It was an underwhelming first half of the season for the Washington Redskins by any measure, but the unwillingness to decide on a path forward might be the most frustrating piece of it all.
While the team is 1-8 while getting things straight on their bye week, there are still a few players on the roster who have had some nice games. Let’s take a dive into what kind of numbers some of the team’s key players are on pace to finish with this season.
Adrian Peterson: 860 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns
Peterson turned all heads when rushing for over 1,000 yards last season at the age of 33, and he would possibly be looking to top that, if it weren’t for Derrius Guice to return to the lineup in Week 11 and expectedly take over some of the workload.
Through the eight games in which AP has played this year, he’s topped 100 yards rushing twice, and 75 yards four times. His touchdown numbers are down due to the Redskins’ significant lack of ability to score points, but Peterson has proved to be a big difference-makers all over the field.
Terry McLaurin: 58 catches for 825 yards and 7 touchdowns
McLaurin started his NFL career on an absolute statistical tear, being the first rookie to have 60+ yards receiving and a touchdown in his first two games since Calvin Johnson did so in 2007. That’s some nice company to be mentioned with right out of the gates.
As he was arguably the main benefactor of Washington’s early-season offensive success under a surprisingly adequate Case Keenum, it will be hard for McLaurin to keep up this pace throughout the rest of the season — over the last three weeks combined, he has just 89 yards receiving and zero touchdowns.
Dwayne Haskins: 125-for-210, 1,175 yards, 7 touchdowns, 11 interceptions.
Haskins got a late start to his season, with his first complete game coming just last week against the Buffalo Bills. We saw some marked improvement in that contest, with no interceptions thrown and a solid completion percentage, but it was still nothing to write home about.
We expect some things to start clicking from here on out as the rookie continues to get more comfortable in the offense and develops a connection with his receivers, but don’t expect anything crazy to pop out on the box scores.
Paul Richardson: 41 catches for 483 yards and 5 touchdowns
Richardson has been relegated to the WR2 position in Washington due to the breakout from McLaurin, but he has done well so far in that role with two touchdowns and a solid catch-rate.
With a hopeful uptick in offensive production as the season goes on and Haskins gets more comfortable in the pocket, we can see Richardson finding the end zone a few more times before all is said and done.
Landon Collins: 151 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles and 4 QB hits
The Redskins gave Collins the big bucks this past offseason, and so far it has paid off handsomely. While he’s been roaming the secondary all season and made plays all over the field, Collins has racked up a team-high 79 total tackles, five of which have gone for a loss.
The defense as a whole has stepped up in Washington, and Collins has been at the heart of it all.
