If you were to ask any fan of the Washington Redskins what has them most excited about the 2020 NFL season, the answer would overwhelmingly be something regarding the defense. Whether it is watching Chase Young go to work, or seeing the continued growth of Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, the Washington front line is expected to be among the best in the league this upcoming year.
Looking past the front four, you have a linebacking core headed up by Thomas Davis and Cole Holcomb that should be solid, and a secondary led by Landon Collins, with Kendall Fuller and Ronald Darby out on the edges. As is the case with any unit on the Redskins, there is a lot to prove in 2020, but all bets are that the Washington defense will find a way to win a few games this year.
You wouldn’t think that if you asked Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, however. In a recent ranking of the 32 best defenses in the NFL, the Redskins came in all the way down near the bottom, landing at No. 27 on the list. Washington beat out only the Bengals, Jaguars, Panthers, Texans, and Lions to get to that spot, and they’re ranked behind teams like the Giants and the Dolphins.
With the addition of second-overall pick Chase Young, the Redskins are in the interesting position of having five first-round picks along their defensive line — Young, Jonathan Allen, Ryan Kerrigan, Da’Ron Payne, and Montez Sweat, who was Washington’s first-round pick in 2019. That’s all well and good, and the Redskins did have 47 sacks and 83 quarterback hurries last season, but they also allowed 35 passing touchdowns — third-worst in the league — to just 13 interceptions. In the offseason, Washington traded Quinton Dunbar, the one cornerback who performed at an above-average level in 2019, to Seattle. Dunbar’s subsequent legal issues notwithstanding, Washington isn’t in a better position to stop its opponents from throwing the ball all over the place, even with a front five that rivals any other in potential.
If you were to highlight any weakness on the defensive depth chart, the obvious spot is in the secondary, where Washington has struggled as of late. However, depending on your confidence level in both Fuller, Darby, and Fabian Moreau, the Redskins should be much improved in that area this year around. We can rank teams ahead of the season all we want, but what really matters is where things shake out once the season is going full steam ahead. Let’s revisit these rankings then, and see where Washington lands. I have a feeling it will be quite a bit higher than No. 27 — if not, we have some serious problems on our hands.
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