Tag: Chris Thompson

7 Redskins among Fantasy Football Top 200 ahead of 2020 season

It’s never too early to start thinking about fantasy football, and seven Redskins were ranked in the top 200 big board for the 2020 season.

It’s never too early to start thinking about fantasy football, is it?

The NFL season only just ended, with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers, but if you’re a fantasy nerd, like many of us are, the basketball season just doesn’t quite cut it when you have 17 weeks of pure bliss each fall.

While we are a discouraging number of months away from 2020 fantasy mock drafts to be an acceptable meeting place once again, that doesn’t mean you can’t sneak in a little bit of research on the side. With the help of our friends at NFL Network, we are able to do so, as Michael Fabiano ranked the top-200 players to look at going into the next season. For the Washington Redskins, they have seven players making that cut, with WR Terry McLaurin heading up that list at No. 59.

Here’s a breakdown of the seven players tabbed by Fabiano.

No. 59 — Terry McLaurin (WR29)

Nov 24, 2019; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) celebrates with fans while leaving the field after defeating the Detroit Lions at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

This rookie was definitely one of the lone bright spots for the Redskins in 2019, and his seven touchdowns and 900+ receiving yards made him a nice contributor for whatever fantasy manager dared to draft him or pick him up off of waivers, early in the year.

With more than 60 yards and a touchdown in both of his first two games, McLaurin became an instant sensation among the fantasy community, and he was able to keep up pretty decent production despite some rocky quarterback play for the Redskins.

As defenses start to key on his strengths, things will definitely get tougher for McLaurin down the road, but he is only going to get better, as the offense in Washington continues to improve.

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3 players the Redskins should let walk in 2020 free agency

The Redskins are unlikely to retain these three players once free agency rolls around, allowing them to find a new team.

As the free agency period in the NFL starts to draw near, we’ve focused a lot on the players that the Washington Redskins need to try and retain, and several more that they need to try and bring in from outside of the team.

Just as important, however, are the decisions that they need to make on current players who are set to become free agents in 2020. While it seems crucial for the Redskins to try and keep players like Brandon Scherff and Ereck Flowers around, who can Washington allow to walk on to the open market? These top three names might be free to look elsewhere once March 18th rolls around.

Chris Thompson — Running Back
NEW ORLEANS, LA – OCTOBER 08: Chris Thompson #25 of the Washington Redskins runs with the ball as Kurt Coleman #29 of the New Orleans Saints defends at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on October 8, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Things never really worked out for Thompson in Washington, unfortunately, and it seems that he’s likely missed his window to be a feature back in the Redskins’ offense. When healthy, Thompson was a solid piece for seven years with the Redskins, but he only amassed five total touchdowns in that time, and he often struggled to fight off injuries. missing 46 games over that period.

While he still holds value as a third-down back when he’s on the field, it’s likely that the Redskins will be able to move away from him in 2020, as they have Adrian Peterson and Derrius Guice shouldering much of the load, and a wildcard in Bryce Love will be available as well. Love, who is virtually a younger and more decorated version of Thompson, has a high ceiling that is almost guaranteed to give the Redskins the confidence to let Thompson walk in free agency this year.

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Chris Thompson thinks that Trent Williams will come back to Redskins for 2020 season

Thompson thinks that the Redskins did enough changing so far this offseason to warrant a second chance from Trent Williams.

Let’s say that your romantic partner broke up with you, but you were determined to get them back. You got a haircut, refocused your attention on your job, cleaned your apartment and overall bettered yourself in the hopes of their return. Is that enough for them to reconsider a relationship with you?

That’s probably the question that the Washington Redskins are asking themselves now. After left tackle Trent Williams ‘broke up’ with them before the 2019 season, choosing to hold out due to a number of disagreements, Washington has chosen to better themselves. They fired their head coach, fired their team president, and fired their head athletic trainer. On top of that, they brought in a highly-respected new head coach and remade their medical staff with a couple of the top minds in that field.

So is that enough to spark the interest of Williams once again? Have the Redskins changed enough to get him to come back and give this thing one more shot? Running back Chris Thompson thinks so.

“From articles and stuff that I read, [Williams] had problems with two people [Allen and Hess],” Thompson said, via NBC Sports Washington. “Now, that’s out the way, I think he would come back now. He always said for him, Dan [Snyder] wasn’t an issue at all, it was more how he was treated medically and how he felt about Bruce and stuff. That’s out of the question now, out of the way now. I think there’s a big chance he’ll come back.”

