Category: Latest Washington News

Injury Report: Deshazor Everett, Cornelius Lucas, Geron Christian absent from walk-through

The left side of Washington’s O-line is banged up, causing a shake-up in the front while a replacement for Everett needs to be found.

Things looked a bit different for Washington on Wednesday, as the team went through a walk-through rather than a padded practice due to the intensive protocol they were placed under after a player tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.

That player, Matt Ioannidis, has been on the injured reserve since early October, and did not travel with the team to Detroit last week, so there is some optimism that Washington won’t be extremely effected by this, but precautions have still been put into place for the right reasons.

Nonetheless, there were a few notable players that were absent from the walk-through on Wednesday, namely LTs Geron Christian and Cornelius Lucas. Christian has been dealing with an injury for the past couple of weeks, and now his replacement is also banged up and went down after getting rolled up on in Sunday’s game. Right tackle Morgan Moses stepped in at the LT position, putting David Sharpe at RT, and it appears the same might happen this week as well.

Safety Deshazor Everett was also absent on Wednesday after suffering a high-ankle sprain against the Lions. Washington doesn’t have a clear timetable for his return, so we will have to keep an eye on that one.

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Will Joe Burrow vs. Chase Young battle be televised in your area?

The No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the 2020 NFL Draft will finally face off against each other this week when Washington hosts the Bengals.

Coming into the 2020 NFL season, this was a game that a lot of people had circled on their schedules, with the Washington Football Team playing host to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Joe Burrow was finally coming to D.C. to face off against Chase Young. The No. 1 vs. the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Former teammates at Ohio State before Burrow transferred to LSU and led the Tigers to a championship.

Of course, this matchup would have been a lot more fun if QB Dwayne Haskins was taking part, considering that he is the one who beat out Burrow in a quarterback-competition in Ohio State, sending Burrown into the transfer portal, but that’s besides the point. This is still going to be a fun game to watch if you’re a fan of generational talent being put to the test in their early days.

So will this matchup be televised in your area? Take a look, using the 506 Sports Coverage Map for Week 11:

Shown in light blue, this game will actually be televised on CBS, rather than FOX, and there are not many places outside of the Cincinnati and D.C. areas putting this one on top for viewers. Of course, that has more to do with the terrible records of both teams, than anything else.

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Morgan Moses looks to be making switch to LT as injuries continue in Washington

Injuries to both Geron Christian and Cornelius Lucas caused Morgan Moses to switch the LT last week, and that trend may continue this week.

After left tackle Cornelius Lucas went down for Washington in the game against the Detroit Lions last week, we saw a bit of a shake-up on the offensive line, with veteran RT Morgan Moses switching over to the left side, and David Sharpe coming in at RT.

It looks like we may see that a bit more going forward, as Washington continues to deal with injuries on the front line. In Wednesday’s practice, reporters noted that both Geron Christian and Lucas were absent from practice, and Moses was lining up at the left side. With his experience on the line, it makes sense that you would plug Moses in at the most important spot up front.

Credit to Washington, they played very well with the make-shift unit up front, and continued to buy Alex Smith some time in the pocket, giving him a chance to march the team down the field routinely in the second half, allowing Washington to mount a comeback from down 24-3. Though they eventually lost the game, one still has to feel confident about Moses’ abilities at the LT position, at least while Washington is looking for some of their players at the position to get healthy. While they entered the season with Christian, Lucas, and rookie Saahdiq Charles all on the depth chart at LT, the three of those players have been injured, and none are likely to be available this week, it appears.

Good thing you have a veteran player like Moses to turn to in times like this.

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2020 NFL Re-Draft: Should Washington have taken Justin Herbert over Chase Young?

Hindsight is always 20-20, but does Washington have a bit of buyer’s remorse with Chase Young when QBs like Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa were left on the board?

Hindsight is always 20-20, but is that the case once again for Washington Football fans this year? When taking stock of where things are so far this year, and projecting an outlook on the future, do you think many fans are happy with where things are currently in D.C.? If you could go back and make a few changes, would you?

