Getting excited is always a risky venture for the Redskins. But there are some rare exceptions.
One such exception rests on the defensive line, where the Washington Redskins have built up from nothing, and formed a truly formidable unit.
With the Redskins defensive line, you know what you’re getting, and you know it isn’t anything less than excellent. It’s taken quite an investment; three years of talent acquisition, two consecutive first-round picks, and a steal of a coaching hire. And now, the Redskins can say they have a position group that’s on the verge of being elite.
The Redskins interior defensive line is their greatest strength, without a doubt. Let’s take a look at the players that comprise that fearsome unit.
Redskins starters on the defensive line
Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen
Matt Ioannidis could be a candidate to be named a starter in this context, but he only started nine of his 14 games played in 2018. Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen, meanwhile, both started and played all 16 possible games. And they excelled.
Payne and Allen win in different ways, and yet, they’re both somewhat similar. Allen is the slightly better athlete, but Payne closes the albeit small gap with forceful strength and heavy hands. Both players showed tremendous growth over the course of the 2018 season, and they both remained healthy, which is a big deal for the Redskins.
I may sound like a broken record, but there’s not much more to say about these two, other than this: They’re both very good, and they’re both very young, and still getting better. Allen is 24 years old, and he was named to Marc Sessler’s All Under-25 Team on NFL.com earlier this offseason. Payne, meanwhile, just turned 22 years old, and he’s merely getting started with his development.
After over a decade of ineptitude on the defensive line, the Redskins decided to stop taking the position for granted. It seems to have paid off for them. And it’s not done paying off yet.
Redskins rotational starter
Matt Ioannidis
It feels wrong to place Matt Ioannidis in a different tier than Payne and Allen, because in truth, he’s far closer to them as he is to Tim Settle and Caleb Brantley. In fact, while Payne and Allen have better all-around skill sets, Ioannidis is very clearly the best interior pass rusher of the group.
Jonathan Allen barely beat out Ioannidis for the interior line sack title last season, amassing 8.0 quarterback takedowns, to Ioannidis’ 7.5. But look at the context, and Ioannidis’ numbers suddenly become far more impressive. Per Pro Football Focus, Allen needed 466 pass rush snaps to log his sacks, on 35 pressures. Ioannidis, meanwhile, only needed 275 pass rush snaps to almost match Allen. He also exceeded Allen by one pressure, with 36.
It’s hard to say whether or not Ioannidis’ quality of play would suffer if he was given a larger workload. But Jim Tomsula has clearly brought him a long way from when he first entered the league as a fifth-round pick. Ioannidis was once cut by the team and re-signed to the practice squad. Now, he’s coming off a season in which he logged a pass rush productivity rating of 13.1, on par with some of the league’s best interior linemen (Geno Atkins – 13.0, Chris Jones – 13.9, Jurrell Casey – 9.5).
With a poetic combination of power and athleticism, Matt Ioannidis has morphed into a game wrecker on the defensive line. Fresh off a contract extension, Ioannidis should be primed to keep producing.
Redskins top backups
Tim Settle and Caleb Brantley
When these players are your top backups on the interior defensive line, you know you’re in good shape.
That’s not to say that either of them are proven at this stage, but both players are young, with very good potential to mold while learning under coach Jim Tomsula. Tim Settle turns just 22 years old on July 11, while Caleb Brantley, once an early-round contender in the 2017 NFL Draft, is still only 24 years old.
Settle is the run stopping specialist of the group, although he has some burst to him, and he could be developed into a rotational contributor in time. He made some strides as the 2018 season went on, showing flashes of disruption both as a pass rusher and a gap filler.
Brantley, meanwhile, has the athleticism, length, and play strength to exceed even those standards, should he respond positively to the coaching provided by Tomsula. He’s still very much a projection, but he’s reportedly been progressing well in offseason workouts. Jay Gruden said earlier in the offseason, per J.P. Finlay, that he had “high hopes” for Brantley. So far, the Florida product appears to be on the right path. He needed a work ethic overhaul in the NFL, and with Tomsula, he may have gotten it. It’s still early, but if he keeps developing, he could see out his potential and add to Washington’s explosive defensive line group.
Redskins reserves
JoJo Wicker, Ryan Bee, Austin Maloata, and Jonathan Bonner
There’s no guarantee any of these players make the Washington Redskins’ roster. The Redskins started the 2018 season with five defensive linemen, and only added a sixth when they activated Stacy McGee off of the PUP list in November. It’s a unit that was generally healthy in 2018, and in 2019, having a surplus of available players might not be a necessity, especially with uncertainty elsewhere.
That said, the Redskins do have some intriguing traits in this group of reserves; traits that could demand retainment of sorts on the practice squad. Wicker, who was initially signed by the Redskins nine months ago, has some explosiveness that could be honed with proper coaching. Ryan Bee, meanwhile, is a looming presence at 6-foot-7, 280 pounds, who brings length, energy, and upside (For more about him, see this writeup by our own Jacob Camenker).
Jonathan Bonner and Austin Maloata join Bee as undrafted free agents, from Notre Dame and Austin Peay, respectively. At around 6-foot-4, 290, Bonner is a well-sized defensive lineman who provides versatility, and showed burst in limited flashes. Maloata, meanwhile, has a stocky build, and while he rarely produced at Austin Peay, he could find a way to stick around in the NFL, if Jim Tomsula can unlock some upside.
Despite the redeemable qualities displayed by these players, making the 53-man roster is a tall task for each of them, and ultimately an unlikely feat. JoJo Wicker figures to have the best chance; he’s the best athlete out of the group, and he has the most experience with the team. But last season, the Redskins only kept five linemen to start, and all four of these players are on the outside looking in. It shouldn’t be hard for the Redskins to stash at least one on the practice squad as insurance. Thus, using a roster spot is not warranted by the talent present.
Washington’s defensive line is genuinely one of the league’s most exciting position groups, with All-Pro potential at the top, and more under-the-radar upside waiting in the wings. All of it runs through Jim Tomsula, and if his track record is any indication, the Redskins revamped defensive line is still on the rise.