Washington Redskins: Deshazor Everett Ready to Prove His Worth

The Washington Redskins cut their final roster down to 53 and are getting ready for week 1 of the regular season. Deshazor Everett is part of those plans.

Who is Deshazor Everett, you ask? That’s a fair question. The 24-year-old was on the Washington Redskins’ roster for most of last season, but had extremely limited playing time. In 11 games last season, Everett recorded 16 tackles, playing mainly on special teams.

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This preseason, Everett stood out, however. Making the switch from cornerback to safety, he recorded 17 tackles in the four games. He also managed to force a fumble, and knocked the ball out of a receivers hands, leading to a Duke Ihenacho interception.

Here’s a look at that play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Now, that switch is going to play a major role in his time on the field. As a cornerback, Everett was buried on the depth chart, however, he’s got much less competition at the safety position. With that in mind, it will be all up to Everett to show everyone why he made the roster.

When you’re buried at a position, you don’t have to worry much about how you perform in the game. Keeping your job depends on how well you do in practice, the kind of teammate you are, and how you perform in those extremely small increments of the game you are actually in.

2016 will be much different for Everett—and my guess is that he wouldn’t have it any other way. This year, he’s going to see the field much more and keeping his job is going to entail much larger and more important parts of the game.

Is Everett up to the task? If you look at how he performed on special teams last season, you’d say yes. If you looked at how he performed in training camp, you’d say yes. Finally, if you look at how he performed in the preseason, you’d say yes.

Those last few players to make the team every year will always have doubters. Why keep him over Logan Paulsen? Why keep him over Matt Ioannidis, Cullen Jenkins, Joe Kerridge, Kendal Thompson, Mike Wakefield, or Lloyd Carrington? Some of those players are seasoned veterans or younger players with great potential.

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Maybe because the Redskins see both of those in Everett. Last season and this preseason, he proved he can hang with the big boys, he proved he understands how to play in the NFL. Despite his experience, he’s also got potential to be much much more and players like DeAngelo Hall can help him grow.

2016 should be a fun year for fans of the Redskins. And Everett wants to be one of the reasons why.