Thanks, as always, for taking part in the Mailbag. Keep the questions coming! Email me at mike.jones@washpost.com with the subject line of “Mailbag question,” and we’ll do it all over again next week.

On Saturday, you wrote a column that “Redskins May Not Get Much from Draft Class After only Four Survive Cuts.” This is wrong. I looked at the Redskins website this morning, and every draft pick is still on the Redskins’ roster. All seven — not four — “survived” the cuts: Four are on the 53-man roster, one is on the practice squad, and two are on injured reserve. Injured players recover, and practice squad players get promoted. But the bigger point is really why would you want to judge a draft class — and with such a negative bias — before any player has played a down in a regular season game and when three have missed significant preseason time with injuries? You usually bring more thoughtful, objective analysis to your work than you showed in this judgement.

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– Bruce Fitzgerald

I think you’re overreacting a bit. Did you read the story, or just the headline? The actual story explained that there should be tempered expectations for this year’s draft class during the 2016 season, because for now, only one (Su’a Cravens) is expected to receive significant playing time. Josh Doctson is behind veterans, as is Kendall Fuller, and Nate Sudfeld will not see the field, unless there’s an absolute disaster at quarterback.

You’re mistaken that all seven are on the roster. Practice squad is not “on the roster.” Yes, a player can get called up, but Redskins officials and coaches don’t feel like Matt Ioannidis is far enough along in his development to contribute this season, and people within the organization say that had Keith Marshall and Steven Daniels been healthy, neither would have made the initial 53-man roster. Daniels appeared overwhelmed and in need of a year of seasoning on the practice squad before he got hurt, and Marshall struggled and got outplayed by both Rob Kelley and Mack Brown.

It’s not calling a draft class a bust to say that the team could receive only minimal contributions from the group this year. Redskins General Manager Scot McCloughan even said so himself after the draft. They took Doctson even though they didn’t desperately need him this year. This year is about getting him some playing time here and there behind Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson so he is seasoned next year and positioned to make an impact as a possible starter. Cravens will see the field quite a bit, but even defensive coordinator Joe Barry, who loves him, said it’s unlikely that he’s a Year 1 starter. Cravens still is a work in progress as he gains comfort at inside linebacker and takes snaps at safety on the scout team. Kendall Fuller is behind Dashaun Phillips, who has looked very good in training camp and the preseason. So his best chance for action will come on special teams.

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And all of that is okay. It wasn’t a bash-the-draft-class post. It was just noting that unlike last year, where you had Brandon Scherff, Preston Smith, Matt Jones and Jamison Crowder all entering the season ready to contribute right away, this year could serve as a redshirt year for most of the draft picks. You’d rather coaches hold them back until they’re ready to succeed instead of force them out there and have them playing poorly, right? And you’d rather the general manager go with players who outplayed draft picks rather than keeping all of them on the roster just to say that they all made the team, right? You should remember how that worked out in years past. Those days are over.

Editor’s note: Also, our beat reporters write “stories,” “articles,” or “blog posts,” which often contextualize and analyze the news. But only columnists share their opinions in “columns.”

Which rookie do you foresee having the greatest impact in the latter half of the season? Doctson, Cravens, or Fuller?

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– Eugene Chuang

Early on, I’m going with Cravens. He has a defined role, which is that of “dime linebacker,” which means he’ll be on the field in a lot of passing situations, covering running backs out of the backfield, as well as tight ends and some slot receivers. Cravens will eventually see his role expand, but he has progressed at a good rate and coaches feel comfortable platooning him with Mason Foster, who will start at the inside linebacker spot next to Will Compton and will play in most run-heavy situations.

Doctson could take some time as he plays catch-up after not having practiced since May 25. The 6-foot-3, 206-pound wide receiver does bring size, so he could help out in the red zone. But until we actually see him on the field, I’d hold off on heaping him with huge expectations. Fuller showed some bright spots, but Dashaun Phillips is the game-ready option. It won’t hurt Fuller to watch from the bench and then get some snaps here and there while he continues to learn. We’ll see Fuller on the punt coverage unit for now. The hope is that by late in the season, all three will have progressed to the point where they’re playing meaningful snaps on their respective units.

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Is McCloughan getting too much credit for transforming the roster? You wrote after the last preseason game that it was obvious how much McCloughan had improved the roster. But I can’t help but ask where? He took Scherff when he should’ve taken Leonard Williams. Spencer Long or Arie Kouandjio would’ve been fine at guard, and we would have the monster defensive end that we wish we had now. McCloughan also had two bad free agent classes: Jeron Johnson, Dashon Goldson and Stephen Paea are all gone, and Kendall Reyes looks average at best. And you wrote on Sunday that this year’s draft class won’t contribute much of anything at all. So is this improvement blown out of proportion?

