Redskins: Five biggest cut day surprises in Washington

No. 5 – The Redskins kept five running backs (for the time being)

Perhaps this shouldn’t be a huge surprise; Jay Gruden has always favored Byron Marshall, for a reason that remains somewhat unclear even as Marshall enters his third year with the team.

Looking at Marshall’s college stats, he appears to have some versatility, as he lined up at both running back and wide receiver; in fact, he was an 1,000-yard receiver with the Oregon Ducks in 2014, and he has 4.4 speed to back that up, as well as prowess as a returner. So Marshall himself actually has some traits worth keeping around.

But with that being said, Marshall only has 12 career kick returns in the NFL, and he never gets many opportunities on offense to begin with. With Derrius Guice, Chris Thompson, and Adrian Peterson all ahead of him on the depth chart, Marshall is sure to be buried on a weekly basis. At that point, his roster spot is an inefficient use of team capital.

Keeping four running backs with Marshall was already a surprise, but the Redskins took it one step further, and kept around injured running back Shaun Wilson. Wilson showed promise in preseason before suffering an ankle sprain; he seemed to be the Redskins most dynamic backup running back, and he also showed potential as a returner. Keeping Wilson with Marshall is a bit redundant, but his potential couldn’t go unnoticed.

The Redskins likely won’t keep Wilson for long; there’s a chance his recovery could be going quicker than expected, but more likely than not, the Redskins will stash Wilson on injured reserve, with a designation to return after Week 8. That’ll trim their running back total down to four, and open up an extra roster spot. Even if it’s temporary, however, the initial inclusion of five running backs is a surprise.