Su’a Cravens was undoubtedly one of the standout performers in Washington’s opening preseason game on Thursday night against Atlanta. The second-round rookie linebacker made a number of eye-catching plays and displayed good energy throughout, always buzzing around the football. One of the first things I noticed was Joe Barry testing his ability to drop into coverage.
Cravens was a safety in college, but is being converted to inside linebacker in the NFL. Washington hopes his history at safety will bolster its coverage from the linebacker spot. Barry ran a slot-corner blitz that was more elaborate than what is typically seen in preseason. I suspect it was designed to test Cravens.
The Falcons work out of an empty backfield on this play. Typically on third and long, Barry would have Washington run a form of zone coverage designed to protect the first-down marker. But here, he decides to blitz. It’s a five-man blitz with inside linebacker Martrell Spaight and slot corner Kendall Fuller joining the three defensive linemen. Outside linebacker Houston Bates drops back into coverage to match the slot receiver.
Cravens lines up in the middle of the field on the far hashmark, away from the three-receiver side of the field. However, he has to drop into coverage, working outside and reading the number two and three receivers. His job appears to be to take the first receiver that breaks inside while safety Will Blackmon takes the other.
As the ball is snapped, Cravens drops back into coverage, reading his keys. The third receiver runs directly down the field while the second receiver works outside, meaning Cravens has to cover the third receiver. Cravens has no troubles dropping to match the receiver and then opening his hips and changing direction as the receiver makes his cut inside. The ball ended up being thrown elsewhere.
Later on, Barry ran the same blitz again.
Just as before, Cravens lines up on the hash mark away from the three-receiver side of the field. He has to work to his left, reading the second and third receivers.
This time, the third receiver works straight down the field while the second receiver breaks quickly inside. As he drops, Cravens has to quickly read both routes and recognize the second receiver cutting inside. As the receiver makes his break, Cravens drives on it. The blitz causes pressure and forces a hurried throw that is tipped at the line of scrimmage. That forces the ball to fall incomplete. But had the ball come out cleanly, Cravens was in a position to potentially intercept the pass.
Cravens made those assignments look much easier than they actually are. They may have just been designed to test where Cravens is after a few weeks of training camp. But perhaps they were a small glimpse of what is to come from Washington and its defense this season. Having a player who can take on that type of assignment gives the defense a lot of coverage flexibility. It’ll be something to keep an eye on as preseason progresses.
Coverage is only half the battle at inside linebacker. That’s the role Washington wants to be able to use Cravens in. However, if he is to play linebacker, he has to be able to stand up against the run. Cravens’s athleticism stood out and allowed him to make a nice tackle for loss on one run play.
Here, Cravens lines up directly over the center and about four yards off the line of scrimmage. The Falcons run the ball on an outside zone play to the left.
On first look, Cravens makes an impressive play, cutting through the line of scrimmage to tackle the running back in the backfield for a loss. However, he does get some help from his teammates to keep him clean. Ziggy Hood, lined up over the center, works across the center and attacks the back-side A gap. The center stays with Hood instead of passing him off to the right guard, meaning there is nobody free to work up to Cravens. Ricky Jean Francois also does a nice job driving back his blocker and forcing the running back to cut back early. But credit is due to Cravens for reading the play quickly and playing at full speed, making the tackle for a loss.
In the second half, Cravens made another tackle for loss.
Cravens aligns to the weak side of the formation, but Atlanta runs the ball to his side.
Outside linebacker Lynden Trail blows up the left tackle, driving him back into the backfield. Cravens sits inside, anticipating an early cutback given Trail winning so quickly on the edge. But the running back opts to bounce the run outside instead of cut back early. The moment Cravens reads the back bouncing his run outside, he accelerates to full speed and chases down the back, tackling him out of bounds for a loss of yardage.
Although this play came against third-string players, it shows that the instincts are there for Cravens. He sensed the back might cut back early after Trail won on the edge, so he sat inside. But as soon as the back bounced the run outside, he burst to the edge and made the play.
While these two plays are encouraging, there was one instance were Cravens got caught on a block and struggled to disengage.
Like before, Cravens aligns to the weak side of the formation. The Falcons run his way.
Cravens starts the play well, reading the run and attacking the block. The center peels off his initial block, but is quickly met by Cravens, who plays with lower pad level and gets his hands inside. But as the play continues, Cravens allows the center to fight for leverage and control the block. Cravens attempts to disengage, but can’t escape the center. Some might argue the center got away with a hold towards the end of the play, but he wasn’t called for it. The running back manages to get level with Cravens before Cravens could get off his block.
It was only one play and certainly not anything to be overly concerned about. But that type of play is the risk Washington is taking by playing Cravens at inside linebacker. He’ll face offensive linemen who are much bigger and he’ll have to figure out how to get off of those blocks. But with Cravens expected to see most of his time in nickel and dime sub packages, that should limit the number of running plays he’ll see.
If he can work against bigger blockers and continue to show good instincts against the run, then Cravens will earn more playing time. With his versatility, Washington will hope Cravens can earn that playing time. Barry can continue to be creative with how he uses him, including sending him on blitzes.
Here, Cravens lines up over the left guard. Washington sends both inside linebackers, Cravens and Spaight, on a blitz. The Falcons run a screen pass to the running back.
The left guard turns inside towards the center off the snap, leaving Cravens to burst through the hole untouched. He closes quickly on the quarterback, who attempts to dump the ball off to the running back on the screen. Cravens shows good awareness, jumping and getting his hands up as the quarterback begins his throwing motion. Cravens manages to get his hand on the ball and knock it down, saving what might have been a big gain.
It was only the opening preseason game and Cravens only saw time against the Falcons second- and third-string offenses, but the performance was still impressive. He managed to flash solid instincts and athleticism against the run, an ability to make up ground while dropping into coverage and awareness while rushing the passer. He has certainly given himself a platform to build from going into the next week of practices and the second preseason game.
Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions usually without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here.
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