Tag: wes martin

Washington chooses four protected practice squad players for Week 1

Washington chooses which four players to protect from its practice squad for Week 1.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed to modified rules for the practice squad in 2020. In July, the NFL announced those same rules would carry over into 2021.

Every NFL team can carry 16 players on its practice squad, six of whom may have more than two accrued seasons. The rule allows teams to place veterans on the practice squad, such as what Baltimore recently did with former All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell.

Another unique rule is each NFL team can protect up to four players per week from being signed off the practice squad to another NFL team’s active roster.

On Wednesday, Washington chose its four players for Week 1, per Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post.

LB Jordan Kunaszyk, G Wes Martin, LB Jared Norris and DL Daniel Wise.

It’s certainly interesting Washington chose to select two linebackers. Washington currently has five on the active roster.

All four protected players were with Washington in the offseason and in training camp.

 

The Bills released LG Quinton Spain, which should catch Washington’s attention

The Bills cut ties with veteran LG Quinton Spain, who might provide a great solution for Washington’s struggle to find a solid left guard.

The left guard position in Washington has been a bit rough to watch for the entirety of the 2020 season. It started with Wes Martin getting the start, but after a few games, it became clear that he isn’t the answer. Last week, we saw rookie Saahdiq Charles — who was drafted as a left tackle — fill in at LG, but he went down with a dislocated kneecap on the second play of the game. In his place stepped Wes Schweitzer, who was solid, yet not perfect.

Now with the news breaking that veteran LG Quinton Spain has been released by the Buffalo Bills, and is available on the open market, Washington should be doing what they can to try and bring him in for the season. With six years in the NFL, Spain has made himself known as a valuable starter, and though he has been dealing with some foot soreness this season, he could definitely help out Washington upfront.

Making a move to add Spain doesn’t mean that you’re going away from Charles, either. In the limited work that we saw from the rookie on Sunday, head coach Ron Rivera said that he was extremely impressed with what he showed, and has high hopes for his future. However, Charles has been unable to stay healthy all season, so it would make sense to have a legitimate backup plan. When he comes back healthy, it wouldn’t be crazy to stick the rookie at LT as well, replacing Geron Christian, who has been okay in that role this season.

In reality, all it would take for Washington to pick up Spain is putting in a waiver claim for him, where they are near the top of the priority list. It could end up being long-term, or it could be a one-year rental, but if you’re Washington, why not take the chance and see if you can nail down an answer for your questions at the position? What do you have to lose?

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Report: Rookie Saahdiq Charles to start at LG on Sunday

Washington is expected to give Saahdiq Charles his first NFL action on Sunday, starting him at the left guard position over Wes Martin.

Anyone who followed reports out of practice in Washington this week might have seen this coming, but now it’s officially being reported that rookie Saahdiq Charles will get his first career start in the NFL, this time at left guard, rather than left tackle, where he was drafted to play.

Charles was drafted out of LSU in the fourth round in 2020, and many people think that he has an incredibly high ceiling as an NFL player, though most people expected him to carry out his career at the LT position. However, Washington has struggled greatly to get production from the LG spot this year, with second-year player Wes Martin taking the snaps there thus far.

It appears now, ironically, that Martin may be the second player in Washington to quickly go from No. 1 on the depth chart to No. 3 at his respective position in the blink of an eye. With the expected return of RG Brandon Scherff, it would not be a shock to see LG Wes Schweitzer slot in as the backup behind Charles now, after his impressive time filling in for Scherff on the right side.

No matter what happens, it will be intriguing to watch Charles make his NFL debut, and hopefully provide a big boost to the offensive line.

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Rookie Saahdiq Charles’ shift to LG could provide major spark for Washington O-line

Rookie Saahdiq Charles has been working as the starting LG this week, which could go a long way in helping the offensive line.

It’s been the same old story with Washington as far as the offensive line play goes this season, with the unit struggling as a whole to get much push in the run game, and allowing the quarterback to be under constant duress. Fortunately, they appear to be taking some measures to fix it this time around, mixing and matching some players in the front five to try and find a combination that works.

We posited earlier this week that the return of RG Brandon Scherff could allow Washington to shift Wes Schweitzer over to LG, placing Wes Martin on the bench. However, there is another young player that might be getting tapped for the start at LG with week, giving Washington a fresh look upfront that might actually instill some confidence from the fanbase.

Rookie Saahdiq Charles, drafted as an LT out of LSU in the fourth-round this year, is currently getting run with the starters at the guard position. There were high hopes that Charles could take over as the starting LT in his rookie season, but a calf injury held him out of training camp and much of the start of the season, and Geron Christian Sr. got the nod instead. Shifting one spot to the inside might not be a bad call for Charles for the time being. He will still be playing on the left side, with just a few of the techniques and responsibilities shifting a bit. We saw Ereck Flowers go from LT to LG last fall, and he had a breakout season.

Expecting a rookie who is yet to have any real experience in the NFL to be the answer for a struggling unit as a whole is a bit risky, but at this point, Washington needs to be willing to try anything to patch things up on the front line.

