Redskins vs. Eagles, part one: Five players to watch
By Ian Cummings
No. 4 – DT Daron Payne
Speaking of trench football, the Redskins invested heavily in that facet of the game over the past two offseasons, acquiring Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, and Tim Settle. It’s time to start seeing that investment pay off again.
The unit started out the year extremely well, omitting the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, and Ezekiel Elliott from the other team’s playbook. But as time has gone on, the impact of the unit has been spurned. Teams go around the defensive line, and when they don’t, the defensive line hasn’t always been up to the challenge.
Against the Eagles, however, they’ll need to be. The Eagles have had injury issues at running back, but they’ve had an emergent weapon as of late. Undrafted running back Josh Adams, out of Notre Dame, ran for 84 yards on 22 carries last week, his first week in which he was the Eagles’ premier runner.
The Redskins will need to stop Adams, to prevent Philadelphia from sustaining balanced drives. The key to do that is, and always has been, Daron Payne. The Alabama rookie, at his best, is a brick wall in the middle, but he must be careful not to be overwhelmed by the experience of Philadelphia’s blocking group.