Washington Roster Review: Safeties

Taking a closer look at how Washington's safeties played in 2021 and where the team stands at the position heading into 2022

With the 2021 season in the books for Washington, it’s time to look back at the roster and evaluate each position to see where the team stands going into the offseason. This week I’ll focus on the defense and next week I’ll circle back to the offense. Today, I’m starting with the safety positions.

Under contract for 2022: Kam Curl, Landon Collins, Deshazor Everett, Darrick Forrest. 

Notable free agents: Bobby McCain, Jeremy Reaves.

Unit analysis:

It took Washington a little while to get its safety positions and roles sorted out. The talent was there: McCain, Curl and Collins are a solid trio of safeties and by far the most talented group the team has had at the position in a long time, but the way the team deployed them at the start of the year gave them some issues. McCain was the free safety all season, but Washington opted to keep Collins at strong safety while Curl played the buffalo nickel role he started in during his rookie year. Collins struggled at strong safety and Curl wasn’t getting enough snaps, so the team eventually made the change to swap their roles and have Collins play closer to the line of scrimmage. 

From that point on, Washington’s defense looked considerably more solid on the back end. Collins was much more of a presence in the box as a run defender and playing underneath zones where he could keep everything in front of him. McCain stayed deep and either played the deep middle or a deep half/quarter in a two-high look. Curl split the difference, either playing the other part of the two-deep coverage or rolling down into the box with Collins. While it took too long to get those roles set, once they were in place, the group was good. Collins looked the best he has since he joined Washington while McCain seemed to benefit from playing with Curl in the deep coverages rather than Collins. The pair appeared to communicate well and pass off/pick up assignments better than McCain and Collins did earlier in the year, which led to a significant decrease in coverage busts and an increase in quarterbacks having to hold onto the ball for longer.

Individual analysis:

Curl was the standout for Washington and probably the team’s best defender not named Jonathan Allen. At strong safety, he was able to show just how many strings he has to his bow. He could play a deep half or deep quarter, understanding when to stay deep and when to drive down on routes underneath. Alternatively, he could roll up and cover a tight end or occasionally a slot receiver in man coverage and hold his own. On top of all that, he was tremendous with his run fits. He always understood where he needed to fit, but also knew fits can be fluid. There were a number of times Curl would join the fit only to see a defensive lineman stunting inside and adjusting his fit off of his teammate to keep the defense sound. 

Washington has struck gold with it’s 2020 seventh-round pick and he’s on a great upwards trajectory right now.