Tag: chase roullier

Washington center Chase Roullier ruled out with an ankle injury

Chase Roullier is out with an ankle injury.

The Washington Football Team entered Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos without two starters on the offensive line. In addition to All-Pro right guard Brandon Scherff and rookie right tackle Sam Cosmi, Cornelius Lucas was also out of Sunday’s game.

Lucas had been Cosmi’s replacement at right tackle over the last two weeks but did not make the trip to Denver due to an illness.

Now, Washington will be without another key offensive starter as center Chase Roullier went down in the second quarter of Washington’s game at Denver. The cart came on the field for Roullier and Washington ruled him out for the remainder of the game.

Roullier was a sixth-round pick out of Wyoming in 2017 and has played in 67 career games with 61 starts. He signed a four-year extension in January and is one of Washington’s most consistent and reliable players.

We’ll have more on Roullier once head coach Ron Rivera speaks to the media.

Washington signs C Chase Roullier to 4-year, $40.5 million contract extension; $19 million guaranteed

Washington has locked down center Chase Roullier for the foreseeable future with a four-year contract extension that gets one of the staples of the offensive line paid.

The Washington Football Team has made it’s first long-term contract extension of the season, inking center Chase Roullier to a four-year contract extension that will keep him in Washington for the foreseeable future.

Roullier has been one of the staples of Washington’s offensive line since being drafted in the 6th round in 2017. Washington has found some real success on their offensive line this season, and Roullier’s ability and availability has been a big part of that.

There was some question as to where he stood with the team earlier this year after the draft selection of C Keith Ismael in the 2020 NFL Draft. Many thought that Ismael would compete for the starting C position and push Roullier out in a contract year, but Roullier has played very well and earned his place on Washington’s offensive line.

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Pro Football Focus predicts 3 Washington players to make 2021 NFL Pro Bowl

The official 2021 NFL Pro Bowl rosters come out next week, but PFF predicts that three players in Washington will make the cut.

The NFL is set to announce the final Pro Bowl rosters for 2021 next week, and while there is a bunch of criteria and metrics that the league uses to determine who makes the cut, as well as a healthy weight on fan voting via social media, a lot of true football fans have a problem with how the players are decided.

Pro Football Focus has come out this week and developed their own way of creating the Pro Bowl rosters, using their own player grades for the season to determine who makes the cut. For Washington fans, this has resulted in three players from D.C. being named to the team, which is set to play a virtual Madden 21 game due to the coronavirus pandemic on January 31st. These are the guys who made it:

  • RG Brandon Scherff
  • DE Chase Young
  • DT Jonathan Allen

Those are all great nominations, and fans can be happy that they have some solid representation on the roster. However, it’s fair to feel like a number of players were snubbed, including the following:

  • WR Terry McLaurin
  • P Tress Way
  • C Chase Roullier
  • DE Montez Sweat
  • DT Daron Payne
  • CB Kendall Fuller

Of course, despite how much we would love to see it, you can’t stack the Pro Bowl roster with a bunch of players from what is at the moment a below-.500 team. What will be interesting to see is how much the actual Pro Bowl roster differs from what PFF put together based on their player grades. We will find out in a few day’s time.

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In his first game against former teammates, Trent Williams will be ‘just happy to see those guys’

In his first game against his for team and teammates, Trent Williams says there is no ill-will between he and the Washington players.

After going through the type of breakup that the Washington Football Team and Trent Williams went through a year ago, it’s pretty understandable for some underlying feelings to linger, and some grudges to still be held.

Williams, a multi-time Pro Bowler and arguably the best player to put on a Washington jersey over the past decade, was unceremoniously traded away from the team that drafted him, landing with the San Francisco 49ers early on a Saturday morning in April, minutes before the NFL Draft resumed. It was a deal that was a long time in the making, with Williams requesting trades after a year of holding out, all of which stemmed from a misdiagnosis of a cancerous mass that was growing on Williams’ scalp.

We don’t need to dive into the details; the TLDR is that Williams was unhappy with the medical staff in Washington, that medical staff ended up getting the can, and Williams was later traded. It’s fair to say that nobody felt great about the trade, with Washington fans feeling like they sold their LT for pennies on the dollar, while Williams lost a year in his prime. It’s understandable for anyone to feel a sense of animosity, but according to Williams, there is no grudge to be held.

“There is no ill-will towards Washington,” Williams said on the 49ers Talk podcast. “I’m actually just happy to see those guys, Just like I love those guys in this locker room, I had that same bond with those guys in that locker room for the last 10 years. I’m just happy to see those guys.”

