Category: Latest Washington News

Jim Hostler says ‘no idea’ who starting WRs are outside of Terry McLaurin

Washington’s new WR coach used complete honesty when saying that he has no idea who the starting WRs will be alongside Terry McLaurin.

One of the biggest concerns in Washington comes on the offensive side of the ball, where there is a major lack of talent and depth at the wide receiver position.

Terry McLaurin led the way in 2019 as the only player who was worth talking about at WR, and going into the 2020 season, it seems that he will have to do the same, at least to start.

That question of who will join McLaurin at the top has been common among fans all offseason, but the team has done little to improve the situation, as far as major moves go. They drafted Antonio Gandy-Golden and signed both Cody Latimer and Dontrelle Inman in free agency, but those were the only additions. On Thursday,  Washington’s new wide receiver coach had complete honesty when talking to the media when he admitted that even he has no idea which player will fill the WR2 role next to McLaurin.

There are several candidates, with the aforementioned Gandy-Golden having high hopes from fans, and Inman seemingly the most suited to fill that veteran role, however, it seems that Steven Sims Jr. will have the best chance. He was easily the second most impressive WR in Washington last season, and many believe that he will thrive in Scott Turner’s offense.

There will be a lot of competition in camp though, and all eyes will be on the WR position.

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LOOK: Washington shows off new helmets featuring numbers instead of logo

Washington posted the first real images of new helmets without the former team logo on it, with players numbers featured instead.

Are you still questioning whether or not the new helmets in Washington will look cool without the former team logo on the side? Well, whether you like it or not, it’s going to be something you’ll have to get used to, at least for the next year or so, and there’s a good chance that it’ll grow on you.

The Washington Football Team official Twitter account released pictures and a video of Landon Collins’ helmet being prepared with the No. 20 on the side, which we already got a glimpse of earlier this offseason when the Pro-Bowl safety posted a jersey mock-up on his Instagram page and teased what the new fits might look like.

It may be too ‘college-like’ for some, but you can guarantee that any player from the University of Alabama will feel right at home wearing their number on the dome, and the rest of the players will come to like it eventually as well.

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Kendall Fuller says Washington’s goal is to have ‘best defense in the league’

Fuller knows that there’s a chance to do something special in his return to Washington, and pieces are there to become a dominant defense.

Going into the 2020 NFL season, there is an understanding around the NFL that the Washington Football Team may not win a ton of games or be a playoff team, but they have a defensive front that will make life tough on a lot of opposing quarterbacks. With a dominant defensive line that consists of five former first-round picks, Washington will likely have no problem disrupting the passing game and forcing QBs into bad decisions.

From there, it will be on the secondary to clean up the mess.

Kendall Fuller, the cornerback who was drafted by Washington and re-signed with them in free agency this offseason, knows that he can help bring the level of play up in the back-end. He said as much on Wednesday when talking to media members, noting that there are aspirations to be great in Washington amongst all players.

The secondary was anything but great in 2019, but a new wave of players have been brought in, with Fuller and Ronald Darby acting as new blood in coverage. Washington also has high hopes for both Fabian Moreau and Jimmy Moreland as well, hoping that they can round out the cornerback position and hold solid.

If the defensive line can be as good as expected, it won’t be hard for the secondary to have a huge impact on the game. If they can do so, rising to one of the best defenses in the league is very achievable for Washington.

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Brandon Scherff getting tips about health and longevity from Ryan Kerrigan

Brandon Scherff is an incredible talent, but he’s recently sought out tips from Ryan Kerrigan on how to stay healthy longer.

We all know that Washington’s star right guard Brandon Scherff has the talent to be one of the best linemen in all of the NFL, but one thing that has plagued him over the years is his health.

During his first two years in the season, Scherff played 32 of 32 games, making it to the Pro Bowl in his second season, but since then he’s been forced to sit out 16 games because of injuries. When talking to media members on Wednesday, Scherff said that he isn’t doing much differently this year around to protect against that, but he has bee picking the brain of one player in Washington who is well known for his ability to stay on the field for an incredible amount of time — Ryan Kerrigan.

Kerrigan, the Ironman of the NFL, had his perfect streak of consecutive games broken at 139 straight in 2019 after suffering a minor injury near the end of the season. If we could figure out a way for Scherff to stay on the field with that level of consistency, there’s no doubt he would rise to be one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time.

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Brandon Scherff has no intentions of leaving Washington over contract

Scherff will play the 2020 season on the franchise tag, but he isn’t concerned about a long-term deal, as he has no intentions of leaving.

Washington veteran right guard Brandon Scherff met with media members on Wednesday morning to talk about all things Washington Football coming up in the 2020 season, and he started the conversation with something that fans will love to hear early on.

It was about his contract situation, and what his thoughts were on being franchise tagged and unable to come to terms on a new long-term deal with Ron Rivera and the new coaching staff. According to Scherff, this is not a big deal to him, as his end goal remains the same: staying in Washington for the rest of his career.

Scherff was drafted by Washington back in 2015, and he has risen to become one of the top guards in the NFL. With his contract up this past offseason, a franchise tag was placed on him that will pay him handsomely for the 2020 season while a new contract is figured out.

If you had any doubts that Scherff would stick around into the future, this should calm all of those fears. Scherff still plans to be a member of the Washington Football Team for life.

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Steve Russ calls Cole Holcomb a ‘raw talent’ and a ‘football junkie’

Holcomb had an impressive rookie season in Washington, and the new coaching staff sees the raw talent that he has to work with.

There were a number of players in Washington who were able to make a strong impression during the 2019 season despite the underwhelming team performance, and the main goal going forward is finding a way to hold onto that young talent and figure out a way to maximize their impact going forward.

