Sunday wasn’t the 1929 stock market crash, but it was close. The Washington Football Team was outplayed, out schemed, and outclassed by the Buffalo Bills. The bright side is there are always bargains to pick up in the wreckage when faced with a wipeout of such magnitude.
With that in mind, here is this week’s buy and holds.
BUY:
Right Tackle, Sam Cosmi
That’s right, and it’s time to take a small position on the rookie right tackle out of Texas. In week one, Cosmi got taken to school by Joey Bosa but has put together back-to-back solid games protecting Taylor Heinicke.
Against the Bills, he did not give up a sack. His pass-blocking grade of 59.3 ranked 48th out of 68 starting tackles on Sunday, but his run blocking was exceptional. Pro Football Focus gave Cosmi a grade of 84.7, which was the sixth-best in the league. Overall, he ranked 16th. The hope is the pass blocking catches up with the run blocking.
Left Guard, Ereck Flowers
The irony is in fashion in Ashburn these days. The unit that kept coaches up with anxiety at night during the off-season has been competent.
Flowers linemate Brandon Scherff graded out the 10th best guard in the league last week. That was expected. Flowers was almost as effective, however. His block was the key that sprung Antonio Gibson on his 73- yard screen, resulting in a touchdown.
The former first-round bust as a tackle has found life in the league as a guard and will be counted on to fill a big hole on the Washington line next season if Scherff leaves via free agency, which many expect.
Wide Reciever, Terry McLaurin
If he isn’t all ready, there isn’t a safer play in the NFL than Scary Terry, who is becoming an elite wide receiver.
On a day when almost every player was disappointing, McLaurin stood out. He led the team in targets, tied Logan Thomas for most receptions, and would have had the most receiving yards if not for Gibson’s catch and run TD.
McLaurin knows he will get the tightest coverage Washington’s opponents come up with every week and every week he produces.
HOLD:
The entire defensive backfield
There were many candidates for this list, but the back four beat out the linebackers by a hair.
Kendall Fuller was the best of the bunch, but that’s a low bar. He was beaten on Josh Allen’s first touchdown pass and ranked 42nd out of 105 cornerbacks.
Benjamin St-Juste wasn’t beaten on any big plays, which counted as progress for the rookie and ranked 83rd with a PFF grade of 53.
Most concerning last week was William Jackson III. His pass interference penalty on Buffalo’s first 3rd downplay of the game started the ball rolling on what was a terrible day for the defense.
Washington’s defensive players and coaches have a lot of work to do before kickoff this Sunday against Atlanta.