Washington Redskins 2018 season interior defensive line grades
By Ian Cummings
Daron Payne
The pick of Daron Payne in Round 1 was met with some skepticism. The Washington Redskins had chosen to pass on Derwin James for the Alabama product, and Payne was viewed as a raw player who hadn’t quite developed as a pass rusher.
We can talk about whether or not Derwin James was the right pick at No. 13 another day. But there’s no denying this: Daron Payne and Jim Tomsula proved to be a match made in heaven.
Payne proved to us what we already knew in 2018: He’s as good a run defender there is. He logged 34 run stops and six tackles for loss, consistently anchoring a tough, resilient line.
Pass rushing was always the concern for Payne coming out of the NFL Draft, but he proved to have grown in that area as well. While his pass rush productivity wasn’t great, he logged 5.0 sacks, a stellar figure in his rookie season, competing for interior pressure with Allen and Ioannidis.
Washington Redskins 2018 offensive line grades. dark. Next
The Redskins must do everything they can to try and clean up their act so Tomsula stays, because the immediate returns from Payne under Tomsula’s watch were very promising. If Payne’s rookie season was a sign of things to come, then the Redskins defensive line could be very imposing in the near future.