With the Lions last year, his number of defensive snaps in the slot and at cornerback were nearly equal, according to Pro Football Focus. In 2019 with the New York Jets, he played primarily cornerback, taking a handful of snaps at free safety — where he played nearly 40 percent of his defensive snaps the year prior.
“Whoever we have, we’re going to put a plan together to utilize the talents we have with the front, with the linebackers, with the [defensive backs] and how it all works together,” defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said late last season. “We may load up the D-line one week and say, ‘We need more from you this week.’ We may load up the DBs on another week and say, ‘We need more from you here.’ We kind of mix it and put a plan together for each opponent.”
Roberts’s versatility gives Washington more options with how it uses fellow cornerbacks Kendall Fuller and William Jackson III, and for how it fills the void at free safety. The team opened last season with Troy Apke as its starting free safety but later turned to Deshazor Everett, who suffered a pectoral injury late in the year.
Washington, which surrendered a league-high seven pass plays of 50 yards or more, also gains another cornerback with sub-4.4-second speed. In addition to Jackson, who ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, Roberts ran a reported 4.39 seconds in the 40 at Marshall’s pro day in 2015.
At 6-foot and 182 pounds, Roberts was selected 247th overall by the Patriots in 2015 and was claimed off waivers by the Jets a year later. In his four seasons in New York and the lone year in Detroit, he played 67 games (31 starts) and totaled 203 tackles (five for loss), 33 passes defensed, four interceptions and one quarterback hit.
