Washington’s middle linebacker position is in crisis
March 22, 2022
by Steve Thomas
Lost in the excitement of the start of free agency and the Redskins the Commanders Washington’s trade for apparent quarterback of the future Carson Wentz is the fact that the team has a serious middle linebacker problem. Not only have they not done anything about it; they haven’t even acknowledged it as a problem. Why is that? Does the front office have a plan that we don’t know about?
This wasn’t supposed to happen, of course. Washington drafted Jamin Davis in round 1 of last year’s draft, and expected him to be the middle linebacker of the future. Unfortunately, what became apparent pretty quickly was that, for all his amazing athletic ability, he was poorly-suited to the middle position and had a long way to go in general. Head coach Ron Rivera was eventually forced to admit toward the end of the season that Davis was a better fit for one of the outside positions, probably the weakside. That’s not to say that Davis is going to end up as a bust, but the simple fact of the matter is that he’s most likely not going to be the answer to the problem he was brought here to solve. Things could change as the seasons go along, but right now it appears – as it’s always appeared to me – that his football destiny lies on the outside.
Furthermore, the starter at middle linebacker for the last two years, Jonathan Bostic, is a free agent, and Washington has thusfar shown no interest in re-signing him. Bostic wasn’t bad during his time in DC: he played 32 games, starting 31, in both 2019 and 2020, and was once again a starter in 2021 until he tore a pectoral muscle in week 4 and missed the rest of the season. In those three seasons, Bostic made 245 tackles, including 129 solo and 10 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and 2 interceptions. Those are decent, respectable numbers, but not plus-level production. Bostic is probably best described as a league-average starting middle linebacker.
Without Bostic on the roster, that leaves backup David Mayo as the sole true middle linebacker on the roster at the moment. No offense to Mayo, but he’s been a backup for a reason. If Washington’s plan is to start Mayo, they probably need a new plan. Mayo isn’t going to be sufficient as the starter, and furthermore, if he’s used in that manner, he won’t have a backup. There’s literally no other true middle linebacker on the roster. Next up in an emergency is probably Cole Holcomb by default, but he’s someone who’s played on either the strong or weak side for his entire Washington career.
The fact of the matter is that Washington has failed to focus on middle linebacker for several seasons, instead choosing to place a huge amount of emphasis and draft capital on the defensive line. That wasn’t wrong, necessarily, as the team now has a number of very highly drafted players with which to build on, but ignoring – or in the case of Davis, missing on a draft pick – the opportunity to find a plus-level captain of the defense in the middle has hurt the team. Most alarming is that Washington doesn’t seem all that concerned. We’ve heard nothing about the team’s free agency plans for middle linebacker, and it doesn’t appear as though they’ve either made an effort to bring someone in or to re-sign Bostic. It’s possible that they are allowing Bostic to test the market, essentially waiting him out, but is that smart when you otherwise have just one backup-level talent on the roster?
My colleague Jamual Forrest published a review of free agent linebacker options last month (click here to read). Since the publication of his piece, longtime Seattle middle linebacker Bobby Wagner was released, providing another upper-level, albeit older, option. Jamual’s #1 option, Anthony Walker Jr., signed with the Cleveland Browns for just $5M last week, but a number of other candidates remain available. Certainly, a good starting-quality free agent, whether Wagner or someone else, will cost money in the form of salary cap space, but Washington has enough room to sign at least one more significant player. Wagner is obviously a big name, but given his age it’s fair to ask what he has left in the tank. His 2021 production would suggest that Wagner has a few more years left – he started all 16 games, made 170 tackles, and earned Second Team All Pro and Pro Bowl honors.
The Hog Sty’s written linebacker draft preview will be released in a few weeks, so I’m not going to get into specific draft options here, but if you want an absolutely critical, top draft need, look no further than middle linebacker. Some may not be happy if Washington burns two straight first round picks on linebackers, but I fail to see a position with a greater need. I know, I know: some of you are screaming “BPA BPA BPA”, but the truth of the matter is that nearly every team takes need into account to one degree or the other at the top of the draft. Certainly, the team shouldn’t reach for a player who doesn’t deserve to be drafted at #11, and many quality players have been drafted in round 2 and lower, but in my view, this is the top draft priority. The team hasn’t invested a first round pick on the offense other than Dwayne Haskins since Josh Doctson in 2016. Before that, it was guard Brandon Scherff in 2015 and quarterback Robert Griffin in 2011.
I get it. It’s time to draft offense, for sure. The team has some big needs on that side of the ball. In my view, though, ignoring middle linebacker isn’t in the best interests of the team. Don’t forget about this position, Washington.