The No. 232-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Steven Daniels on Monday was waived -- designated as injured -- by the Washington Redskins. The team moves forward with six inside linebackers on the 90-man roster.
The Washington Redskins on Monday waived rookie linebacker Steven Daniels, designated as injured.
[Update: Daniels has cleared waivers and is now on Redskins' Reserve/Injured list.]
Before the Redskins head to Richmond for training camp, check out who all is on the roster position-by-position. Today, it is the Inside Linebackers.
Daniels – a seventh-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft out of Boston College – suffered a torn labrum during one of the team's practices at the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center in Richmond, Va.
"It just hurts. I've never been without a football season," Daniels said on Friday. "But now I don't have a football season right now. Just have to take it day-by-day, stay learning from the older guys and take it step-by-step."
The Redskins' inside linebacker corps, even without Daniels, remains stout.
Will Compton and Mason Foster are the team's starting Mike and Mo linebackers respectively on the first unofficial depth chart, while Perry Riley Jr. and Su'a Cravens are jointly listed behind Foster and Martrell Spaight behind Compton.
Washington also has Carlos Fields and Terence Garvin at the inside linebacker position, as the two 25 year olds have helped man the third-team defense throughout training camp.
While Compton has secured the starting Mike linebacker spot, the team continues to evaluate Foster and Riley Jr. for the starting Mo linebacker role.
Compton has experience with both veterans and is comfortable joining forces with either one of them in the lineup.
"They are similar players," Compton said of Foster and Riley Jr. "Both are very athletic, both can thump. They can get downhill quick and they are easy to communicate with. I don't really have… when somebody else comes in, there is really no real downfall of any of them. When somebody comes in, I've played with both of them. We both communicate well, all of us communicate well. They could probably even play the Mike and play together and communicate well. But, they're both very good players, both very physical."
Spaight, meanwhile, has impressed throughout camp after suffering a season-ending concussion last September.
"Spaight is having one heck of a camp so far," Redskins head coach Jay Gruden noted last week. "He's turned a lot of heads."
Garvin – who was a special teams standout during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers – recorded an interception off of rookie quarterback Nate Sudfeld last week and Fields stopped one of the third-team offense's two-minute drives with a pass defensed.
Thursday's preseason game at the Atlanta Falcons will provide the coaching staff an extended look at the corps.
"The consistent production we're looking for, and obviously when you put the pads on in the game and how they react and how they make their calls, and how they pursue to the football and forced fumbles, getting in passing lanes, all that stuff will be the determination at that position," Gruden said.
