Marcus Baugh has a legitimate shot at making Washington Football Team roster

Marcus Baugh has a legitimate chance to make the Washington Football Team’s roster in 2020.

During the 2020 offseason, the Washington Football Team inked a little-known tight end to a contract that was met with virtually no buzz. Marcus Baugh, a former Ohio State Buckeye who had spent a couple of seasons in the NFL as part of the Oakland Raiders and Carolina Panthers’ 90-man rosters, joined Washington in a move that many expected was to add depth to the team’s weakest position.

But over the course of the past few weeks, it’s becoming clear that Washington may view Baugh more favorably. And because of that, there’s a legitimate chance that he could make the team’s initial 53-man roster.

Since the start of padded practice, Baugh has been getting a lot of work. He has lined up with the first team on many occasions and it appears that he and Logan Thomas are getting the most playing time at tight end.

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This was a surprise. Few expected that Baugh would compete for a roster spot and instead focused on the likes of Hale Hentges, Jeremy Sprinkle, Richard Rodgers, Caleb Wilson, and Thaddeus Moss to fill roles behind Thomas.

But lately, the moves that Washington has made at the position seem to suggest that they’re comfortable giving Baugh a chance. Wilson, the 2019 NFL Draft’s Mr. Irrelevant, was cut before camp even began despite profiling as a solid pass catcher.

On Friday, Washington waived Thaddeus Moss with an injury designation in hopes of keeping him around for the season on IR. With that said, the fact that they’re risking losing him indicates that he wasn’t truly in the race for a roster spot. And part of the reason for that is that he has been outplayed by Baugh.

If the NFL were having preseason games, fans would get a better look at the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Baugh. We’ll have to wait and see what happens with him, but at the moment, it seems like he is not only in the running to make the roster, but he could be the primary blocking tight end to start the season. And that could have an impact on the chances of Hentges and Sprinkle making the roster.

The tight end battle was always going to be an interesting one to watch, but the emergence of the dark horse Baugh has made it even more unpredictable. If he continues to perform well in practice, he will almost certainly stick around in Washington whether it’s on the 53-man roster or the practice squad.