The Washington Football Team made a few roster moves on Saturday.
The Washington Football Team has made a few key roster moves ahead of their Sunday afternoon game against the San Francisco 49ers. According to the team’s official Twitter account, edge rusher Ryan Anderson has been placed on IR and the team has added a couple of new players to the active roster.
To take Anderson’s roster spot, Washington signed offensive tackle David Steinmetz from the practice squad. Steinmetz has been with the team for the entire season and has been called up as tackle depth with the team dealing with injuries. His signing indicates that Washington is banged-up on the offensive line and his services will be needed.
Ahead of their game against San Francisco, Washington has three linemen questionable. Two are tackles, Morgan Moses and David Sharpe, and one is guard Brandon Scherff. It’s unclear which players will suit up, but Steinmetz’s addition indicates that at least one tackle will likely be out. At this time, Sharpe would seem more likely to sit after logging just one practice, a limited one, on Friday.
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Signing Steinmetz is a solid move. He has a 6-foot-7, 304-pound frame and knows the system well after spending months working with offensive line coach John Matsko. He should be a decent depth option and may develop into a fine backup tackle. You can never have too much offensive line depth, so protecting him from another team poaching him off the practice squad is a good move.
As for placing Anderson on IR, that move is mostly inconsequential. As expected, Anderson was a poor fit for the team’s new 4-3 defense and had been losing playing time to James Smith-Williams and Casey Toohill in recent weeks. Anderson could return for Week 17 if he’s healthy, but this could also mark the end of a disappointing four years in Washington for the former second-round pick.
The final move Washington made was to call up Javon Leake to the game day roster from the practice squad. This was an expected move, as the team needed a third running back in the wake of Antonio Gibson‘s injury and Leake, just activated off the COVID list, was most familiar with their system. He may not play a lot, but he will be there for depth purposes.
These moves are just to bolster Washington’s depth, and they are smart ones. Seeing Anderson hit IR is a bit disappointing, but it became obvious that his future wouldn’t be in Washington after this year, so, it’s not much of a surprise.