Yesterday in front of a wet and soggy home crowd, the Washington Redskins watched their young trio of defensive linemen come of age and make their mark in a 31-17 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Over the past three seasons, the Redskins have drafted linemen that they felt would be an intricate part of their future along the defensive line.
Three seasons ago, the Redskins drafted Matt Ioannidis out of Temple in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft. Two years ago, the Redskins selected Jonathan Allen in the first round of the 2017 draft. And last year, the Redskins took Allen’s college teammate at Alabama, Daron Payne, in the first round.
The trio is expected to produce big results for the Burgundy and Gold and be fixtures for the next decade or so. Yesterday, time sped up and the future was now as the trio was a huge reason Packers All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers was frequently down on the ground and under duress.
On the day, the trio produced all four sacks by the Redskins defense.
4 things we learned from Redskins 31-17 win over Packers
Allen played his best game this season and finished the day with two sacks and a combined five tackles. Allen’s 2017 rookie campaign was cut short due to a lisfranc (foot) injury. He seems to be rounding into the play he was showing last year before the injury and could be in store for a monster campaign.
Jonathan Allen has had his best game of the season today. He has registered two sacks and a few hurries. #Redskins
— Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewisJr) September 23, 2018
Ioannidis was released and placed on the Redskins practice squad as a rookie in 2016 because the team needed for him to get stronger and brush up on his technique. Now, the former Temple product has become one of the Redskins strongest pound-for-pound players and showed that strength in bull rushing Packers right tackle, Bryan Bulaga. Ioannidis pushed Bulaga into Rodgers to record his third sack of the season.
Payne was drafted to be a pocket collapse presence and anchor in the middle of the Redskins defensive line. The rookie is showing the ability to do more and recorded his first ever NFL sack against Rodgers and the Packers.
On the day, the young trio amassed 12 combined tackles and four sacks. on the season they have produced 25 combined tackles, six sacks, and one forced fumble.
If the tandem can continue to pose problems for opposing offensive lines, the Redskins could have a defensive front that by seasons end challenges as one of the NFL’s best units.