Ty Nsekhe is going to be out for 3-to-6 weeks with a core muscle injury. The Redskins have to be happy that they added T.J. Clemmings to fill the void.
For most of the 2017 NFL season, the Washington Redskins had avoided major injuries. Aside from a season ending knee injury suffered by Trent Murphy in the preseason, the Redskins had only suffered minor hiccups on the injury report. They were without three starters against the Raiders in Week 3, but the trio is not expected to be out long term.
The same cannot be said about Ty Nsekhe. Nsekhe, the team’s backup swing tackle, suffered a core muscle injury against the Raiders in Week 3. The injury is expected to sideline him for three to six weeks, and that could be detrimental to the Redskins.
Nsekhe is one of the best swing tackles in the league. In four starts last season, Nsekhe was excellent in place of Trent Williams, who is arguably the best left tackle in the league. He has elite size at 6-foot-8 and his versatility makes him a huge weapon. The Redskins will certainly miss him while he’s out.
At the same time, the Redskins have to be relieved that they do have a player capable of stepping in to Nsekhe’s role. Third year man T.J. Clemmings is going to be the top reserve tackle as long as Nsekhe’s out, but the Redskins are really just fortunate that they were able to acquire him.
Clemmings was not with the Redskins for most of the offseason, but here is how the Redskins were able to land him.
Cut Day: T.J. Clemmings waived by Minnesota Vikings
The massive cut day of the 2017 NFL season was not one that was kind to Clemmings. A year after he was the primary left tackle for the team, a role given to him by an injury to Matt Kalil, and two years after being a fourth round pick, Clemmings found himself on the waiver wire. He was undoubtedly going to get a chance somewhere, at least on a practice squad, but he found himself in a fortunate situation in Washington.
During the cut to 53 men, the Redskins decided to keep only eight linemen on the active roster. They had a supposedly strong starting five, and they rolled with Nsekhe, sixth round pick Chase Roullier, and undrafted free agent Tyler Catalina as their six guys. The only surprise of the group was Catalina, who made the roster over Kyle Kalis, the favored undrafted rookie in the eyes of the fans and media.
Lost in the shuffle with all this was Vinston Painter. Last season, Painter was the Redskins fourth offensive tackle and he served as the swing tackle during Williams’ suspension. He had always been a raw, physical talent and he did a decent job when called upon. But the Redskins had let him go and he ended up on the Arizona Cardinals practice squad. It’s obvious that they didn’t have faith that he could be a good enough swing option in the event of an injury.
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However, just when the Redskins appeared to be set with their 53 man roster, the Su’a Cravens saga unfolded. Cravens was contemplating retirement and the Redskins placed him on the exempt/left squad list to open a roster spot. On waivers, they claimed Clemmings and set him up to take over Painter’s role.
Clemmings immediately stepped in as the fourth tackle which gave him a chance to do a couple of things. The first was to learn the Redskins offense. The second was to improve his game. Bill Callahan is an excellent offensive line coach, and Clemmings had the same type of raw, athletic potential that the team had searched for in other prospects they added at the position. Because of his upside, the Redskins could afford to keep him but gave him time to develop over the course of the first few weeks of the season.
Now, Clemmings is going to be pressed into duty by the injury. This will be a good test for him, and it is something that won’t be too tough for the offense to handle.
How Clemmings will fit in on game day, and in the future
Realistically, Clemmings is not going to play much on offense unless there is an injury to one of the top linemen. Thus far in 2017, Nsekhe has only logged a total of 10 snaps, good for just under 5 percent of the team’s total on offense (per Pro Football Reference). On special teams, he has played about 15 percent of the snaps. That is a role that Clemmings will easily be able to fill and shouldn’t have too much trouble doing so.
This snap count is just the right amount for Clemmings. He will be able to get his feet wet with his new team, and the offensive staff will get a chance to evaluate how he looks with his new team. When he was drafted in 2015, some believed that he had the potential to be a starting left tackle in the league. But his development has been slow.
Building up Clemmings’ confidence and teaching him through mistakes with his new team will be crucial for the Redskins. With the Vikings, Clemmings struggled to contain faster edge rushers and wasn’t consistent enough in the ground game to warrant a roster spot. That will need to change in Washington.
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The Redskins need to hope that Clemmings can become a quality swing tackle option, especially with Nsekhe set to hit the free agent market in March of 2018. Some team may pay a lot to get Nsekhe as a starter, so developing his replacement has to be on the Redskins’ agenda.
With all that said, there is always a chance that one of the Redskins linemen could get hurt. Morgan Moses has been nicked up in the early going of the 2017 season, so his health is something to keep an eye on moving forward. If Clemmings is forced to play too much too early with the team, he may not develop as quickly. That may seem counter-intuitive, but young players can often try to press if they feel like they are struggling. That can lead to bad fundamentals and ultimately require coaching staffs to go back to square one as they try to help the young player along.
Hopefully by now Clemmings is familiar with the new blocking scheme and ready to contribute, but nothing is guaranteed. The Redskins just have to stay healthy so that Clemmings can be brought along at a slower pace and really be given a chance to help out the team in a limited role.
Overall
There is no doubt that Nsekhe will be missed while he is out. The Redskins had complete certainty that if either of their tackles went down with an injury, Nsekhe would be an effective replacement. That certainty and confidence is no longer there.
Still, Clemmings offers a great deal of upside for the Redskins. He is a young, 25-year-old tackle who has a lot of raw athletic ability. Perhaps working with Bill Callahan over the course of the past month has given him a chance to grow more. Either way, he has more upside than either the departed Painter or the undrafted rookie Catalina.
Clemmings will get a chance to prove that he belongs in Washington. He could earn a role with the team, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him become the swing tackle of the future. But all of this is dependent on how he is brought along. Clemmings is a project player for the Redskins, but they have the time and resources to properly develop him into a quality NFL player.
Next: 5 Redskins to watch in NFL Week 4 vs. Chiefs
It will be interesting to get an up close look at Clemmings in Monday night’s matchup against the Chiefs. It will likely be his first game as a member of the Redskins unless something drastically changes in the lead up to the contest. Here’s hoping that Clemmings finds success with the Redskins.