Here is what you need to know on Saturday, August 25, seven days before the Washington Redskins cut their roster down to 53 players.
Talking points
Here are players who made their stock go up against the Broncos last night and others who saw a decline in their value.
Stock up—We’ll start with the obvious. Adrian Peterson exceeded the expectations of most by running for 56 yards on 11 carries. He converted a fourth and short in style, bouncing outside, making a stop and go move, and picking up 15 yards. Even his little plays were impressive as he consistently ran for more yards than the play was blocked for.
Stock down—This was not a good day for Alex Smith. He got sacked the first time he dropped back to pass and on the next snap he didn’t see Paul Richardson, who was running with him past the first down marker. Smith threw into coverage, nearly getting picked off. In the second quarter, he did complete a couple of passes to Richardson that, along with Peterson's fourth-down run, set up a field goal. In a real game, he would have been able to have time to work his way out of his slow start so the fact that it’s preseason needs to be considered. Still, since we only have the small sample size to examine, the stock still goes down.
Stock up—Kevin Hogan has regularly been in the "stock down" category in these posts. Late in the fourth quarter of the Jets game, he had bottomed out to the level of a penny stock. But he completed a few passes that set up the game-winning field goal against New York. Last night he entered in the fourth quarter and led two touchdown drives, topping them off with TD passes to Darvin Kidsy and Simmie Cobbs. He still seems to be unlikely to make the 53-man roster, but he has put himself in a position where a good showing in the fourth preseason game on Thursday will not be viewed as a fluke.
Stock down—The Redskins knew that Troy Apke had a lot to learn but I’ll bet they were hoping he had learned more by now. A lot of defenders looked bad on Emmanuel Sanders’ 27-yard touchdown run but Apke looked the worst, just not really knowing what to do as Sanders approached. He committed a holding penalty on a punt return that cost about 20 yards of field position and he missed a tackle that turned a short gain on a swing pass into 22 yards. And he contributed no positive plays to make up for the problems. Apke’s status as a fourth-round pick makes it very likely that he will make the 53-man roster, but the Redskins may be in trouble if he has to take meaningful snaps at safety this year.
On the record
I asked Peterson if he wants to play in the fourth preseason game: "We’ll see, I’ll talk to coach [Jay Gruden] and we will go from there. I have two and a half weeks ahead of me before the season opener and based off how I felt today, I am very excited."
Comment: Is it just me or is that a “hell no”?
The agenda
Today: Off day
Upcoming: Final cut (Sept. 1) 7 days; Season opener @ Cardinals (Sept. 9) 15 days; Home opener vs. Colts (Sept. 16) 22 days
In case you missed it
- Five observations from Redskins' plodding preseason loss
- Good news is bad Redskins loss doesn't mean much
- Adrian Peterson doesn't care what you call him
- Instant analysis: Redskins Week 3 loss to Broncos
- You should be encouraged by Adrian Peterson's debut
- Cousins believed the Redskins made the most sense for him in free agency
Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page,Facebook.com/TandlerNBCS and follow him on Twitter @TandlerNBCS and on Instagram @RichTandler.