Washington Football Team: 3 roster battles to eye against Ravens

2. The final secondary spots

As the team enters the finale of its preseason, they have key position battles at both cornerback and safety. So for this exercise, we will lump two positions into one.

At cornerback, with the solid play of Torry McTyer, there seem to be five locked-in corners: William Jackson III, Kendall Fuller, Jimmy Moreland, Benjamin St-Juste, and McTyer.

Behind him, there is Danny Johnson, who can provide value as a kick returner. However, the emergence of Jaret Patterson very well may change that. Troy Apke is considered to be a special teams ace as a gunner but has he shown enough as a corner to be kept?

Darryl Roberts is also a capable veteran, who has shown flashes of being reliable if his number was ever called on.

As is made clear, there are multiple capable corners to fill out the final roster spots. The decisions in the secondary become even more difficult when the depth and talent at safety are considered.

There are probably three “locks”  at safety: Landon Collins, Kamren Curl, and Bobby McCain. These three have been interchangeable as starters and the coaching staff likes both Curl’s and McCain’s position flexibility.

Deshazor Everett is a hard-hitting special teams ace and the coaching staff loves him in that role. Jeremy Reaves showed flashes in 2020 as a capable starting safety. He is a sure tackler and flashed in the backend in coverage.

Another wrench in the plan could be Darrick Forrest, the team’s fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. However, Forrest has looked very much like a rookie in the preseason. He has missed multiple tackles and gotten fooled badly by a play-action fake against the Bengals.

He did force a fumble against Cincinnati, however, he was flagged for helmet-to-helmet contact on the hit.

Again, as is clear, there are multiple defensive backs that the coaches like. Ironing out who they want will come down to who plays the best against Baltimore. Attrition due to injuries in the game could also play a factor.

Keep an eye on the Washington Football Team secondary against the Ravens.