Washington Redskins: Five Breakout Candidates

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Feb 20, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Mississippi State defensive lineman Preston Smith speaks to the media at the 2015 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Preston Smith | Outside Linebacker

Much like the aforementioned Crowder-Grant situation, Preston Smith finds himself in a battle for playing time against Trent Murphy. The amount of playing time that Smith garners during his rookie campaign, in my opinion, is contingent with the success that Murphy has on the playing field.

If Murphy struggles early on, it’s likely that Washington would give Smith a legitimate chance to win the starting outside linebacker job opposite of Ryan Kerrigan. He still has a long way to go in terms of using his body to his full advantage, as he doesn’t quite know how to utilize his size and length to his best ability.

If he can steal some playing time from Murphy and properly leverage his length, Smith can wreak havoc in the backfield.

Next: Washington Redskins: Santana Moss a D.C. great

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