Birds Eye View: Week 1 @ Washington Redskins

MarQuell Fripp |

May 23, 2020

To beat the enemy, you have to know the enemy.

Let’s take a deep dive into the Eagles’ Week 1 opponent in the Washington Redskins.

Draft Picks

R1/1: Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State
R3/66: Antonio Gibson, RB/WR, Memphis
R4/108: Saahdiq Charles, OT, LSU
R4/142: Antonio Gandy-Golden, WR, Liberty
R5/156: Keith Ismael, IOL, San Diego State
R5/162: Khaleke Hudson, LB, Michigan
R7/216: Kamren Curl, S, Arkansas
R7/229: James Smith-Willams, EDGE, North Carolina State

Acquisition/Losses

Acquired

Kyle Allen — Carolina Panthers
Kendall Fuller — Kansas City Chiefs
Ronald Darby — Philadelphia Eagles
Sean Davis — Pittsburgh Steelers
Wes Schweitzer — Atlanta Falcons
Cody Latimer — New York Giants
J.D. McKissic — Detroit Lions
Peyton Barber — Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Richard Rodgers — Philadelphia Eagles
Thomas Davis — Carolina Panthers

Loss

Trent Willams — San Francisco 49ers
Josh Norman — Buffalo Bills
Quinton Dunbar — Seattle Seahawks
Chris Thomas — Jacksonville Jaguars
Case Keenum — Cleveland Browns
Colt McCoy — New York Giants

Photo: JP Finlay/NBCS Washington

Off-Season Overview

The Washington Redskins headed into the off season searching for a sense of stability. A tough task for a franchise that has saw anything but for the last decade plus. So how do you create a good culture in a place that has gotten to the point where the fan base didn’t even bother attending the games, in efforts to boycott the direction the franchise has been headed for what seems like forever? Well for starter you get rid of the people that have been a significant part of the fall from grace. So Washington decided to part ways with head coach Jay Gruden, as well as the dreaded Bruce Allen. Phase one of change complete, the next step is to find a coach who is savvy when it comes to X’s and O’s but someone who a locker room can rally around when things get tough. Insert the Ron Rivera and Washington seems to have taken two steps in the right direction in terms of creating a culture.

With Ron Rivera now in place the question is now where do we go from here?

Washington selected Dwayne Haskins in the first round of the draft last year but after a rocky rookie season and a new regime at the helm, the leash doesn’t seem to be significantly long. Especially with Washington bringing in Kyle Allen who worked with both Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner in Carolina. Still with a talented young receiving core and a loaded back field, the Redskins offense has a nice, young starting point to work with.

Defensively it’s a tale of two sides as the Ron Rivera inserts his patented 4-3 defense, which means Washington’s four first-round picks along the defensive line will get the opportunity to feast on opposing offensive lines. However despite the luxury of talent up front, Washington’s secondary is a work in progress. While the acquisition of Kendall Fuller will provide a James Bradberry-like CB1 for Rivera. The rest of the secondary has questions that need to be answered particularly at cornerback.

About the Matchup

Player to Watch

Redskins: Dwayne Haskins

Everything the Redskins want to do will start and end with Dwayne Haskins. It’s hard to call your second year in the league a “prove it” season, however based on the the level of inconsistency behind Haskins 2019 season the pressure is on. While Haskins is a talented player as seen by his first and only season at Ohio State; he has all the tools to be successful. A good arm, great usage of the intermediate passing game (reminiscent of a good-great mid range jump shooter), and anticipation.

A lot of work remains to be done in terms of his work in the pocket. With limited to no pressure, Haskins will surely pick you apart especially with the crossing routes. However once you start to dial it up a bit Haskins seems to be easily flustered in the pocket. Look for Jim Schwartz to dial up a few blitz packages to see how Haskins has developed over the off season.

Eagles: Darius Slay

The Eagles acquired Darius Slay to eliminate number one receivers and fortify a secondary that has lacked a presence of this nature at the cornerback position for almost a decade. However Darius Slay’s honeymoon phase with the Eagles will be short lived. With his first game as in midnight green coming against arguably the toughest test he had to face during the 2019 season. While it hasn’t been confirmed, one can only assume that Slay will be matched up with second year standout Terry McLaurin.

If the match up is anything like the first Slay will have his hands fulled. The biggest obstacle Slay will have to handle is the blazing, 4.35 speed McLaurin possesses. McLaurin quietly solidified his position as a starter last off season and has been off to the races ever since. In the two games against Washington last season, McLaurin scorched the Eagles defense for ten receptions, 255 yards, and a couple of big plays resulting in touchdowns. Matchups like these are why Slay is the scheduled to be highest-paid cornerback in the league, he has to show up.

Photo: —

Match up of the Game: Andre Dillard vs. Chase Young

Andre Dillard has had one of the most bizarre offseasons in recent memory. Between the rumors of Philadelphia’s brain trust not having confidence in him to the strange reports of a trade offer to the Jets. This certainly isn’t the ideal way to kick off your second season and first as an expected full time starter.

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said and done everything but declare Andre Dillard the starter at left tackle. However based on Pederson’s words it sounds as if that’s the direction the team is heading, going into the 2020 season. Not even the re- signing of Eagles great Jason Peters sounds like it would be enough to unseat last seasons first round pick. So with the job security seemly at hand, what’s next for Andre Dillard? Well the hopeful answer is a significant leap in development.

Photo: Philadelphia Eagles

While Dillard wasn’t bad when forced into action last season, except at right tackle but who’s counting right?

Oh, we are, right. Well disregard that as Dillard himself said the entire process is like being left handed and trying to write an essay with your left.

Still, Dillard was solid for the most part, but at the same time he left a lot to be desired. Which isn’t a bad thing because he was only a rookie and can only get better. However with the number two overall pick Chase Young looming, if Dillard has any more growing left to do, he better do it and do it as fast as possible. Young was arguably the best prospect in this class, he has the potential to become an all time great. Even as a rookie Young will be better than most starting EDGE rushers. Dillard has plenty of questions to answer surrounding his improvement which makes sense following a Hall of Famer. The Chase Young matchup will help bring some answers.

Game Overview

This will be our first opportunity to see a revamped Eagles team in action. Along with taking on full time daddy duties, quarterback Carson Wentz has the privilege of once again going through a complete off season (well as complete as it’s going to get during the COVID-19 pandemic). Which is important because Philadelphia would like to get him as acquainted as possible with his new best friend Rich Scangarello.

Speaking of Scangarello, head coach Doug Pederson said he expects the offense to look completely different. One could assume Scangarello will play a major role in those changes.

If the Eagles usually elite offensive line can keep Wentz protected, with his new and improved arsenal at his disposal, look for Wentz to have a huge day against a questionable Redskins secondary.

While this is a game the Eagles are heading as favorites by 6.5 points and they should, and probably will, win. However don’t think for one second that it will be easy…. I mean this is same team that took a 20-7 lead heading into halftime to start the season last year. Not to mention stating the obvious with this being a divisional matchup so early in the season, the Eagles have no reason to take Washington for granted.

There certainly is a moderate level of optimism heading into this season and please believe that each party understand this season is a huge in terms of making sure the team is trending in the right direction when discussing the future of the franchise.

It is important for Philadelphia to set a certain tone after the first couple weeks of the season, that can’t be subsided by a mishap in Washington. At least if Doug Pederson has something to say about it.

Expect Pederson to have his team operating in regular season form despite it only being week one, understanding the level of magnitude behind this game.

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