Washington Training Camp Preview: Position battles to watch
Examining the key position battles to keep an eye on as Washington’s training camp opens
The Washington Football Team opens training camp with its first practice today. The roster is as deep as we’ve seen in Washington for many years, but there are still plenty of questions to answer. Here are the position battles worth keeping an eye on as camp progresses.
Offensive Line
Washington is likely set in three positions: left tackle, center and right guard. Charles Leno was signed to be the starting left tackle and Chase Roullier was extended to be the starting center long term. Brandon Scherff likely leaves in free agency next year, but until then he’s Washington’s best lineman and a lock at right guard. But that leaves two spots up for grabs.
At right tackle, rookie Sam Cosmi was set to battle Cornelius Lucas for the starting job. Lucas was signed as a back up swing tackle option last offseason but finished the season as the starting left tackle after a solid run of games down the stretch. He worked with the starters for most of the OTAs and minicamps, but was put on the Covid list, making him unable to practice for the time being. That gives Cosmi a chance to work with the starters immediately and potentially lock down the spot before Lucas is able to return.
Left guard is another intriguing spot. Wes Schweitzer performed well when he took over the role last season and appeared to have good chemistry with the starting unit, particularly with Roullier at center. He’s a more athletic lineman and suits a predominately zone-based system. Washington had success using the zone scheme last year which could give Schweitzer an advantage, but the team could also look to become more diverse this year.
If the team opts to use more gap scheme runs, Ereck Flowers could be a better fit for those schemes. Washington traded for Flowers in the offseason, but his contract doesn’t dictate that he’s a guaranteed starter. He does bring more size and power than Schweitzer though and that could appeal if the team is looking to shift away from the zone schemes this year.
We also can’t forget about the dark horse here, Saahdiq Charles. Charles only managed to play two snaps last year due to injury, but appears to be ready to go entering his second season. Charles could spend some time at left tackle, his position in college, but he may well end up at guard in the long term and could provide a happy medium between Schweitzer and Flowers in terms of skill set. That makes the left guard spot one of the more interesting competitions to watch at camp.
Cornerback
Going into camp, I’m anticipating the cornerback unit to mostly resemble last years group but with William Jackson replacing Ronald Darby as one of the starting outside corners. That would mean Kendall Fuller starts outside and Jimmy Moreland retains his spot in the slot as the nickel corner.
However, the potential wildcard here is third-round rookie Benjamin St-Juste. St-Juste is a long, physical press corner that could play on the outside and offer a similar style of play at corner as William Jackson. If St-Juste carries his momentum from OTAs and minicamp into training camp, then he could potentially work his way into the equation.
St-Juste isn’t someone I’d expect to see in the slot. He’s an outside corner for me, so for him to see playing time, he’d either have to beat out Fuller or Jackson, or more likely Fuller would have to kick inside to the slot and Moreland would miss out. This is where the cornerback spot would be most interesting to me. Fuller’s versatility means he could kick inside to the slot or potentially even shift to safety in some situations. If St-Juste proves he’s ready to contribute, Washington will have to decide if the secondary is better off with Fuller and Jackson on the outside with Moreland in the slot, or Jackson and St-Juste on the outside with Fuller in the slot.
Safety
Let’s stay in the secondary for our next position battle. Both safety positions are going to be interesting to watch in training camp. This time last year, we expected Sean Davis to start at free safety opposite Landon Collins at strong safety, but Troy Apke was the surprise starting free safety as camp opened up. Washington has more talent overall, but still has questions to be answered at both spots.
The first question to be answered is just how healthy is Landon Collins. He’s nine months removed from an Achilles injury that typically can take athletes a full year to recover from. However, Washington didn’t place him on the PUP list, meaning the team believes he’s ready to at least practice. If he is ready to go, and that still remains a big if given the extent of the injury, Collins is the likely starter at strong safety.
Collins did have a down year last season before he got hurt. However, assuming he’s healthy and able to play to his best ability, Collins is still a very good box safety and can certainly be a strong contributor to this defense in that regard. Shortly after the draft, Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio publicly stated Collins was the starting strong safety, so if he’s healthy, he’s likely to retain that role.
Kam Curl outplayed Collins at strong safety last year, but can also play other spots. He earned his stripes playing the Buffalo nickel role and could easily fill that spot again in a three-safety package if Washington chooses to go down that path. Curl could also play some free safety in two-high coverage schemes. Washington were among the league leaders in quarters coverage last season so if that continues, Curl could find himself at the free safety spot too.
However, Washington also signed Bobby McCain to play free safety and he has the range and experience to be trusted as a center fielder in single deep safety coverages. Jeremy Reaves proved he was a capable back up last year too and could provide some competition, while Kendall Fuller is another wildcard name that could play some free safety if rookie corner Benjamin St-Juste has a good camp.
I suspect the most likely outcome, assuming Collins is indeed healthy, is that McCain will play free safety, Collins will start at strong safety and Curl will play the Buffalo nickel while also rotating in at both safety spots when Collins and McCain need a breather. But there’s the potential for a surprise here, just as there was last year, so it’s a position to keep an eye on.
Wide Receiver
There’s two different battles to keep an eye on at wide receiver. The first is the obvious one. Washington has a lot of talent at the position and probably can only carry six or maybe seven receivers on its final roster. Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown, Adam Humphries and Cam Sims are likely locked in as the top five. That leaves the likes of Kelvin Harmon, Antonio Gandy-Golden, Steven Sims, Isaiah Wright and rookie Dax Milne battling for one or at most two spots.
Gandy-Golden should have the advantage, given he was a fourth-round pick a year ago, but he struggled to impress when given the opportunity last year. Kelvin Harmon is coming off an ACL injury and will be eager to impress Ron Rivera’s coaching staff for the first time. I’d argue Steven Sims has the most talent of the group, despite his drops last season, but he appears to be on the outside looking in. There’s even a chance that a veteran like DeAndre Carter could beat all of these young players out as a punt returner, given the guys on the back end of the roster need to contribute on special teams.
That group will be fun to watch battle for a spot on the roster, but the second intriguing battle is between rookie Dyami Brown and veteran Adam Humphries. Now, Brown is an outside receiver while Humphries is strictly a slot, so they might not appear in direct competition on the face of it. However, Curtis Samuel has the flexibility to work both outside and in the slot. He played the Z for Offensive Coordinator Scott Turner in Carolina, but when Turner followed Rivera to Washington last year, Samuel shifted inside and played more in the slot. He had his most productive season in his career working out of the slot, which is also a spot that enables him to more easily be involved in misdirection plays and in the run game with jet sweeps and end around.
It would probably make sense that Washington would pencil in their starting receivers as McLaurin at the X, Samuel at the Z and Humphries in the slot. However, if Brown can impress in camp, he could force the coaching staff to consider a line up consisting of McLaurin at the X, Brown at the Z and Samuel in the slot. That would offer more speed and versatility, but would miss out on the reliability Humphries brings in the slot, along with his already established connection with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
It’s not a bad problem for Washington to have and will be a fun one to watch as camp progresses. Curtis Samuel has actually opened camp on the PUP list, meaning he won’t be practicing. That gives Brown an early opportunity to outshine Humphries and claim the Z position, forcing Samuel to replace Humphries instead of him when Samuel is fully healthy.