Washington Redskins: Su’a Cravens Impressing Early On

The Washington Redskins had an impressive 2016 draft class. The team brought in a bunch of young talent with the potential for great things in the future, who can still contribute right now.

Su’a Cravens was the Washington Redskins’ second round pick. His versatility and aggressive play are already paying dividends for Washington early on in the season. While most of the defense is struggling (especially against the run) Cravens is one of the few standouts. In fact, other than Josh Norman (who’s been as good as advertised), Cravens has made some of the biggest plays on the defensive end.

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While Norman is out there shutting down an opposing receiver, Cravens is flying all over the field. He followed a decent week 1 with a week 2 that saw him make multiple huge stops.

With the run defense struggling, maybe it’s time to turn to Cravens. Despite his young age (21), it’s clear he’s ready for a larger role on the field. Having that type of athleticism and speed from an interior linebacker is rare. The Redskins have a chance to be one of the few teams that have a weapon like Cravens in the middle of their defense.

Now, one major thing to remember is that the Redskins are two games into the season. That means that Cravens has only played in two games this year. You can go even deeper and realize that he’s had extremely limited playing time. This all adds up to the fact that this is a small sample size. A very small size.

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However, if the defense continues to struggle, I can’t really think of any good excuses to keep Cravens out of the game. There’s always the “he doesn’t have much experience” argument. However, how do you get someone experience? By letting them play. He’s proven he can hang with the big boys—now let him loose.