Snaps- Jay Gruden used 33 of his 45 offensive players over the course of the Redskins’ 57 snaps on offense against the Broncos.

Jordan Reed, Jamison Crowder and Chris Thompson were the only offensive starters or key role players who didn’t suit up for the game. The first-team offense played 25 snaps across four drives. That is the fewest drives and is tied for the second fewest number of snaps by Washington starters in Week 3 of the preseason since 2012, which is as far back as snap data goes. The team averaged 34.5 snaps and 5.3 drives played in these games between 2012 and 2017.

The 35 snaps taken by the starters this August is about 20 fewer snaps than the team’s next lowest preseason total since 2012 (2013). The Redskins’ starting unit has averaged about 72.2 snaps played over the last six preseasons.

Starter Results- The low playing time numbers would’ve made a lot more sense if the starters had performed better when they were out there. Unfortunately, the first stringers were only able to gain 95 yards, pick up 6 first downs (2 by penalty) and score 3 points on their 24 plays (1 snap negated by penalty). They only averaged 3.96 yards per play.

They went three-and-out on two of their four drives and went 1-for-6 on their six combined third and fourth-down attempts.

Smith and the starters put up a total of 151 yards, 10 first downs and 6 points in their three exhibition contests this year. They averaged 4.4 yards gained on their 34 plays from scrimmage. This was only the second time since 2012 that Washington’s starters failed to score a touchdown in the preseason (2014).

On the bright side, Alex Smith and company didn’t turn the ball over once and only gave up one sack.

Touchdowns & Scoring- The Redskins scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter of this game. Those scores snapped a nine-quarter touchdown drought for the team that began in the third quarter of the preseason opener against the Patriots. They scored just 18 points in those nine quarters (2 points per quarter).

Their two touchdowns verses Denver were also the first second-half TDs by the team in the preseason. They had only scored 6 points in the second half of their three 2018 exhibition games prior to that.

3rd & 4th Down- I’d be lying if I told you the offense improved on third and fourth down after the starters exited the game. Washington somehow only converted on one of their 11 third-down tries (9.1%), and the lone conversion came on a 3rd-and-1 play.

The Redskins have only been able to move the chains on 7 of their 34 attempts on third down. Their 20.59% conversion rate on the money down ranks 30th in the league.

They were at least able to go 2-for-3 on fourth down against Denver. Washington scored on both of the drives they picked up a fourth-down conversion on.

Rushing- The Skins rushed the ball 25 times for 136 yards, 5 first downs and a 5.44 YPC average. However, only nine of their 36 runs were considered successful, which gave them a success rate of 36%. The success rate was a bit lower than you’d like to see because 11 of their runs failed to gain yardage (three runs of 0 yards and one for a loss of 1 yard) or only gained 1 or 2 yards (seven runs). On the plus-side, ten of their rushes went for at least 5 yards, with four of those going for over 10 yards.

The Redskins are one of five teams without a rushing touchdown this preseason.

QUARTERBACKS

Alex Smith (Playing Time)- Alex Smith played 25 snaps against the Broncos on Friday night. This was his lowest snap total in Week 3 of the preseason since 2012, the year he was benched for Colin Kaepernick. His 25 snaps in the game were tied for the lowest number of snaps taken by a Jay Gruden or Redskins’ starting quarterback in Week 3 of the preseason since snap data became available in 2012 (Griffin in 2014).

Gruden didn’t dial up many plays for Smith when he was in there, either. Smith only attempted eight passes in the game, his lowest total in Week 3 of the exhibition season since 2012 (7 attempts).

Meanwhile, the other starting signal callers that are approximately his age or older (Ryan, Flacco, Rodgers, Brees, Manning, Rivers, Brady and Roethlisberger) averaged 15.4 attempts this week. Smith is the only one of those players who will suit up for a new team this season.

