Top five guards for Redskins to target in 2020 free agency

Scherff nearly got knocked off the top spot by Thuney, but I’m sticking with Scherff here for a couple of reasons. First of all, he’s one of the best guards in football. Second, he has familiarity with the Redskins and they likely want to keep him.

Scherff has been with the Redskins for the past five years and has been an anchor at right guard. He helped to really solidify the right side of the line along with Chase Roullier and Morgan Moses (prior to his recent decline) and improved the team’s blocking drastically. He has received recognition for his prowess via his three Pro Bowl selections.

Of course, Scherff does have some drawbacks. He wasn’t as good in 2019 as he had been in previous seasons. He has dealt with injuries over the course of the past few seasons including a torn pectoral that sidelined him for half of 2018 and an elbow injury that impacted him last year.

But in 2020, Scherff will be two years removed from the torn pec and should improve after a down season. He’ll be healthy and with a new training staff in Washington, perhaps he would have more success staying on the field. After all, he did start in 46 of 48 games to begin his career. It’s just the past two seasons that have been hard on him.

The Redskins could slap Scherff with the franchise tag if they want to keep him. It seems probable that they will try to retain him and/or Flowers, but it will be interesting to see what they choose to do. For the time being though, Scherff is probably their focus at the guard position though they could shift it to Thuney if they’re not confident in Scherff’s injury.

And, of course, let’s not forget that Wes Martin may be ready to step into a bigger role.

UPDATE: Scherff has, in fact, been slapped with the franchise tag. He’ll be back in Washington for at least one more season as a result.