Updated depth chart (17 August 2021)

Don’t blink.

Five players have been cut following the first preseason game. One player has been added from waivers. David Sharpe is on the COVID-19 reserve list and the team gets a roster exemption for International Pathway Player David Bada.

That means that there are 87 names on the depth chart, but neither Sharpe nor Bada count against the 85-man limit, so the roster is where it needs to be for the moment.

When Sharpe comes off the COVID reserve, there will need to be an adjustment. Bada’s exempt status will hold until the 53-man roster is formed, and after that, his status depends on how the team treats him at final cutdowns.

The two most recent releases were announced on Tuesday morning; they are TE Nick Guggemos, and his release is not surprising, especially after the team picked up Caleb Wilson off of waivers a day earlier.

Greg Stroman was always going to face an uphill fight to make the roster, but it may surprise some people that he was let go ahead of lesser-known players like Jordan Brown or Linden Stephens.

Stroman was selected by the Redskins in the 7th round of the 2018 draft. Per PFF, the DB had seen the field on only 3 defensive snaps in the past two seasons, and even his special teams play had been limited. Stroman hadn’t made much of a contribution on the field for the team since his rookie season, when he played 387 defensive snaps.

Kelvin Harmon was the other somewhat surprising cut. The surprise wasn’t so much that Harmon didn’t make the 53-man roster, but that he was among the first three players released. Most observers seem to feel that the team was attempting to help Harmon maximize his opportunities to catch on with another team. Harmon faced a tough challenge to come back from an ACL injury that cost him the entire 2020 season, and impressing a coaching staff that didn’t draft him, but had an draft investment in several other receivers (AGG, Dyami Brown, Dax Milne).

The depth chart is at 87 players (42 offense, 42 defense, 3 ST specialists).

IF you are wondering about the numbers on the depth chart, those represent the 2021 cap hits for players over $1m for the season.

As always, the assessment of position, depth, and skill level is mine alone; it does not necessarily reflect the thinking of the coaching staff and no one else was consulted regarding it’s construction.