It’s quite obvious that the Redskins are doing whatever they can to get Williams back in the building, as they completely cleaned house in the first week of the offseason. Of course, that wasn’t all done just to get the seven-time Pro-Bowler back in the building, but it definitely was part of the reason. Now, coming off of a 3-13 year with the postseason out of grasp yet again, the Redskins are looking towards a future that has a handful of dynamic playmakers on offense, and a stout defensive line that could be scary under the right coaching. One of their major areas of weakness is the left side of the offensive line, a position that Williams could turn into one of their strengths.

So did the Redskins do enough to get Williams agree to move back in?

“I wouldn’t see him holding out now,” Thompson said.

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Redskins player agrees with Dan Snyder’s involvement in Dwayne Haskins’ injury decision

One Redskins player thinks Snyder was in the right by encouraging Haskins to sit for the rest of the game on a bum ankle.

There are some feelings in the Washington Redskins’ fanbase that team owner Dan Snyder might have overstepped his bounds by encouraging rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins to listen to trainers and sit out for the rest of the game after suffering a high-ankle sprain in the third quarter.

Some people think that Snyder was being too ‘hands-on,’ though the situation was a bit muddled at first after Haskins said post-game that the owner told him not to go back in. A bit later, it was cleared up on social media that Snyder rather encouraged Haskins to listen to the trainers, who were saying the rookie was done for the day.

Regardless of what the fanbase thinks, there are some players in the locker room that don’t think Snyder was out of pocket, and he was well within his rights as owner of the team to try and protect his assets.

“I mean, Haskins is the guy. He’s the guy of the future,” running back Chris Thompson said, via NBC Sports Washington. “So it would make sense to me for [Snyder] to go down and talk to him and tell him to be smart. That’s the biggest thing. He’s a competitive guy, so he’s going to try and go back out there in the game, of course. That’s the smart thing to do right now, in my opinion, is to sit back and chill.”

Thompson later detailed his time sitting next to Haskins on the sideline, where the rookie was lobbying to get back into the game. If we’ve seen anything so far, Haskins is hard-pressed to let anything keep him out of competition, and it takes a lot to keep him away from the action. This time, it took the owner of the team to tell him to be smart, and it was the right decision all around.

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Chris Thompson wants to stick with Redskins next year

Chris Thompson is in the final year of his contract.

In a perfect world, Chris Thompson is back with the Washington Redskins next year.

That’s per the man himself, as the veteran running back hit The Sports Junkies at 106.7 The Fan recently and said the following, per Chris Lingebach:

“I mean, I’ve been here for so long and I want to continue to be here, but I know the business side of things has to work itself out or whatever,” Thompson said. “The only thing I know right now for sure is if my body stays healthy and everything goes well, I’ve got three more promised games here against division opponents and that’s really all I can think about.”

Thompson is in the final year of his contract at the age of 29 and what is a rather soft market for running backs as a whole in free agency.

On paper, the Redskins would probably love to keep a back like Thompson aboard given his versatility. But when it comes time to negotiate, his injury history will surely come up — he’s played in a maximum of 10 games in each of the last three seasons.

Washington, as of now, seems to like the Derrius Guice-Adrian Peterson tandem as it is, so it should be interesting to see how extension talks go this offseason between Thompson and the team he wants to stick with long-term.

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Multiple Redskins praise Dwayne Haskins for playing through pain on Sunday

Haskins was hobbled for much of the game on Sunday after suffering an ankle injury early, but he refused to quit on his teammates.

Sunday’s performance from Washington Redskins’ rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins was arguably the most encouraging yet this season. It ended in a loss, and his stats were nothing that jumped off of the page, but the rookie showed immense heart throughout the contest that is surely being noticed in the locker room.

Haskins was sacked early in the game by ex-Redskin Preston Smith, and his ankle was hobbled in the process. As the game went on, Haskins became more immobile, and it was posited that he might be pulled at the half in order to preserve his health.

But Haskins refused to come out of the game, and that determination went a long way with his teammates.

“It means a lot,” safety Landon Collins said, via The Athletic. “We need you. You’ve been balling the past couple of weeks, but we need you to stay on the field. We didn’t even have to talk to him. He sucked it up and said, ‘I got ya.’”

“In some situations, there might be some guys, especially young guys that are hurt, banged up and, down two scores, might think, ‘Hey, the game is over. Let me sit out and get myself together for next week,’” running back Chris Thompson said. “But (Dwayne) continued to hobble out there and continued to stay in the pocket. Took some hits. … I loved to see it out of him. He’s a tough kid.”

That kind of heart doesn’t show up on any stat sheet, but it will go a heck of a lot further than any stat ever could. Haskins proved to his teammates on Sunday that he is willing to stick it out through thick and thin, and that he’d always be there for his brothers when times got tough.

