Jaguars-Redskins Game Rests on Winston Guy’s Shoulders

There’s been a lot of talk about Toby Gerhart and Chad Henne and the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line. But when the Jaguars visit the Washington Redskins it’s possible the game comes down to the defensive secondary, particularly safety Winston Guy.

Guy will be starting without Jonathan Cyprien opposite him in week two. That means Josh Evans and Chris Prosinski will be getting a lot of playing time at the other safety spot. That’s no good for Guy and it’s no good for the Jaguars.

We’ve talked about how tough it will be to cover the Redskins’ wide outs and there was no overstatement of their abilities in that piece. Maybe we understated just how tough it will be for the safeties to play a complete game. To highlight it again, let’s take a look at Daniel’s PFF review piece from last week:

"The Jaguars did a good job of holding the Eagles offense in check outside of a few big plays, and a handful of players received a bulk of the blame for them. Josh Evans only played 43 snaps but managed to get the lowest grade of any defender, apparently for his poor run support….In addition to the questionable roughing penalty he received, PFF is placing the blame for the blown coverage on Maclin’s long touchdown on the shoulders of Winston Guy. Prosinski already took the blame for that play, so let’s not put too much stock in Guy’s grade."

Evans and Prosinski will make it very tough for Guy to be an effective safety because he’ll be asked to play well above his usual level to compensate for inadequate play from the other safety.

More importantly, however, is that I shudder to think of Prosinski getting extended playing time. Even with Evans’ bad grade from PFF last week, I would rather see him out there on more downs because he (theoretically) has a higher upside. Guy, meanwhile, is just praying for Cyprien to move past his concussion for next week.

Make no mistake, the Redskins will exploit Evans and Prosinski whenever possible. RGIII didn’t do enough in his first game out this season but he’ll have plenty of opportunities if he just looks wherever they are supposed to be covering.

Guy does not have an enviable job today. I’ll be keeping my eye on him every play and I guarantee there will be some frustration. He’ll have to keep a cool head to help lead this defense through a tough patch in week two.