FanPost

Perry Riley, Secret Superstar?


Trey Cunningham of Pro Football Focus contributed to an ongoing series composed of articles featuring several under-the-radar players across the league who have shown flashes of elite ability. Perry Riley is one of them, and as I'm sure most Redskins fans know, it's not surprising.

Ever since Riley stormed out of the gate during his first NFL start versus the Dolphins, not much has been done to slow his momentum, as Cunningham notes. He was an integral part in slamming the brakes on Demarco Murray in the Dallas matchup, and showed a marked improvement in coverage versus the Eagles in the season finale despite the Redskins dropping that contest by three scores.

Adding to that encouragement, in the eight games Riley started, only four inside linebackers had a better run-stop percentage than he did (Joe Mays, NoVorro Bowman, Brian Cushing and Ray Lewis).

Most importantly, Riley's the first "value" pick under the "ShanAllen" regime that seems to be panning out. Not the only one, but certainly the first. If there's any true indication of a franchise turning the corner, it's how it fares in the mid-to-later rounds in the draft. Simply put, if you can evaluate talent and find it in more obscure places, you're going to be competitive. It's been a long time since the Redskins have had this luxury, and it could really bode well for people like Chase Minnifield, Joshua Morgan, Keenan Robinson and the (grudgingly) patient Redskins fanbase.

If anyone's interested, I did a write-up on Riley's fantasy outlook going forward. Surely there are a few fellow IDP-ers out there .