Specifically, if you could rewrite the 2020 NFL Draft, would Washington still take DE Chase Young with the No. 2 overall pick? Do they feel confident enough in his abilities on the defensive line to pass up on players like Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa, two potentially generational QB talents who have been extremely impressive thus far this year?

According to Pro Football Focus’ Mike Renner, Washington might have a bit of buyer’s remorse on that No. 2 pick, and when you look at the stats, it makes sense why.

Chase Young has been great in Washington thus far, let’s get that out of the way up top. Though his stats may not jump off the page — 18 total tackles and 3.5 sacks — every week we can break down the film and see that teams are routinely putting two or sometimes even three guys up against him in pass-blocking scenarios, showing the respect that he already has in gameplans. However, is he good enough to justify passing on someone like Herbert or Tua?

Granted, nobody saw this type of rookie season coming from Herbert — the Oregon grad is just 1-7 on the year, but has thrown for well over 2,000 yards, has a 19:6 TD-to-interception ratio, and has three touchdowns on the ground as well. As far as Tua goes, it may be a bit too early to tell just what his ceiling is, since he’s only played three games in Miami. However, he is 3-0 in those games with five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Over in Washington, it appears that the team is once again searching for their franchise QB, someone that they can lean on for the better part of the next decade. In Los Angeles and Miami, they found theirs in the draft, after Washington passed up on both players to find Young, who is a generational edge-rusher, but did not come at a position of need.

We have no doubt that Young’s career will continue to blossom, but it’s always fair to ask the question: Did Washington make a mistake passing up on a QB in 2020?

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Brandon Scherff named ‘Secret Superstar’ after dominant performance vs. Lions

Sherff allowed zero pressures on 63 pass-blocking snaps vs. Detroit, and played a major part in Gibson’s first multi-touchdown game.

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It may have been just another loss on the schedule for Washington this past week against the Detroit Lions, but there were some signs of life on the Washington roster that may give us some hope for the future ahead.

While much of the attention was given to the young receivers and running back on the roster, most of whom had breakout games thanks to the performance from QB Alex Smith, one player that is getting a lot of attention is RG Brandon Scherff, who had a stellar game on the offensive line, and is partly responsible for the play of RB Antonio Gibson, who had the first multi-touchdown game of his career.

Because of this performance, our friends at Touchdown Wire named Scherff as one of their Secret Superstars of the Week, listing him as a player that didn’t get a ton of accolades, but deserves to be acknowledged for his level of play.

Injuries over the last few seasons have cost Scherff time on the field, and may affect his earning power after the 2020 season if that continues. He’s already missed time with an MCL injury this season, but when he’s healthy and on the field, you see every bit of the talent that had Washington selecting him fifth overall in the 2015 draft, picking up his fifth-year option in 2019, and giving him the franchise tag in 2020. Against the Lions on Sunday, he allowed no pressures of any kind on 63 pass-blocking attempts, and he was a malevolent force in the run game, helping rookie Antonio Gibson to 45 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries.

Gibson’s first run of the day was a four-yarder with 13:12 left in the first quarter, and watch what Scherff (No. 65) does to Detroit defensive tackle Danny Shelton (No. 71), who clears the scales at 345 pounds. Anyone for pancakes?

 

Going forward, Washington has a big decision to make when it comes to Scherff, who is playing on the franchise tag this season and is set to sign a hefty contract with whichever team he chooses. Should that be Washington, it would go a long way in solidifying the strength of the right side of their line, where they already have RT Morgan Moses under contract through 2022.
If Scherff keeps playing like this, then there’s no reason to believe that Washington won’t give him the money that he desires, and keep him in the Burgundy & Gold for years to come.

Report: Washington could turn to Haskins as QB1 if eliminated from playoffs

According to a report, Washington could go back to Haskins as their QB1 should the team be eliminated from the playoffs this year.

One of the major questions facing the Washington Football Team this season has been what they are going to do at the quarterback position, with the team cycling through Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, and Alex Smith over the past couple of months.

While the starting job belongs to Smith right now, Ron Rivera recently said that Washington could go back to Haskins should the team be eliminated from playoff contention, according to NBC Sports Washington. 

