Quinton Dunbar embodies the intrigue of Scot McCloughan’s rebuilding project. He’s young. He’s raw. He entered the NFL last year as an undrafted wide receiver, and now he’s a long and rangy cornerback who doubles as a magnet for action.

When he’s on the field, things happen, good and bad. The football never plays hard to get; it practically stalks him. Dunbar might be a long-term solution, or he might be a fleeting concoction of highlights and mishaps. The fun is in the unknown.

Despite the youth and inconsistency, you want to see more of him. Although “more” is a dangerous request for Dunbar and several other developing players on the Washington Redskins, they also might be the key to making this season worthwhile.

In a 29-27 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday, Washington was forced to test its depth because it lost five players, four of them starters, to injury and saw many others leave the game for brief periods. Tossed into this pressure, the young reserves handled it, verifying the notion that this 53-man roster has quality depth. And it told the coaches, who were already in re-evaluation mode after an 0-2 start, that they need to reopen the competition throughout the depth chart.

[As Redskins digest euphoria of first win, injuries present a sobering future]

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On this roster, the second of the McCloughan era, there is a handful of elite talent, a large group of solid veterans, a few immensely talented players who just need more experience, and a faction of raw young athletes who require patience but have the skill and athleticism to push for bigger roles. From a personnel standpoint, it’s a good place to be overall. We’ve been over the weak spots, such as the defensive line. But the franchise has put together a good, albeit small, core surrounded by a ton of interesting projects.

Beyond the record, this season should be judged by how well Coach Jay Gruden and his staff experiment with all the parts. That doesn’t mean blindly handing playing time to younger players simply because they have yet to show their limitations. Player development is far more sophisticated than throwing youth onto the field and letting it play through its mistakes. The coaches want to make the players earn it, and last season, they did solid work guiding that rookie class. In particular, while others screamed for linebacker Preston Smith to play more early in the season, they challenged him to work harder and then unleashed him on the league in the second half of the season.

This time, the challenge is different because there are expectations to make the playoffs for a second straight year. But against the Giants, it became clear that some of Washington’s greenest talents — Dunbar and Su’a Cravens stood out the most — are also playmakers who give the team a greater margin for error. They might drain some of that margin with their follies, but there’s a benefit to the naivete, fearlessness and energy they provide.

Dunbar, who also had positive moments last season, started the game with one of the biggest blunders in an afternoon full of them. After Washington forced New York to punt on its opening drive, Dunbar touched a live ball, which the Giants recovered. He messed up, and punt returner Jamison Crowder messed up by not running to catch the ball before it bounced. It cost Washington seven points after Shane Vereen scored on a one-yard touchdown run.

But later, Dunbar accounted for six or 10 points of playmaking. First, he caught a 31-yard pass from punter Tress Way in the third quarter, which led to an early fourth-quarter field goal by Dustin Hopkins to give Washington a 26-24 lead. Then, on the Giants’ next drive, he leaped, extended to the left side of his body and intercepted Eli Manning’s pass in the end zone, making a one-handed snag that will go down as one of the best catches of the season. The play saved his defense from giving up the lead. It was worth at least three points, maybe seven.

Dunbar wouldn’t have been in the game if Bashaud Breeland and Dashaun Phillips hadn’t suffered injuries. But this wasn’t any ol’ example of the “next man up” mentality. The next man up is supposed to have limitations. Dunbar makes you dream of possibilities.

[DeAngelo Hall out for the season with torn knee ligaments, MRI exam reveals]

Dashaun Phillips, left, congratulates teammate Quinton Dunbar after Dunbar intercepted a pass intended for Will Tye in the end zone in the fourth quarter. (Elsa/Getty Images)

So does Crowder, the second-year wide receiver who is adding the big play — a 55-yard touchdown reception and a 50-yard punt return against the Giants — to his position-receiver skills. So does Cravens, whose late fourth-quarter interception sealed the victory. Like Dunbar and Crowder, Cravens, the rookie second-round draft pick, does a few head-scratching things. Sometimes, he’s so eager to make a play that he runs out of position. But there’s also an instinctual flair about the way he plays, a flair that doesn’t always show up on the practice field but sparkles when it’s game time.

There are five or six more young guys with similar attributes. They’re scary good and scary bad, but it would be scary stupid if you don’t take a chance and play them. Washington isn’t a team that can depend on its veterans and let the young guys learn in private. This team needs that youth.

“I think everybody is here for a reason,” cornerback Josh Norman said. “The scouts do their job bringing guys in, and the GM making those decisions, and they do an awesome job. As you see, they came in and they made plays. Dunbar came in . . . one-hand interception. One-hand interception! One-handed interception!”

If Norman had talked about that interception any longer, he probably would’ve jumped on a table and started dancing.

Of those interceptions, Manning said: “Their guys made a better play than ours.”

So the competition is on. Or at least it should be. Entering the game, the coaches already were making adjustments. Greg Toler had moved ahead of Phillips as the third corner. Strong safety David Bruton Jr. was under scrutiny. Cravens was pushing Mason Foster at inside linebacker. The process to change had begun, and this performance will force the coaches to take a deeper look.

This is a mix-and-match team. There are a few stars who can carry their positions, but the coaches might need to search every game for the right combinations to make everything else work. It might look wonky at times and leave them open to criticism from traditional thinkers. But you have to coach the team you have. And Washington needs the energy and competitiveness of the entire roster. It needs the exuberance, too.

“God made that play,” Dunbar said of his miraculous interception.

Well, if God is that into these young players, the coaches should have no problem falling in line.

For more by Jerry Brewer, visit washingtonpost.com/brewer.