Last season, the Washington Redskins defense was one of the worst in the NFL. When the offseason came around, they knew they needed to address this issue by bolstering the defensive line. And they did just that by signing former division rival Jason Hatcher to a 4-year $27.5 million contract.
The 32-year old veteran has spent his entire career with the Cowboys, registering 205 tackles and 27 sacks over 8 seasons. He made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2013 while having the NFL's highest sack total among defensive tackles with 11.
Hatcher has spent most of this offseason recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He has participated in limited activity in traning camp since coming off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on August 9.
For the first time since his surgery, Hatcher participated fully in team drills on Wednesday. When asked how his knee felt following the practice, Hatcher said, "I feel great, man. Today was the first day I had live reps. I moved great. My speed is back, my quickness is back. The only thing I have to do now is go out there and try to play my best." However, Hatcher was realistic about his first in-game action, saying "There's a big difference between running gassers and wresting a 300-pound man. But, I'm excited to see where my condition is at this Saturday."
In his post-practice press conference, head coach Jay Gruden confirmed the reports that Hatcher would play this Saturday against the Ravens by saying "He's fired up and ready to go. He looked good today. He's going to play against Baltimore and we're excited to see him as a Redskin."
If the Redskins want to improve on their lackluster defensive performance from last season, they will need to get a much better push from the defensive line. Adding Hatcher was a great move on paper, now its time to see if he can fully recover from this injury and make the same impact on the Redskins defense as he did on the Cowboy's defense for the past 8 seasons.