– Jason Hamilton

I think McCloughan has the Redskins on the right track and pointed in the direction to continue improving instead of the ‘win one year, flop the next three’ way of doing things that we’ve seen for years. Has he transformed this team into a Super Bowl contender? Absolutely not. But we’re seeing improvement. Where, you say? Look at the depth at multiple positions. Taking defensive line and running back out of the equation, because I’m still not sold on either spot, the Redskins have more quality backups — guys that you would feel comfortable putting in games — than they have had in a lot of years. They went into the final preseason game with about eight roster spots up for grabs and wound up parting with a number of guys who will go elsewhere and make meaningful contributions.

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Could Williams have helped more than Scherff? He certainly would’ve stood out more on the stat sheet, because right guards don’t accumulate credit for run-springing blocks or sack-saving stops. But I still like the Scherff pick. The Redskins had concerns about Williams, and so they did the right thing, selecting a player they didn’t have questions about. Could McCloughan have traded down? Maybe, but he would have missed out on Scherff, who is certainly better than Long or Kouandjio right now.

You’re right — to some degree — about the free agent signings. Yes, Johnson and Paea and Terrance Knighton are all gone. (Goldson was a trade by swapping seventh-round picks, so they got him for nothing, basically). But those were all stopgap free agent signings, not Albert Haynesworth-break-the-bank signings. Paea was the highest paid at four years, $21 million. But that’s not huge money. There wasn’t a giant load of guaranteed money in that deal. And you have to like that McCloughan isn’t married to players. He is not afraid to admit he made a mistake or that a player wasn’t the fit he expected. He’ll cut the player and move on to another guy. And for those three disappointments, there have been surprises: Will Blackmon, Mason Foster, Pierre Thomas, Dustin Hopkins, Quinton Dunbar, Deshazor Everett, Dashaun Phillips … And it looks like Ziggy Hood, Greg Toler, Rob Kelley and Anthony Lanier could join those ranks.

Look, this roster remains far from perfect. But it’s definitely improving. We’ve seen years where the Redskins were playing about 10 guys that had no business still being in the league. McCloughan has done a good job of weeding those guys out. Yes, he inherited some standouts — Trent Williams, Ryan Kerrigan, Pierre Garcon, Kirk Cousins, Chris Baker, DeAngelo Hall, Bashaud Breeland — but the health of this roster has indeed improved in the two offseasons with McCloughan at the helm. Again, that’s not saying it’s in tip-top shape. But improved.

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Any updates on Kyshoen Jarrett? Hoping he gets better for his own sake, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him back in burgundy and gold one day, either.

– Nathaniel Tipton, Rockville

Jarrett still strolls out to Redskins practices after receiving treatment at the facility. He is no longer on the roster but still gets his treatment for the nerve damage at Redskins Park. Sadly, his right arm is still rather feeble looking. He seems to have a little more movement ability in it but is very far from healed. He is, however, in good spirits. Everybody’s pulling for this young man.

Besides Martrell Spaight’s health, can you speak on any other differences in him this year? He seems like a man possessed out there and ready to make a difference when called upon. Did he train differently, study more, work with different coaches/trainers, etc.?

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– Andrew Casaceli

The biggest difference involves confidence and recognition. Spaight still was learning the defense and working to understand his responsibilities last season. Although he lost a year while recovering from the concussion symptoms, Spaight continued to attend meetings with his teammates, so that helped him really learn the defense. Spaight entered training camp and the difference was noticeable. He was confident, knew his role and those of his teammates, and did a good job of serving as the quarterback of the defense behind Will Compton. We saw the evidence of the improvement during those preseason games. The Redskins really like Compton, but they feel good about the depth at that position with Spaight now waiting in the wings.

Should we be worried about the defensive line? I never saw reasons for optimism out of this group during the preseason.

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– Stephen George

Yes, I would be. I still see the defensive line as the biggest area of weakness on the roster. You know what you’re getting in Chris Baker, and Ziggy Hood seems like he can make key contributions. But it’s hard to say if the rest of this unit, which features holdovers Kedric Golston and Ricky Jean Francois, and new additions Kendall Reyes and Anthony Lanier, will produce dramatically different results.

McCloughan raised eyebrows as he passed on defensive linemen both in free agency and the draft. He seems content to take a methodical approach to fixing this unit rather than completely overhauling it. For now, it seems like a miscalculation. But Hood had a good preseason, and Jean Francois had some bright spots. Lanier gives you reason for optimism for the future, but he’s still very raw. It seems as if the Redskins are expecting on a lot of their improvement against the run to come from the additional growth and chemistry between Compton and Foster, the inside linebackers who helped spark change late last season. However, the Packers showed that even Compton and Foster — no matter how well they’re playing — can’t get this job done while playing behind a subpar line. So, yes, for now, I still would remain concerned.

Email a Redskins question to mike.jones@washpost.com, with the subject “Mailbag question,” and it might be answered next Tuesday.