Redskins: Riggo’s Rag Mailbag: QB depth chart, preseason, and more

Premier preseason matchup?

This is a good question. I like this question. It’s a reminder that preseason is less than a month away. The Redskins’ first game is on August 9. From then on, it’s three more weeks of roster battles, and on September 9, the Redskins open their regular season in Arizona.

But until the season opener, we’ll have to make do with preseason excitement. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Redskins have some intriguing matchups on the horizon in August, and many position battles will be settled in that time.

In Week 1 of preseason, the Redskins play the New England Patriots in Foxborough. The next week, they travel back home and host their training camp partners, the New York Jets. In Week 3, the burgundy and gold hold position and battle against the Denver Broncos, and in Week 4, they travel to Baltimore to face down the Ravens.

Each of those games provides a unique element. The Broncos’ defense is always a challenge, and the third game is often dubbed the “dress rehearsal” before the season. The Redskins will practice with the Jets all through training camp, making their preseason matchup an enticing culmination of that training. But when I think about which team I look forward to facing the most, I’m most conflicted between the Patriots and the Ravens.

The Patriots matchup draws my attention, for obvious reasons. It’s just preseason, but going up against Bill Belichick is always exciting. The Patriots, as always, are a team with adequate depth, at the very least, and while the Redskins might not see much more than their second and third-string players, but that game will give the Redskins and Jay Gruden a first-hand look at how Belichick prepares his players, and how they stack up.

On the flip side, the Ravens, in Week 4, give the Redskins a roster that’s just as deep, and arguably more talented on the defensive side of the ball. The two cities sit just an hour away from each other, and also an hour away is the Redskins’ former first-round quarterback, Robert Griffin III. It’s more of a storyline than anything, but this tepid reunion between the Redskins and the Ravens’ third-string quarterback is notable. If nothing else, it gives the Redskins’ depth players a chance to play against a quarterback with immense starting experience.

All things considered, I give the edge to the Patriots as the team I’m most excited for the Redskins to face in preseason. That Week 1 matchup will give fans a good idea of how prepared the Redskins are, prepared to the league’s gold standard, and it could set the tone for the rest of the preseason.