, his concussion is minor enough that he will return for week one, which allowed the team to keep him on the active roster.

Corners (6)

Starters: Josh Norman, Quinton Dunbar, Fabian Moreau (slot)

2nd string: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Greg Stroman, Jimmy Moreland

Reserve/PUP list: Danny Johnson

Cut: Adonis Alexander, Deion Harris, Ashton Lampkin, D.J. White

The only real surprise here is that Moreland forced his way onto the active roster.  Moreland was a longshot at the beginning of training camp, but he turned out to be a playmaking revelation who the team had no choice but to keep.  Alexander, who ended up getting hurt and looked slow when he did play, was probably the victim of Moreland’s success.

Safeties (4)

Starters: Landon Collins, Montae Nicholson

2nd string: Troy Apke, Deshazor Everett

Cut: JoJo McIntosh, Jeremy Reaves

It was a bit of a surprise that Apke beat Reaves out purely from a performance standpoint, but at the end of the day Apke is a draft pick with 4.3 speed despite the fact that he currently lacks the ability to play the game of football at an NFL level.  Therefore, Reaves had to go.  McIntosh was a preseason favorite to make the roster amongst the undrafted free agents because the Redskins gave him a small signing bonus, which is unusual.

Specialists (3)

Placekicker: Dustin Hopkins

Long snapper: Nick Sundberg

Punter: Tress Way

Amongst this group, only Sundberg had competition, in the form of Mr. Shawn Johnson, aka Andrew East, who the Redskins dumped some time ago.  So, the specialists return intact for another year, led by the NFL’s best punter.

Practice Squad (9)

CB Adonis Alexander, DE Ryan Bee, WR Jehu Chesson, TE J.P. Holtz, T Timon Parris, S Jeremy Reaves, RB Craig Reynolds, WR Cam Sims, LB Darrell Williams

There are no real surprises in this group.  There’s a good mix of position groups here, including 2018 returnees Chesson, Holtz, and Parris.  The team has one spot left to fill.

Overall, that’s 25 on offense, 23 on defense, and 3 specialists.  The Redskins will sign two more players to the active to replace Wilson and Brailford.  The only true, big-time moves that came out of this year’s cutdown day were the Redskins decision to move on from Doctson and the downfall of Cam Sims, who as late as Thursday afternoon seemed like a roster lock.  Other than that, everything else went mostly as expected.  Now, things count for real.  On to week one!