NFL Personnel Sources on Redskins D-Line: "It could be special"

"It could be special," said an NFL personnel source to John McMullen of Eagle Maven, in the first installment of an NFC East personnel series.

The Washington Redskins defensive line was ranked first out of the four NFC East teams and that might/will be the only time that happens.

Here's what the NFL personnel sources said about the Redskins defensive front.

“Who is going to block those guys?” a former AFC scout rhetorically asked SI.com.

Chase Young, the No. 2 overall pick, is the fifth first-round pick new coach Ron Rivera and DC Jack Del Rio will have at their disposal.

Young, almost universally regarded as the best pure football player in the 2020 draft, joins Montez Sweat and Ryan Kerrigan on the outside while Jonathan Allen and run-stuffing nose tackle Daron Payne on the interior. That doesn’t even factor in former Temple star Matt Ioannidis, who led the Redskins with 8.5 sacks last season.

“Young is more complete coming in than Nick Bosa last year and you saw what he did for the 49ers,” the former AFC personnel executive said. “You have to factor in Rivera and Del Rio as well, Those guys will get the most of that group.

“It could be special.”

Quite honestly, if it's not, there's an enormous problem. There's absolutely no reason and no excuses.

Last year's unit was good but I wouldn't even come close to saying it was special or great.

Coaching should not be an issue or an excuse anymore. Former Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky was loathe by fans, who blamed him for every problem under the sun. They/you were wrong of course.

Jim Tomsula (who now coaches the Cowboys defensive line) is widely regarded as one of the best defensive line coaches and he couldn't make this group completely dominant.

However, the defensive line was let down by the linebackers and defensive backs many more times than the opposite.

Now you add a big dose of Jack Del Rio to a helping of Ron Rivera's mind and BOOM!

The Redskins defensive DVOA (Defensive Value over Average) per FootballOutsiders.com last year was 7.9%, which ranked 24th in the NFL for that category.

They had a weighted defense of 6.9%, which also ranked 23th, way ahead of Rivera's former team in Carolina who came in at 14.2%. Note: The higher the positive number, the worse the performance.

The Redskins rushing defense graded out a MINUS 0.5% which is not bad, but still 24th in the NFL in 2019 per Football Outsiders.

The pass defense was 15.9%, which also ranked 24th.

Clearly the defensive line is not responsible for everything that goes right or wrong, but a defensive unit starts up front and a great defensive line still represents your best chance to destroy the integrity of an offensive attack.

For the rest of the NFC East defensive line ranking and analysis, please check out the entire piece by McMullen on the Eagle Maven site run by Ed Kracz.

Redskins fans - do you believe the defensive line will be dominant this year? Or just good? Sign up free, register and join us by voicing your opinion on our community pages and right below!

Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.