Almost concluded with our Redskins 2018 season positional grades, we now find ourselves at the safety position.
There might not have been a position for the Washington Redskins with more preseason promise, and more eventual disappointment in-season, than safety.
In the offseason, the safety tandem of D.J. Swearinger and Montae Nicholson was viewed as one of the up-and-coming duos in the NFL. Swearinger had the veteran moxie and the eyes to jump routes, while Nicholson had the speed and the range to compensate for mistakes on the back end.
It looked like a match made in heaven for the Redskins defense, and at a discount price. But midway through the 2018 season, it all fell apart.
How did the Redskins safety situation deteriorate so quickly? Perhaps, to answer that question, we need to go player by player. Here are the grades for Washington’s safeties in 2018.
Incomplete Grades
Three players comprise the incomplete grades for the Washington Redskins in 2018, but one stands out among the other two as a notable name: 2018 fourth-round pick Troy Apke.
Drafted early on Day Three after running a 4.34 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, and logging a 41-inch vertical, Apke was brought to D.C. because of his upside and his speed. The Redskins will have to wait until 2019 to see it in action, however. Apke lasted less than a week, injuring himself while making a crucial tackle on special teams against the Cardinals. Placed on injured reserve, Apke’s season was over almost before it began.
Jeremy Reaves and Harlan Miller also joined the Redskins as safeties later in the season, but neither player logged any notable minutes. Both players could stick around in 2019 if they show enough in offseason activities, but as of now, they are camp players still looking to earn more time.
Deshazor Everett
No one’s calling for Deshazor Everett to start in 2019, but the Texas A&M product put up respectable defensive numbers in 2018, given his role with the team.
Before Week 17, Everett had only logged 65 defensive snaps, and just 13 in coverage. Primarily a special teams player (341 special teams snaps in 2018), Everett was only targeted once over the first sixteen games, while accruing eight total tackles. Had D.J. Swearinger not been released, Everett might not have received a grade in 2018.
But Swearinger was released, and Montae Nicholson was benched, and in a sudden turn of events, Deshazor Everett became the Redskins starting safety for their Week 17 matchup with the Eagles. And all things considered, he fared very well, looking at stats from Pro Football Focus.
In the final game of the season, Everett received more defensive snaps than he had logged all season with 69, including 33 coverage snaps and 34 run defense snaps. Everett was targeted six times, and while he allowed six catches, he was a sound tackler, allowing just 52 yards on those catches. He also had notched an interception on an errant throw, making the most of his limited opportunities.
Everett has always done just that in Washington: He’s made the most of limited opportunities. While his efforts may never lead to a full-time starting job, it’s nice to have a competent all-around player in the wings at safety, especially with no starters set in stone for 2019. Set to turn 27 years old this season, Everett still has a few quality years left as a key reserve. And if the Redskins somehow decide to give him a starting opportunity, although risky, it won’t be a completely baseless decision.
Deshazor Everett’s 2018 Grade: B
Montae Nicholson
Montae Nicholson‘s 2018 season underwhelmed. If the Michigan State product did not regress, then he simply had a bad season. But the Redskins should have been more patient with the 23-year old.
Nicholson flashed immense promise last season, making plays on the ball with his range. He would play less than half the season, but his efforts were enough to not only earn the starting job opposite D.J. Swearinger, but to receive unique praise from Jay Gruden, who referred to Nicholson as “Jordan Reed of the defense”.
Things changed quickly.
More from Riggo's Rag
- What will Emmanuel Forbes bring to the Washington Commanders?
- Highlighting the best Commanders 2023 NFL Draft betting props
- 3 late Commanders rumors drawing buzz ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft
- 4 bold predictions for the Commanders 2023 NFL Draft
- Commanders News: Chase Young trade, draft day, CB riser and Sam Howell
Nicholson got off to a slow start in 2018, after Washington altered his role, and his inconsistent play led the Redskins to trade for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. It was thought that Clinton-Dix would take more reps in the box, while Nicholson would rotate in on passing downs as a center fielder. But the Redskins took Nicholson off the field entirely.
After Week 9, Nicholson only logged four total defensive snaps for the rest of the year. In December, the chances of Nicholson coming back in 2018 were jeopardized, as the former fourth-round pick was arrested on assault charges, and consequently placed on the reserve/NFI list.
Nicholson’s future with Washington is now uncertain. He still has starting potential, but he’s in the dog house, without a doubt. There’s a chance Nicholson could be given a chance at redemption, with the Redskins safety situation looking grim. New defensive backs coach Ray Horton could give him a clean slate to work with. But if 2018 was for Nicholson to set himself up as the team’s safety of the future, then he failed, and the team failed to help him do so.
Montae Nicholson’s 2018 Grade: F
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.
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.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix’s 2018 Grade: D
D.J. Swearinger
A season that started out on a stellar note turned sour quickly for D.J. Swearinger, a former Redskins star who now finds himself with the Arizona Cardinals.
Swearinger, signed by the Redskins in 2017, quickly became a fan favorite with his fiery personality and tenacious play style. Earning four interceptions and five pass deflections in his first season with the team, he was thought of as one of the team’s best returning players in 2018, and through the first half of the season, he not only lived up to those claims, but built on them.
One could make the argument that, through ten games in 2018, Swearinger was one of the best safeties in football. After the Houston game, Swearinger had logged four interceptions, four pass deflections, and three forced fumbles, cementing a reputation as a turnover generator. Few players in the division impacted the ball on defense like Swearinger. And few could back up their talk so well.
Swearinger’s talk, however, would ultimately be his undoing. After a few bad games overall by the defense, Swearinger called out defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, lamenting at play calls that didn’t fit the Redskins scheme. Just days after that incident, Swearinger was surprisingly released by the Redskins, and subsequently claimed off waivers by the Arizona Cardinals.
Swearinger will start the 2019 season in a different shade of red. It’s up to interpretation whether or not the Redskins made the right call to release Swearinger. It’s apparent that discipline of some degree was needed. But the circumstances don’t change this fact: The Redskins let go of one of their best players, and one of the better safeties in football, for no compensation. And now, they’ll be starting over again in 2019.