The Washington Redskins have done well to improve their safety situation in the past few years. And it’s now looking like they have a strong unit, though it might be a bit thin.
For many years, the Redskins carried a poor safety crew. After the tragic and untimely passing of Sean Taylor, the team never was really able to find quality starters at the position. They tried to remedy the situation via various signings and draft picks, but nothing really worked. That was, until last season.
In 2017, the Redskins finally seemed to find at least one quality starter at safety. And they had another very good-looking performer who was only able to play in a handful of games due to injuries. That said, they seem to have found the right combination of starting caliber players and have a couple of rotational guys that could pan out as well.
That said, among the role players, the Redskins are going to have some tough decisions to make. They are only likely to keep four safeties, so they will be forced to either part with a quality undrafted guy or a solid veteran. Here’s a look at how the Redskins safety depth chart should shake out for the 2018 season.
Starter: S D.J. Swearinger
Signing D.J. Swearinger as a free agent in the 2017 offseason was arguably the best move the Redskins made all year. Swearinger immediately established himself as a vocal team leader, and he was voted captain by his teammates in his first season.
In addition to his leadership ability, Swearinger did something that hadn’t been done in a long time. He locked down a starting spot at safety and played very well.
Swearinger was one of the few Redskins defensive starters to appear in all 16 games, and he put forth what was arguably his best season to date. He notched a career-high in tackles with 79 and also added a career-high four interceptions to his resume. And beyond the stats, Swearinger functioned as a strong, well-rounded player.
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As a tackler, Swearinger used his hard-hitting nature and very good strength to bring down his opponents. And in the passing game, Swearinger generally provided good coverage and ensured that the man he was responsible for didn’t get open. Sure, he did have a couple of coverage busts during the season, but they were infrequent. All around, Swearinger performed very well.
It’s also worth noting that Swearinger never really had an established partner to work with, but he handled the transitions between starters seamlessly. Before the season, he was supposed to work with Su’a Cravens. When that changed, he endured numerous different players as his complement, including Deshazor Everett, Montae Nicholson, and DeAngelo Hall. With an offseason to develop chemistry with his counterpart, he could get even better.
Swearinger is the top safety on the Redskins roster, at least for now. He’s just a very solid player who doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. And best of all, he always gives full effort. He should continue in his role as a starter for the duration of his deal with Washington.
Starter: S Montae Nicholson
When Montae Nicholson was selected by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, people were skeptical of him as a prospect. Nicholson was mostly a traits based player whose tape had been okay during his final season at Michigan State. It wasn’t expected that he would develop into a starter quickly, but that’s exactly what he did.
In eight games for the Redskins, and six as the starter, Nicholson flashed excellent coverage ability and really knew how to use his 6-foot-2 frame. His athletic ability allowed him to run with receivers and matchup with tight ends. In the team’s Week 3 win against the Raiders, Nicholson was particularly impressive, logging his lone interception, and as the season progressed, he became a better tackler.
Not much is standing in the way of Nicholson finding success in 2018. However, there is one major issue that plagued him during his first season. And that was the injury bug.
As mentioned before, Nicholson only played in eight games total. He missed the last six games of the year after suffering a concussion, which is certainly a major concern. It’s also notable that he came into the league needing shoulder surgery, and he had that done shortly after the draft. That didn’t impact his playing time, but his shoulder may not have been 100 percent during the season.
It goes without saying that Nicholson is going to need to stay healthy to be effective. He has to be smart about how he trains and how he manages maladies, and there’s no doubt that he and the training staff will work to ensure that he is close to peak health before the start of the season.
For the future, pairing the hyper athletic Nicholson with the solid all-around playmaker of Swearinger should create a very good starting tandem. They will have a chance to help the secondary and if Nicholson can take another step towards become a top flight starter, then the safety unit should be in good hands moving forward.
Top Backup: S Quin Blanding
This is the spot that will be the most unpredictable out of the safety depth chart. The starters are known. The backups, and in particular, the top backup, is a big question mark. But of all the members of the safety group, Blanding is one of the more intriguing options.
Blanding went undrafted out of Vriginia, but it wasn’t for lack of production at the college level. In each of his season, he recorded at least 115 tackles and was a force to be reckoned with. He has elite tackling skill and solid coverage abilities and frankly, it was a major surprise to see him go undrafted.
