Offensive Report Card: Washington Football Team 'first-quarter grades'

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Offensive Report Card: Washington Football Team 'first-quarter grades'

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1/5 SLIDES © Getty Images

Quarterback: C-

If a 'C' grade is average, and likely goes along with what we were expecting to see, Dwayne Haskins has slightly subverted expectations, to be completely honest. He's not exactly failing just yet, but he's a couple of missed assignments away from getting called into the principle's office. Through the first couple of games this year, it appeared that we were starting to see the leap that many expected from Haskins, after a nice game against the Eagles, and a decent performance against the Cardinals. Then that Cleveland game came around, and four turnovers dropped his GPA quickly. Things took a slight upturn this past week against the Ravens, and Haskins is back on the right track to sustaining a passing grade, but so far this year he is hovering dangerously close to the line of demarcation between riding the pine or continuing his progression.

2/5 SLIDES © AP

Running Back: B

This position group would have gotten a lot worse of a grade had it not been for Antonio Gibson's breakout game this past week against the Ravens. Through the first three games of the year, the RBBC (running-back-by-committee) in Washington had rushed for just 300 total yards and four touchdowns, without a clear picture of who was the top guy, someone you could rely on. It was clear that the team wasn't extremely confident in extending double-digit carries to any of the backs, which led to an added pressure on Dwayne Haskins to move the ball downfield. Then Week 4 came, and we finally got to see Gibson play without the training wheels. He rewarded us with 128 total yards and one touchdown, seemingly taking over the role of lead-back in an offense that badly needed it. The breakout game acted as more of a not to the future than anything, and some confidence can be felt surrounding the Washington backfield for the first time in years.

3/5 SLIDES © AP

Wide Receiver: C+

The only thing keeping this position group from a failing grade is the performance of Terry McLaurin, who has been an A+ thus far in the season. Outside of the second-year star — who is in the top 5 in the NFL when it comes to total receiving yards, receptions for 15+ yards, broken tackles among receivers, and yards after the catch — this is an abysmal group of players that can directly attribute to the lack of progression from QB Dwayne Haskins. Steven Sims has been dealing with injuries, but even when he was healthy there wasn't a ton of reason for excitement; Dontrelle Inman is a decent piece, but he often disappears in the offense; Antonio Gandy-Golden has been a complete non-factor; Isaiah Wright has been solid, though there is still a lot of growing to do to become a legitimate piece. If Washington is going to get better this season, this is the one position group that is going to need to step it up in a major way. If you can't give Haskins anyone reliable downfield, it's hard to ask him to be much more than mediocre.

Tight End: D

We weren't expecting much out of this position when the season started, but it's still been a bit of a disappointment. Logan Thomas is the TE1, and so far he hasn't done enough with the opportunity afforded to him. Among tight ends in the NFL, he is near the top of the league in targets, but he's failed to come down with anything near a respectable amount of catches. https://twitter.com/MikeClayNFL/status/1310666026703622147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1310666026703622147%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwashingtonfootballwire.usatoday.com%2F2020%2F09%2F29%2Flogan-thomas-is-not-taking-advantage-of-his-opportunity-in-washington%2F We've seen very little of Jeremy Sprinkle or Marcus Baugh this year, so it's clear that Thomas is the clear-cut guy that Washington feels comfortable going with. Unfortunately he hasn't been good enough to lift up the rest of this offense just yet, but hopefully, that will change.

Offensive Line: C+

Despite injuries and a host of new faces on the left side of the line, I'd say that Washington's front-five has performed a bit better than expected so far through the 2020 season. They have unfortunately allowed Dwayne Haskins to be sacked 13 times, which is the fifth-most of any QB in the NFL, but some of those are less on the front line and more on the passer himself. With a new starter at LT, LG, and RG, it's hard to expect much out of this young group of players that is still finding their footing in the league. Things will hopefully get better as time goes on, but it hasn't been as bad as it could be through four games.