The Washington Redskins made another interesting roster move on Thursday morning, just as the 2019 season officially began with the opening of training camp.
The Redskins signed running back Shaun Wilson, a second-year player formerly with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to ESPN’s John Keim.
Wilson signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent in 2018 after playing his college ball at Duke. He stands at 5’9″ and 185 pounds. Wilson played in just five games last season, where he racked up eight total touches.
The question about this signing is why the Redskins felt that they needed another running back on their depth chart in the first place. With Adrian Peterson set to go after an impressive season in 2018, paired with second-year RB Derrius Guice looking to have a breakout year one season removed from an injury, the touches out of the backfield are all but taken.
Chris Thompson is likely to find a role in the offense as a change of pace back on third downs, and if we are to believe the words of head coach Jay Gruden this offseason, Samaje Perine has improved a lot and has a chance to garner some playing time.
Maybe Washington wanted to bring in Wilson in order to motivate the back end of the RB depth chart. Maybe he has a legitimate chance to make the 53-man roster. On the first day of training camp, it is way too early to tell.
