Redskins Starter Snaps- Per the unofficial depth chart on the Redskins’ website, only three of the team’s eleven starters played against the Browns (Trey Quinn, Geron Christian and Ereck Flowers). One of those players is a slot receiver (Quinn) and the other two are battling with Donald Penn and Wes Martin for the starting left tackle and left guard roles, respectively.

This is not a new thing for Jay Gruden, he played even fewer offensive starters in Week 1 of the preseason last year. The main player he did send out there in that game was Derrius Guice, and he tore his ACL after 10 snaps.

Cleveland Starter Snaps- According to their published depth chart, the Browns played 7 of their 11 starting defenders. Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon, Joe Schobert and Denzel Ward did not appear in the game.

Four of the seven starters who did see action on Thursday only played on the defense’s opening seven-snap drive (Myles Garret, Christian Kirksey, Damarious Randall and Morgan Burnett). Ray-Ray Armstrong (16 snaps) and Larry Ogunjobi stayed out there a bit longer (10 snaps), while Terrance Mitchell played much more than any of their other potential starters (33 snaps). Their top draft pick in 2019, Greedy Williams, was out there for 46 snaps.

It’s really not fair to say Cleveland played their “starting defense” on more than one drive, and on that drive they only allowed the Washington offense to move the ball 14 yards and to pick up a single first down.

Yards- The Burgundy and Gold offense gained 271 yards against the Browns, which marks the sixth consecutive game, dating back to Week 13 of last season, in which they’ve failed to hit 300 yards.

Points- The lack of yards wouldn’t matter as much if the team could still find a way to put some points on the board. Unfortunately, this has been a problem for the team for some time, as well.

They scored just 10 points on Thursday night, which brings their total of consecutive games with fewer 25 points scored to 13. They’ve actually been held below that mark in 25 of their last 27 games (including preseason).

3rd Down- The Redskins converted on 7-of-16 third down tries (44%). They needed to gain fewer than four yards on just two of those plays and started eight or more yards away from the sticks on five of them.

They were flagged for holding on three of their money-down snaps and were sacked and intercepted on two other ones.

Red Zone- The offense’s lone trip to Cleveland’s red area ended with a field goal. The Haskins led offense lost a yard on three plays inside the 20-yard line.

Penalties- The Washington offense was responsible for five of the team’s seven accepted penalties and 45 of their 55 penalty yards. Four of the five declined penalties were also committed by the offense.

Giveaways - Redskins signal callers combined to throw three interceptions in the game, one of which was a pick six. The team lost one of their two fumbles which gave them a grand total of four turnovers in the contest. The last time the team committed four or more turnovers was in Week 13 of the 2017 season (at Dallas).

QUARTERBACKS

Case Keenum- Keenum started the game at quarterback, in what his first game as a Redskin. He posted the following stat line on his 16 snaps and three drives in the game: 9 attempts, 4 completions, 44.4% completion rate, 60 yards, 6.67 YPA, 2 first downs, a touchdown, no interceptions, no sacks and a 103.0 passer rating. He drew a 43-yard pass interference penalty and picked up a first down on a 10-yard scramble, as well

He got rid of the ball quickly on most of his dropbacks, as his average time to throw was just 2.34 seconds. Unfortunately, he somehow was still under pressure on 60% of his dropbacks (6-of-10). He struggled on those plays, completing just one-of-six passes for 5 yards. This is nothing new for Keenum, as he posted a passer rating below 55.0 when under pressure in three of the last four years.

Dwayne Haskins- The first-round pick out of OSU got his first NFL action on Thursday night. Haskins came in on the fourth drive of the game and was under center for every one of the team’s snaps in the second and third quarters (33 snaps). He led a total of six drives.

He flashed a lot of potential when he was out there, but also made several costly mistakes which ended up giving him a pretty poor stat line. He went 8-for-14 (57.1%), gained 114 yards on those throws (8.36) and tossed a team-high 4 first downs. He gained 15 or more yards on half of his completions (4).

