Five takeaways from Washington Football Team’s 53-man roster

No. 2 – Versatility is king on offense

Scott Turner spoke about versatility all offseason, and how valuable it was, so it’s no surprise that some of the Washington Football Team’s decisions during the cutdown to 53 were focused on versatility.

The Washington Football Team started off their cutdown by surprising everyone with the release of Adrian Peterson. Later on, they cut challengers at the wide receiver position in Trey Quinn and Cam Sims, and at tight end, various other less versatile options were also nixed.

Some of these moves were hard to grasp, but they gave way to more versatility on the offensive roster. Peterson will be replaced by Antonio Gibson, an exciting rookie who has the ability to line up anywhere and be a problem. There’s also J.D. McKissic, who has similar upside, and Bryce Love, whose explosiveness will serve the team well as a change-of-pace back.

At wide receiver, Washington passed up Quinn and Sims (who later joined the practice squad) to retain undrafted rookie Isaiah Wright. Not much was known about Wright throughout the offseason, but at Temple, he logged 134 total receptions and 91 total carries, and he also had five total return touchdowns over the course of his collegiate career.

Wright brings versatility as both a wide receiver and a special teams threat, and Washington valued that very highly in the decision-making process. Combine all this with the presence of Logan Thomas, an athletic tight end who can move all around, and it’s clear that Washington cut down the roster with versatility at the front of their mind.