A cluster of defensive linemen trudged off the practice field at Redskins Park on Tuesday afternoon, many of them new and all of them huge.
There was nose tackle Terrance Knighton, the man dubbed “Pot Roast” and generously listed at 331 pounds. There was Stephen Paea, a soft-spoken 300-pounder born in New Zealand and raised in Tonga. And there was Ricky Jean Francois, cut by the Indianapolis Colts in February and scooped up by general manager Scot McCloughan four days later.
Together, the trio represents a new era for the Washington Redskins‘ defensive line, a group that has annually underperformed over the past several years.