Washington Football Team: Undercover ballers and bums from Week 1

The Washington Football Team had several undercover ballers and bums in their Week 1 win.

It’s easy to point out that Chase Young, Ryan Kerrigan, Matt Ioannidis, Daron Payne, and Jon Allen had productive games in the Washington Week 1 matchup against Philly. It’s also easy to point out that J.D. McKissic and Wes Martin had rough outings.

But there were a few less-obvious performances that were noteworthy either positively or negatively. Here are the Undercover Ballers and Bums from Week 1 for Washington.

Washington Football Team Baller: Chase Roullier

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Chase Roullier had a solid game on Sunday and has quietly become an above-average center in the NFL. He gave up no significant pressures on Sunday, had zero penalties, had no bad snaps, and was effective in the run game.

Washington Football Team Bum: Dontrelle Inman

To be clear, I don’t really think he’s a bum. I just think he had a rough game on Sunday. He got away with a hold almost every time he was asked to block. He never got any separation against man coverage. He dropped a key third-down pass at the sticks. Ultimately, with just 2 catches for 21 yards, he had a bum of a day.

And to cap things off, the team tried out six WRs on Monday in a clear statement about how happy they are with the receiving corps (and you know that wasn’t an indictment of McLaurin or Sims…) Here’s hoping Inman can step up his game, or that Antonio Gandy-Golden can quickly take his spot in the lineup.

Washington Football Team Baller: Morgan Moses

Maybe this isn’t totally undercover, since Moses is getting a little national credit for his play this week, but as most Washington fans know, he’s had a tough couple of years. So, a great performance from him certainly comes as a bit of a surprise.

Nobody gets more annoyed about Moses’ patented false-start than me, but big Mo managed to make it through Sunday with zero penalties. He also had key blocks on the three most important running plays of the game (the two touchdowns and the Peyton Barber fourth-and-1 conversion deep in the red zone).

Washington Football Team Bum: Ronald Darby

Third-and-22. How do you let yourself get beat deep on a third-and-22? You bite on a slight move and guess, rather than just playing sound defense. That play alone earned Darby “bum” status for the week, but on top of that, he was unable to manage any meaningful positive plays despite playing behind the most vicious onslaught of pass-rush we’ve seen in Washington in a long time.

Jimmy Moreland and Fabian Moreau both made beautiful interceptions. Darby basically went incognito except for the one major blown coverage. The result: one of the bums of the week.

Washington Football Team Baller: Tress Way

The best punter in the NFL had another stellar day. Seven punts with a 47 average and a 45-yard net, meaning the Eagles really had zero return opportunities off his punts. In addition, he had 2 punts landing inside the 20 including one that he got to bounce sideways at the 5-yard line. He also had zero touchbacks. He’s absolutely a weapon and should get more buzz than he does.

Washington Football Team Baller: Peyton Barber

Barber had 29 yards on 17 rushes. How does he get baller status out of that performance? He managed to escape tacklers in the backfield on a couple of key carries, made something out of nothing on the key fourth-and-1 toss play in the red zone which led to his second touchdown to put the team up 24-17.

Sure, he didn’t light the world on fire. But he made some subtle, key plays in the clutch. His “Rush Yards Over Expected” was 6th best in the entire NFL on Sunday. That’s a solid day on top of the two scores.

Next. Five Washington players to watch Week 2 vs. ARI. dark

All in all, this team still has a long way to go, but this was an encouraging first week, not just in the win column, not just for the stars, but for a handful of lesser-known guys as well. The team needs these unsung guys to maximize their opportunities and hopefully, the ballers will continue to ball out once again in Week 2 vs. the Cardinals.

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