Washington Football Team: Saahdiq Charles out for season, Kyle Allen placed on IR
Kyle Allen and Saahdiq Charles’ seasons are over for the Washington Football Team.
Coming into the 2020 season, Washington Football Team fans were hoping that Saahdiq Charles would emerge as a quality starter on the team’s offensive line. The fourth-round rookie put up some good tape at LSU and had the versatility needed to play guard or tackle at the next level. Washington had holes at both spots, so it was only natural that he would fill one of them.
Unfortunately, Charles never got a chance to do that. Throughout training camp, he dealt with a nagging calf injury that lasted into the season. Then, when he finally did get on the field, he was hurt just a couple of plays into his starting debut. He suffered a knee injury and didn’t return for the team.
And it turns out that knee injury was season-ending. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Charles will have surgery and should be on track for minicamp.
Washington OL Saahdiq Charles will undergo season-ending knee surgery Tuesday, source said. The promising fourth-round draft pick dislocated his kneecap on his second NFL snap and hoped to rehab. Instead, he’ll have surgery and should be on track for minicamp.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 16, 2020
Losing Charles for this season hurts, but it’s good he will be back during minicamp. That will afford him a chance to compete for a role on the offensive line in the future, but it certainly would have been ideal to give Charles a trial run for the rest of this season to see if he looks like a potential starter at tackle or guard or if he’s still a developmental project.
Now, Charles will have to focus on coming back and competing. Washington will instead get to look at the veterans the team has — Cornelius Lucas, Wes Schweitz, Wes Martin, and David Sharpe — and see if any of them are quality role players to keep around. And in all likelihood, the team will consider adding some offensive line help during free agency and the NFL draft with both Chase Roullier and Brandon Scherff set to be free agents.
Charles’ injury may also explain why the team put in a waiver claim for the recently released Pat Elflein, a former starting guard for the Vikings who ended up with the Jets.
In addition to Charles’ injury, Washington officially placed Kyle Allen on IR Monday. That move was merely a formality, but the team now has an open roster spot and could choose to sign another quarterback to the roster. Ron Rivera spoke well of practice squad quarterback Steven Montez, so perhaps he could be signed by the team to fill that role.
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Either way, these two injuries are tough news for the Washington offense. These young players were supposed to get trial runs, but now, the team will turn to the veterans to see what they can do during what is clearly a rebuilding year for the franchise.