Here is what you need to know on this Wednesday, August 30, four days before the Washington Redskins cut their roster to 53 on September 2.

Timeline

The Redskins last played a game 240 days ago; they will open the 2017 season against the Eagles at FedEx Field in 11 days.

Today’s schedule: Travel to Tampa

Days until:



—Redskins @ Rams (9/17) 18

—Sunday night Raiders @ Redskins (9/24) 25

—Cowboys @ Redskins (10/29) 60

The biggest roster battles on Thursday night

QB Nate Sudfeld vs. Himself—This battle has been going on ever since Redskins drafted Sudfeld in 2016. The organization likes his potential but he has a lot that still needs to be fixed. The question is, if he doesn’t have some basics like footwork down by now, will he ever get it figured out? No other QB will be brought in to the 53-man roster if Sudfeld doesn’t make it. If he’s not worth the spot they will go with two quarterbacks.

OL Kyle Kalis vs. Tyler Catalina—Both guards have been playing in front of Arie Kouandjio all during training camp and in the preseason. Assuming Kouandjio is out, which one of the rookie free agents stays? Catalina is bigger, at 325 while Kalis, 305, is more mobile. We may see which asset they value more when the dust settles on Saturday.

DL Joey Mbu vs. A.J. Francis—This wasn’t really a battle until Phil Taylor went out for the year with a torn quad. Now, there may be an opening for one of them at nose tackle. Both are in excess of 330 pounds, bigger than the nose tackle options among the top six defensive linemen. But keeping one of them would create a roster numbers crunch at another position so at least one of these players has to make a very strong case.

WR Robert Davis vs. Brian Quick—Coming into training camp, all Davis has to do is look as good as Quick and a tie for the sixth roster spot likely would go to the draft pick and not the veteran. Davis seems to be holding on but Quick still could steal the roster spot with a strong performance on Thursday.

RB Mack Brown vs. TE Jeremy Sprinkle—This is the result of a numbers crunch. If the Redskins decide that they can keep either four tight ends or four running backs, these are the two who will be on the bubble. The coaches like Brown for his special teams ability and some in the organization are very high on his future as a runner. They spent a draft pick on Sprinkle and they would like to have someone who can catch passes as the blocking tight end rather than using backup tackle Ty Nsekhe at that spot.

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

Tandler on Twitter

Not nearly this many players the next time the #Redskins practice. pic.twitter.com/H8PhuxbM30 — Rich Tandler (@TandlerNBCS) August 29, 2017

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