Washington Football Team Defense: 2018 vs. 2020
By Jonathan Eig
Linebackers
Inside linebacker Mason Foster almost never left the field in 2018. And until he was injured late in the season, fellow ILB Zach Brown did the same. They were an effective duo. Playing on the edge, Kerrigan and Preston Smith combined for seventeen sacks. It was a solid, if unspectacular, group.
2020’s linebacking corps has a lot of talent and a lot of question marks. As has been discussed several times, if Reuben Foster can play at a high level this year, it elevates the linebackers to above-average. If he suffers any setbacks, or if previous injuries have diluted his ability, we may be looking at similar effectiveness as we saw in 2018.
Veterans Thomas Davis and Jon Bostic should provide strong leadership for some talented-yet-unproven athletes like Cole Holcomb, Shaun Dion Hamilton, Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Khaleke Hudson. Ryan Anderson — along with Kerrigan and Hamilton, the only holdovers from 2018 — looks to live up to his second-round draft status.
Overall, the sheer volume of potential at linebacker bodes well for 2020. So even if Foster flames out, perhaps Anderson will step up. Even if newcomers Pierre-Louis and Hudson do not play up to potential, perhaps young vets Holcomb and Hamilton will show continued growth.
Nobody can predict with any certainty how this will play out, but I like the prospects for Holcomb, Hamilton, and Pierre-Louis, and the latest reports on Foster have me back on the Reuben-wagon. I think by the end of the year, the linebackers will be better than the pretty solid group from 2018.