Mason Foster
It was Zach Brown who ended up losing snaps due to the poor performance by the Redskins linebackers. But perhaps it wasn’t him, and instead Mason Foster, who deserved a decrease in playing time.
It was known that Foster would lose speed as he neared 30 years old; it happens to everyone. But his regression came sooner rather than later. In 2018, Foster was painfully slow in the middle of the field, and it observably hurt the rest of the defense.
Particularly in pass defense, Foster’s lacking speed came into the limelight. According to Pro Football Focus, Foster was targeted 77 times over the season, and he allowed 65 catches on those targets, for a whopping 84.4 completion percentage. He allowed 549 passing yards, 426 of which (77.6 percent) came after the catch. Foster also let by three touchdowns to go with those yards, and although he picked off the ball twice, both picks came off of deflections from Josh Harvey-Clemons.
Foster may have had strong moments in run defense, but defending the pass is ultimately how defenses win in today’s league, and Foster was a liability in pass coverage. Factor his comments about playing in Washington into his grade, and it’s clear he may have not been the right defensive captain for the team, either. Foster could very well be somewhere else in 2019. He and the Redskins appear to be headed toward an inevitable divorce.