Washington Football Team: 3 players who need to step up after Montez Sweat injury
By Jerry Trotta
The Washington Football Team has been ravaged by injuries in 2021.
For all of their struggles, it doesn’t get talked about enough that Ryan Fitzpatrick, Curtis Samuel, Logan Thomas, Brandon Scherff, Sam Cosmi, Jon Bostic, Dyami Brown and William Jackson III have all missed multiple weeks.
That doesn’t include Chase Roullier, who suffered a fractured fibula on Sunday against Denver and will miss the rest of the season.
Surely things couldn’t get any worse, right?
Wrong! So wrong, in fact, that Washington’s defense will be without one of its premier playmakers for the foreseeable future.
On Wednesday evening, news broke that Montez Sweat suffered a fractured jaw in the Week 8 loss that will sideline him between 4-6 weeks. The injury doesn’t require surgery, but Sweat will need to alter his diet and won’t be able to engage in any physical activity for the next month.
This is yet another debilitating blow to Washington, which will need these three players to step up in Sweat’s absence.
3 Washington players who must step up without Montez Sweat
3. James Smith-Williams
James Smith-Williams is the most likely candidate to replace Sweat in the starting lineup. However, you have to think Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio will shuffle things around to ensure Washington’s best remaining DL — Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, Matt Ioannidis and Daron Payne — share the field together.
That’s the only reason Smith-Williams didn’t land higher on this list. The 2020 seventh-round selection has actually impressed in limited opportunities this year, racking up 11 tackles, one sack (recorded against Denver), two QB hits, four pressures, and a run stop while playing just 30% of the defensive snaps.
That number figures to increase to about 60% if not higher, with room to grow if he impresses. The good news is that the bye week gives Smith-Williams plenty of time to practice with the first-team and start developing some continuity.
Rivera and Co. have been reluctant to trust Smith-Williams, but the second-year pro won’t get a better opportunity to prove he deserves a future as a go-to rotational player behind Sweat and Young in 2022 and beyond.