Richmond, Va. – These early days of training camp for the Washington Redskins are bringing on a little Déjà vu.
For fans that might remember some of the news from this past offseason’s OTAs and minicamps, the defense back then were showing a real dominance. This appears to be the theme so far during this first week of training camp as well although the most obvious fire seemed to come from the cornerbacks.
For instance, there was the one widely-publicized play during which quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a long pass down the left sideline to wide out DeSean Jackson and cornerback Bashaud Breeland, with a burst of speed, caught up to the receiver and made a diving leap to defend the pass (both guys — and the ball — landed on the ground). Perhaps the ball was a bit under-thrown… the play looked cool.
All of the defensive backs have shown a lot of hustle… even the rookies. And after being held out of the offseason OTAs and minicamps as a precaution, it is especially good to see newly-drafted cornerback Kendall Fuller out there going full-speed with his teammates.
The words “micro fracture surgery” make NFL players, coaches and fans cringe these days just like word “Achilles” does. Fuller had micro fracture surgery to repair torn meniscus in his knee back in the fall of 2015 and, although he possesses first-round draft talent, he fell to the Redskins in the third because of the knee.
Watching this rookie go up against accomplished Redskins receivers in just two-and-a-half days of camp, it’s easy to see that football is certainly in the VA Tech product’s blood. His three brothers; Vincent, Corey and Kyle are — or have been — NFL players and Fuller would have been worthy of being a first-round draft pick if not for the surgery. But even this early in training camp, the confidence and fluidity with which he practices looks like it actually energizes his veteran teammates.
Even with the huge amount of competition at the DB position, there is no doubt he will get some quality playing time should he remain healthy.
During this training camp in fact, he has consistently been working with the first team and is willing to play in any packages that defensive coordinator Joe Barry wants him in… nickel, dime… whatever.
“I’m playing inside and outside so I’ve just got to keep on producing,” the rookie said. “And that’s why we’re here at training camp… to see how it’s all going to fall out.”
But Fuller does not have a particularly favorite place to play.
“Nah, not too much,” he said when asked if he was more comfortable in any specific package. “The first half of my freshman year I played nickel and my sophomore year, in certain game plans, I played nickel so… since I’ve been at Tech I’ve been able to transition from inside to outside pretty good.”
In addition to Breeland, All-Pro CB Josh Norman and Fuller, the Redskins have a plethora of talented back up CBs: Quinton Dunbar, Greg Toler, Deshaun Phillips, Lloyd Carrington and Jeremy Harris are all vying for roster spots; either on the 53-man or practice squad. Many will provide the quality depth that is the hallmark of a good team.
Head Coach Jay Gruden summed up his cornerbacks during his press conference.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “We’ve got some good-looking prospects back there, for sure. And it’s very exciting to watch them. [Kendall] Fuller, coming out here, he is very athletic. You see that he is very smooth in his movements. He’s done good. [Dashaun] Philips has been very, very good. We got him last year, late. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable in the nickel role. He’s playing some outside but mainly he’s playing nickel right now. He’s done a good job. [Jeremy] Harris has done a fine job. We’ve got a lot of guys out here that are competing and doing some good things. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. Dunbar, obviously, hasn’t been here the last couple of days but in OTAs and the progress that he made from being a wide receiver to corner lining up against Dez Bryant on Monday Night Football, I’ll tell you what, not many people can do that. But he’s got the skillset to be a great corner for a long time. He’s going to be very good.”