Redskins place safety Stefan McClure on Injured Reserve

The Washington Redskins have lost another player. Stefan McClure was placed on Injured Reserve due to a hamstring injury he suffered.

The news just keeps getting worse for the Washington Redskins. They have been struggling with a boatload of injuries in the past few weeks and on Wednesday, it was announced that the team would put Stefan McClure on Injured Reserve. McClure, a backup safety, injured his hamstring in the team’s loss to the Cowboys.

McClure was the biggest roster surprise of the 2017 season. While many were impressed with his performance in the preseason, it was expected that he would end up on the practice squad. However, after he performed very well in the fourth preseason contest, the Redskins elected to keep him. That turned out to be a great decision, as Su’a Cravens left the team shortly after and that left McClure as the fourth safety.

In his first season with Washington, McClure has played sparingly. He was mostly active on special teams and logged a little action in relief of other injured safeties. He didn’t do much, but still, the team needed him to provide depth. Without him, the Redskins are down to three safeties on the active roster.

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Currently, the starters for the Redskins are going to be D.J. Swearinger and Deshazor Everett. Swearinger has been a vocal leader on the defense this year, but at times, he has had issues in coverage. Meanwhile, Everett has dealt with injuries of his own but has been good in run support. Montae Nicholson, the final healthy safety, has been very good in coverage and works in a platoon role with Everett for the most part.

Moving forward, the Redskins are going to have to make a decision about the position. They have a couple of courses of action they could take. The first is that they could use Kendall Fuller as their fourth safety. Fuller, the starting slot corner, is a versatile player who is having a solid season. If the team was desperate for safety depth, they could opt to use Fuller there if their injuries woes continue. That would allow them to internally fill a need and open up more playing time for Quinton Dunbar or Fabian Moreau.

The other major option for the Redskins would be to active DeAngelo Hall from the PUP list. Hall, a longtime Redskin, hasn’t played since early last season prior to tearing his ACL. In the past three seasons, he has only played 17 games, but he has knowledge of the team’s defense and could succeed in a backup role. Hall could fill in just fine for McClure and has a chance at being a decent player if forced into action. It seems likely that he will be activated off the PUP list at some point, unless he suffers a setback.

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Overall, the loss of McClure is not a huge deal for the Redskins. But his loss, compounded with the other losses that the team has suffered, it going to make it difficult for the team to stay afloat. Injuries are really taking their toll on the Redskins this year, and this is just the latest one.

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