Reaction & analysis of Washington’s initial 53-man roster
Breaking down the details of Washington’s key decisions as the team trimmed the roster down to just 53 players
Washington has made its cut down to the initial 53-man roster. Now, this is fluid and likely to change over the coming days, but I thought it would be worth looking over the key decisions, the biggest cuts, the surprise picks and then the strengths and weaknesses of this current group. For those who haven’t seen the 53-man roster yet, I put it into a rough depth chart for you here:
Darryl Roberts over Jimmy Moreland
The biggest surprise to me was the decision to keep Darryl Roberts over Jimmy Moreland. Moreland was the starting nickel corner last year and while I anticipated he’d be replaced in the starting line up, I felt that he could have provided a strong depth option.
I thought with the emergence of rookie Benjamin St-Juste on the outside would allow Kendall Fuller to kick inside to the slot in nickel packages. Washington also has versatility at safety. With Landon Collins back healthy at strong safety and Bobby McCain added at free safety, Kam Curl can rotate at both spots or go back to the spot that helped him make his name in the first place, the Buffalo nickel.
With Fuller and Curl as perhaps the preferred options to play the nickel, Moreland would have likely lost his starting role from last season. But I still felt like he had plenty to offer as a depth option both outside and in the slot. I’m not surprised Torry McTyer made the team over him, it was clear Washington liked him given the opportunities he received in the preseason, but Roberts landing on the roster over Moreland was a surprising decision.
Troy Apke, Jeremy Reaves & special teams players
I understand why Washington fans want to see the back of Troy Apke given his struggles on defense since he was drafted, but I also understand the decision the team made to keep him. Head Coach Ron Rivera described him as a specialist and a luxury, essentially admitting he’s on the team purely for his special teams ability. I went back and watched just the first half of Washington’s preseason opener against the Patriots and it was easy to see why Rivera rates Apke so highly as a special teams player.
Teams do keep luxury special teams players like this all the time. Washington has done it for years with Lorenzo Alexander in the past and more recently Deshazor Everett. The Patriots have kept wide receiver Matthew Slater on the roster since 2008 and he has a grand total of one career catch to his name. He’s purely a special teams player and widely considered one of the best in the league. The Patriots have won three Super Bowls while carrying Slater as just a special teams player, so clearly it can be done.
So for that reason, I understand the decision to keep Apke. I think for me, the bigger question is did the team need to keep all three of Apke, Deshazor Everett and Darrick Forrest. I felt the team could only afford to keep two of the three, which would have allowed them to keep Jeremy Reaves on the roster as a safety that can play some special teams while also providing depth on defense too. Clearly, the team saw it differently and opted to keep all three of the special teams guys while cutting Reaves.
Now it is worth noting, this is a position that could easily change in a few days time. Forrest has been reportedly dealing with an injury, which could lead to him landing on IR. That would free up a spot that could potentially go to Reaves, or Reaves could even land on the practice squad like he did this time last year. It’s a fluid situation to keep an eye on.
Peyton Barber cut, Sammis Reyes kept
I wasn’t totally surprised the team opted to cut Peyton Barber. The coaching staff raved about him last season in his role as the short yardage back, in which he was very effective. This offseason he attempted to cut some weight in an effort to try and expand his role. However, he wasn’t a particularly threatening pass catcher during the preseason and his pass protection left a lot to be desired.
I thought, given the praise he received from the staff last year, he’d make it on to the final roster and maintain his short yardage role. However, his performances in preseason weren’t great and he was particularly poor in that horrific final game against the Ravens. He had four carries for 12 yards, didn’t catch a pass and had one or two bad misses in pass protection. On the contrary, Jaret Patterson had a fantastic overall preseason and despite a disappointing game against the Ravens himself, he did show he was capable in pass protection.
With Patterson making the roster as the third back and Barber cut, that enabled Washington to carry an extra tight end. I made my case against carrying Reyes on the 53-man roster because I felt he wasn’t ready to contribute this year and didn’t believe another team would seriously pick him up. But clearly Washington feels he does have something to offer this season or that another team would have stolen him off the waiver wire, or perhaps both.
