Training Camp – The Battles to Watch

July 28, 2021

By Noonefromtampa

Training camp is upon us and Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera has said he doesn’t want to repeat his mistake of last year and just hand players a starting role, they will have to compete, especially at quarterback.

What are going to be the key position battles to watch for during training camp and the exhibition games in August?

Quarterback

This is the most obvious battle that even Rivera has talked about.  With Kyle Allen coming off an ankle injury, Ryan Fitzpatrick versus Taylor Heinicke is the battle to watch. Heinicke is a fan favorite at this point after his inspired play at the end of last season following a season of substellar quarterbacking. Fitzpatrick, who is known both for big plays and some bad interceptions, brings a gunslinger mentality to the position that we have not seen in a while.

In this case, I think the Fitz’s experience win out over Heinicke’s enthusiasm. A better passing game and a quarterback who can make plays with his feet when needed should open up the field and make the running game more effective. Defenses will not be able to crowd the box to take away the rushing attack and force Washington into obvious passing situations.

Offensive Line

This position group experienced turnover post-draft with long-time right tackle, Morgan Moses, and left tackle Geron Christian being released. Washington signed Charles Leno and drafted Sam Cosmi to go along with Cornelius Lucas and fortify the tackle position. Last season, Wes Schweitzer ended the year at left guard, surpassing Wes Martin when Saahdiq Charles was injured. However, Washington traded with Miami for Ereck Flowers in the offseason, who did well at that position for Washington in 2019.

Chase Roullier at center, and Brandon Scherff at right guard are the two returning starters whose positions are assured at this time.  The starting left tackle, left guard and right tackle all need to be selected.

I think Leno will win the job at left tackle, while Lucas and Cosmi battle it out at right tackle. Lucas is most likely the more polished player at this time, so pencil Cosmi in as the backup swing tackle. Wild cards in the mix are Davide Sharpe, who re-signed with the Team in the offseason, and Charles, who can play either guard or tackle. A big question for training camp is what position do they try Charles at, tackle or guard?

Conceivably, left guard could be a three-way battle between Flowers, Schweitzer and Charles. If Flowers can play as well as he did in 2019, he could be the starter, however don’t count the other two players out yet. This could be one of the more interesting position battles in training camp.

Secondary

Kendall Fuller and William Jackson III are the definite starters at cornerback. Jimmy Moreland held down the slot cornerback position last season. Washington drafted cornerback Benjamin St-Juste in the third round and he was impressive during mini-camp in June. Washington also has a number of other experienced players at the position in Darryl Roberts, Danny Johnson, Greg Stroman and Cole Luke.

The safety position is full of questions at this point. Landon Collins and Deshazor Everett are coming off injuries and Troy Apke has been moved to cornerback in an attempt to salvage his career. Kamren Curl, who showed some outstanding performance as a rookie, is a guy who makes plays so the team will likely want him on the field; however, he replaced Collins last year when Collins was injured. Bobby McCain was signed away from Miami and can play free safety as well as cornerback.  Jeremy Reaves who returns has also showed promise during his playing time.

For me this will be the most interesting area in training camp, because Collins is due too much money to not play as a starter. However, last season the coaching staff though went with younger players who showed they could play.  I think the key to this area is skill flexibility. With teams playing more hybrid coverages (mixtures of man and zone concepts such as Cover 7 and Cora), players who can flex across more than one position in the various schemes will have the greater chance of making the final roster. This favors players like McCain, Curl, St-Juste and Reaves who can play multiple types of roles in the various coverage schemes.

Linebackers

On the defense, this position group was the weakest link last season. The addition of first round pick Jamin Davis will be a tremendous improvement in the group. The big question for this area is who will play what positions in the defensive scheme. Jonathan Bostic and Cole Holcomb will see significant playing time along with Davis. The team will probably bring Davis along slowly as he adjusts to the game at the professional level, but figure Davis and Holcomb to stay on the field in obvious passing downs.

David Mayo and Khaleke Hudson are likely backups with Jordan Kunaszyk playing the special teams ace role.  The roster also includes Jared Norris, Justin Phillips and rookie Shaka Toney.

Wide Receivers

With this grouping the questions are how many receivers going to be kept and who plays which roles. With Terry McLaurin, newly signed Curtis Samuel and Adam Humphries, newly drafted Dyami Brown, plus a number of returning players such as Cam Sims, Kelvin Harmon, Steven Sims Jr., Isaiah Wright and Antonio Gandy-Golden, this is most talent Washington has had at wide receiver in a number of years.

The new additions were meant to improve the level of play and add speed, both of which were lacking last season. Washington will probably only keep six or seven wide receivers on the 53-man roster so some of the players from last year will not make the final roster this season. Cam Sims, Harmon and Gandy-Golden are essentially the same big “X” receiver type and there is only room for one of the them on final roster.

Tight Ends

Logan Thomas is set at the number one tight end position. The question here is who is going to be the number two and three tight ends. Jeremy Sprinkle is no longer with the team, but Temarrick Hemingway returns. Washington drafted John Bates from Boise State and signed Ricky Seals-Jones, Deon Yelder and Sammis Reyes, who is a project who has never played competitive football. Coach Pete Hoener did a great job with Logan Thomas last year, but has his work cut out for him this camp with the group of players behind Thomas. My thoughts at this point are that Bates and Seals-Jones are the best bets to make the roster as second and third tight ends.

Concluding Thoughts

This is probably one of the most exciting training camps in the last decade. Washington is coming off an NFC East Division title and the roster now has a number of very talented players. This team should be able to compete for something other than a high draft pick this season. The schedule is more difficult because of the first place finish last season but there is continuity and strength in the coaching staff so the future seems bright as camp opens and expectations are high.