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Washington Redskins 2017 first quarter positional grades: Defense

By Jacob Camenker

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Gerald Everett #81 of the Los Angeles Rams is tackled by Mason Foster #54 and Zach Brown #53 of the Washington Redskins during the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Gerald Everett #81 of the Los Angeles Rams is tackled by Mason Foster #54 and Zach Brown #53 of the Washington Redskins during the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – AUGUST 27: Kicker Dustin Hopkins #3 of the Washington Redskins celebrates a field goal against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half during a preseason game at FedExField on August 27, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – AUGUST 27: Kicker Dustin Hopkins #3 of the Washington Redskins celebrates a field goal against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half during a preseason game at FedExField on August 27, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Special Teams

The Redskins special teams have done well to start the season. Most of the attention for the unit is placed on kicker Dustin Hopkins. While Hopkins hasn’t been as good as he was last year, he hasn’t made any critical mistakes quite yet.

So far, Hopkins has gone 7-for-9 on field goals with a long of just 41 yards. Both of Hopkins’ missed have come from 50-plus yards, so it appears that may just be out of his range. Hopkins is very accurate inside of 40 yards, but the team can’t trust him to consistently get long field goals. That could become a problem down the road, but it hasn’t been an issue… yet.

As for Tress Way, the punter has continued to be one of the more solid players in the league. Way is averaging 44.5 yards per punt and has been able to flip field position in favor of the Redskins on more than one occasion. That has been very helpful for the team.

Finally, long snapper Nick Sundberg hasn’t been a story. That’s good news. Any time a long snapper is in the news, it’s for a bad reason. The less we hear about Sundberg, the better he is playing. Sundberg has been consistently good for the team, so they have to be happy with his performance.

Overall, the special teams grade is below average solely because Hopkins appears to be a below league average player. And his performance has the most impact on the Redskins week in and week out.

Special Teams Grade: C-

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