I still believe Reyes has a long way to go and even in that Ravens game, he had just one catch and his blocking was poor.
But this is another spot I feel is fluid. I suspect the moment Reyes suffers any kind of injury, the team will consider putting him on IR to stash him away for at least part of the season, allowing him to stay protected with the team and developing in the background while not taking up a roster spot.
Antonio Gandy-Golden cut to keep both Dax Milne & DeAndre Carter
This one was a little bit surprising to me. I thought Washington might well keep seven receivers given the depth they had at the position going into training camp. However, I thought that Gandy-Golden showed just enough in the final two preseason games for Washington to give him the benefit of the doubt and stick with its 2020 fourth-round pick for another season.
I suspected that would have meant Washington had to choose between a rookie in Milne that has upside as a receiver and moderate return abilities or Carter, who was signed to be a return specialist. I had them taking Milne for the long-term upside, but turns out they opted to keep both and cut Gandy-Golden. This probably means they quite like Milne as a project to develop at receiver, possibly as a replacement for Adam Humphries down the line, while Carter will almost certainly handle the return job.
Gandy-Golden will likely get a good look on the waiver wire and possibly free agency after that if he goes unclaimed. But if he remains available, I suspect Washington would be happy to have him back on the practice squad to try and develop him for another year.
5 DEs vs 4 LBs
I suspected Washington would deliberately go low with linebackers, but I didn’t think the team would only keep four on the initial 53. By only keeping the three projected starters and Khaleke Hudson, Washington was able to hold on to an extra defensive end. This meant that both Casey Toohill and Shaka Toney made the initial cut.
Toohill was signed during the season last year, but has been hurt most of camp and preseason so hasn’t had many opportunities. Toney was a seventh-round pick that was projected to go higher thanks to his explosive first step. I thought Toohill might be an IR or PUP candidate due to his injury, and he could still land on IR in the coming days, and I guessed the team might have preferred William Bradley-King over Toney because of his size and consistency. I personally like the upside of Toney more, even if he’s a little inconsistent at this stage and relying on the occasional flash play rather than regular pressure. It looks like Washington opted to go that way too, though I thought they might have taken the more conservative option.
What’s next?
I’ve mentioned in a few spots that this is a fluid situation and by the time you’re reading this piece, it’s entirely possible that Washington has claimed a few players off waivers and made a few more cuts or adjustments. I think there are still a few players on the bubble that could make way for new additions.
Darrick Forrest, Casey Toohill and Sammis Reyes are all candidates to go on injured reserve. The first two have been battling injuries while Reyes missed the second preseason game with a concussion. Those moves would free up a couple of roster spots while giving Washington the flexibility to bring any of those three back during the season once healthy.
If Washington doesn’t make those moves with those three players, it would need to cut other players to create room for any waiver claims or free agent signings. I’d guess the guys on the bubble would be the likes of Darryl Roberts at corner, Milne and Carter at wide receiver and perhaps Ricky Seals-Jones at tight end. Roberts could be covered for by the depth at both corner and safety, while one of Milne or Carter could be cut with the other taking up extra responsibilities if need be.
I personally don’t believe Reyes is ready to contribute at tight end, meaning Washington needs a third option behind Logan Thomas and John Bates, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be Seals-Jones. There are a lot of tight ends that just got cut by other teams and a few are reportedly available via trade. If Washington wanted to dip into the tight end market, then I suspect Seals-Jones would make way.
The team is certainly short at linebacker and simply can’t afford to go into the regular season with just four recognised linebackers. So I suspect that position will be addressed with at least one and perhaps two new additions in the coming days. I could also see Washington potentially adding a veteran defensive end. With Ryan Kerrigan gone, it’s a very young group and very inexperienced behind the starting pair of Chase Young and Montez Sweat, who are very young players too. Perhaps Toohill going to IR or maybe even Shaka Toney being cut with the intent to bring back to the practice squad could make room for an established veteran at defensive end.
This was a great piece! Totally agree about the reasons to keep Apke…special teams ace with great speed. Remember the first Dallas game Apke caught the returner otherwise it was a TD and then defense held them to a FG. I think Gandy clears waivers. Moreland will not. Completely agree about the “IR” candidates.