Why Commanders fans should relax about the team’s secondary depth

I realize the 2022 Washington Commanders are not the 2014 Green Bay Packers, but I am going to reference those Packers to make one very specific point here. Regarding the fact that the current Washington Commanders seem to be thin at the cornerback position, let me quote Aaron Rodgers:

Relax.

The initial cutdown of NFL roster is always an odd occurrence. So a player like De’Jon Harris appears to make the team, but then is released a day later. (BTW – as one of my longshots to make the team, I am claiming credit for Harris. He may not be here anymore, but he survived cutdown day.) David Mayo makes it, then gets cut, then gets re-signed.

The point, the roster on cutdown day is not really the final roster. So the fact that Washington kept just four cornerbacks – Kendall Fuller, William Jackson III, Benjamin St-Juste, and Christian Holmes – should not produce immediate panic.

They have already signed two more players to the position – Tariq Castro-Fields and Rachad Wildgoose – so the number currently stands at six. That is a more typical number for a team to have at the beginning of a season.

But there are factors more important than numbers.

For instance, last season, Washington also entered the season with six corners – Fuller, Jackson, and St-Juste, the clear top three – along with solid veteran depth in Torry McTyer and Darryl Roberts. Technically, the sixth corner was Troy Apke, but it was clear that Apke was only going to play special teams. He was never a legitimate backup corner.

So as of cutdown day, Washington was basically down one corner, with Holmes taking the place of both McTyer and Roberts.

The jury is out on Holmes, but to my eyes, he will be better than either of the two backups from last year. It may take him a season to get acclimated, so perhaps there is some danger in not having a veteran at the 4fourth corner spot, but that remains an open question.

The signing of Castro-Fields, along with the ascension of Holmes, is indicative of what this team is trying to do in the defensive backfield, at both corner and safety. They want to get longer and more athletic. The young veterans who the Washington Commanders passed on – Danny Johnson and Corn Elder – are smaller quicker players. They are more suited to zone. Washington clearly wants corners who can press, and stay with big speedy receivers. That is William Jackson’s strength. St-Juste profiles best at that style of coverage. Fuller can pretty much play any style. He may not hit the 6” threshold that Washington seems to now require of its corners, but he is athletic and savvy enough make up for his missing inch.

The writing for this was on the wall last season. One of the most surprising cuts last year was cornerback Jimmy Moreland. Moreland was a tough-as-nails smaller corner who defied the odds play quite a bit for the Commanders in his first couple of seasons. Then he was gone. St-Juste, almost half a foot taller, was drafted.

There is no guarantee that having longer corners means you will have better corners. If that were the case, then Greg Stroman would still be here. Fabian Moreau would still be here. Remember Simeon Thomas? He dazzled with his athletic traits, but a drug suspension put an end to his trial run.

There’s no guarantee that Holmes or Castro-Fields will stand out, but I like the odds of at least one of them becoming a key contributor this year. And it’s not as if the cupboard is totally bare after those tall dudes.

Both Johnson and Elder remain on the practice squad, a quick call away once injuries require reinforcements. Both can be ready for any given Sunday at a moment’s notice. And in the event of a real in-game emergency, don’t forget that Bobby McCain has probably played more snaps at corner than at safety during his career. You don’t want to be in that position, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. The emergence of Darrick Forrest should allow McCain a little more time to perhaps even take some reps at corner if injury becomes a concern.

Even Jeremy Reaves has played corner, but that would signal a clear code red situation.

Look, if the pass rush, minus Chase Young for the foreseeable future, falters, then the secondary will suffer. And no team is going to thrive if two or three of its top corners go down. One of the unsung reasons for success in 2021 was the fact that Fuller, Moreland, and Ronald Darby stayed remarkably healthy through the entire season.  Corners may well be the most physically gifted, and most physically fragile players on a professional football roster. Last year, both McTyer and Roberts went down after about seven minutes on the field. St-Juste couldn’t finish the season. So I get that depth matters. But Washington has some depth and is building more. More importantly, Washington has been gradually improving the overall talent at the position is what matters most.

So if you want to talk about the alarming lack of both talent and depth at linebacker, I’m right there with you. But regarding the defensive secondary, just relax.