How Will WFT Defense Make Up For Loss of CB Benjamin St-Juste?

Rookie cornerback Benjamin St-Juste has been ruled out with a concussion for Week 4 as his Washington Football Team defense will look to get on track against the 1-2 Atlanta Falcons.

"As he goes through the process of the protocol...if there's any slowdown in one of the particular steps, then we just got to wait until the next week," Washington head coach Ron Rivera said of St-Juste's path to returning to action. "This is truly about player safety and the player has responded well to the treatment. But he's not where he needs to be to be eligible to play on Sunday, so we'll be fine."

Will they be fine though?

He's not a first-round NFL Draft pick, didn't have the highest buzz around him entering the year, and hasn't exactly been a ballhawk in the first three weeks of his career. Still, for a defensive squad looking to get better than they have been in the past three weeks, he's been one of the better cover men, and missing him isn't going to make things any easier for the WFT.

Not intending to make a mountain out of a molehill, but right on the surface, missing St-Juste means the team will be without the defensive back who has played the third-most coverage snaps in 2021, behind starters William Jackson III and Kendall Fuller.

Playing in one of the most difficult positions to transition from college to NFL gameplay, St-Juste has played a disciplined brand of defense, at least from a penalty standpoint. While Jackson and Fuller each have flags against them in coverage, the rookie has yet to be flagged for an infraction.

While he has given up a touchdown catch this season, St-Juste's 57.1 percent passes completed against rate is tied for third-best on the team with safety Kamren Curl, while safety Landon Collins and Jackson lead the team allowing completions on less than 50 percent of throws against them this season.

Finally, quarterbacks passing on Washington's rookie defensive back are doing so earning a 96.5 quarterback rating thus far. Among rookie defensive backs with at least 100 coverage snaps, that ranks fourth behind Paulson Adebo (New Orleans Saints), Nate Hobbs (Las Vegas Raiders), and Asante Samuel Jr. (Los Angeles Chargers).

Not bad for the 12th defensive back selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Nobody is going to claim the loss of St-Juste means the WFT defense will be without a complete lockdown defender. He's still learning, of course, and this might be the biggest loss of the weekend as well.

Missing the opportunity to continue working to improve with his defensive teammates, in a week where the team needs to come away with a win. Sure, mental reps and film study will continue the rookie's education. But nothing can measure up to the lessons live snaps provide a young NFL player.

So, the team on the field will be a big contributor this weekend. The cornerback with the fourth-highest coverage snap count, and one spot behind St-Juste, is Torry McTyer. He as nine coverage snaps. A difference of 105 reps in 2021.

While we shouldn't see McTyer taking up reps alone for the absence of St-Juste, how defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio covers for the absence of his rookie while still looking for ways to generate a pass rush, is going to be one of the keys to which team comes out on top in Week 4.