Before his arrival, the Washington Redskins struggled as a defensive line. The team’s defensive line unit before drafting Daron Payne in 2017 primarily consisted of a newly-drafted Jonathan Allen (who played minimally due to a lisfranc injury), Stacy McGee, Ziggy Hood, and Matt Ioannidis.
The addition of Payne to the much-improved duo of Allen and Ioaniddis proved to be undeniably important to the Redskins defense during the 2018 campaign. This was clear to followers of the team specifically from Weeks 6 through 8. The Redskins held Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliot, and Saquon Barkley to a combined 38 carries for 91 yards rushing… an astounding 2.