Jay Gruden proposes solution to Commanders’ Kendall Fuller’s slump

The Washington Commanders defense looks a lot like it did for the first half of last season. The bend-but-don’t-break approach is commendable, but ultimately useless if you can’t help but surrender big plays. It also hasn’t helped that the normally consistent Kendall Fuller has been a shadow of himself thus far.

What makes Fuller’s (hopefully temporary) fall from grace so shocking is that he was Washington’s best performer during training camp. Seemingly every practice you’d read about Fuller creating a turnover or breaking up multiple passes.

After Fuller looked sluggish against the Jaguars in Week 1, fans attributed it to the fact he was shaking off the rust from the offseason. The Commanders starters hardly played during preseason and didn’t hold any joint practices, so Week 1 was essentially Fuller’s first reps against non-teammates in several months.

While Fuller improved in Week 2, he was beat for a touchdown in a game the Commanders lost by nine points and put forth maybe the worst performance of his career — certainly his worst in the burgundy and gold —  a week later vs the Eagles.

So what can possibly snap Fuller out of this cold streak?

If you asked former Washington coach Jay Gruden, he’d move Fuller back to where he played during Gruden’s tenure: the nickel position.

Former Commanders head coach Jay Gruden thinks Washington should move Kendall Fuller to the slot.

Appearing on The Athletic’s Ben Standig “Standig Room Only” podcast, Gruden reiterated that he believes Fuller is best-suited playing the slot.

"“I like Fuller in both spots, really, but I preferred him at nickel more than outside. I didn’t think he ran good enough to be an outside player with some of these speed receivers. I thought he was more of a short-area guy. Very smart. He can handle a lot of the motion adjustments that need to be made, the coverage adjustments that need to be made. He’s a great communicator. That’s why I liked him in the slot. And he was tough enough to handle being in the box [against the run] and get in there and make some tackles.”“ . . . I think that’s the great thing about Kendall is he can do both but I think he’d be better on the inside and (Benjamin) St-Juste obviously proved he’s a very good outside corner. I think that might be a good thing moving forward for the defense."

We’ve certainly heard crazier ideas. In Week 3 against Philly, Fuller allowed nine receptions on 11 targets for 152 yards. For the season, he’s allowed 14 catches on 22 targets (63.6% completion rate) for 262 yards and three scores. He has two pass breakups and QBs have a 134.7 passer rating when targeting him.

Would it be crazy to experiment with Fuller in the slot, where he’s played extensively in the past, and throw St-Juste on the outside? If there were two defensive bright spots against Philly, it was Daron Payne and St-Juste holding his own in coverage. The second-year corner allowed three catches on nine targets and made three breakups on third down, including an end zone shot intended for DeVonta Smith.

Of course, this conversation is moot if William Jackson (back) remains out of the lineup, but it couldn’t hurt mixing it up a bit. Maybe Fuller needs to blow up a couple running plays to rediscover his confidence. He was one of the league’s best corners for much of last season and Washington should do whatever it takes to get him back to being one of the defense’s top performers.

It’s pretty apparent how much they need him.