The former number one overall pick only played on 35 snaps and attempted 15 passes in his first preseason game with the Burgundy and Gold. Those numbers represent the lowest attempt total and by far the lowest snap total in Smith’s 14-year preseason career. No healthy Gruden or Redskins’ starting quarterback has attempted fewer passes and played fewer snaps in the preseason than Smith did this August.

Alex Smith (Stats)- It would certainly be nice if it was a quality over quantity situation for Alex Smith, but that was not the case here. Smith only completed 3 of his 8 attempts (37.5%) for 33 yards (4.13 Y/A), 2 first downs, no touchdowns and a 50.5 passer rating. He was also sacked for a loss of 5 yards and gained 2 yards on a 3rd-and-4 designed rush.

He either passed or ran the ball on 5 third or fourth-down plays, but failed to move the chains on any of them.

His final numbers for the preseason are as follows: 35 snaps, 15 dropbacks, 14 attempts, 7 completions, 50% completion rate, 81 passing yards, 5.8 yards per attempt, 5 first downs, 35.7% first-down rate, 1 sack, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, a 67.8 passer rating, 0 fumbles, 2 rushing yards and a 63.5 PFF grade. The completion, completion percentage, passing yards and touchdown numbers all rank in the bottom-three in Smith’s preseason career.

He didn’t make many mistakes (0 turnovers and 1 sack), but he didn’t make many big plays either (0 touchdowns, a long pass of 21 yards and 2 completions that traveled 10 or more yards). We’ll find out soon if the game manager narrative holds true or not. It certainly did this preseason, but we must remember that Smith is playing in a new offense, was only on the field for what amounts to about a half of regular season game and was without his three biggest offensive weapons (Reed, Crowder and Thompson).

Colt McCoy- McCoy came in late in the second quarter and played 8 of his 14 snaps against the Bronco’s starting defense.

It was not a fun night for the veteran backup, as he was tackled (once), hurried (twice), hit (five times) or sacked (twice) on 10 of his 11 dropbacks (91%). Knowing that McCoy was under constant pressure might help you feel slightly better about him completing just 3 of his 8 attempts (37.5%) for 19 yards (2.38 YPA) and 1 first down.

All in all, Colt McCoy still had a solid preseason. He went 28-for-42 (66.7%), threw for 348 yards (8.3 YPA), picked up 16 first downs and tossed 2 touchdown passes. At the time of this writing, McCoy’s passer rating of 98.1 was only bested by Ryan Griffin (113.8), Patrick Mahomes (103.5) and Tom Brady (101.9).

Kevin Hogan- Kevin Hogan entered the game in the fourth quarter and put up one of the best stat lines of his pro career. He completed 7 of his 9 passing attempts (77.8%) for 88 yards (9.8 YPA), 4 first downs, 2 touchdowns and a 147.0 QB rating. He also ran it twice for 11 yards and a first down. He earned a team-best 80.2 PFF grade for the performance.

Nearly half of his yardage came on a 40-yard bomb to Darvin Kidsy on his first attempt of the night. That was the Redskins’ longest play of the game and their third longest play in the preseason.

Hogan’s two scores in the contest tied a career high (two other games) and his passer rating was a new personal best. His completion percentage and YPA numbers rank in the top for his career.

He led the offense to touchdowns on each of the two drives that he played against Denver. Those are the only TDs scored by Washington in their last ten quarters of action and represent half of the touchdowns scored by the team in the entire preseason. We also can’t forget that he led the game-winning drive against the Jets last week.

Hogan will likely play the entire game against the Ravens this Thursday, so he will get plenty of opportunities to prove himself worthy of a spot on the roster.

Connor Jessop- The rookie UDFA was signed today. He played his college ball at Division II Shepherd University. In his lone season as the team’s starter, Jessop won conference player of the year and finished fourth in the voting for the D II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, the Harlon Hill Trophy.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Josh Doctson- Doctson was in for all 25 snaps with the first-team offense. He was, however, not targeted once on his nine routes run. His preseason likely ends with the following paltry stat line: 2 starts, 39 snaps, 16 routes run, 1 target, 1 reception, 11 yards, 1 first down and 0.69 yards per route run.