He gained 17 yards on a pair of rushes and had a run of 8 yards get negated by a holding penalty.

Unfortunately, that’s not the whole story. Haskins was sacked twice for a total of 24 yards and threw 2 interceptions, one of which was returned 40 yards for a pick six, in part because Haskins missed a tackle on the return. The offense turned the ball over on three of his six drives and only scored on one of them (field goal).

When you combine the bad in with the good those numbers add up to a 44.9 passer rating and an adjusted net yards per attempt of 0.19. I looked back at the first preseason performance for each of the 30 quarterbacks who were drafted in the first round in the last decade and found that those numbers rank fifth worst and third worst respectively among them. Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff were worse in both categories, while Carson Wentz and Brandon Weeden just posted a lower passer rating in their debuts.

We shouldn’t totally ignore those statistics, but we obviously need to take them with a grain of salt, because this was the first pro game for a 22-year-old who had only started in 14 games and attempted 590 passes in the last three years.

Josh Woodrum- Woodrum took over the controls at the beginning of the fourth quarter and ended up playing 19 snaps in the final frame. His first pass of the night and as a member of the Redskins was intercepted by Mack Wilson (Wilson’s second of the game).

The fourth-year signal caller completed 6-of-11 pass attempts for 44 yards. He didn’t throw any touchdowns and only moved the chains once in the game. His passer rating on the day was a putrid 26.3. Woodrum fumbled after being sacked on the penultimate play of the game. He tore his pec on the play and will likely be out for the season.

You have to wonder if this will end up being his last appearance in the NFL. He’ll be 27 in a few months and he has yet to play in a single regular season game. Woodrum has also only gained more than 100 yards once in an exhibition contest (110 yards in 2017). He wasn’t even good in the AAF, as he posted a 0.75 TD to INT ratio and a 76.4 passer rating in the now defunct league.

Woodrum was placed on IR today. Jalan McLendon was signed to replace Woodrum as the team’s fourth quarterback. He is a rookie UDFA who played at NC State and Baylor. McLendon only attempted 138 passes during his five years in college. He posted a 58.7% completion rate and a 4:7 touchdown/interception ratio on those throws.

Colt McCoy- McCoy, who is still recovering from surgery on his leg, sat this one out. He may be Jay Gruden’s favorite QB of the bunch, but his lack of durability (one season -2011- with more than 8 GP and 452 snaps) and his penchant for mistakes (2.9% Int and 8.5% sack career rates) make it tough to envision him starting more than a few games this season.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Trey Quinn- The Skins’ top slot receiver played 10 snaps (8 from the slot) and caught his only target for a gain of 8 yards on a 3rd-and-18 play. The reception would’ve been negated by a pair of holding infractions had the catch not come on a third down.

Injuries limited Quinn to just 123 total snaps last year. During today’s press conference, Jay Gruden said Quinn hurt his thumb just prior to the game and that he might not play this coming week.

Paul Richardson- Like in 2018, Richardson sat out the team’s preseason opener. This is a make-or-break season for P-Rich, as he enters his sixth year in the league and his age-27 season. He’s making $8M APY and has only topped 500 snaps and 300 yards from scrimmage in a single season once in the pros (817 snaps and 703 yards in 2017).

Josh Doctson- Doctson didn’t play in the exhibition opener for the second consecutive year, but I can’t say I understand why when he has been nothing short of a colossal bust. Some believe his roster spot might be in jeopardy, so you’d think they’d want to either give him a chance to lock up his place on the team or showcase him for a potential trade.

Doctson, who is also entering his age-27 campaign, has played 750-plus snaps in each of the last two years, but has yet to gain more than 532 yards in a season.

Terry McLaurin- McLaurin drew the start in his first NFL contest, but didn’t see the field again after the team’s first offensive snap. Many are opining that this is perhaps because he has already sewn up a starting role in place of either Richardson or more likely Doctson.

