Jaguars @ Redskins Week 2 Player Spotlight: Red Bryant

Red Bryant

Defensive Lineman

Age: 30

History Against the Redskins

As you can see from the video above, Bryant has some history against our team.  He's played against the 'Skins three times in his career: once in the playoffs and twice during the regular season.  The playoff game was January of last year (the now infamous game where RGIII went down and we lost a good lead over the Seahawks).  During that game, Bryant made two tackles.  The two regular season games took place in 2011 and 2008.  He did nothing in the '08 game, but in 2011 (the game in the video above), Bryant was a terror.  He had two tackles, a safety, and blocked the two kicks.  Two kicks! Luckily for the Redskins, we have an excellent OL and basically never have kicks blocked...

Form

Bryant is on the down-slope of his career at age 30, but he's still an excellent football player.  At his age and size, it's unfortunate for the Redskins to have to face him so early in the season while he's at his freshest.  He had one tackle last week against Philly and was a big part of a Jaguar DL that heavily pressured Nick Foles and did a great job containing LeSean McCoy in the first half.  Things got away from them in the second half, but the Jaguar DL showed some of what they're capable of in that first half.  They're very good and the Redskins can't take anyone lightly, especially good DL's that are facing off against our OL.

Bryant is a leader on the Jaguars team.  He's an experienced vet fresh off of a Super Bowl victory.  He came from the best defense in the NFL in Seattle (where he was a captain) to Jacksonville to play for his old coach.  That big ring he wears around carries a lot of weight.  The only reason Seattle even let him go was because they couldn't afford him, or trust me, they would have kept him.  Gus Bradley and the Jags jumped on the opportunity to solidify their defense by bringing over not only Bryant, but fellow Seahawk DL Chris Clemons.  The 'Skins OL has their work cut out for them.

Skills

Bryant is huge.  At 6'4" and 323 lbs., Bryant can really anchor a defensive line and stuff up the middle.  It's very difficult to run on him.  He's a prototypical five-technique or three-technique DL (meaning he's best lining up over the outside shoulder of the OT or the G).  He's the kind of DL that can thrive in any defensive system and the kind of DL that every coach wants on their team.  He's at his best in run defense and as shown above, can block a kick or two.  The words that most come to mind to describe Bryant's skill set is "run stuffer."  He's very thick, muscular, and has impressive quickness.  He also has very long arms and is nearly impossible to move off his spot.

His other greatest skill is leadership.  Bryant has been a captain everywhere he goes, from Texas A&M to the pros.  He was voted a team captain in college as a redshirt freshman!  He's known to be the team's hardest worker wherever he goes.

Potential Against the Redskins

Surely by now you can see where this is going, right?  Our OL is commonly described as terrible.  It's a problem.  Red Bryant is an even bigger problem.  Put those two things together and the potential against the Redskins is that Bryant could potentially ruin our offense.  He's one of the last people in the NFL the 'Skins should want to face because he plays against our weakest unit and his biggest strength, shutting down the run game, is a foil for our biggest strength, the run game.  We also already saw last week that we're no strangers to getting kicks blocked and Bryant has done that a few times in his past... against the Redskins!  It doesn't hurt that Forbath isn't 100%.  Hopefully the stretch running game can somewhat neutralize what Bryant is capable of doing, but our OL is in for a long day against this guy.  He'll require a double-team almost every play and though he's not quite the same caliber of J.J. Watt, Bryant is a Super Bowl champion that is incredibly difficult to run on and has blocked four FG's in his career.

Interesting Facts

Red was born and raised in Texas where he played both basketball and football.  He is the first college graduate in his immediate family and even had to overcome dyslexia.  His father-in-law, Jacob Green, also happened to play for Texas A&M and the Seattle Seahawks.  Red's wife was a soccer player for Texas A&M.  His real full name is Joseph Anthony Bryant, but he got the "Red" nickname because his mom said he was a red baby.