With the 2020 regular season wrapped up, Pro Football Focus came out with its end-of-season rankings.
Among those, several Washington Football Team players and position groups made the cut as some of the best in the league. Here are PFF's rankings of Washington's players and position groups:
Individuals:
DE Chase Young: Overall grade of 87.2
Chase Young had an impressive rookie season, closing out the season with 32 tackles, 7.5 sacks, four pass deflections, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries, one of which was a returned for a touchdown. Not only did Young make a strong case for him to become the Defensive Rookie of the Year, but he also received a grade of 87.2 from PFF, the highest amongst all defensive rookies and the third-highest grade given to a rookie defensive end since 2006.
S Jeremy Reaves: 81.2
After head coach Ron Rivera took a chance on Jeremy Reaves, the third-year safety had a breakout year, finishing the season with 24 combined tackles, one sack, two pass deflections and an interception. PFF gave Reaves a grade of 81.2, making him the fifth-highest graded safety in the NFL.
C Chase Roullier: 76.8
Center Chase Roullier is the only player on the Washington Football Team to play every snap of every game this season. By the end of this year, PFF gave Roullier a grade of 76.8 for the regular season, the fourth-highest amongst all centers in the league. Since Roullier was drafted in 2017, his play has only improved year after year, which led to Washington signing him to a four-year contract extension in December.
S Kamren Curl: 68.0
Another rookie that had a standout year was safety Kamren Curl. The seventh-round draft pick finished his debut season with 88 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Curl's performance from this season received a grade of 68.0, making him the highest-graded rookie safety. He just beat out Carolina's Jeremy Chinn, who is a candidate for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award
Position Groups
Pass Rush: 5th
There's no denying the amount of depth and talent Washington has on its defensive line. With weapons like Young, Montez Sweat, Ryan Kerrigan, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, Washington ended the year with PFF's fifth best pass-rush defense in the league.
"Chase Young put up an 87.1 PFF grade on the year that trailed only 2011 Aldon Smith, 2011 Von Miller and 2019 Nick Bosa in terms of overall grades for rookie edge defenders in the past decade," said PFF's Ben Linsey. "That said, the best and most consistent pass rusher for Washington throughout the year was Jonathan Allen on the interior. Allen's 17.0% pass-rush win rate was a top-10 mark at the position -- he was a much more disruptive force than his two sacks would suggest."
Offensive Line: 6th
Before the season started, PFF ranked Washington's offensive line 29th in the league. After steady performances from Roullier, Morgan Moses, Brandon Scherff, Wes Schweitzer and Cornelius Lucas, this dominant offensive line found themselves as the sixth-best offensive line in the league.
"The biggest question mark coming into the year surrounded who would win the left tackle job. Geron Christian won the job and started there for six games before being placed on Injured Reserve with a knee injury. Still, his replacement, Cornelius Lucas, actually provided some stability at the position with a 78.3 overall grade and an 83.1 grade in pass protection that ranked 11th at the position over the regular season," said PFF's Ben Linsey. "Solid play from Lucas and Wes Schweitzer on the left side, paired with top-10 grades from each of Chase Roullier, Brandon Scherff and Morgan Moses at the other starting spots, resulted in a much-improved group from a season ago."
Secondary: 7th
Before the season, PFF ranked Washington's secondary 27th. And while Washington had troubles with its secondary early in the year, multiple switches led to a solid group consisting of Curl, Reaves, Kendall Fuller and Ronald Darby. As the 2020 season came to a close, Washington's secondary rose to the top as PFF ranked the position group aseventh in the league.
"Ronald Darby led Washington's secondary in his first season with the team, and he was wildly inconsistent — a trend throughout his NFL career. Darby allowed the second-most deep passing yards in coverage among all defensive backs (328), but at the same time, he led the league in forced incompletions (20)," said PFF's Ben Linsey. "In his return to Washington, D.C., Kendall Fuller played predominantly on the outside for the first time in his career. And it went quite well. He allowed only 0.84 yards per coverage snap on the outside, ranking 15th among 90 qualifiers."