Haskins’ OSU brethern has turned heads with his performance in OTAs and training camp, but I should remind everyone that most pro receivers don’t produce at a higher level than they did in college. And as you can see below, McLaurin did not put up big numbers in college by any stretch.

• He didn’t eclipse 29 receptions or 436 yards until his red shirt senior season as a 22-year old (35 receptions and 701 yards).
• McLaurin only posted two 100-yard games and never caught more than five passes in a single contest.
• He finished his five-year career in Columbus with 75 receptions and 1,251 yards. In the last five years there have been 52 player seasons which topped both of those figures in a single season.
• Terry Mac also never ranked better than third on his own team in receptions or receiving yards.

Robert Davis- Despite breaking his leg and suffering three torn knee ligaments almost exactly a year ago, Davis returned to action and easily had the most productive day among the team’s skill-position players.

The third-year pro out of Georgia State saw the field on 17 offensive snaps and dominated on the team’s second drive. Davis forced Browns’ safety Eric Murray to commit a 43-yard pass interference penalty. Three plays later, he burned passed the highly touted rookie corner Greedy Williams and took advantage of a blown coverage en route to a 46-yard walk-in touchdown, which was the first score of his pro career and the team’s only touchdown on the day. It was the longest play from scrimmage of the game. Both catches came on 3rd-and-long plays.

His only glaring error of the night was a declined holding call on Quinn’s lone catch.

Davis appears to have regained the freakazoid speed and explosiveness (98th percentile SPARQ score) that helped him get drafted in 2017.

Darvin Kidsy- The second-year receiver out of Texas Southern led the team in targets (7), receptions (5), receiving yards (86 yards), receiving first downs (2) and offensive PFF grade (79.6). His gains of 32, 27 and 16 yards were the Skins’ second, third and fourth-longest plays of the night. Kidsy also led all Washington backs and receivers in snaps (32) and routes run (18). His lone major miscue was a fumble in Cleveland territory.

Cam Sims- Sims, who led the team with 131 receiving yards in the 2018 preseason, suffered a season-ending injury on his first career regular season snap last year.

All indications are that he is once again 100% healthy, but his performance against the Browns didn’t do much to prove it. He only caught one pass (2 targets) for 6 yards in the game. He did, however, nearly haul in a 17-yard touchdown on a 3rd-and-long pass from Dwayne Haskins.

Kelvin Harmon- The team’s 2019 sixth-round pick caught two of his three targets for 17 yards and a first down. Both receptions came on the final drive of the game and the first down grab came on a 3rd-and-6 play. The incompletion ended up being intercepted by Mack Wilson, but Harmon did tackle Wilson before he could pick up any return yards.

Harmon is one of 28 players from a Power Five conference who have recorded multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the last ten years. The list is littered with players who have gone on to have successful NFL careers, such as: Brandin Cooks, Tyler Lockett, Allen Robinson, Jamison Crowder, Sammy Watkins, Tyler Boyd, Mike Williams, Amari Cooper and Mike Evans.

Jehu Chesson- Jehu Chesson played 21 snaps and ran 13 routes in the preseason opener. He caught his lone target and picked up 4 yards on the play. Of his 573 career snaps in the regular season, 483 of them have come on special teams (84%).

Brian Quick- Quick started and was out there for 22 snaps. He couldn’t haul in either of the two targets thrown in his direction on Thursday night. Since joining the team in 2017, the now 30-year-old wideout has posted the following totals (including preseason): 299 snaps, 26 targets, 18 receptions, 163 yards, 12 first downs and a touchdown. It’s time to end this experiment and let the veteran walk for good.

Steven Sims- Sims Jr. played 22 snaps and ran 12 routes in what was his professional debut. He caught the only pass thrown his way for a gain of 9 yards on 2nd-and-14.

Sims is small (under 5’9” and 180 lbs.) and he’s a pretty bad athlete (3rd percentile SPARQ score), but he put up some okay numbers at Kansas State, where he led the team in receptions and receiving yards for three straight years.