As Football Outsiders just pointed out to us, Doctson is already facing long odds to avoid the dreaded bust label, and this type of production, even in the preseason, doesn’t help to inspire any confidence in anyone hoping for a breakout 2018 campaign.

Paul Richardson- Richardson started alongside Doctson and was on the field for 22 of the 25 snaps taken by the first-team offense. P-Rich caught two of his three targets for a total of 31 yards and a team-high 2 first downs; both receptions came against Bradley Roby.

He did that damage on just nine routes, which gives him an impressive yards-per-route-run average of 3.44. His 75.6 PFF grade ranked third among all Washington offensive players.

Trey Quinn- The seventh rounder out of SMU led all Washington wide receivers with 29 offensive snaps played verses the Broncos. He ran 12 of his 17 routes from the slots.

Unfortunately, despite being targeted four times, Quinn finished the night with a single reception that gained just 2 yards. It probably didn’t help that three of those targets came against elite slot corner Chris Harris.

Simmie Cobbs- Simmie Cobbs played 15 snaps against the Broncos and caught his only target in the game for an 18-yard touchdown. Cobbs has now scored a touchdown in five of his last eight games (5 college and 3 preseason). His 76.4 PFF grade ranked second on the offense and third on the team.

Darvin Kidsy- On 26 snaps and 18 routes run, Darvin Kidsy led the team or was tied for the team lead in targets (4), receptions (3), receiving yards (50), first downs (2) and touchdowns (1).

Most of his production came on a 40-yard reception that flipped the field for the Redskins’ offense on their first play of the fourth quarter. This reception was the longest play of the game for either team. The Skins scored their first touchdown in nine quarters several plays later.

Kidsy’s other first down and the team’s only other touchdown was picked up when Kidsy caught a 4-yard score on Washington’s final offensive play of the night. This was only Kidsy’s seventh total touchdown since high school.

Shay Fields- Fields was on the field for 22 snaps, most of which came in the fourth quarter. He saw all three of his targets on the Skins’ final drive of the game. Fields caught two of those for 9 yards and a first-down grab that set the offense inside the Broncos’ 10-yard line; Washington scored a touchdown two plays later.

Dan Williams- The second-year wideout made his first appearance with the team, after failing to get on the field last week. Williams was not targeted on any of his 14 snaps.

Allenzae Staggers- Staggers did not play in the game after signing with the team last Saturday. He was waived by the team today.

Other Wide Receivers- Jamison Crowder, Maurice Harris, Brian Quick and Cam Sims all sat this one out with minor injuries. Crowder and Harris are roster locks, while Quick and Sims are likely competing to be the team’s sixth receiver.

TIGHT ENDS

Vernon Davis- For the first time since Week 4 of the 2016 season, Vernon Davis did not start in a game that he played in as a member of the Redskins. He did, however, out-snap starters Jeremy Sprinkle and J.P. Holtz.

In terms of production, this was not the type of “dress rehearsal” the veteran tight end was hoping for. He was only able to haul in one of his four targets for a gain of just 2 yards; Davis caught that pass a yard shy of the line to gain on 4th-and-3.

That’s how the offense’s second drive of the game ended. The Skins went three-and-out on their first drive, after VD dropped what would’ve been a 17-yard reception on third down. Finally, the team’s third offensive drive of the night concluded with a pair of Davis targets falling incomplete on second and third down. The starting offense only played four drives and three of them ended with unsuccessful throws to Vernon Davis.

His 47.3 PFF grade for the game ranked last among all Washington backs and receivers.

Jeremy Sprinkle- Jeremy Sprinkle made his third consecutive start of the preseason and played 15 snaps on the night, all of which came with the first-team offense. As usual, Sprinkle worked primarily as a run blocker, as he spent ten of his snaps in that role. He allowed Alex Smith to be hit on his only pass-blocking snap of the game.

After running a route on at least a dozen of his snaps in both of the first two contests this August, Sprinkle only ran a total of three routes in this game. He was not targeted for the second straight week.

