Jon Bostic is in a position to make a major impact on the Redskins defense this coming season. Will he be able to step up and be the leader in the middle of the field the team needs him to be?
Playing middle linebacker in the NFL means you are the quarterback of the defense. One must be cerebral enough to make the play calls and defensive audibles, have the toughness to lay a bone-crushing hit, and have the ability to be a leader.
Guys like Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Mike Singeltary, and Ray Lewis all had legendary Hall of Fame careers making plays from the middle of the field. One key characteristic that every good defense has is that they have a stud middle linebacker routinely making plays.
Anyone who watched a Washington Redskins game from 2007 to 2013 would have noticed a middle linebacker roaming around making what seemed to be every play. That linebacker was the great London Fletcher, who was the heart and soul of the defense. Fletcher had an outstanding career. When he retired, it left a big hole to fill in the middle of the Redskins’ defense.
They tried filling his shoes with the likes of Keenan Robinson, Will Compton, and recently Mason Foster, with no long-term success. Some people are incredibly hard to replace.
The Redskins brought in former first-round pick Reuben Foster with the hopes he could be the long-term answer. However, he went down for the season on the first day of OTAs, and left Washington back where they were before they signed him.
Washington signed Jon Bostic to replace Foster. Bostic had bounced around on a few teams already, so not much was expected of him early on. However, as the offseason progressed, Bostic seized the opportunity to start, and is now in a position to make an impact on what should be a top ten defense in 2019.
Who is Jon Bostic, and what does he bring to the Redskins?
Jon Bostic played his college ball at the University of Florida. In four years there, he started 32 games, earning All-SEC honors in 2012. After a productive senior season, Bostic was chosen in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He was known as a physical run-stopping linebacker who lacked elite speed and athleticism.
After two seasons in Chicago in which he failed to make an impact, he was traded to the New England Patriots. Less than a year later, he was traded again, this time to the Detroit Lions. He was injured before the season started and spent 2016 on injured reserve.
In 2017, Bostic signed a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts. He had a productive season in which he started 14 games and had over 90 tackles. Following the season, he then signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2018, Bostic started 14 games and had over 70 tackles. However, he was released once the season was over.
Jon Bostic has a few strengths that he will bring to the Redskins’ defense, one of which is his versatility. He has played in a few different defensive schemes and can play multiple spots at linebacker. This will be beneficial if the Redskins run into injuries again.
His greatest strength, though, is his ability to communicate. Bostic prides himself on communication. His nickname used to be ‘the explainer’ because he would make the defensive backs’ calls before they would. Far too often, when coverages are blown, it is because of a simple miscommunication.
Jonathan Allen is the team’s defensive leader. Bostic needs to lead the defense from the middle of the field. Having that green sticker on as the mike linebacker means he is going to have to constantly make sure everybody is on the same page with their coverages and assignments if this defense is going function properly.
The Redskins have a young defense and need some veteran leadership in the middle.
A lot is going to be asked of Bostic in the middle of the field in 2019 as the Redskins are going a very young team defensively. The starters along the defensive line are all under 25.
While there are a couple of veterans among the linebackers in Ryan Kerrigan and Ryan Anderson, they are overall still a young group as well. Shaun Dion Hamilton is 23, while Josh Harvey-Clemons is 25. Montez Sweat, Cole Holcomb, and Jordan Brailford are all rookies in what could be a very talented group in the future.
Outside of Josh Norman and Landon Collins, there is a considerable amount of both youth and potential in the secondary. It will be up to ‘the explainer’ to make sure everybody is continually talking throughout the game. That way, everyone is on the same page and coverages don’t break down.
There is a lot of talent on this Redskins’ defense, and they have the potential to be a top five unit by the end of the season. They were a top ten unit through the first half of the season last year before their play dropped off in the second half. If they want to be a top five unit, Bostic is going to have to make sure this young defense is firing on all cylinders throughout the year.
Bostic’s statistical outlook with the Redskins in 2019
Jon Bostic should have a very positive outlook on 2019. After somewhat of a slow start to his career, he started 14 games each of the last two seasons. Barring injury or a major drop off in play, Bostic should start every game this coming season.
To predict what Bostic will do statistically, let’s look at Mason Foster’s production in his time as a starter as a baseline. Bostic is very similar to Foster, as he is also mostly a two-down run stopper who tends to struggle in pass coverage.
Despite his limitations in pass coverage, Foster finished with over 120 tackles in 2016 and 2018 (he was on IR for most of 2017 with a torn labrum). Bostic should be on the field a lot, so there is no reason to believe he cannot come close to matching what Foster did.
A solid season for Bostic would be around 110 tackles, 1.0 sack, one interception, a forced fumble, and one fumble recovery while playing every game.
The Redskins provided Jon Bostic with the opportunity he has been looking for.
At the start of the offseason, Jon Bostic was not in the Redskins defensive plans for 2019. They recently signed third-year player Reuben Foster to start alongside incumbent starter Mason Foster. However, Reuben Foster went down for the season on the first day of OTAs, while Mason Foster was released before training camp, due to Bostic’s solid play.
Bostic was a second round pick for a reason. He is talented. He hasn’t had the right opportunity yet to showcase his talents as the teams he played on before have gone through a lot of roster turnover with changes in coaches and general managers, leaving him as an odd man out more often than he should have been. Bostic is now playing on his fourth team in five years. His play has been good while starting 28 games over the last two years. It’s time to be great.
He is now in a position to have a major impact on the Redskins defense in 2019. This is his chance to shine as the mike linebacker. Washington is confident he can, and he is as well. The Redskins moved on from Mason Foster as their starter because they believe Bostic could fill that role. Now, Bostic must prove them right and have an excellent season.