T.J. Rahming- The diminutive rookie UDFA out of Duke (5’6” and 170 pounds) played on 16 snaps, nine of which came from inside. He was targeted four times in the fourth quarter, but only hauled in one pass for a gain of 6 yards on 2nd-and-10.

Rahming is probably too small to make it in the league, but that definitely didn’t stop him in college. He never caught fewer than 43 balls or gained fewer than 571 yards in his four years with the Blue Devils.

Rahming was waived today.

TIGHT ENDS

Jordan Reed- Reed has only played in two games and on 50 snaps over the last four preseasons, so his absence from the lineup was far from shocking. Both of his appearances came in Week 3 dress rehearsals.

He is looking to bounce back from a subpar 2018 season, at least by his standards. He posted either the worst or second-worst figures of his career in the following statistics last year: receptions per game (4.2, worst), catch percentage (64.3%, worst), yards per target (6.6, 2nd worst) and yards per route run (1.68, 2nd worst). His worst campaign in terms of YPT and YPRR came just a year earlier, in 2017.

Vernon Davis- The second-oldest player on the active roster (behind Donald Penn) and the third oldest at his position in the entire league (Ben Watson and Jason Witten) is still kicking, but he did not play on Thursday. He too, sat out last year’s opener. He amazingly led the team in 20-yard plays last season, with eight of them, although, I’m afraid that says more about the lack of talent around him than it does anything else.

Jeremy Sprinkle- Sprinkle started and played 22 snaps against the Browns. He spent 13 of those snaps as a blocker (10 on runs) and ran a route on the other 9 plays.

He was targeted on a Case Keenum pass that fell incomplete and then proceeded to get called for a holding penalty on the very next play (declined). He has been responsible for almost the same number of career penalties and pressures allowed combined (6) as he has caught passes while in the NFL (7).

Sprinkle turned 25 yesterday.

Matt Flanagan- The Redskins started the game in a two-tight-end set, which allowed Flanagan to start for the third time in his NFL career. He led all Washington tight ends, with 30 snaps played. The second-year pro was targeted on three of his 12 routes (25%) and caught one of those throws for 15 yards on a 3rd-and-2 play; the Redskins finished the drive with their second and final score of the night (field goal).

Flanagan also made an appearance on two of the team’s three turnovers. He was the intended target on Haskins’ second interception and made the tackle on the Browns’ defender after Darvin Kidsy’s fumble was lost.

He made three regular season appearances with the Skins last year (Weeks 15-17) and played a total of 61 snaps in those contests.

J.P. Holtz- Flanagan’s predecessor at Pittsburgh, J.P. Holtz played on 20 snaps, with 13 of those coming as a run blocker. Holtz was targeted on one of his six snaps in route. His 6-yard grab gave the Redskins just enough yards to move the chains on third down. The offense finished the drive with their second and final score of the night (field goal).

The fourth-year pro has never played a single snap in the regular season.

Donald Parham- Parham made several mistakes over the course of his 14-snap NFL debut and didn’t really do anything good to even the scales either. He dropped his only target of the game, committed a holding penalty on a third-and-long rushing play two snaps later and, on the first snap of the following drive, he was flagged for an illegal block infraction that negated a 19-yard Shaun Wilson reception. His 26.5 PFF grade for the game easily ranked dead last on the Washington offense.

This was certainly not an encouraging start for the 21-year-old tight end, but there’s still some reason for optimism. For one, he stands at over 6’8”, which makes him one of the tallest players in the entire league. More importantly, he had the following stat line in his final two college seasons: 19 games, 143 receptions, 2,136 yards and 14 touchdowns. Yes, I know he played at a very small school (Stetson), but those are still very impressive numbers, nonetheless.

RUNNING BACKS

Derrius Guice- Guice missed his rookie year after tearing his ACL against the Patriots in last year’s preseason opener, which took place almost exactly a year ago.

