The Washington No-Names at the Halfway Mark, Part 1
November 2, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Yes, yes, I realize that Washington is only through game 7, so it’s technically not the “halfway point”, but it still seems like the right time to do a mid-season review and grading column, plus #weneedcontentafterthebyeweek, so here we go. What I’m going to do here is give an overview of each Washington position group and then grade that group’s performance for the first seven games. Today’s column will cover Washington’s offense, and my analysis of the defense, special teams, and coaching will be tomorrow.
Offense
Overall, the offense has been utterly atrocious all year with the exception of one half of the Eagles game and the week 7 battle against the terrible Dallas Cowboys. Last week’s game showed that Washington’s offense can do well against other teams that are just as bad, but nobody should mistake this for a good offense. They have only scored 133 points, which was ranked 28th heading into the week 8 games, and have gained only 2049 total yards, which was ranked 29th before the weekend. This offense mostly stinks, pure and simple, lacks talent, has suffered injuries, and has had a quarterback controversy. I’ll get into that in detail below.
Overall Grade: D-. This unit was only spared from a failing grade by the Dallas game.
Quarterbacks
Obviously, the biggest news to come out of the Redskins Washington in the first half of the season was Dwayne Haskins’ stunning fall from grace. To be fair, he didn’t get much of a shot from head coach Ron Rivera before being replaced following Washington’s week 4 game against the Ravens, and the whole thing seemed to be sort of a predetermined course of action. Three out of the four teams Haskins faced were quality teams, and considering that he had to learn a new offensive system with no real offseason or preseason games, in my view Rivera’s hook was too quick. And of course, because this is Washington, anonymous rumors about his poor work ethic leaked soon after his benching. They may be wrong or right, but the bottom line is that it’s over in Washington for Haskins. Washington has succeeded in throwing a first round pick in the trash can without bothering to try very hard to develop him. Rivera did the wrong thing here and should have made more of an effort to bring Haskins along. For Kyle Allen’s part, he’s been pretty good in relief and is much more comfortable in the starter’s role than was Haskins, which should surprise no one considering his background. He’s not great, but he’s a serviceable game manager-type who can succeed with the right team around him. Incredibly, Alex Smith actually made it all the way back and is now the most expensive backup quarterback ever.
Grade: C-. This is certainly one of the lesser quarterback groups in the league, but it has been stabilized somewhat by Allen.
Running backs
One game against the worst run defense in the league does not save this group. Up until the Dallas game, Washington had the league’s worst rushing attack. It isn’t completely the fault of Antonio Gibson, J.D. McKissic, and Peyton Barber, as they got very little assistance from either the offensive line or the passing game. Gibson has potential and proved in the Dallas game that he can perform at a high level in the right circumstances, but overall, this is probably the least-threatening group of running backs in the NFL. I have no idea what the coaching staff was thinking by cutting Adrian Peterson in favor of Peyton Barber. Gibson is the guy with the most potential to be an every down type of player, and the team seems intent on giving him a chance to develop (in contrast, see Haskins, Dwayne). Statistically, Gibson leads the way with 371 yards in 84 carries for an average of 4.4 yards per carry; however, prior to the Dallas game he was averaging just 3.8 yards per carry.
Grade: D-. Last week’s performance by Antonio Gibson saves this grade from being a total failure.
Wide receivers
WFT’s Washington’s wide receiver group is Terry McLaurin and a bunch of other dudes, most of whom I wouldn’t know if they walked into my kitchen. McLaurin has proven to be an elite #1 caliber receiver, with 43 receptions (10th in the NFL before week 8) in 69 targets (5th in the NFL before week 8) for 577 yards (6th in the NFL before week 8), 13.4 yards per catch, and 2 touchdowns. All of Washington’s other receivers combined have a total of 41 receptions in 60 targets for 387 yards, 9.4 yards per catch, and 3 touchdowns. They’ve also been hurt by injury, losing probable starter Kelvin Harmon in the preseason and starting slot receiver Steven Sims Jr. in week 3. Just imagine what McLaurin could do with one or two more receivers that opposing defenses would have to respect. Washington’s management needs to make a serious effort to upgrade this group in the offseason.
Grade: D. The only thing that saves this group from an F grade is McLaurin’s talent and production.
Tight ends
The tight end group also needs major help in the offseason. Washington tried to do too much with Logan Thomas early in the season, with 24 targets in the first three games, but they righted the ship somewhat with just 16 in the next 4. Thomas is a decent but not great blocker and has the potential to be at least a serviceable starter, but he doesn’t have the physical profile or experience to be a plus-level producer in the passing game like some of the top tight ends in the division and in the NFC. Neither Jeremy Sprinkle nor Temarrick Hemingway showed much so far this year. Thomas is good enough as the starter for now as long as the team does not expect great things from him. Together, including Marcus Baugh, the tight end group has 24 receptions in 45 targets for 236 yards, 9.8 yards per catch, and 3 touchdowns, which is awful.
Grade: D. Thomas has been okay but the overall lack of production drags this grade down.
Offensive line
The offensive line finally put together a dominate performance last week. Granted, it was against the weak-sister Dallas Cowboys, but it still counts. The week 7 group, which was Cornelius Lucas at left tackle, Wes Schweitzer at left guard, Chase Roullier at center, Pro Bowler Brandon Scherff at right guard, and Morgan Moses at left tackle, might just be the best version of this offensive line. We need to see how they do against a better team than Dallas, though. For most of the season, the line as a whole was terrible in both run and pass blocking, surrendering 26 sacks, ranked 30th before week 8, and the league-worst 9.7% sack percentage. With Roullier and Scherff both becoming free agents at the end of the season (barring a franchise tag), it’s likely that the offensive line will be the subject of major work in the offseason.
Grade: D-. Only their dominating performance against Dallas saves them from a failing grade.
Come back tomorrow for my grades for the defense, special teams, and coaching.