Redskins Spotlight: DB Quinton Dunbar’s growth, impact in 2018

Dunbar’s journey and skill set

To fully appreciate Dunbar, one must first understand the journey that he has taken to get to where he is at now. Dunbar was a wide receiver the five years he was at Florida, redshirting his freshman year. He was undrafted out of college but was eventually signed by the Redskins in 2015. Soon after, he was converted to cornerback after injuries depleted the secondary.

This position switch is very similar to what Richard Sherman did with the Seattle Seahawks. Sherman, who also played wide receiver when he was at Stanford, switched to cornerback after his junior year there and later became a 4-time All-Pro while on the famed “Legion of Boom.” Being a former receiver, Dunbar understands route concepts and what route a wideout wants to run to attack a defense. This knowledge allows him to take that away.

After the position switch, he showed some steady growth his first two seasons under defensive coordinator Joe Barry and secondary coach Perry Fewell. That growth continued in 2017 as well with a new position coach in Torrian Gray and Greg Manusky taking over the defense and again through the first quarter of 2018.

Here is why he has developed into a solid starter so quickly after being an undrafted receiver just a few years prior. Dunbar has all the traits that a coach looks for in a good secondary player. He is also a hard worker, willing to be coached, and wants to perfect his craft daily. Coaches love a guy who wants to do get better every day and does what it takes to do it.

Dunbar has a short memory in case of a negative play. Every defensive back will get beat or have a call go against them at some point with the NFL geared toward offense today. One pass interference or touchdown allowed can take a defender’s head out of the game. You have to be able to have a short memory and not let a previous mistake ruin the rest of the game. As easy as it sounds, some players struggle with this. He takes everything in stride and one play at a time. This mental toughness has allowed for him to fight through adversity when he has faced it and excel.

Dunbar also has a great defensive mindset by wanting to be active in the run game. So many secondary players want nothing to do with the run game. The great ones do, and he has the size to do so weighing almost 200 pounds and standing 6-foot-2. This size makes it tough for quarterbacks to pick on him the way they would a smaller corner as well.

He has good speed and great length. He also has great use of his hands. Being able to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage and get them off their timing routes is huge. Having these skills allows him to play close to the line and be active in the short pass game as well.