2017 Washington Redskins Preview: Cornerbacks & Safeties

The Washington Redskins have long had a rich history of incredible secondary play, with the likes of Hall of Famer Darrell Green, a brief stint with Deion Sanders, and the incredibly tragic death of the dynamic safety, Sean Taylor. Our quick look at this year’s starting secondary starts the return of play-making cornerback Josh Norman, the ever-learning Bashaud Breeland, and safeties Su’a Cravens and D.J. Swearinger. This year’s Skins squad will rely heavily on this secondary to make key plays and to force turnovers to help out an offense that struggled to find a short field last year.

First, let’s take a look at the depth chart for the cornerback position. Led by All-Pro play-maker Josh Norman, this group of cornerbacks need to continue to find ways to shut down the oppositions best receivers within a current pass-happy league. Also, Bashaud Breeland is reportedly having a “rough” camp, and is rumored to be frequently beaten by the franchises new wide receiver addition in Terrelle Pryor Sr. Unless Breeland finds his “mojo” soon, he could easily be replaced by the next man up in Quinton Dunbar or Kendall Fuller.

As for the safeties on the 2017 Skins squad, the free agent acquisition of heavy-hitting free safety D.J. Swearinger should help create some more turnovers in the passing game, especially when the opposing quarterback decides to challenge double coverage. On the other side of Swearinger is the second-year USC Trojan standout, Su’a Cravens. Cravens, who has converted from a linebacker, saw action in eleven of the Skins sixteen games last season. He ended up starting three games during the 2016 campaign, posting a stat line of 34 tackles (24 solo) and one interception. Backing up these two impressive safeties are Deshazor Everett and Will Blackmon, with Blackmon being the more experienced of the two, who is now beginning his eleventh NFL season.

Overall, the Redskins appear to have a handful of depth and wealth at these positions in the secondary, even without their recovering safety, DeAngelo Hall. If this years secondary is able to frustrate the oppositions wide receivers early and often, the defense will greatly improve through the 2017 campaign.