Pro Bowl 2019 substitutions

SS D.J. Swearinger instead of Landon Collins (NFC)

The ‘Skins all-rounder has recorded four interceptions, three forced fumbles and ten broken-up passes

I understand that the Redskins have had a lot of tough breaks once again this season and their defense has fallen off recently, but it is time to give D.J. Swearinger some love.

Once again, you can’t simply call this guy a free or strong safety, because in Greg Manusky’s defense those safeties rotate high and low a lot as well as rolling into different spots. So once again just grouping all the safeties together would make sense.

For this specific discussion, I thought if Harrison Smith counts as a free safety, Swearinger is at least as much a strong safety. This guy clearly is the vocal and emotional leader of Washington’s defense.

We seem to forget that they were one of the best units in the league for quite some time. Even now they are up to 25 takeaways and 40 sacks on the season and until they lost their starting quarterback and have moved on to the fourth one since then – who they just signed a couple of weeks ago – they had been allowing less than 20 points per game.

If you take away two horrible losses to the Saints and Falcons, that average drops to just 13.4 points. Somehow they are still alive in the playoff race at 7-7.

So from that standpoint alone, the best player from that defense deserves some recognition (and even though I like him as well – it’s not Ryan Kerrigan).

However, when you look at the numbers and check his tape, Swearinger should have made the roster individually as well. The ‘Skins all-rounder has recorded four interceptions, three forced fumbles and ten broken-up passes.

He shoots upfield against the run from single-high alignment, plays like a linebacker in the box and has a good feel for the quarterback’s release in zone coverage.

I love Landon Collins and I thought he deserved the Defensive Player of the Year award as much as Khalil Mack did a couple of years ago, but this definitely hasn’t been the best season for the Giants or their former All-Pro safety.