If you want to get cised for Guice than check out my 100 Stat Salute to him.

Chris Thompson- CT didn’t suit up for the preseason opener for the second straight year. As a matter of fact, he didn’t play at all last August because he was still recovering from an injury that occurred the previous year. Thompson has been limited to 10 games and about 300 snaps in each of the last two seasons.

Adrian Peterson- It’s wasn’t surprising at all to see the 14-year vet and future Hall of Famer sit this one out. AP will attempt to become the third player in league history to rush for over 1,000 yards at the age of 34 or older (John Henry Johnson and John Riggins x 2).

Samaje Perine- Jay Gruden raved about Samaje Perine’s progress this offseason, but any newfound improvement for the third-year RB was not evident against Cleveland. The former Oklahoma Sooner got the rock on six runs, but only gained a total of 13 yards and picked up one first down (2-yard gain on 3rd-and-1) on those plays. Practically all of his production on the ground came from a 7-yard rush on 3rd-and-22 that the defense was happy to allow him.

To be fair, he did have a 14-yarder get negated by a holding call, though.

Perine caught one of his two targets, but only picked up a single yard on the play.

He also struggled as a pass protector, where he allowed a hurry and whiffed on a block that could’ve prevented a sack on Haskins.

Even if you include the preseason, Perine has still only averaged 3.54 yards per carry and has only scored one touchdown on the ground (2 total). His 14% career first-down rate doesn’t inspire any confidence, either.

Byron Marshall- Marshall was out there with the offense for just over a quarter of their snaps (18, 26%). He carried the ball five times for a total of 17 yards. His five rushes gained or lost the following yardage figures: 1, -6, 9, 0, and 13. The 13-yarder came on the team’s field goal drive and represented his only first down on the night.

Receiving is his specialty, but he actually fared worse in that regard. He was unable to catch both of the targets thrown his way, with one of them being intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He didn’t make the tackle on the play, but did successfully take down Greedy Williams after Haskins threw his second pick of the night.

Shaun Wilson- Wilson ran the ball four times on his 14 snaps, but finished the day with just 4 yards (1.0 YPC). He ran for gains of eight yards and one yard and took one rush for no gain, but he was credited for a 5-yard loss on a fumble recovery. This means his average on actual rushing plays would be 3.0 instead of 1.0.

He caught his lone target and gained 19 yards on the play, seven of which were negated by an illegal block.

The second-year runner rushed for at least 400 yards in all four of his seasons at Duke, but what is even more impressive is that he finished his college career with 81 catches for 725 yards and 6 receiving touchdowns.

He made five appearances on the Bucs’ offense in 2018 (22 snaps).

Craig Reynolds- Reynolds led all Redskins running backs in snaps (19), rushes (9) and rushing yards (19). His production was boom or bust as all of his runs either went for no gain or a loss (four runs) or gained at least 4 yards (five runs). He also gained 5 yards on his lone target and reception.

He was decent with the ball in his hands, but that is something which can’t be said about his work in pass protection. He allowed a pair of pressures on his five pass-blocking snaps, with one of those ending up going for a 13-yard sack on a 3rd-and-7 play.

Reynolds is a decent athlete who put up solid numbers in college (even for a DII school). Like Wilson, he particularly shined in the passing game, where he caught 147 balls for 1,539 yards and 9 touchdowns.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Brandon Scherff- The walk-year guard stayed on the sideline for Week 1 of the preseason just like he did last year. A torn triceps muscle caused him to miss eight games and in all likelihood his third straight trip to the Pro Bowl.

It’s baffling to me that the Redskins have not yet given an extension to their best offensive player outside of Trent Williams, who may very well have played his last snap in a Burgundy and Gold uniform himself. Just make him the highest paid interior O-lineman in the league get this over with already. The team simply can’t afford to lose two of its top five players back-to-back like that.

