Washington Football Team grades for the 2021 defense

Washington Football Team secondary

The Washington Football Team added a few pieces to bolster their secondary this offseason. And while they all brought a little something to the table, it’s safe to say things didn’t go all that great for the unit as a whole.

Kamren Curl had a strong second season. The safety wasn’t perfect and at first and was getting weird playing time. But he was one of the more consistent players on the defense. Curl seems to make the big play when it’s needed. Expect him to be part of the defense for a long time. Final grade: B.

Kendall Fuller was elite last season. However, the cornerback couldn’t replicate that success in 2021. He was still really solid, but overall it was a letdown. Fuller only picked up one interception. More importantly, he wasn’t nearly the “lockdown” type corner that he was in the previous year. He wasn’t bad, but it still wasn’t anything to get too excited about. Final grade: C.

Bobby McCain had an up-and-down season in his first year with Washington. The last game definitely helped bolster his numbers, as the safety picked up some serious stats. In Week 18 McCain had three pass deflections, two interceptions, and one touchdown. That will make a season look great.

Overall though, he wasn’t bad – just not that good. McCain had four interceptions and nine pass deflections – so as you can see that last game made a difference. There were some games where he struggled, but you have to respect how he plays the game and he did make plays. Final grade: C+.

Okay, that last one felt like there were some incoherent ramblings going on. So let’s just get straight to the point for William Jackson III. The cornerback also had an up-and-down first season with Washington. He finished with two interceptions and eight pass deflections. In some games, he felt like a liability but in others, he was not only making plays but locking someone down. Final Grade: C+.

Benjamin St-Juste was the other big acquisition this offseason. He came via the third round of the NFL Draft. The rookie was actually the best of the bunch. However, St-Juste appeared in just nine games due to injury. It makes it a little harder to grade him, but the corner isn’t going to get punished for the injury. St-Juste didn’t have an interception but he was good in coverage and a solid tackler. When he was playing he was one of their better defenders. Final Grade: B+.

After that, it was mainly a rotating door of depth. Jeremy Reaves is the biggest standout and deserves some recognition. He doesn’t get a lot of chances but whenever he does, Reaves impresses. Danny Johnson also needs to get a shoutout, as he also always plays well when given the chance.

Overall, the depth wasn’t great though. Landon Collins was bad when he was playing safety. The cornerbacks were disappointing. No one was even really close to elite. And it showed. The Washington Football Team gave up 254.9 passing yards per game. That’s the fourth most in all of football. And I know you could say the defensive line needs to help, but they at least played fine. So this falls mainly on the secondary. Oh, and their 11 interceptions were amongst the worst in the league.

Final grade: C-