When Doug Williams talks, especially about quarterbacks, Redskins fans take note. Thus, Williams’ praise of third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld has become a talker in Washington.
“Sudfeld’s one of my favorites,” Williams told ESPN 980’s Doc Walker, via Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post. “You know, he was one of the guys, when we drafted him, when we sat in the room [and] we talked about drafting a quarterback, I was a Sudfeld guy. You know, none of [the prospects] took snaps up under the center; they all stood back in the shotgun. He was at Indiana, but when you watched him and the guys at a couple more schools, there was something about him that you liked. And I think he’s learned how to take the snap from under center; he gets the ball out of his hands.”
The Redskins selected Sudfeld in the sixth round of the 2016 draft. Even though Sudfeld didn’t play last season, Williams, the team’s senior vice president of player personnel, said Sudfeld has much higher value than where he was drafted.
“The first couple weeks here, I think [Coach Jay Gruden] wanted to run him off,” Williams said. “He looked so bad Jay wanted to run him off. No, no, but the kid has worked; he’s learned. And I’ll tell you what, out of the quarterbacks that came out this year, if he was coming out this year and looked like he looked [last week], he would be up there anywhere from the second to first round. The kid has improved.”
While Williams obviously sees something he likes in Sudfeld, it’s unlikely the Redskins will tab the young, unproven quarterback the heir apparent if they can’t get a long-term contract worked out with Kirk Cousins.