Washington Commanders

Washington Redskins: Preseason Week 4 Takeaways

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The final week of the preseason is upon us, and the Washington Redskins finished with a 3-1 record thanks to their 20-13 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Preseason is a great time to evaluate talent and find out which players will start, which will play reserve, which will make the roster, and which won’t.

However, week 4 of the preseason is a watered down version of all those things. At this point, players have already been cut. Not only that, but most position battles are over, and there’s really only a few more decisions that need to be made.

In fact, this game was already off to a “not-much going on” vibe early, when the Redskins announced the players that didn’t even travel with the team.

That’s a lot of big names.

Offense

Despite that, there was still plenty of intrigue. Mack Brown and Robert Kelley are both vying for the third running back spot. Kelley managed 99 yards on 16 carries. He’s easily put up best numbers by a Redskins running back this preseason. Mr. Kelley, it seems like you’re ready.

However, Kelley didn’t steal the show on Wednesday, that was Brown. 149 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries will do that. Especially when one of those carries is this good.

Don’t forget Keith Marshall is still an option. It will be interesting to see which way the Redskins plan on going with this battle.

The passing game didn’t really do much, mainly because of how poor the conditions were. Nate Sudfeld played the entire game and only threw 18 passes. He completed eight of them for 72 yards and this touchdown.

Rashad Ross closed out his strong preseason with the Redskins only receiving touchdown of the game. He’s proven a lot of people wrong this preseason, and looks to make an impact on the team during the regular season.

Defense

Once again the secondary played a huge role in the success of the defense. Kendall Fuller and Deshazor Everett both had extremely impressive plays. Everett’s resulted in a Duke Ihenacho interceptions.

Fuller continues to impress, and has really bumped his stock up this preseason. He should get decent playing time in the regular season.

The pass rush was also present, collecting three sacks on the day. One of those belonged to newcomer Cullen Jenkins. It’s unclear how much he will contribute to the Redskins this year, but it was encouraging to see him get a sack in his first action with the team.

The run defense also looked strong once again. The Redskins only gave up 46 yards on 21 carries. Su’a Cravens and Martrell Spaight both played well on the interior, while Houston Bates looked good on the outside.

Spaight and Cravens have impressed so much this offseason, that it allowed the Redskins to feel comfortable releasing Perry Riley Jr. earlier in the week. Riley Jr. still has plenty of good football left in him, but if it meant keeping Spaight and Cravens off the field, the Redskins didn’t think it was worth having him on the roster. While some fans will be (understandably) upset about his release, it should excite them that the two youngsters showed enough potential to make Riley Jr. expendable.

Overall

There really wasn’t much to take away from this game that wasn’t already brought up.

The special teams looked good. Tress Way was booming punts and Dustin Hopkins was perfect from the field.

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The defense and offense should both feel extremely comfortable with the depth that they have this year.

Sudfeld might not have been great, but it looks like he did enough to secure the third quarterback spot, so the Redskins didn’t have to bring in a veteran. The running backs have plenty of viable options for the third spot, and the receivers are stacked. The offensive line looks pretty strong, anchored by Trent Williams, while Morgan Moses and Brandon Scherff continue to get even better.

The defense will be led by a much improved secondary and a solid linebacking corps. The defensive line might not be great, but they’ve got their strengths (led by Chris Baker).

While there are still plenty of cuts to be made, and fans will undoubtedly get upset with one, there is one big thing that should keep them all happy.

Next time the Redskins play, the game counts.

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