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Washington’s answer to offensive-line problems is simple if Brandon Scherff returns

With Scherff now eligible to return from IR, Washington has a quick fix on the O-line available to them whenever the Pro-Bowler is healthy.

We are now heading into Week 6 in the NFL, which means that Washington’s Pro-Bowl RG Brandon Scherff is officially eligible to be taken off of the injured reserve and placed back onto the active roster. We won’t know if he is healthy enough to do so until Wednesday, in all likelihood, but we can at least start to get used to the idea of seeing No. 75 back on the field.

Assuming he comes back within the next week or two — which seems likely, seeing as he was seen working off to the side of practice last week and is making progress on his return — it couldn’t be at a better time for Washington. They are coming off of the worst performance of the season in a 30-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams and gave up a total of eight sacks in the process while helping the team to just 38 rushing yards. It’s sad to say because we all had some pretty high hopes for him ahead of the 2020 season, but LG Wes Martin has been one of the main culprits behind Washington’s blocking failures.

Of course, the second-year player was tasked with blocking All-World DT Aaron Donald, but we can’t act like this is an isolated incident for Martin either. He’s been less than stellar in almost every game this season, and we recently figured that it would likely end with his starting place being taken away in the near future.

If it were up to us, the ‘future’ would be marked as whenever Scherff returns to the field. He would take over his spot at the RG position, and Washington would shift Wes Schweitzer — a player who has impressively stepped up to fill that spot — over to the LG spot in place of Martin.

Schweitzer has looked extremely solid over the past couple of weeks, and it was highlighted by a nice block he had on a screen pass Sunday in the first quarter against the Rams.

Could he improve the baseline performance of the offensive front in Washington if shifted back over to the LG spot in place of Martin? It’s possible, and would be hard to do worse.

All of this is riding on whether or not Scherff can return to the field soon. If he does, there’s an easy fix for Washington, for the time being at least. They just need to make it.

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Redskins should entertain idea of signing former Saints G Larry Warford in free agency

Larry Warford would make a lot of sense as a stand-in at the LG position for 2020 as the Redskins figure out their front line.

The Washington Redskins have a number of options that they can go with at the left guard position to play alongside Chase Roullier and Brandon Scherff, but a new free agent hit the market on Friday that might blow the other players out of the water.

The New Orleans Saints released guard Larry Warford on Friday after three years with the team. Warford has played seven seasons in the NFL, standing as one of the better guards in the league during that time. Now as he enters the 2020 offseason without a team, it stands that the Redskins could greatly benefit from adding him to their front line and helping to shore up the left side.

The Redskins currently have over $35 million in cap space, which ranks second in the NFL, so money is not an issue. They also have a question mark at the LG position, with both Wes Martin and Wes Schweitzer expected to compete for the starting spot. With whoever gets the nod expected to help carry some of the load left by whoever wins the LT spot, likely rookie Saahdiq Charles, it stands to reason that the LG needs to be reliable as ever.

Warford is reliable, and he makes sense in Washington. Keep an eye on this going forward.

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Who is Wes Schweitzer, the Redskins newest left guard?

The Redskins signed G Wes Schweitzer on Monday, putting him in a place to compete with Wes Martin to fill the hole left by Ereck Flowers.

The Washington Redskins had a relatively quiet day on Monday while several teams around the NFL were making a splash in free agency. Though they did fill a few holes on the roster by re-signing MLB Jon Bostic and reuniting with CB Kendall Fuller, there was nothing that jumped off the page at you.

However, just hours after it was announced that former Redskins left guard Ereck Flowers would be packing his bags to return home to Miami, Washington did add G Wes Schweitzer to the roster. If you don’t know what that is and are struggling to get overly excited, we don’t blame you. Let’s take a look at what we know about him.

Schweitzer is a 6-foot-5, 300-pound guard that was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 6th round of the 2016 draft. He started all 16 games for the Falcons in 2017, but was relegated to a reserve role as of late, and only played sparingly across the front line.

According to The Athletic, several people in Atlant are fond of Schweitzer and note his dedication to the game.

I checked with two sources and both mentioned Schweitzer’s intelligence. One praised his “grinder” vibe and forecasted Schweitzer as the type of player “for a new coach to point to as in ‘be like Wes in everything you do, and we will win.’”

Sounds like a great guy for Ron Rivera and his new coaching staff to lean on and trust to set a good example for the rest of the team in the midst of a changing culture. Don’t take the signing to mean that Washington now has their surefire starting left guard. Schweitzer will compete for the top spot with Wes Martin, a second-year player who showed promise at the RG position in 2019.

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With Ereck Flowers gone, it’s Wes Martin’s time to shine at left guard

Ereck Flowers is off to Miami, but the Redskins have a young and confident player in Wes Martin who will likely step up to the plate.

I think we all knew it was possible, but until it actually happened, I don’t think any of us expected it to become a reality.

No, I’m not talking about the coronavirus and it’s rapid spread across the United States; rather I’m talking about Washington Redskins left guard Ereck Flowers and his departure from the team in free agency.

