Washington Football Team training camp profiles: Linebackers
Positional Outlook
Nobody will mistake the linebacker position as a strength for the Washington Football Team. They lack true, proven three-down players and are shifting to a new defense which some of their holdovers are questionable fits for.
With that said, the linebacker corps still has plenty of upside. Between Holcomb, Hamilton, and Hudson, those three players look like long-term contributors for the team whether it’s as starters or role players. Developing those young guys should be the main goal of Rivera and Del Rio in 2020.
But even if the youth on the team isn’t ready for the big leap, the squad does have some rock-solid veterans in Davis and Bostic to hold down starting jobs for a season. That’s why both were brought on board; they’re good stopgaps and veteran mentors for the young Washington team.
The overall ceiling of the linebacker group will likely be determined by Foster and Pierre-Louis. Foster has the potential to be the team’s best linebacker. But is he healthy? If not, he may never play for the team before hitting free agency this offseason.
As for Pierre-Louis, he looked very good as a starter last year, but most of his experience has come on special teams. Can he show well enough to factor into the starting equation? If so, Washington’s depth at the position will be stronger than many are anticipating.
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Washington still will need to find a true three-down linebacker in the future. But if all goes well this season, they’ll find out which players are part of their core at the position moving forward. And that will prove valuable to the team considering the coaching staff they have in place.