Washington Redskins Training Camp Profile: S Montae Nicholson
By Ian Cummings
Montae Nicholson’s 2018 season with the Redskins
The Redskins had high hopes for Montae Nicholson heading into the 2018 season; just a year earlier, in his rookie season, Nicholson had flashed exciting potential as the team’s starting free safety, before an injury cut his season eight games short.
Nicholson entered the 2019 season as the team’s starter beside D.J. Swearinger at safety, but he would be replaced at the halfway point by trade acquisition Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Before the Clinton-Dix trade, Nicholson had played 441 defensive snaps in seven games, and after the trade, he only logged 26 defensive snaps in seven more.
The Redskins didn’t try to rotate Nicholson in; they took the starting job from him. Part of that was likely attributed to Nicholson’s poor play early on, but Nicholson’s off-the-field issues certainly didn’t help. Nicholson struggled off the field over the course of the 2018 season, and those struggles culminated in a December arrest for misdemeanor assault just before the Titans game.
After accumulating an interception and two pass deflections in eight games in 2017, Nicholson notched just one pass deflection in 2018. Despite his stark regression, the Redskins are turning back to him as the team’s starting free safety, with hopes that, after being cleared of charges from his December incident, he can return to form, and reach his full potential.