Redskins Position Group Breakdown: Cornerback

I believe the best way to start this breakdown is stating: If Josh Norman wasn’t on this roster last year, the Redskins’ historically bad defense could’ve been even worse. The secondary was a revolving door in 2016, specifically the slot corner position. Dashaun Phillips got the ball rolling, as he set the tone on how the slot position was going to be played all season. Phillips’ poor play lasted long enough, earning him a seat on the bench after his second and final start coming in week 3 of the season.

Kendall Fuller was up next, the rookie who was fully recovered from micro-fracture surgery on his right knee, and he started off well. The issue with Fuller came a few weeks into his tenure as the Redskins slot corner, as he matched up with one of the young premier receivers in the NFL, Stephon Diggs for the Minnesota Vikings. Diggs lived in the slot in week 10, racking up 13 catches that day with most of them coming from the slot. Fuller’s confidence went down from that point on, and it showed in his play.

From that point on, that specific position was in free fall, former defensive coordinator Joe Barry was searching for answers, and obviously did not find any to eliminate the issue.

The slot position was not the only problem, as even the outside cornerback position was a problem at times too, as 4-year pro Bashaud Breeland had his worst season as a pro. Prior to 2016, Breeland was one of the best young cornerbacks in the NFL, and his confidence was shaken due to the team’s signing of All-Pro corner Josh Norman. Quinton Dunbar also had a down year as well, not looking like the impressive UDFA they fell in love with in 2015. Josh Norman was a solid player for the secondary, and really the only one. Norman was solid in coverage, an aggressive player with an aggressive mindset; however, he missed out on opportunities to change games. The secondary in total only produced 9 interceptions last year, with the cornerback position producing 7 of them. The total number of interceptions were in the bottom half of the league, and 5 of them came in the week 16 blowout of the 3-12 Chicago Bears.

2017 Outlook

Heading into 2017 the Redskins and new defensive coordinator Greg Manusky are looking to not only address the slot position, but play to their players’ strengths. Dunbar, Breeland, and Norman are corners who thrive in press man coverage. It’s something that was used sporadically in 2016, as Barry had his corners playing off-coverage and 5-10 yards off the line of scrimmage in most situations.

The Redskins added corners Fabian Moreau and Joshua Hosley via draft, adding more pressure on current corners Breeland, Fuller, and Dunbar to up their play starting immediately.  Breeland has more pressure on him than the other two as he is entering his final year of his rookie contract, and a poor 2016 can and will make it easy for the staff and front office to make a premature decision on him if his poor play continues.

Moreau is excellent athlete, and excels in man coverage with 4.3 speed that allows him to keep up with anyone. Hosley is likely to get looks at the slot position with Washington. Although there are no guarantees he makes the roster, he has already stood out to Head Coach Jay Gruden, prompting the Gruden to give him some praise in a presser following rookie minicamps. At the end of the day, there is plenty of potential in this group, and sometimes it takes a different set of coaches to get it out of them. Time will tell how this group responds to Greg Manusky and DB coach Torian Gray.

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