Through his 18 combined preseason and regular season games, Sprinkle has recorded just 6 receptions for 39 yards and 1 touchdown. To simply say that he is not a receiving tight end might be putting it mildly.

Matt Flanagan- The same can’t be said of Matt Flanagan, who spent 19 of his team-high 32 offensive snaps running passing routes. He caught his only target of the game and took it for a gain of 8 yards on a first-down pass from Colt McCoy.

J.P. Holtz- Holtz made the first start of his NFL career and got nine snaps with the offense, four of which came with the starters. He was used as a run blocker on six of his nine snaps, after being utilized the same way on all of five of his snaps last week.

He made some quality blocks on several of those runs and was often used as a fullback. The Redskins need to improve their blocking in the running game and they currently don’t have a fullback on the roster, so the idea of Holtz making the team isn’t quite as far-fetched as it might seem.

Garrett Hudson- Garrett Hudson was relegated to a special-teams only role after playing on just 19 offensive snaps across Weeks 1 and 2 of the preseason. So far, Hudson has yet to be targeted and has only pass blocked on two snaps.

Jordan Reed- Reed was held out for precautionary reasons, as Jay Gruden stated that he would’ve played had this been a regular season game.

That means Reed will now likely sit out the entire 2018 preseason, which will mark the first time that he will have not played in at least one preseason game in his six-year career. He averaged 2.2 exhibition contests played in his first five years in the league. Playing Reed in the preseason hasn’t helped him stay healthy so far, so maybe this strategy will lead to different results. I’m not counting on it, but one can hope.

RUNNING BACKS

Adrian Peterson- In his first game as a member of the Washington Redskins, the legendary Adrian Peterson started and played 14 snaps, all of which were taken with the first-team offense.

AP toted the rock on 11 of those 14 snaps, including runs on seven consecutive plays, and gained a game-high 56 rushing yards, which is also a preseason high for a Redskins player. This is Peterson’s fourth highest rushing total since the end of the 2015 regular season. His YPC average of 5.1 for the game ranks second in that span.

He picked up only a yard or less on four of his attempts, but gained 6 or more yards on five of his rushes and posted a success rate of 45%. Peterson was responsible for two of the team’s five rushing first downs and one of their two fourth-down conversions.

His only problem, and it is a noteworthy one, is that he averaged just 2.83 yards per carry and had a success rate of 16.7% on first down.

His playing time and production numbers, along with his status as a Hall of Fame lock, all seem to indicate that he will open the season as the Redskins’ starting running back.

AP: Why It Won’t Work- Peterson is 33 years and 158 days old, which makes him the third oldest running back in the entire league behind only Frank Gore (35-104d) and Darren Sproles (35-067d).

Only 23 players (37 seasons) who were 33 or older have carried the ball 100 or more times in a single season. Only seven of them have rushed for more than 800 yards at those ages. All seven of these RBs are either Hall of Famers or they likely will be: John Riggins, John Henry Johnson, Franco Harris, Emmitt Smith, Larry Csonka, Marcus Allen and Frank Gore.

There are only five players that age who have gained 600 or more rushing yards while averaging at least 4.0 yards per carry: Marcus Allen, Warrick Dunn, John Henry Johnson, Joe Perry and Ricky Williams.

AP: Why It Will Work- You might have noticed that in order to accomplish this feat you need to be a great running back. Well, Peterson is one of the best ever. He currently ranks 9th and 10th all time in rushing yards (12,276) and rushing touchdowns (99), respectively. He is 464 rushing yards and 6 rushing scores away from taking over the 9th and 6th spots in those rankings. He also ranks 4th and 8th all-time in rushing yards per game (92.3) and yards per carry (4.77).

Again, Adrian Peterson is a lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Robert Kelley- One of the reasons Peterson was signed is that Rob Kelley just isn’t that good at football, or at least he hasn’t done much to prove otherwise.

