Here is what you need to know on this Thursday, June 14, 42 days before the Washington Redskins start training camp.

The top performers of the Redskins’ offseason program

With the caveat that the media was only permitted to see about a third of the team’s OTA and minicamp practices, here are some of the outstanding Redskins performers in shorts and helmets.

QB Alex Smith—This one is obvious. The veteran quarterback wasn’t perfect, but he showed a command of the offense almost immediately. Smith has been quick and accurate on his short passes and perhaps more notably, good on the longer throws. He is not the vocal leader type, but he has a quiet confidence and command of the offense that sends the message that he is in charge.

WR Jamison Crowder—He has been on the receiving end of many of Smith’s passes. We haven’t seen him go deep much but he’s caught nearly every short and intermediate pass throw in his direction. I’m not sure that you can say Crowder is showing more swagger than he has in the past, but I do think he realizes that he has the most experience in the offense of any receiver on the team and he is conscious of leading by example.

RB Derrius Guice—Every day that goes by makes the draft-day chatter about the character concerns more and more of a mystery. To be sure, you can’t rule out something eventually happening that would validate the rumors, but he has been a model rookie so far. Oh, yeah, and he has been very good on the field, too. He is a smart and patient runner with both quickness and speed to pick his way through the line. And don’t forget that his biggest asset is his “angry” running style, which we won’t see until training camp.

DL Daron Payne—The “no pads” qualification really has to be highlighted here. That said, you can tell that he was well coached coming in which is to be expected with his Alabama pedigree. Payne pays attention to detail and he already is working to perfect his techniques, concepts that other rookies have barely grasped at this point.

ILB Josh Harvey-Clemons—The Redskins probably didn’t want to have him activated on game days last year as he was converting from a college safety to an NFL nickel linebacker. But injuries forced him into action and he got his feet wet. This year he has been spending a lot of time with the first team with Zach Brown missing a lot of time in OTAs. He looks a little odd out there at 6-4, 230 but he has appeared to be good on his assignments and his quickness and length have been impressive at times.

Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page, Facebook.com/TandlerNBCS and follow him on Twitter @TandlerNBCS and on Instagram @RichTandler.

Tandler on Twitter

Redskins COO Brian Lafemina said that the Redskins are “one of the biggest sleeping giants" in sports. I agree but it won’t wake up until there is consistent success on the field. — Rich Tandler (@TandlerNBCS) June 13, 2018

Timeline

Days until:



—Training camp starts (7/26) 42

—Preseason opener @ Patriots (8/9) 56

—Roster cut to 53 (9/1) 79

The Redskins last played a game 163 days ago. They will open the 2018 NFL season at the Cardinals in 87 days.

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