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Washington Redskins: 3 Players to watch in Preseason Week 2 vs. Bengals

By Cody Williams

CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 08: Quarterback Dwayne Haskins #7 of the Washington Redskins passes during the second half of a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on August 08, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Redskins 30-10. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 08: Quarterback Dwayne Haskins #7 of the Washington Redskins passes during the second half of a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on August 08, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Redskins 30-10. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Redskins saw Dwayne Haskins struggle in his first preseason game but who should fans be watching as the rookie tries to bounce back?

It’s certainly hard to know what to make of the Washington Redskins as the 2019 regular season approaches. With a heated quarterback battle underway, Trent Williams holding out and some injuries slowing down key players like Derrius Guice, they are one big question mark. Yet, they’ll continue trying to answer some of those questions in Week 2 of the preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hosting the Bengals on Thursday night, the Redskins will certainly hope for a better effort than what happened against the Browns last week. While Case Keenum got Washington off to a good start offensively, the Skins defense struggled, as did the second-team offense and those lower on the depth chart.

Wins and losses obviously don’t matter in the preseason but the overall effort of Washington in their preseason opener was lackluster. For a team that has talent on the roster, they need to start seeing some answers come to light as the preseason slate wears on.

Having that in mind, let’s take a look at three Washington Redskins players that need to make their mark in Preseason Week 2 against Cincinnati.

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3. Jimmy Moreland, CB

Despite the name recognition of Josh Norman, Quinton Dunbar and Fabian Moreau at cornerback for the Redskins, the fact is that the Washington secondary has been subpar in recent years. There is undoubtedly a chance that a player could step up in the preseason and turn some heads, which would potentially put the starting jobs of those three players in question. Jimmy Moreland could be that guy.

A seventh-round pick this year out of FCS James Madison, Moreland was highly active against the Browns in the first week of the preseason as he notched six total tackles and three passes defensed. The biggest question about Moreland is how he would handle NFL-level competition after playing at JMU but the early returns are promising. If he can show out again, the rookie could earn some reps with the first-team defense moving forward.

2. Geron Christian, OT

There’s a good chance that the Redskins were never counting on 2018 third-round pick Geron Christian to be as important of a piece as he could be this early in his career. Yet, with Trent Williams continuing to hold out and Donald Penn being a little long in the tooth at this point in his career, Christian could well be the starting left tackle opposite Morgan Moses in the Washington offense.

After being injured down the stretch last season, Christian finally returned to practice in late June and has been impressing Jay Gruden and co. in camp thus far. However, he needs to get on the field and get reps to try and get fully up to speed. The health of the quarterback — whoever that may be — could depend on how Christian comes along this preseason.

1. Dwayne Haskins, QB

Anyone who says that the player to watch in Preseason Week 2 and throughout the rest of the exhibition action isn’t Dwayne Haskins is lying. The Washington Redskins hope that the 2019 first-round pick can be the stable future at quarterback for the franchise.

His first preseason performance, however, was not inspiring of much confidence. The Ohio State product did throw for 117 yards on 14 attempts but tossed no touchdowns and two interceptions. Put simply, it was an up-and-down affair and the bad moments left a relatively sour taste in the mouths of fans.

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Now that he has the debut jitters out of the way, though, the hope is that Haskins shows a little bit of progression to try and work out a few of the kinks over a week of practice. This Bengals defense has some good players but is shallow in terms of their depth. With the rookie likely facing backups, he has the opportunity to show if he’s actually going to be ready to step into a starting role at any point in the 2019 season.

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