Morgan Moses- Moses didn’t play either on Thursday. He is the only Redskins lineman who has played in all 64 games the last four years, which is ten more games than Scherff has played in and 15 more than Williams.

Chase Roullier- Starting center Chase Roullier did not play either. The Wyoming product was the only offensive player on the team who didn’t miss a single snap last year (1,020 snaps).

Geron Christian- The 2018 third rounder made his first appearance since tearing his MCL in Week 10 of last season, which was also his second career game.

Christian played 48 snaps, committed a holding penalty that was declined and allowed one pressure (a hurry). This was the first time in his career in which he allowed fewer than 3 pressures when playing more than 3 snaps.

Ereck Flowers- Flowers started at left guard and was out there for just under half of the offense’s snaps (33). This was the first time he played on the interior line in his entire five-year pro career.

Flowers’ holding penalty on a 2nd-and-10 play negated a 14-yard Samaje Perine run. He only allowed one pressure, but it was a QB hit on a 3rd down inside the Washington 20-yard line. This is actually probably a win for him considering, he allowed three or more pressures in eight of his nine starts in 2018.

Tony Bergstrom- The 33-year-old vet started at center and remained in the lineup for 52 of the 68 offensive snaps. He allowed just one pressure (a hurry) on his 30-pass blocking snaps in the game.

Injuries have forced Bergstrom to start in 11 games for the Redskins over the past two seasons.

Zac Kerin- The sixth-year interior lineman started at right guard and stayed in for 49 snaps. He allowed a hit and a hurry.

Kerin played 48 snaps over the course of two games last year for the Redskins.

Timon Parris- Parris started at right tackle and played on a team-high 55 snaps. He allowed a game-high 4 total pressures, one of which was a sack. Parris was flagged for committing holding and false start infractions (15 total yards), as well.

Donald Penn- Trent Williams’ likely replacement didn’t start, but he did take 21 snaps at left tackle. The 36-year-old did not commit any penalties, but he did allow two hurries on his 14 pass-blocking snaps.

Last season was the first time in his 12 years in the league that Donald Penn didn’t both start at least 14 games (4) and earn a PFF grade above 70.0 (47.0).

Wes Martin- The Skins’ fourth-round pick fared well in his first NFL game. Martin did not allow a single pressure or commit a penalty across his 22 snaps at left guard. He and former Redskin, Kyle Kalis, were the only lineman in the game who played 20-plus snaps and did not allow any pressures.

Hugh Thornton- Thornton, who retired from football back in May of 2017, stepped foot on an NFL field for the time since 2015.

He replaced Zac Kerin and took the final 19 snaps of the game at right guard. He didn’t allow any pressures in the game, but he did earn one of the lowest PFF grades given to an O-lineman this week (37.7).

Ross Pierschbacher- The rookie fifth rounder, Pierschbacher, relieved Tony Bergstrom at center and played 16 snaps on Thursday night. He too, was perfect in pass protection. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who knows he only allowed 4 total pressures on 422 pass-blocking snaps as a senior at Alabama last year.

Jerald Foster- The rookie UDFA out of Nebraska played all 13 of his snaps in the fourth quarter and at the left guard position. He didn’t allow a pressure on any of his ten plays in pass protection.

Blake Hance- Hance came in to play right tackle at the same time Robinson and Foster entered the game. He did not allow any pressures,as well. The rookie out of Northwestern was signed by the Bills back in May, but was released after about two weeks with the team.

Corey Robinson- Robinson was recently signed to add another layer of Trent Williams insurance for the left tackle position. He played on 13 snaps and kept his QB clean, but he did commit a holding penalty that negated a 5-yard Josh Woodrum scramble.

Robinson is a vet with four years, 27 games, 9 starts and 592 total snaps under his belt. Robinson’s experience is a nice asset to have, but he just hasn’t fared that well when he has been on the field. He’s given up six sacks, allowed 28 pressures and committed six penalties in his career. He has also never taken a regular season snap at left tackle.

ALL OFFENSIVE PLAYERS

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