The Takeaways, 2021 preseason edition
September 2, 2021
by Steve Thomas
This is the first time I can remember that the NFL has built in an extra week between the end of the preseason and week 1 of the regular season. This was done primarily to avoid having the big network television season premiere take place over a three day weekend, or at least that’s my guess. In light of this small dead period, I thought I’d take the time to start our regular “Takeaways” series a bit early in order to reflect on the status of the 2021 Redskins Washington Football Team team. Can Washington improve on last season’s win-loss record? Can they win the NFC East for a second year in a row? Are they in the strange situation in which their record doesn’t improve but they are a better team? All of those questions will be answered in time, but for now, I’d like to focus on what we’ve learned about the team over the three week preseason. Let’s get started.
The starters needed more preseason playing time
I strongly disagreed with how head coach Ron Rivera handled the playing time of the starters this preseason. The starters played a total of just six series over two games, missing the Ravens game entirely. By the time the Chargers come to town for week 1 on September 12, they won’t have taken the field in more than 3 weeks. The offense in particular didn’t look ready for prime time in their limited action, producing just 3 points and generally looking ineffective. At no time did it appear that the offense was smooth and composed and ready to go. It would’ve been productive for them to get several more series over the course of the preseason. The starting defense obviously looked better, giving up just 3 points in 6 series over two games; however, the Patriots and the Bengals didn’t exactly present serious offensive challenges. Saturday’s pathetic butt-kicking by the Ravens would been a much better test for the defensive starters. I think Rivera’s decision will wind up hurting the team early in the regular season, especially the offense. Guarding against injuries is wonderful, but if your team doesn’t get the practice game time it needs, the benefit of not suffering injuries is mitigated somewhat.
Washington has only one starting-quality quarterback
It’s not that Ryan Fitzpatrick did a whole lot wonderful this preseason – he completed 12 of 21 pass attempts for 151 yards, a 57.1% completion percentage, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Fitzpatrick, though, has a long history as a starter, so while he has a serious consistency problem that is probably the calling card for his career, there’s no doubt that he’s worthy of the #1 slot on this franchise. Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen, though, have no such history, and needed to prove themselves this preseason in order to have a realistic shot at catching Fitzpatrick. Heinicke went 20 for 28 for 186 yards, a 71.4% completion percentage, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. While that’s not too bad, it also isn’t anything to write home about, either. For his part, Allen went 12 for 26 for 123 yards in two games played, a 46.1% completion percentage, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Neither of those stat lines should give anyone the thought that either Allen or Heinicke is starter-worthy, at least at this point. One thing this preseason demonstrated is that Fitzpatrick has an undisputed hold on the quarterback job.
The starting offensive line has talent but hasn’t gelled yet
There’s definitely talent in the starting group – Brandon Scherff is an All Pro, Chase Roullier is a quality center, Charles Leno is at a minimum a solid pro at left tackle, and Samuel Cosmi is an uber-athletic right tackle who is smart and coachable. There was a battle between Wes Schweitzer and Ereck Flowers for the starting left guard spot, which Schweitzer appears to have won, but regardless: this group has looked a little sloppy and . . . uncoordinated, for lack of a better term, in their limited action. More than any other position group, offensive lines need playing time to reach peak performance. Based on what we’ve seen from the starters so far, I’m concerned that their mediocre at best performance may bleed over into the early part of the regular season and impact the offense’s ability to produce points.
Depth is a problem
The 37 – 3 devastation at the hands of the Ravens came against Washington’s second and third string players. In other words, they were spectacularly ineffective mainly against the second and third stringers of a high-quality playoff team. The fact that things went so badly ought to be a concern to the coaches. Granted, this wasn’t the starters, but still: if the backups can’t even keep the team in a preseason game, what happens when they have to come through during a real game? I wasn’t encouraged by what I saw last Saturday. The Ravens game was utterly non-competitive, and most frightening, the players on the field looked like they didn’t care and didn’t want to be there even while supposedly fighting active roster spots. That should concern Washington’s coaching staff.
The kicker debate
Dustin Hopkins had an ugly miss on a 55 yard field goal attempt in which he didn’t appear to even make clean contact with the ball. I don’t know what’s going on in Hopkins’ head, but his history of consistent performance over a number of years should at least buy him some time to get his act together in the early part of the season. Consistency is important, and that’s what he’s been, for the most part, throughout his career. Considering that the NFL kept last year’s expanded practice squad rules from last year in place, it wouldn’t surprise me if Washington didn’t burn its final open spot on a kicker as a hedge against Hopkins either going down to injury, failing a coronavirus test, or just failing to perform when it matters.
Bonus Takeaway: Washington’s dance team
Bring back the real cheerleaders. No offense to these new people, but did you see this group on the television broadcast on Saturday? It looked like a bad high school dance team. There was nothing wrong with the Redskins cheerleading team from last year and decades prior – remember, the fault for what they allegedly went through lay at the feet of creepy, now-departed team execs, not the ladies themselves. This current group looks like a hastily put-together team with bad costuming primarily intended to meet some silly, undefined standards of political correctness and wokeness. I’m frankly not surprised at Jason Wright’s decision to do this, but . . . boo, Jason.