One of the most impressive players was rookie linebacker Cole Holcomb, who was drafted in the fifth round, but went on to earn his spot as a starting linebacker and work his way into a pivotal role on the defense. Going into year two, Holcomb is expected to keep that role, now alongside veteran Thomas Davis and Jon Bostic, and the feeling around the team is that he will be an important part of the defense.

When linebackers coach Steve Russ spoke to the media on Tuesday, he definitely had some encouraging words to say about Holcomb.

The linebacker position as a whole was a bit of a crapshoot as far as expected production goes in 2019, but for the most part, they delivered when called upon. Now, with three successful NFL linebackers coaching the defense — Russ, Ron Rivera, and Jack Del Rio — expectations are much higher, as a talented group will become a disciplined group as well. If all goes right, Holcomb can quickly turn into one of the staples of the team, and a well-known draft success.

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Reuben Foster is staying mentally ready to hit the ground running once cleared to play

We don’t quite know when Foster will be cleared to play, but he is doing all of the mental work to be ready for when that happens.

The Washington Football Team started out training camp with linebacker Reuben Foster on the PUP list, but that doesn’t mean that he is far away from being ready to play.

Though he failed the football part of his physical at the start of camp, it has become clear that both the player and coaches are operating under the assumption that Foster will be able to take the field at some point this season, though it’s not yet known when exactly that will take place. On Tuesday afternoon, linebackers coach Steve Russ talked to media members and said that both he and Foster are treating the situation as if Foster will take the field at some point, and doing what they can to keep him physically and mentally ready to do so when the time comes.

One major thing that will help Foster be ready to step onto the field once he is physically cleared is staying up to date on the calls and schemes that he will need to know. Russ said on Tuesday that throughout his Zoom meetings with the linebacking group, he has routinely seen Foster take it upon himself to be active in every answer, while not allowing that to detract from his fellow teammates learning process.

It’s hard to imagine that a player would be going through this much effort and mental work unless he was getting close to returning to the field. The physical side of things will come eventually, but until then, it looks like Foster is doing everything he can to be able to hit the ground running when he gets that go-ahead.

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Top quotes: LB coach Steve Russ looks to mold a talented group of linebackers

Steve Russ will have a lot of talent to work with going forward in Washington, and he feels comfortable that he can find production.

If you were to talk about coaches in Washington who might have to deal with some micro-management, Steve Russ would be near the top of the list. None of that is to say that he is in need of help coaching the linebackers, where he will be starting this season, but when you consider the fact that both head coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio played linebacker at a high level in the NFL, it would be understandable for them to give their input.

When talking to the media on Tuesday, Russ addressed that relationship that he has with both coaches, and details what he has seen from the group of players that he’s been with for the past week in training camp, while also giving an update on Reuben Foster and his progress. Here are some of the best quotes from that talk:

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Dwayne Haskins says he couldn’t stand Joe Burrow at Ohio State

Haskins and Burrow were pitted in a QB competition in college, and Haskins says the two couldn’t stand each other during that period of time.

As photos and stories from NFL training camps start to surface, and fans are overjoyed with the sight of their favorite players getting together and preparing for the 2020 NFL season, it’s easy to think that all the players pictured are best of friends, and they couldn’t be happier to be together.

However, a recent story from Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins shows that this may not always be the case in football. It has little to do with the Washington Football Team, but Haskins’ story from college shines a light on the relationships that come from fierce competitions in camp.

This story has to do with two quarterbacks that were drafted in the first round, and how they got along when they played together at Ohio State and competed for the QB1 position. We’re talking about Haskins and Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow.

“I love Joe but during that battle, for almost two years, me and Joe couldn’t stand each other,” Haskins said on Monday’s Ring Chronicles series from FOX. “Every day, whether it was morning workouts or when we had to do mat drills and it’d be me and him on the mat drill, it was gritty. Or it was practice and me and him are trying to get in front of each other to get a rep to throw to one of the starting receivers. It was always this heated competition but we knew we got the best out of each other. He made it hard for me and I made it hard for him and I didn’t let him take it away.”

Haskins ended up winning the starting job and having one of the better seasons for a college QB in recent memory, while Burrow ended up transferring to LSU, where he would eventually top Haskins by putting together arguably the best season for a college QB in recent memory.

In the end, both found their way to the NFL, and they will now face off in Week 11 when Washington hosts the Bengals. If they were able to bring out the best in each other back at Ohio State, then that game is sure to be one to watch.

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Are we underestimating how quickly Alex Smith might be ready to play?

Ron Rivera said on Tuesday that he could envision Smith being part of the QB competition in camp, which would be a huge step going forward.

Washington head coach Ron Rivera took the mic on Tuesday morning and talked with several media members about what’s taken place in training camp over the past week, updating several position battles and mentioning players who he has been impressed with so far.

While doing so, he made a very interesting comment about the quarterback situation, where he said that he was “pleasantly surprised” with the progress that Smith has made as of late, and that he can even envision him being part of the quarterback competition during this year’s training camp.

Wait for a second, say that again, please?

It wasn’t long ago when Smith was fully cleared by his doctors to participate in football activities, and he recently worked out for the Washington team doctors as well, where he failed the football part of his physical. Many fans and media members alike took this to mean that Smith is healthy enough to move around a bit and fire off some passes, but there is no way he’s padding up and taking snaps under center any time soon.

The comments from Rivera definitely paint a different picture though. Smith wouldn’t be participating in the competition with both Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen unless he was physically ready to play in a game. Washington placed Smith on the PUP list before training camp started, which buys them some time to evaluate his progress, but he can be pulled from that list and moved to the active roster at any time.

Might that process take place sooner than we were lead to believe? Maybe. For now, we will have to wait and see what happens in the next couple weeks of camp.

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