Flowers agreed to terms on a 3-year, $30 million deal with the Miami Dolphins that will guarantee him over $19 million. For a former first-round pick who was labeled a bust and cast off by the New York Giants just over a year ago, that is an inspiring comeback story. You have to feel great for Flowers, who saw his career saved by a stop in Washington and a move from left tackle to left guard.

But now that Flowers is gone, what are the Redskins to do at the left guard position? They placed the franchise tag on right guard Brandon Scherff over the weekend, so that side of the line is set with Morgan Moses at RT and Chase Roullier at C. But the left side of the line is a major question mark, with LT Trent Williams’ situation always up in the air.

Enter Wes Martin, a second-year guard who showed promise in his rookie season.

Martin was drafted by the Redskins in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, and he played in nine games last year, starting in five of them. During his time starting at RG for an injured Scherff, Martin looked to be highly-competent at the position and provided a spark on the right side of the line. Now, he will likely be asked to move positions, but that shouldn’t be detrimental to a young dog capable of learning new tricks.

Would it have been nice to keep Flowers in Washington on an extension that paid him somewhere between $6-8 million per season? Of course. But the market demanded that he get some nice money from a team willing to pay him, and now he’s headed back home to Florida. As for the future in Washington, Martin will do just fine taking over at the LG spot.

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ESPN predicts Redskins won’t use franchise tag on Brandon Scherff

The Redskins could place a tag on Scherff and keep him around for one more year to determine his health, but some don’t think they will.

One of the biggest free agency questions that face the Washington Redskins this offseason is what they will choose to do with right guard Brandon Scherff.

The three-time Pro-Bowler was drafted by the Redskins in the first round of the 2015 draft, and over the years he’s grown into his role with the team, becoming one of the best at his position in the entire NFL. Now he wishes to be paid as such, but will the Redskins grant his wish?

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There are arguments to be made on both sides of that coin. Scherff is a perennial RG and he’s declared his desire to play in Washington for his entire career — signing him to a 3-4 year deal would almost guarantee security on the right side of the line for the near future. However, it will take a large chunk of the Redskins’ salary cap to keep Scherff around, and they may have liked what they saw from rookie guard  Wes Martin in his short playing stint in 2019 — if the team were to let Scherff walk and thrust Martin into the starting RG position, it probably wouldn’t be a complete trainwreck.

Then there’s the franchise tag. For one player on the roster, an NFL team can place a tag on him to keep him around for one more season, paying him an average of the top five salaries at the position — or 120 percent more than the player’s salary from the previous season. Washington has this open to them as an option when it comes to Scherff, but according to ESPN’s John Keim, they may not use it:

The Redskins tried to sign him during the season, offering him a deal worth a reported $13 million per year — though it’s uncertain how much was guaranteed or how it was structured. Though it’s a new regime, they still view Scherff as a cornerstone player even though he now has missed 13 games the past two seasons because of injuries. He remains a solid right guard who is excellent blocking in space. The other question is whether Scherff wants to commit to the Redskins long term after five seasons. The tag would allow both sides to learn more: Will Scherff stay healthy and is this regime worth committing to?

Prediction: The Redskins won’t use the franchise tag on Scherff.

If the Redskins were to place a tag on Scherff, it would likely pay him over $15 million per year. This one-year tender — or a multi-year extension, should they reach an agreement —would allow them to then focus on the rest of the offensive needs, and shift their gaze to shoring up the defensive secondary as well. Then again, they could also let him walk, and keep the endless rebuilding project of an offensive line rolling along.

The Redskins have from February 27 to March 12 to apply the tag to one of their free agents, two days later than originally planned after the NFL pushed back the window due to CBA negotiations.

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ESPN ranks Redskins as No. 1 most productive rookie class in 2019

Washington was forced to rely on their rookies in 2019, and it led ESPN to rank them the most productive group of young players in the NFL.

They may have ended the 2019 season as the second-worst team in the NFL, but the Washington Redskins had a rookie class unlike any other this past season. With a number of prominent young players actually making a difference on the field, it’s no wonder that the Redskins were named as ESPN’s No. 1 most productive rookie class in the NFL in 2019.

Just think of all the first-year players who saw the field and got a load of experience under their best this past year. You’ve got quarterback Dwayne Haskins, wide receivers Terry McLaurin, Steven Sims Jr., and Kelvin Harmon, plus Wes Martin getting a look at right guard. Then on defense, there’s Montez Sweat rushing the edge, Cole Holcomb becoming an impact player at linebacker, and cornerback Jimmy Moreland turning some heads out on the numbers.

With that much production from a rookie class, there’s obviously some high expectations for the grown going forward.

According to ESPN, the most valuable pick for the Redskins in the 2019 NFL Draft was obviously McLaurin, who was selected in the third round with the 76th overall pick. McLaurin finished the year with the highest receiving grade (86.5) by a rookie receiver since Odell Beckham Jr. in 2015.

With a new coaching staff and some recent success in the draft, look for the stock for Washington to continue to rise as they try and hit on more young players, starting with a likely pick of Chase Young with the No. 2 pick in 2020.

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