After playing 90% of the starter snaps last week against the Jets, Kelley was only in on 3 of the 25 snaps with the first-team offense in this this game (12%). He also played into the fourth quarter, which is not something you normally see a “starter” do in any preseason game.

He was not targeted and only gained 19 yards on his eight rushing attempts (2.38 YPC). Just two of his eight runs were successful (25% success rate), which is also the number of rushes he failed to gain positive yardage on. The highlight of Kelley’s night was recording the team’s only third-down conversion of the night on a 9-yard run.

Kelley has only gained 42 yards on his 18 preseason rushes and is the owner of a 2.21 yards-per-rush average and a 23.8% success rate this August. It looks like Kelley lost the starting job, yet again.

Kapri Bibbs- Kapri Bibbs led the running back corps in snaps for the third consecutive week. Eight of his 28 snaps came with the first-team offense, with the majority of them coming on third or fourth down. His 78 offensive snaps this preseason are almost double the number taken by Rob Kelley, who ranks second among Redskins running backs in snaps (40 snaps).

Bibbs only had two rushes in the game, but he took one of them for a 38-yard gain on the Skins’ final offensive drive of the night. That rush was the Redskins’ second longest play of the game and their fourth longest play of the preseason. Bibbs is responsible for three of the team’s seven longest plays this preseason. He finished the game with 41 yards on the ground and currently leads all Washington runners in both rushing yards (95 yards) and yards per carry (8.6).

He also caught two of his four targets for 20 yards and a first down. Bibbs leads the team in receptions (10) and his 78 receiving yards rank second behind only Cam Sims’ 131 yards.

De’Veon Smith-The former Michigan Wolverine was signed last Monday and only appeared on 4 special teams snaps against the Broncos.

Smith hasn’t gained 1,000 yards from scrimmage since his senior season in high school and is the owner of putrid 0.3 percentile pSPARQ score.

Samaje Perine- Perine sat this one out with a mild ankle injury. He practiced today and should see time in the fourth and final preseason game. Anything but an absolute dud in that game should secure him one of the 53 spots on the team.

Byron Marshall- Marshall suffered a nasty ankle sprain last week that could keep him out for another month. He looked like a near lock to make the roster prior to the injury and the re-emergence of Adrian Peterson; now a spot on the PUP list may be the best he can hope for.

Chris Thompson- Just like with Jordan Reed, Chris Thompson probably could have played if he had to, but this is obviously just a dress rehearsal, so he didn’t. We’ll find out soon if CT can carry over his ultra-efficient 2017 production to this season.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Offensive Line (Team)- This game was a mixed bag for Washington’s offensive line, as the group struggled mightily in pass protection, but excelled in the running game.

The line gave up 3 sacks for 20 yards and allowed the Skins’ signal callers to be pressured on 17 of their 31 total dropbacks. That equates to an unreasonably high 55% pressure rate allowed. What’s worse is that more than half of those pressures were hits or sacks.

Fortunately, the O-line’s performance in the run-blocking department was much better. The line paved the way for the team’s running backs to average 5.5 yards per carry and 3.2 yards before contact.

Trent Williams- Trent “Silverback” Williams made his 2018 debut on Friday night and played on two drives and 13 snaps, which was approximately half of the playing time given to the first-team offense (4 drives and 25 snaps). Williams did not allow a pressure on his four pass-blocking plays.

Shawn Lauvao- Lauvao played all 25 starters’ snaps and did not allow a single pressure on his nine pass-blocking snaps. His 63.1 overall Pro Football Focus rating was tops among the team’s starting O-linemen.

Chase Roullier- Roullier was credited with allowing the sack of Alex Smith by Adam Gotsis; although, I wouldn’t argue with you if you wanted to pin it on Brandon Scherff, instead.

Brandon Scherff- Scherff is the only starting offensive linemen on the team who has played over 30 snaps this preseason and not allowed a single pressure. His 82.6 PFF pass-blocking grade was tied for best mark on the team (Lauvao).

Morgan Moses- Morgan Moses led the team’s starting linemen with a run-blocking grade of 62.5. Unfortunately, he was also the only starting linemen on the team to allow multiple QB pressures on the night (a hit and a hurry).