He will play for his teammates, and the performance on Sunday will undoubtedly assure that they continue to play for him.

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Chris Thompson sees important progress from Dwayne Haskins

Chris Thompson has big praise for Dwayne Haskins.

It’s no secret the biggest point for the Washington Redskins over the final months of the season is the continued development of rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

Besides simply making throws, coaches and the front office want to see Haskins continue to learn and execute the offense.

And for veteran running back Chris Thompson, Haskins has shown strides in another important area, as he told The Sports Junkies (h/t Ethan Cadeaux of NBC Sports Washington).

“Just being in the huddle, I feel like he’s taken more control,” Thompson said. “I feel like he’s more calm out there. Everybody knows the story, he’d go out there and have a wristband [of the plays] and things like that. He’s put more [pressure] on himself to not even want to use the wristband. He’s just trying to learn everything.”

It sounds like a little thing but can’t go understated in importance — a quarterback who can’t lead those around him given the gravity of his position doesn’t usually last long.

There haven’t been any red flags in his area from Haskins since he took over. But it sure doesn’t hurt to hear a comment like this from within the organization, and especially from someone as respected as Thompson.

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Redskins to test Chris Thompson’s injury ahead of Sunday’s game

Chris Thompson will further evaluate his toe injury on Sunday before the Redskins’ game against the Lions, with hopes of playing.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Washington Redskins expect Adrian Peterson to play on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, though he has been listed as questionable with a toe injury all week, and he missed a couple of days of practice.

While AP will likely play, the same can’t be said for RB Chris Thompson, who has missed several weeks with a lingering turf toe injury. Shefter says that the team will allow him to warm up and see how his injury feels, but it would be rather shocking to hear that he’ll play after staying in a limited role in practice all week.

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Washington Week 12 injury designations: DT Daron Payne Doubtful, TE Vernon Davis OUT

Washington Week 12 injury designations include tight end Vernon Davis listed as OUT and defensive tackle Daron Payne listed as Doubtful.

As the Detroit Lions prepare for Week 12, Washington has declared their injury declarations for this weekend’s game at FedEx Field. Despite having 14 players listed on the injury report, Washington is actually relatively healthy with only five players unable to get in a full complement of work at practices.

Let’s take a closer look at who won’t play, whose status is in question and those who will play on Sunday despite being banged up.

Ruled OUT

TE Vernon Davis (concussion) — placed on injured reserve

Davis has been placed on injured reserve after battling a concussion for most of the season.

Doubtful

DL Daron Payne (ankle)

Payne did not practice at all this week but Washington is holding a sliver of hope he could be ready by Sunday. If he can’t play, Tim Settle (who missed last game with a hamstring injury) would likely start at nose tackle in his place.

Questionable

RB Adrian Peterson (toe)
RB Chris Thompson (toe)
CB Josh Norman (hamstring)

All week Washington coaches have said they expect Peterson to play, while Thompson is coming off a missed game and could also return.

Norman practiced in full Wednesday and Thursday but was downgraded to limited on Friday. It’s unclear is this was planned or if he suffered a setback, but he could be a game-time decision.

Not listed with an injury designation

WR Terry McLaurin (wrist)
WR Paul Richardson (hamstring)
RT Morgan Moses (thumb)
DL Jonathan Allen (ankle/knee)
DL Tim Settle (hamstring)
LB Cole Holcomb (thumb)
S Montae Nicholson (ankle)
S Deshazor Everett (ankle)
P Tress Way (right shin)

The most positive news from this section is that starting defensive lineman Jonathan Allen improved from no practice on Wednesday to limited on Thursday, then full on Friday and does not carry an injury designation into the game.

The rest of the players in this section are not listed with an injury designation as expected.

Bill Callahan talks about injuries to Vernon Davis, Chris Thompson

The Redskins continue to go without Vernon Davis and Chris Thompson.

The Washington Redskins won’t have tight end Vernon Daivs or running back Chris Thompson on the field Sunday against the New York Jets.

Davis, still dealing with a concussion, was ruled out on the final injury report. So was Thompson, who continues to battle a toe injury.

At this point, it’s fair to wonder if either guy will be a candidate for injured reserve so the team can get help at other positions. But as JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington noted, interim coach Bill Callahan ducked around that question.

What Callahan did do though, was offer the following when it comes to timetables:

Right now, the offense probably needs Davis back more than it needs Thompson. Getting another reliable pass-catching target out there for Dwayne Haskins is a big deal.

Not that Thompson isn’t that too — but the return of Derrius Guice massages the need a bit. The IR possibility for either guy is still something to keep in mind.

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