Washington Redskins safety grades for the 2018 campaign
By Ian Cummings
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
The optimism surrounding the Redskins safety situation reached perilous heights at the trade deadline, when the Redskins shipped a fourth-round pick to Green Bay in exchange for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
Clinton-Dix, a first-round pick out of Alabama in 2014, made the Pro Bowl in 2016, and was thought to be an upgrade for Washington on the back end. Clinton-Dix would provide starting experience, while allowing Nicholson to take on a more natural role.
Part of that was true. Clinton-Dix did provide starting experience. But not much else.
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In nine games with the Redskins, Clinton-Dix did almost nothing to return the investment made with the team’s 2018 fourth-round pick. He was consistently slow, stiff, and late to receivers breaking into open field, and his tackling angles were ineffective time and time again. Safeties are supposed to assist the cornerbacks in coverage, and Clinton-Dix did little of that.
At the time of the trade, it appeared as though Washington had committed highway robbery. But now the Packers are laughing to themselves, with their feet kicked up on a desk. The Redskins might force themselves to re-sign Clinton-Dix, simply because they have no other options. This, however, would be the wrong choice.