Ty Neskhe- Nskehe took over for Trent Williams at left tackle and played the final 12 snaps with the starters. He added another eight snaps after that, which brought his total for the game to 20. Nsekhe didn’t allow a pressure on his 12 plays in pass protection and earned the best overall PFF grade among all the team’s offensive linemen (71.7). He has yet to allow a single pressure across his 25 preseason pass-blocking snaps.

Geron Christian- The 2018 third-round pick struggled in Weeks 1 and 2 of the preseason and this game was no different. Christian gave up a whopping 5 pressures against the Broncos (4 hurries and 1 hit) and was tagged with the second lowest PFF rating handed out to a Redskins offensive player. He’s led the team in pressures in all three preseason games and has earned one of the two lowest PFF grades on the offense in back-to-back weeks.

His 32 snaps were tied for most on the offense (Flanagan). This was the second straight week Christian has led the team in offensive snaps. He leads the entire team in snaps from scrimmage, with a total (142 snaps) that is 18 higher than the player with the second most snaps.

Instead of babying Geron Christian with limited playing time, the Redskins have adopted a sink or swim strategy and have thrown him into the deep end of the pool. The problem is that, so far, he is very clearly sinking and not swimming.

Tyler Catalina- Tyler Catalina basically hit for the cycle, in terms of allowing quarterback pressure. He was called for a holding penalty in pass protection and gave up a hurry, a hit and a sack on just 22 pass-blocking and 25 total snaps.

PFF gave Catalina the full Blutarsky treatment with a 0.0 grade in pass protection. His overall mark of 30.2 ranked dead last among all offensive players in the game.

He and Geron Christian are the only players on the team who have allowed multiple pressures in more than one game this preseason.

Kyle Kalis- Kalis only allowed one pressure (a hurry) across his 70 pass-blocking plays last preseason. Things have gone downhill since then.

He surrendered at least two pressures in all three of his regular season games in 2017 and has begun 2018 by allowing at least one pressure in all three of his preseason games (1 vs. Denver). Christian and Catalina are the only players who have allowed more pressures on the team.

Kalis also holds the distinction of having committed the most penalties on the team (3). He is one of two players on the team who has been flagged more than once (Diggs) and is the only Redskin with more than one accepted penalty to his name.

Tony Bergstrom- The 32-year-old vet manned the pivot for 11 snaps and did not give up a pressure in the game.

Casey Dunn- Third-string center Casey Dunn had another solid outing on Friday night. He didn’t allow any pressures and earned the second best PFF grade by an O-linemen on the team (69.1).

Dunn hasn’t allowed a single pressure on his 35 pass-blocking snaps this preseason. He has also seen his snap total and percentage increase each week (13 snaps > 15 snaps > 21 snaps).

Isaiah Williams- Isaiah Williams played ten snaps on Friday night. His streak of games without allowing a QB pressure was snapped at four (2 preseason games from 2017 and 2 from 2018), as he surrendered a hurry against the Broncos. Williams 36.7 offensive grade was only better than the marks handed out Christian and Catalina.

John Kling- John Kling was yet another backup offensive lineman who had a poor showing in this contest. He gave up a sack and a hurry on his 15 pass protection and 18 total snaps. Kling barely got a hand on Shane Ray before allowing Ray to sack Colt McCoy on what will likely be McCoy’s final play of the preseason.

Timon Parris- Parris somehow allowed a pressure (a hurry) despite only playing six total and three pass-blocking snaps.

Demetrius Rhaney- The fifth-year vet got the same amount of playing time that Parris did, but unlike Parris, he didn’t allow any pressures.

Other Offensive Linemen- Kendall Calhoun, who was signed last Saturday, did not see the field against Denver. T.J. Clemmings hasn’t played in a game since last November.

ALL OFFENSIVE PLAYERS

*All statistics are courtesy of ESPN, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, USA Today, Redskins.com and The Washington Post*