There have been a lot of changes on Washington’s roster over the past couple of seasons, but the mainstays — Brandon Scherff, Morgan Moses, and Chase Roullier — have been there through it all, and they’re still standing right where Williams left them. It will be a reunion of sorts when the two teams meet on the field, with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan also having a chance to see some of the players that he helped coach back in the early part of last decade. For Williams, it will also be a cool moment to see the next generation of players in a new role, playing more as veterans in Washington who he watches as much as he can.

“I watch them as much as I can,” Williams said. “Individually, I’ll watch to see how guys are coming along. I always keep a close eye on Morgan Moses, Brandon Scherff, Chase Roullier, you know, the guys who I felt I had an instrumental part in having them develop. It’s hard to look at them in any other way.”

No matter the outcome, there will be some laughs had, and respect shown between players with longstanding relationships. Everyone will want to do everything they can to win, but in the end, it will be fun to see longtime teammates bond on the field, no matter what colors they wear.

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Washington’s offensive line deserves a ton of credit for adapting on the fly

With a makeshift group of players settling into unfamiliar positions, Washington O-line has strung together several really nice performances as of late.

If you take into account the injuries suffered on the offensive line, plus the loss of both Trent Williams and Ereck Flowers this offseason, it would be extremely easy for the front-five in Washington to pack things up and make a litany of excuses for why they aren’t getting the job done.

However, through 10 games this season, they’ve been doing anything but that, instead adapting to the current circumstances and finding a way to string together a few nice games that have allowed QB Alex Smith some time to work in the pocket.

After Sunday’s win against the Cincinnati Bengals, the offensive line deserves a lot of credit for what they were able to accomplish. With both Geron Christian and Cornelius Lucas unable to play, veteran right tackle Morgan Moses shifted over to the left tackle position, and backup LT started at the RT position. It was a make-shift plan that had a high probability of not working.

It worked pretty well.

Alex Smith was sacked once and pressured only four times. He was given time to stand in the pocket and make his reads downfield, getting the ball to seven different receivers. Not all of the credit goes to the tackles on the outside, though. After the game, coach Ron Rivera offered a lot of praise to his guys in the middle, RG Brandon Scherff and LG Wes Schweitzer, who had stand-out games as well.

 

The offensive line rarely gets a lot of credit when things go right, and regularly shoulders much of the blame when things go wrong. From a birds-eye view, things are going wrong more often than not in Washington, but for the first time in a while, you can’t pin all of the blame on the O-line. Instead, they’ve been a very solid unit that is performing above expectations through 10 weeks, and though they lost two star players, plus an offensive line coach who is regarded as one of the best in the business in Bill Callahan, they’ve been able to put together several nice games, and give this offense a chance to succeed.

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Injury Report: Brandon Scherff, Antonio Gibson return to full work

Brandon Scherff seems to be well on his way to returning to the field in Washington as he works back from injured reserve.

https://twitter.com/john_keim/status/1316797562632859648

With the good news on Wednesday being that Pro-Bowl RG Brandon Scherff had returned to practice, now with the ability to be promoted from the injured reserve to the active roster, better news came on Thursday when it became clear that Scherff continued his limited work with the starting group. It may not seem like much, but the most important thing to see from a player after they return from an injury is how they do the day after the return, and how their body reacted to the increased strain. For Scherff, it appears that he is well on his way to returning to the field.

As for Antonio Gibson, he popped up on the injure report on Wednesday with a toe injury, but he seems to be working through things okay, and should be okay to play this weekend. The same can be said for C Chase Roullier, who was seen with a knee brace while playing on Thursday.

We will know much more a day from now, when the final injury report is released on Friday, and game-day designations are made.

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Inactives List: Chase Young will play; LB Cole Holcomb listed as inactive

After missing the Week 4 game vs. the Ravens, Chase Young will return to the field on Sunday, alongside Chase Roullier and Wes Schweitzer.

  • No. 7 QB Dwayne Haskins
  • No. 37 CB Greg Stroman
  • No. 50 LB Jared Norris
  • No. 55 LB Cole Holcomb
  • No. 77 T Saahdiq Charles
  • No. 85 TE Marcus Baugh

Good news for Washington football fans who were hoping that their two front-lines would be as healthy as reasonably expected headed into this game against the Los Angeles Rams. According to the team, Chase Young will make his return to the field today after missing last week’s game with a groin strain, and both C Chase Roullier and G Wes Schweitzer will be healthy enough to play as well.

All three players were listed as questionable on the team’s final injury report of the week, but there was a report late on Saturday night that alluded to the fact that all three would likely play, barring any setbacks.

In some more good news for Washington, the Rams leading tackler, LB Micah Kiser, is inactive for the game on Sunday.

