For Redskins, depth is the most important part of 2019

As Jay Gruden and the Redskins coaching staff prepare for the season ahead, there is no understating the importance of talent evaluation, and where players fit in the system.

With new faces all around, it is going to take time and effort to sort through the new toys that Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden has to play with. But the hinge that the 2019 season hangs on remains the team’s depth, and the importance of talent on all levels of the roster.

Of course, the injuries that have derailed the better part of the last two years for the burgundy and gold haven’t shown signs of stopping. The first snap of the team’s first OTAs ended with Reuben Foster on a medical cart, leaving the field with a torn ACL and a 2019 season up in flames.

Foster’s gruesome injury is a stark reminder that the NFL is a fragile business. It doesn’t take more than an awkward fall to completely change the roster on either side of the football. Going into this season, Foster was primed and ready to start inside and prove that he is still the talent that led him to be taken in the first round in the 2017 NFL Draft. But now, the Redskins are faced with finding out how to replace him, and working to fill the void his injury left behind.

While Foster was primed to be a key piece in this Redskins team, he is only one part in the eventual 53-man roster that will have to last a full sixteen games for the Redskins this coming season.

Take the offense line, for example. Morgan Moses was the only offensive lineman to start every game last season.

(Anyone who watched the Redskins last season already knows where this is going.)

Trent Williams was in and out with injuries, Shawn Lauvao and Brandon Scherff both suffered season-ending injuries, and each week, fans were left to Google the names of players that came in and out of Ashburn as backup bodies in an attempt to just field a full team.

Oh, and by the way, they were protecting Josh Johnson, a fourth-string quarterback.

The bottom line is, last year couldn’t have gone any worse in regards to injuries. But the Redskins can learn from it and take into this season a few things to help avoid that problem from happening again.

To begin with, new quarterbacks Case Keenum and Dwyane Haskins are a nice breath of fresh air for the fans and the team. With a new draft class that features Montez Sweat, Terry McLaurin and a handful of young offensive lineman talent, the Redskins are adding pieces to help ensure that 2019 is nothing like 2018.

Obviously, losing names like Preston Smith and Ty Nseke doesn’t make their job any easier. But it comes down to guys like Bill Callahan, Kevin O’Connell, Ike Hilliard, and Ray Horton to all build from within. Their jobs will be to teach guys like Wes Martin, Kelvin Harmon, Ross Pierschbacher, and Jimmy Moreland, to all become depth impact players that can step in and provide a boost.

Of course, on paper, the Redskins are a better team than they were in 2018. They got younger, they have their future quarterback, and they have a veteran foundation that can help form the future of the rookies. But it comes down to this staff to get these guys ready for August and ultimately September.

Time will tell if the talent on paper translates to effective difference makers on the field. But one thing is for sure; the importance of having depth cannot be understated.