While this is an important development for Haskins and his future with Washington, it could take a while for the team to be eliminated from playoff contention thanks to an extremely weak NFC East division. As it stands now, Washington is just 1.5 games out of first place in the division, while also holding onto the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft if the season were to end today.

With Washington falling to 2-7 on the season with their latest loss to the Lions, many fans are begging for the team to stop with the intent to make the playoffs, and see what they have in Haskins rather than continuing to start Smith and try to win games. With this recent report, it is at least clear that the team is willing to go back to their former first-round pick should the team keep losing.

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Report: Matt Ioannidis is Washington player who tested positive for COVID-19

The player who reportedly tested positive for COVID in Washington appears to be Matt Ioannidis, who has been on the IR since early October.

After it was reported on Tuesday morning that a player on the Washington Football Team had tested positive for COVID-19, news is now coming out that it was DL Matt Ioannidis who was the one who tested positive.

After the initial news came out, there were reports that the player who tested positive was someone who had not traveled to the game vs. the Detroit Lions this weekend, and was also on the injured reserve. It is likely that Ioannidis has had minimal contact with players and personnel in Washington since being placed on the IR in early October, so the team should likely be able to move forward without a ton of constraints going forward.

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Washington player tests positive for COVID-19; did not travel to Detroit

A Washington player has recently tested positive for COVID-19, sending the team into intensive protocol as contact tracing is done.

The Washington Football Team is going into intensive protocols after a player on the team texted positive for COVID-19, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

The player who was a confirmed positive for the virus did not travel with the team to Detroit for their game against the Lions this weekend, but it is assumed that he likely had some contact with players and staff over the past week. Going forward, we will wait to hear more about who the player is, and which people he was in close contact with, which could lead to more players being placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list.

This is the first positive COVID-19 test result for Washington since the season began, and they were just one of four total teams who had yet to have a positive case thus far.

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Rookie Saahdiq Charles to undergo season-ending knee surgery

Rather than going on the IR and coming back alter in the year, Charles will undergo season-ending surgery with a hope to return by minicamp.

The rookie season for fourth-round pick Saahdiq Charles didn’t quite go as expected, but it left us with a lot of hope for the future. It was reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero on Monday that Charles will undergo season-ending surgery on his knee after suffering a dislocated kneecap on the second play of his first career game.

There was initially hope that Charles could go to the IR for a handful of weeks and eventually return to the field this year, but it appears that surgery will be the best option going forward. Pelissero reports that there is hope he will be good to go by minicamp.

The rookie had a lot of upside coming into the NFL, and was only drafted in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft due to concerns about behavioral issues — a lot of people thought he was a first or second-round talent. Washington took a chance on him, but unfortunately, his first year in the league was plague by injuries, with a calf injury holding him out of much of training camp and the early part of the season, and then a knee injury knocking him out on his second career snap.

Nonetheless, Washington seems the feel like they have a franchise offensive lineman on their hands, whether that be at the left tackle or left guard position. We are excited to get him back on the field and healthy in the future.

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Montez Sweat was PFF’s highest-graded edge rusher in Week 10

Though he had just one tackle on the day, Montez Sweat earned PFF’s top edge-rushing grade for his Week 10 performance against the Lions.

There is unfortunately a lot of focus on the edge-rushing position in Washington right now, but not for reasons that you’d hope for.

After an impressive comeback from down 24-3, Washington had a chance to stop the Detroit Lions and send the game into overtime, yet a roughing-the-passer call on rookie DE Chase Young knocked the Lions into field-goal range, where they promptly ended the game off the leg of Matt Prater.

Young later owned his mistake and vowed to be better, so we should all be able to move on. Can we proceed to talk about the good things that happened at that position now?

Montez Sweat had a solid performance on Sunday, and though it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet at all — Sweat had just one total tackle — the second-year player earned Pro Football Focus’s top edge-rushing grade of the week.

Though his stats were unimpressive, Sweat continually made his presence felt in the backfield, and he kept Matthew Stafford uneasy when necessary. It’s been made clear over the past several weeks that this former first-round pick is one of the young and budding players on the Washington roster that has a chance to be really good in the future, and we’re starting to see that this year.

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