What we learned from Washington Football Team, NFL in Week 1
By Jonathan Eig
Washington Football Team 3: New punt returner needed
Steven Sims Jr. made a couple of great catches. That one on the goal line showed how tough he is. But he should not be returning punts. He has the raw skills to do it, and can occasionally break one. But he was downright bad at it yesterday.
The first return was set up to go left, but an Eagle had that sealed. With a few yards available in front of him, Sims just froze, trying to force a run to the left. He ended up with nothing.
Third return, he ran about a thousand yards laterally to his right trying to outflank a line of Eagles. He ended up with nothing.
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In between, he muffed, and then recovered the kick. He actually fell forward on that one. Either lock him in a room with tapes of Mike Nelms going forward or stick Danny Johnson back there.
Washington Football Team 4: Right side > left side on O-Line
The O line was not good, but I thought that Morgan Moses played pretty well, especially on running plays. The right side will be OK. The left side is a huge question mark. I am going to assume Wes Martin getting bulldozed by Malik Jackson early on was just a case of bad footwork, but overall, neither he nor left tackle Geron Christian looked solid. There may be more tinkering coming there.
Washington Football Team 5: RBs form good committee
Antonio Gibson is going to be really fun to watch. J.D. McKissic will be an adequate pass receiver, and Peyton Barber will be an adequate short-yardage back and special teamer. For someone who has done Mr. Barber wrong, he is becoming one of my favorite players with his workmanlike style.
Gibson could be special and if Bryce Love can ever regain his form, WFT will have two dynamic playmakers coming out of the backfield to go along with solid role players McKissic and Barber.