Washington Football Team Rising Stock After Week 2

The Washington Football Team got a hefty dose of reality courtesy of the Arizona Cardinals Sunday afternoon. The 30-15 final score doesn’t begin to tell the real story as the game was never that close.

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray seems to be the NFL’s next big thing. Washington starting left tackle Geron Christian Sr. should have charged Arizona defensive end Chandler Jones rent considering the amount of time the pass rusher spent in the backfield.

Washington QB Dwayne Haskins is getting dragged in the Twitterverse, which, given the amount of time he had to throw most of the day, is unfair, but welcome to the NFL where one week you’re “in” and the next “you’re out” (shout out to Hiedi Klum and Project Runway).

Having said all that, it’s time for our weekly stock report and who’s on the way up. Believe it or not, there are some players whose value is trending in the right direction.

1. LB Kevin Pierre-Louis

Pierre-Louis didn’t get a lot of attention when Washington signed him as a free agent in the offseason, but he made his presence felt on Sunday. Pierre-Louis had a career-high in both solo and combined tackles for one game (10 solo, five assists for 15 total tackles). The linebacker room was expected to be good but not great this year; Pierre Louis might help change that perception.

2. WR Terry McLaurin

Let’s face it; everyone knows the Washington offense has one actual game-breaking weapon. You know it, I know it, my kids know it. Despite being shadowed by Patrick Peterson most of the day, “Scary Terry” still caught seven balls on 10 targets for 125 yards and a touchdown. That’s big-time, like, Pro Bowl level big time. The biggest worry to start the year was that McLaurin was not going to sneak up on anyone this year, and that would put a lot of pressure on a second-year player that doesn’t have a lot of help. Those fears appear to be misplaced. McLaurin has elite speed and knows how to use it.

The Ohio State product will continue to be Haskins’s lifeline for the rest of the season.

3. LB Jon Bostic

For a guy who had a chance of being cut in favor of younger players on Washington’s roster this summer, Bostic has had a great start to the season. He followed up last week’s strong start against Philadelphia with another strong performance of seven tackles (one for a loss), a sack, and a QB hit. Bostic is thriving in Jack Del Rio’s 4-3 scheme as the front four are opening some big holes for him to get into the backfield.

Keep an Eye On

Chase Young’s stats against one of the four most explosive quarterbacks in the league were pretty respectable, four solo tackles, one sack, and two tackles for a loss. Again, we’re grading him on a curve since we all expect him to win games every week single-handedly.

The running game was pretty good, statistically. Antonio Gibson and Peyton Barber combined for 21 rushes for 108 yards. Gibson got his first NFL touchdown. Granted, it won’t mean a lot if Washington is playing from three scores down all year, but keep an eye on this duo in the coming weeks. A good run game will open up the passing game and help what limited talent this offense has outside.