"True, it hasn't applied to all the starters, and the team has opted for second-rounders instead of firsts, but you can still see the vague outlines of the plan. Three recent second-round draft picks - safety Quan Martin, chosen by Ron Rivera in 2023, and cornerbacks Mike Sainristil (2024) and Trey Amos (2025), selected by Peters - supposedly form the core of a new and improved secondary."
"You can blame the poor performance of Washington's young defensive backs on injury. You can blame it on a below-average pass rush. Both are legitimate explanations. Losing safety Will Harris may have hurt more than anyone realized at the time. Veteran Marshon Lattimore was beginning to shake off the rust of his 2024 injury when he went down once again with a torn ACL. That might be the last time he sees the field in Washington."
Three recent second-round draft picks — safety Quan Martin (2023) and cornerbacks Mike Sainristil (2024) and Trey Amos (2025) — are positioned as the core of Washington's secondary under Adam Peters. The team replicated a previous strategy of concentrating draft capital at one position group, but with second-round selections instead of first-rounders. Early returns for the plan have been worse than the earlier defensive line experiment from 2021–2023. Contributing factors include key injuries (Will Harris, Marshon Lattimore's torn ACL) and an underwhelming pass rush after Dante Fowler Jr. left and Dorance Armstrong Jr. was hurt. Accurate diagnosis of these problems is essential for a quick rebound after a disappointing 2025.
Read at Riggo's Rag
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