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Preseason: Five Players To Watch

By Chad Ryan

Posted on August 11, 2016

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It has been two hundred and fourteen days since the Washington Redskins left the gridiron for the last time, but at long last, the wait for football is over.

As the team begins their preseason campaign tonight in Atlanta, the attention naturally focuses on the players on the periphery of the roster; whether they be 2016 draft picks, new free agent acquisitions, or undrafted hopefuls trying to eke out a career in professional football.

After a grueling training camp (which actually continues for three days following tonight’s game), the future of many young players will be determined as they either earn a burgundy and gold jersey, or are thanked for their time and released into the football wilderness.  Both Jay Gruden and Scot McCloughan will have the always-difficult task of whittling this roster down from 90 to 53 over the coming weeks of the preseason schedule, and as such, the performance of players throughout these games will be crucial.

Here at Redskins Capital Connection, we will be following these five players closely throughout the preseason:

RB Keith Marshall

There perhaps hasn’t been a player throughout training camp who has turned more heads than the 7th round rookie from Georgia. While it is certainly true that Running Back’s Coach Randy Jordan rotates his troops through the 1st, 2nd and 3rd team units at times during practice, the longer you watched the clearer it became that the hierarchy at the position has Keith Marshall firmly in the top three ball carriers.

By now, Marshall’s strengths are well known – his speed and agility are sublime, and in the pass game he’s a potent threat. What remains to be seen is how he looks in live action. The general consensus seems to be that Marshall’s draft stock saw him fall to the 7th round due to doubts about the confidence in his own legs following the injury he suffered in college. However, if Marshall truly can rebound to a level of play that is reminiscent of his pre-injury form, then he legitimately could be a huge part of the Redskins offense in 2016, making that 7th round price appear to be a bargain.

During camp, Marshall has been a change of pace Running Back with the 1st team offense, and the primary Running Back with the 2nd team offense. Therefore it’ll be interesting to see at what point he first enters the game tonight versus Atlanta, and then similarly what his role is in subsequent weeks as the playing time of each unit changes.

LG Shawn Lauvao

At the start of training camp, Offensive Lineman Shawn Lauvao was on the physically unable to perform list, and questions arose about whether he’d actually be available for the start of the regular season, let alone any preseason games. On day four of camp he was activated, and instantly began rotating in with the 1st team offense. Last week Coach Gruden said he didn’t imagine that Lauvao would likely see any playing time in Atlanta, but then on Tuesday this week, Gruden gave a short and simple answer about Lauvao’s status; “He’s playing”.

After joining the Redskins in 2014, it really wasn’t until late that season and then early in 2015 that we saw in Lauvao what the coaches had seen in him; great athleticism and football smarts in a huge frame. When speaking to his team-mates at different positions, it becomes apparent that he is respected and admired across the board for his professional approach to the game. The Redskins run game stagnated after his loss to injury last season, and although coaches are encouraged by the development of Spencer Long, the impression certainly seems to be that this is Lauvao’s job to lose in the preseason.

WR Maurice Harris

Each year there seems to be a fairytale story of a deep roster player, once perceived to be a “camp body”, jumping off the screen during preseason games and winning the admiration of Redskins fans everywhere. We saw it last year with Rashad Ross, who ended up making the final 53 man roster, and this year that trend could continue with yet another Wide Receiver; Maurice Harris.

During his five years with the California Bears, Harris earned a reputation as a hard worker with soft hands, capable of making highlight reel catches week in and week out. At training camp, we’ve seen evidence of that as he’s played well above his station and even seen time with the 1st team offense during rotations with Pierre Garcon. At 6’3 and 200lbs officially (although after speaking with Harris, he believes he’s closer to 210-215lbs now), Harris adds some undeniable size to the Redskins offense that they won’t see until the return of Josh Doctson from injury. While Harris doesn’t have the advantage of being a returner like Ross does, when it comes to making the final 53 roster it will come down to the simple question of ‘who makes this team better?’. That answer may very well end up being Maurice Harris, and a strong preseason will catapult him into the attention spans of Redskins fans.

TE Niles Paul

It seems like a lifetime ago that Niles Paul was named the starting Tight End on the first unofficial team depth chart ahead of preseason week one in 2015. The veteran had worked hard for his place on the team after converting from Wide Receiver under Mike Shanahan, and was rewarded by Jay Gruden for his performance. That all came to an unfortunate end when he suffered a season ending injury in the first game of preseason.

Paul has been playing either as the number two or number three Tight End during training camp, depending on the on-field scenario. There can be no denying that Jordan Reed is this team’s number one Tight End, but the battle for snaps at that second spot between Paul and Vernon Davis will be interesting throughout preseason.

Based on what we know about Paul, every single snap he plays during the preseason will be played as if his life depends on it. Paul is a fierce competitor, and he didn’t spend the last 12 months recovering from a devastating injury only to languish on the bottom of the depth chart. Working in Paul’s favorite is his under-rated ability, both as a run blocker and pass catcher, and how the team utilizes him tonight in Atlanta will tell us a lot about the plan for the Tight End position moving foward.

LB Su’a Cravens

During training camp, Redskins Capital Connection sat down with many different players, from veterans to rookies alike, and none had a more tangible fire in their belly about the week one preseason game than Su’a Cravens.

Working exclusively as an Inside Linebacker alongside Martrell Spaight with the second unit defense throughout camp, this duo (heretofore known as “Craight”, as per both Cravens and Spaight’s wishes) set the tone daily and ensured that the second team offense fought hard for every single yard. In Cravens’ words, “Spaight drives the bus and tells me where to go”, and that dynamic worked wonders – Spaight patrolled the line of scrimmage like a tiger on the prowl, while Cravens locked down the middle of the field like an effective third Safety working up near the box.
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The second round rookie will be a fascinating story to watch throughout camp. Coach Gruden was asked by Redskins Capital Connection if we’d perhaps see Cravens get some snaps at Safety during preseason, but Gruden dismissed that notion, saying:

“We’re going to try him at linebacker first. He’s a 20-year-old kid and coming in here he has got to learn one spot first. He needs to learn the defense, so we figured inside linebacker in nickel and dime situations is the spot to teach him the defense first.”

Wherever he plays, and it certainly appears that Inside Linebacker will be his spot throughout preseason at least, Cravens has natural ability that elevates the play of those around him. He brings rare x-factor style to the defense.
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