The main reason behind Blanding’s fall was his lack of top flight speed. There are some concerns about his ability to keep up with NFL athletes, so that’s what kept him out of the draft. Still, he has the necessary skills to become a great safety/linebacker hybrid, and could thrive as a nickel linebacker. And on early downs, his ability to quickly react and sniff out run plays could be huge for the defense. And in a recent article, I spoke of how exactly his tackling skills are utilized.
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"Blanding has elite instincts and that allows him to quickly react to ball carrier on running plays. When running backs come out of the backfield with the ball, Blanding is quick to recognize they have the ball and he comes towards the line of scrimmage with a purpose. And then, the way he makes stops is even more impressive. When Blanding is making a tackle, he does an excellent job of squaring up the player when he goes in for the stop. He takes very good angles and is able to ensure that he is in the proper position to hit his opponent hard. He wraps up his opponents very well and his play strength is very good. All of this, coupled with his high level of intelligence, should make him a solid tackler at the NFL level."
Blanding’s tackling prowess is more than enough to get him on an NFL roster. He can play on early downs and in specific sub packages, and he will also be able to make a big impact on special teams. He’s one of those versatile glue guys that winning teams need. For that reason, I think that he will beat out some other veteran players for the roster spot, especially if he can put forth a strong preseason.
Special Teams Ace: S Troy Apke
It’s pretty clear that Apke isn’t quite ready to have an impact at the NFL level. The fourth round pick was considered to be a bit of a reach by the Redskins in the 2018 NFL Draft. That said, Apke does have excellent athletic ability and the Redskins saw something that they liked in him. So, that’s why they made him a pick.
With the team likely keeping just four safeties, Apke seems highly likely to stay at the bottom of the depth chart for his rookie season. But, thanks to his 4.34 speed, Apke will have the ability to be a gunner on the special teams unit. He can take over for Fabian Moreau, who will step into a bigger role, and that will give the Redskins a chance to field a very strong special teams unit.
And, of course, it’s entirely possible that under Torrian Gray, the Redskins will have a chance to improve Apke. In fact, as I’ve written in the past, Apke could end up having a similar impact to Nicholson once he gets some quality coaching.
"Both Nicholson and Apke are traits based guys. Their tape at the college level was decent, but it didn’t do a lot to demonstrate that either player would be a starter right away. However, the traits they have such as size and athleticism demonstrated that both players could have a chance to step in and be productive. That’s what Nicholson was able to do, and Apke will have a shot to do that as well. And that will certainly be beneficial for the Penn State product."
Of course, Apke’s not going to step in as the starter as Nicholson did. But with an uncertain situation for the Redskins at backup safety, it’s quite possible that he could see some playing time at the position. Still, it seems more likely that the Redskins will develop him for a year and have him play special teams.
Apke has the potential to be an elite special teamer and eventually could play a bigger role on defense. It will be interesting to see what he can accomplish as a rookie.
Missing the cut
If Blanding can win a spot on the 53-man roster, that is going to spell some serious trouble for Deshazor Everett. The former Texas A&M product is coming off what was statistically his best NFL season, but the tape tells a different story of his impact.
Everett was asked to serve as a spot starter for a good chunk of the season, and he struggled to establish himself as a quality option. He had some issues with coverage and while he was generally a solid tackler, he just didn’t do enough to establish confidence in his abilities. His ceiling appears to be as a No. 3 safety, and that could cause him to be a surprise cut, especially with the roster crunch likely to happen at this position and the immense upside of the younger players on the roster.
Speaking of young players with upside, Fish Smithson could challenge for a roster spot as well. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and spent most of the season on Washington’s practice squad. If he can prove to be a good option in coverage, that could do enough to catapult him over both Everett and Blanding for that backup spot. However, I happen to like Blanding’s skill set a bit more, so I think Smithson may have trouble making the team off the bat. Still, he could go to the practice squad and make an appearance at some point during the season.
Finally, Kenny Ladler seems highly unlikely to make the team. Ladler is coming off two great seasons in the CFL and certainly qualifies as an unheralded player. However, it’s going to be tough for him to beat out the other young safeties on the roster. He still has a chance, but he has an uphill battle.
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The Redskins have some interesting candidates at the backup positions for sure. This will be one of the most difficult groups to predict the final roster results for, as the talent is mostly potential based at this time.