Redskins Free Agency: Best and worst moves, scenarios
By Jonathan Eig
Best Moves
No massive deals. The best thing the Skins have done so far in free agency is what they haven’t done. They have not blown big money or draft capital on reach players. Bradberry and Hooper are good players at positions of need, but their price tags got too high and the Skins wisely abstained.
Every year, there are many players who simply roll double sixes. They have some good tape. They play a position that is void of depth that year. They cash out. Anybody here old enough to remember Scott Mitchell?
Buy them young. Sixteen of the players Washington has secured during free agency are 29 or younger. One is over 30. It is always good to go young.
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Solid buys in the secondary. Norman – gone. Dunbar – gone. Niedermeyer … I mean, Nicholson – long gone. Half the other guys who manned the secondary last year – let go in the March 23 Massacre. That leaves Landon Collins as the only sure thing in the defensive backfield.
Maybe a few of the young corners will blossom. Everyone fell in love with Jimmy Moreland last pre-season. I always though Danny Johnson showed great promise. But these are all shots in the dark.
Kendall Fuller, Ronald Darby and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Sean Davis, are far more solid. We’ve seen what Fuller can do. If Darby stays healthy, he will be a solid upgrade. And Davis has the speed to complement Collins. This could make for a reasonable back end, with the Apkes, Moreaus, and Stromans filling in as needed.
Shoring up the inside linebacker position. A young man named Barack Obama was just beginning his first term as president when the Skins last played a 4-3 defense. There will be changes afoot under Rivera and Del Rio.
One of the things you desperately need in a 4-3 is a smart tackling machine playing just behind the front four. By re-signing Jon Bostic and bringing on the venerable Thomas Davis Sr., the ‘Skins have addressed that. These are not flashy players, and ideally, one or two of the youngsters acquired in the past few years will emerge as a steady presence. But until that day, these two older guys (Davis is 37) will be a good fit.
J.D. McKissic. Okay, I don’t know if McKissic will ever regain the form that made him so exciting back in 2017. But I always liked his explosiveness. You are hedging your bets at a relatively low price by pairing him up with Bryce Love as a replacement for Chris Thompson.