The 53-man roster is anything but set for the Washington Redskins, and there are still a million things that need to happen before the coaching staff can have a solid idea of the guys they have on the team going forward. Beyond just setting the final roster, it will be even tougher to figure out who the starting unit is on both offense and defense, weighing the top position battles and figuring out who is most worthy of playing time.
The defensive side of the ball is stacked in Washington. The Redskins have immense depth at both the defensive line and linebacker position, and they will be able to frequently rotate guys in and out to keep legs fresh throughout the game. With Jack Del Rio bringing a 4-3 defense with him, some positions will change this offseason, but the talent remains. At the edge, the Redskins will choose between Montez Sweat, Ryan Kerrigan, and expected draft pick Chase Young; on the inside, Jonathan Allen, Daron Paye, and Matt Ioannidis will battle for snaps; at the linebacker core, Thomas Davis will lead the charge with Cole Holcomb, Ryan Anderson, and Jon Bostic rotating in as well.
So while the snap counts will be fluid, what will the depth chart look like ahead of Week 1? Here is our best guess, starting with the front four:
DE — Chase Young
A “generational talent” who is likely drafted with the No. 2 overall pick? Yea, he’s going to make the starting lineup. Everyone will be looking to see what Chase Young does in his first snaps in the NFL.
DT — Jonathan Allen
Allen is arguably the most consistently solid player on the defensive line, and his knack for plugging up running lanes and collapsing pockets keep him as a mainstay on the front.
DT — Matt Ioannidis
As the resident senior of this defensive front, we went with Ioannidis for the starting DT spot over Daron Payne, mainly due to his impressive 2019 season. Payne will surely rotate in quite a bit with both Ioannidis and Allen, but I think that those two will get the nod to start.
DE — Montez Sweat
Sweat rounds out the young defensive front, bumping ironman Ryan Kerrigan from the starting lineup. Sweat was impressive in his rookie season, especially near the end, and his size and speed on the edge will bookend the front line very well with Young on the other side. I expect with Sweat and Young getting the starting nods, we can rely on Kerrigan to take a smaller role more as a situational edge rusher as he enters the latter part of his career.