Redskins legend Doug Williams is a big fan of former Indiana QB Nate Sudfeld
Most of the quarterback conversation in Washington D.C. these days is centered around former B1G star Kirk Cousins.
But there’s another former B1G quarterback who generated some noteworthy discussion on Monday.
Former Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, who was the Super Bowl XXII MVP, is currently the team’s senior vice president of player personnel. He joined D.C.’s ESPN affiliate and naturally, the conversation shifted to quarterback play.
Cousins wasn’t the only Washington signal-caller on Williams’ mind. He wanted to talk about how much he liked former Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld.
“Sudfeld’s one of my favorites,” Williams told ESPN 980’s Doc Walker via 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.”
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After leading the most prolific offense in Indiana history, Sudfeld was a sixth-round pick by the Redskins in 2016. According to Williams, it wasn’t even a certainty that he’d make the 53-man roster.
“The first couple weeks here, I think [Coach Jay Gruden] wanted to run him off,” Williams joked. “He looked so bad Jay wanted to run him off.”
But Williams praised Sudfeld’s ability to make strides in practice — he’s still waiting on his first NFL snap — in his first year.
“And I’ll tell you what,” Williams added. “Out of the quarterbacks that came out this year, if he was coming out this year and looked like he looked [at last Tuesday’s practice], he would be up there anywhere from the second to first round. The kid has improved.”
Sudfeld will likely enter the preseason as third string behind Cousins and Colt McCoy. If Williams’ assessment is correct, though, maybe the former Hoosier will earn the backup job this fall.