Chase Young, Wes Schweitzer, Chase Roullier all expected to play Sunday

All originally listed as questionable, Chase Young, Chase Roullier, and Wes Schweitzer are all expected to play on Sunday vs. Rams.

Good news came out for Washington fans on Saturday night when ESPN’s John Keim reported that the trio of Chase Young, Chase Roullier, and Wes Schweitzer are all expected to play in Sunday’s game vs. the Los Angeles Rams.

The three players are all listed as questionable on the injury report, but they are expected to play barring any setbacks.

Young hinted on his Instagram account on Friday night, posting a picture of himself running at practice with a winking emoji. The potential return of Roullier and Schweitzer is also huge, with the Rams’ defensive line lead by Aaron Donald being one of the better units in the NFL.

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The NFL’s 11 best centers

Centers are the underrated captains of any NFL offense. Here are the 11 best in the game today.

A good center is the unheralded captain of an offense. While we all talk about skill position players, and maybe throw in the names of a few marquee offensive tackles if we’re feeling particularly smart, interior offensive linemen are crucial to the implementation of any offensive design.

And centers are just as important as anybody. Not that it’s a pleasant job at times. Imagine you’re an NFL center. You have to have all the plays in your head as much as (or more than) your quarterback does. Most often, you’re in charge of the adjustment calls that tell other blockers how to switch their blocking patterns to merge with defensive line changes. You have to know all your single-blocks, all your combo blocks, and you have to be ruthlessly accurate when hitting the second and third levels of a defense to block linebackers and defensive backs on certain plays — sweeps, screens, and more.

Oh, and there’s also the matter of getting the ball to the quarterback, whether he’s under center, in the pistol formation, or in straight shotgun, with at least one gigantic defensive tackle aligned to one of your shoulders or head-to-head. You have mere milliseconds to snap the ball before those one or more gigantic defensive tackles come down on you with the hammer of the gods.

Few jobs in sports test one’s mental acumen and physical endurance on every play more than this one. Centers never get the attention they deserve, but at Touchdown Wire, we’re out to change that. Here, after poring over advanced metrics and watching a lot of tape, are the top 11 centers heading into the 2020 NFL season.

Honorable Mentions

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Rodney Hudson was Kansas City’s center from 2011-2014, Mitch Morse replaced Hudson in that role in 2015 and held it through 2018, so we should definitely keep an eye on Austin Reiter, who helped the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl in 50 years as Morse’s replacement. Both Hudson and Morse are on this list, and Reiter could certainly find himself there soon — he allowed just 11 total pressures on a league-leading 835 pass-blocking snaps in the 2019 season, and if he’s able to improve his run-blocking, the sky’s the limit. The Jets signed former Broncos center Connor McGovern  (not to be confused with current Cowboys guard Connor McGovern) to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, and McGovern should be a great addition to a line in desperate need of help just about everywhere. For all their quarterback issues, the Bears have two linemen — James Daniels and Cody Whitehair — who have been excellent centers through their times in the Windy City. Washington’s Chase Roullier, a sixth-round pick out of Wyoming in the 2017 draft, is another young center to watch. Tampa Bay’s Ryan Jensen was a particularly tough omission, as he pass-blocked very well in an unpredictable deep-passing offense, and should be even more efficient in the switch from Jameis Winston to Tom Brady.

Now, on to the top 11.

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Can rookier C Keith Ismael beat out Chase Roullier for starting spot?

The Redskins drafted C Keith Ismael in the fifth round, and some people are starting to think he can compete for the starting job.

In the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, with viable cornerbacks and tight ends left on the board, the Washington Redskins turned some heads when they selected center, Keith Ismael, out of San Diego State.

With Chase Roullier already a solid asset at the center position in Washington, this was initially a confusing draft pick simply because it seemed that the team was selecting a backup from the start. However, as more people have dug into what Ismael can bring to the table, some questions about his starting have viability have risen as well.

According to Jim Nagy, Executive Director of the Senior Bowl, he wouldn’t be surprised to see the rookie compete with Roullier for the starting spot.

“If (Roullier) has just been solid, I would expect Keith to compete for that starting job,” Nagy told The Athletic. “Keith can probably help (in a pinch) at guard, but he’s a starting-level NFL center. I have no doubt about that. He’s a better player than a lot of guys starting in the league that I’ve scouted. I thought that was one of Washington’s better picks. He’s quick. He’s athletic. He’s really tough. Strong hands.”

With offensive line coach John Matsko starting his first year in Washington, he will have a chance to get fresh eyes on all players, which may level the playing field a bit for the rookie. While Roullier may have served as a solid option for the past couple of years, the Redskins obviously like what they got in the fifth-round in the draft, and I bet they will be keen to see what he can do on the field as well.

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