Former Alabama stars lead underrated Washington Redskins trio

A couple former Alabama stars lead an intriguing young trio on defense for the Washington Redskins. How far can Da’Ron Payne and Jonathan Allen take this D?

On the latest NFL Mocks Podcast, Brooks Austin and I discussed all things NFC East as we prepare for the upcoming 2019 NFL season. The Washington Redskins are somewhat of an afterthought from an outside perspective with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys the top dogs in the division, but that doesn’t mean Washington is devoid of talent.

As a matter of fact, it’s quite the opposite.

With some hope at the QB position in the form of Dwayne Haskins, Washington is an intriguing team to watch this season and if their offensive line can stay healthy, Haskins can succeed as a rookie.

But the offense isn’t the current strength of the Redskins — it’s their defense.

As a matter of fact, the Redskins have one of the most underrated, intriguing young trios of players on that side of the ball in the NFL.

In the last three drafts, the Redskins have re-shaped their defensive front and have done so by capitalizing on some pretty bizarre draft day falls for certain players.

I talked about this trio on the most recent podcast, which you can check out on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spreaker (below).

Let’s take a closer look at this trio.

Da’Ron Payne, DL

The Redskins took Payne with their first round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he did not disappoint.

Length. Strength. Versatility.

Da’Ron Payne’s game is so much fun and he can play all over the line and have success for the Redskins. He does such a good job of playing with leverage and he uses his long arms and lower body power to easily stack interior linemen and make plays in the backfield with his quickness.

This guy has a big future ahead.

Jonathan Allen, DL

Jonathan Allen was the Redskins’ first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He was expected to be a top five pick most of the 2016 college season, but some issues with his athletic measurables and concerns about injuries caused him to fall to the middle of the first round.

The Redskins were probably looking around their draft room trying to figure out if it was some kind of joke that he was available to them.

He had eight sacks in his sophomore campaign in the NFL, proving that his Combine testing was vastly overrated.

He only played five games as a rookie, but he broke out in a big way in 2018. The future for this Redskins front looks extremely bright with Allen as a headliner. He can play the base defensive end position in their 3-4 look but he crosses inside as well as any defensive lineman I’ve scouted in the last five years.

Montez Sweat, EDGE

In 2017, the Redskins stole Jonathan Allen. In 2018, it was Da’Ron Payne. In 2019, they took Dwayne Haskins and then doubled up later by trading up into the first round  to snatch up the falling Montez Sweat, the most dominant player at Senior Bowl week and one of the most productive edge players in the SEC last year.

Sweat, who ran a 4.42 at the 2019 Combine, has the type of elite speed off the edge teams covet and some — including myself — felt like he was a lock for the top 10 picks before rumors of an injury situation popped up.

Imagining his combination of speed, power, and length coming off the edge with Payne and Allen playing down on the line is really something else. Luckily, we won’t have to wait long to see it in action.

These three together give the Redskins a fascinating group of players who can terrorize the quarterback but also play the run exceptionally well. They’re all still very young, so this is also a trio the Redskins can watch grow together for the foreseeable future.