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Washington Redskin I Am MOST Confident In Not Named Robert Griffin III: London Fletcher

He's too old and too short, and yet, he's as good as they get.

Patrick McDermott

I know there aren't pictures in the dictionary but if there were you'd see the bust of Fletch right next to 'consistency.' Year in and year out you know what you're getting out of London Fletcher.

He will be there on game-day. He has not missed a game in his entire NFL career. With Ronde Barber retiring from the league, Fletcher is the NFL's sole Ironman, playing in 240 consecutive games. If he plays in all four games in September this year (knock on wood) he will eclipse Bill Romanowski's mark of 243 consecutive games, putting him 3rd all-time (specialists not included).

He will lead your team in tackles. Fletcher has led the Redskins in tackles in all 6 years he's been in Washington. Only Patrick Willis has more solo tackles than him over the last 6 years but if you add assisted tackles it puts Fletcher over-the-top. He has also led his team in tackles in 13 of his 15 years in the league playing for the Rams, Bills, and Redskins.

He will be a leader. He can lead by example or be a vocal presence. Fletcher has been a co-captain for the Redskins defense since 2008. Not many games go by without Fletcher pumping up his defense with a riveting speech in pre-game. If you've heard him speak to his fellow linebackers and aren't moved to go into battle with him, I don't think much else will work. "Linebackers set the tone! Linebackers set the tempo! Ain't nothin' changed but the location! LB's on 3!!!" Simply electric.

Now some may say age is catching up with him. Although he did not miss a game last year Fletcher uncharacteristically finished 6th on the defense in the total snaps. He also led all linebackers in the NFL in missed tackles (21). However, he still played over 1,000 snaps, churned out 139 tackles, and led all linebackers in interceptions (5). While a case can be made for his regression, I'd still take a regressing London Fletcher over 3/4 of the starting ILB's in the league right now. Our defense is in good hands with London Fletcher.