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With all the attention paid to the signing of athletic freak Sammis Reyes on Tuesday, another Washington roster addition went virtually unnoticed. Offensive Guard Beau Benzschawel was waived by the Texans on Monday and claimed by Washington on Tuesday afternoon. Washington is Benzshawel’s third NFL team.
Benzschawel is 6’6” and 309 pounds. He played 4 years at Wisconsin following a redshirt freshman season, and began his professional career as an undrafted free agent in Detroit in 2019, where he was active for two regular season games as a rookie, seeing the field for 6 special teams snaps. He had two stints on the Detroit practice squad in 2020 before being signed to the Texans practice squad late in the year. He was promoted to the active roster for the Texans’ Week 17 game, and played 7 special teams snaps.
To date, then, his NFL regular season career consists of 13 special teams snaps in three games with two teams.
This looks very much like a camp body signing, adding to the long list of interior offensive linemen on the Washington roster:
- Chase Roullier
- Brandon Scherff
- Wes Schweitzer
- Wes Martin
- (Saahdiq Charles T/G)
- Keith Ismael
- Tyler Larsen
- Michael Leidtke
- Beau Benzshawel
This seems like a matter of the front office and coaching staff throwing a lot against the wall to see what sticks. The team should be looking to upgrade the offensive line, both at tackle and guard, in the upcoming draft. With Brandon Scherff playing on his second franchise tag and no sign of a long-term deal, the team needs to be looking to the future as well.
Related:
Washington Football Team depth chart at 10 April 2021
Claiming Beau Benzshawel off of waivers is not the move that is likely to set the team up for the future, but it does add a low cost lineman ($780K this season, $895K in 2022) with NFL experience to the roster and expand the pool of competition to earn a backup interior offensive line position for the upcoming season.
As I often mention, while Benzshawel may not make the Week 1 roster, after spending training camp with the team, he could be a late season signing to the active roster as injuries bite in Weeks 16, 17 and 18.