Riggo’s Rag Redskins Mailbag: Potential surprises, position battles, more
Top sleeper candidate
Johnny Redskin: With brand new coaches, it seems like every position group is not set in stone who is going to be the surprise player to challenge the conventional thinking?
JC: There’s always a player that emerges seemingly out of nowhere to earn a roster spot. In 2017, second-year defensive back Stefan McClure took advantage of a weaker safety unit and earned a spot on the 53-man roster. In 2018, Casey Dunn made the roster because of the team’s lack of young depth at the center position.
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In 2019, the Redskins saw undrafted receiver Steven Sims Jr. impress in the preseason and ultimately do enough to win a job on the squad. Sims rewarded their confidence by usurping the slot receiver position from Trey Quinn and posting a solid rookie season as a result (43 touches, 395 total yards, five rushing and receiving TDs, one kick return TD).
This year, I’m looking for the Redskins to find another Sims for their team. They’re lacking receiver depth but they do have a lot of intriguing youth on the roster. My pick for this would’ve been Emanuel Hall had he not torn his Achilles this offseason, but I’ll go with another Missouri receiver instead.
Johnathon Johnson was one of the four undrafted free agents that the Redskins signed this offseason. They had the smallest UDFA class in the league by far, so Rivera and Co. clearly valued the four players that they targeted.
Johnson profiles similarly to Sims. He’s on the smaller side, possesses good speed, and he averaged 10.1 yards per catch during his collegiate career, the same as Sims. Johnson could fit in as a backup to Sims in the slot and use his speed on special teams. He has value and could beat guys like Trey Quinn and Cody Latimer for one of the last spots on the receiver depth chart.
I considered Isaiah Wright, another undrafted receiver, as one of the biggest surprise candidates as well. But at this point, I like Johnson ever so slightly better and am intrigued to see what he can do on the field in camp.