Believe it or not, just a week from today, the 2020 NFL season will be kicked off with a Thursday Night Football game between the Houston Texans and defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Just a few days after that, the Washington Football Team will get their season up and running with a divisional matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Football being so close can only mean that all 32 NFL teams are getting ready to slash their rosters and come away with the final 53 players who they feel comfortable taking onto the field. With roster-cuts due by Saturday afternoon, coaches across the league are dissecting their personnel boards and working to make all of the pieces of the puzzle fit. In Washington, we’ve pondered before who might be left on the outside looking in, but judging by some of the opinions of major beat writers with the team, there seems to be a surprise player that might get the ax before the regular season.
That player is linebacker Reuben Foster. After missing the entire 2019 season with a severe knee injury, Foster has returned to play in Washington and been working out through this entire training camp. Some player reports were that when he is healthy, Foster remains one of the best football players they’ve ever seen. However, the problem is if he can ever get back to full health, and get some of that speed and quickness back into his game.
We will admit here that Foster has been a part of every 53-man roster prediction that we’ve done this offseason. His size and tenacity on defense slots him to be one of the better players that Washington could roll out there if he were to get back to full health. It doesn’t seem that he’s close enough to that distinction yet, though, and many are starting to leave him off of their projections, rather designating him for the IR. Here are The Athletic’s Rhiannon Walker and Ben Standig’s takes on the situation.
Standig: Correct, no Reuben Foster. While Love chips away at his rust following significant inactivity, Foster’s skills appeared faded more than a year after a serious 2018 knee injury. Maybe it’s just a matter of time before the linebacker flashes his aggressive style, but the clock is ticking with the roster spot. There’s no point in a season-long IR stash since Washington didn’t pick up his fifth-year option. Keep and then IR like my Smith projection? That means exposing another player to waivers, and that would be a decent risk considering Foster looks more than a few weeks away. Release and then add to the practice squad if unclaimed on waivers? Sure. They’ve already invested time with Foster’s recovery. This would let them continue, and he could always stay next season.
Walker: Foster still isn’t 100 percent healthy yet. So the team may give him a chance to continue to rehab and build up to full strength. Anderson told reporters that when Foster takes that step into complete health, everyone will notice. He recently moved up from third-team work and played with the second team in the last two practices.
An IR designation for Foster would mean that for the first seven weeks of the season, he would be unable to play or practice with the team, though he could be involved in all meetings and team activity. He then could return to the field in Week 8 if fully healthy.
At this point, with so many other deserving players on the bubble, that might make the most sense, especially if Foster isn’t ready to play just yet. This doesn’t mean he’s off the team and doesn’t mean he’s getting cut. It just means he isn’t ready to make an impact on the field quite yet, and we need to be patient while he continues his recovery.
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