Breaking down the Redskins special teams depth chart for 2019

The Washington Redskins haven’t had many major special teams battles in recent years. That doesn’t figure to change in 2019.

We’re on to our last depth chart breakdown before 2019 training camp. And this one will be a brief one, as we’re taking a look at the Redskins specialist.

Since 2014, the Redskins haven’t had many major special teams battles. In that offseason, the team had a plethora of punters try out for the role before giving it to Tress Way. And at kicker, Kai Forbath and seventh-round pick Zach Hocker duked it out before Forbath won the job (though Forbath would lose his job to current Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins shortly into the 2015 season).

This year, there doesn’t figure to be a lot of major competition as well. It seems that things will be the same as they ever were, especially since the team’s kicker and punter performed well last year. But, here’s a refresher on the depth chart moving forward and a look at the potential return men.

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Kicker: Dustin Hopkins. Last season was Hopkins’ best in the NFL. He converted 26-of-29 field goal attempts and managed to go 4-of-5 from 50-plus yards, improving on what had been a career average of 38.5 percent from that distance in his three previous seasons with the Redskins. Hopkins, 28, doesn’t have any competition on the active roster and unless he struggles in the preseason, he should hold onto his job.

Punter: Tress Way. Way has averaged at least 45.1 yards per punt during his five-year career with the Redskins. Last year, he was a major weapon for the squad, downing a league-high 41 punts inside the 20-yard-line without recording a single touchback. That’s insanely efficient. Way won’t have any competition as he did last year (when the Redskins briefly rostered Sam Irwin-Hill) and Way should have a shot at being a Pro Bowl punter.

Long Snapper: Nick Sundberg. Sundberg has been with the Redskins since 2010 and has been a rock-solid long snapper for the squad. The only concern with him is that he has had some health concerns during his career, landing on IR twice in 2012 and 2013, but he has missed only five games in the last three seasons combined. The 27-year-old Andrew East could challenge Sundberg, 31, for his position, but it seems more likely that Sundberg will continue to operate as the top long snapper.

Return Men: Greg Stroman and Trey Quinn. Quinn only returned four punts last year, but he averaged 13.0 yards per return. And taking out his long return of 30 yards, he still averaged about 7.3 yards per return. Those solid numbers should give him a chance to win the punt return job.

Meanwhile, Stroman averaged 18.3 yards on kick returns (six total) and 3.4 yards on punt returns (eight total). Those numbers aren’t great, but with another year of seasoning, Stroman could improve. Danny Johnson (23.6 yards per kick return) could challenge him for that role, but given that Johnson may not make the roster in the cornerback battle, it’s hard to trust him as one of the return men on this squad. But if Johnson is to make the squad, it would largely be predicated on this skill.

Next. Redskins TC Profile - RB Derrius Guice. dark

The Redskins special teams look pretty solid this year. The one weakness could be on kick returns, but considering that the team only had a total of 29 kick returns last year, that shouldn’t be a major problem.

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