***Official*** Washington Redskins 2014 Offseason Thread (1 Viewer)

[Marvelous]

They'll want to roster at least 8 OL on the final 53-man roster, so they have to come from somewhere. If we don't like 4/5 of last year's starters and the depth isn't good enough to step in, it's going to be tough to fill all those spots with capable guys through FA and the draft. In other words, I think we might have to keep one or two of those starters and hope the coaches can get something out of a reserve.

Chris Cooley has repeatedly said that OL grades out better than people think it will. He said the looked better with Cousins playing QB since they knew where Cousins would be.

I think Chester is a no brainer to cut. He is a weak guard and a $3M salary. It will be hard to justify the expense.

Polumbus will make $900k next year. That is a lot easier to keep.

Figures are from here: http://www.thehogs.net/washington-redskins/salary.php?search=TotalCapHitNext

I think this website has better figures: http://overthecap.com/teamcap.php?Team=Redskins&Year=2014

Chester has a $3M salary and $500k in bonuses due.

Polumbus has a $1.5M salary and no bonuses.

Montgomery has a $2.6M salary and $300k on bonuses.

 

[fatness]

Chris Cooley has repeatedly said that OL grades out better than people think it will. He said the looked better with Cousins playing QB since they knew where Cousins would be.

I think Chester is a no brainer to cut. He is a weak guard and a $3M salary. It will be hard to justify the expense.

Polumbus will make $900k next year. That is a lot easier to keep.

Figures are from here: http://www.thehogs.net/washington-redskins/salary.php?search=TotalCapHitNext

If you listen to Cooley's game breakdowns, they're vastly informative but at the same time tend to overrate players' performances. He gave few bad grades when anyone watching the game could see Player X getting beat routinely. The O-line is only good when they're on the move zone blocking, or when the QB releases a pass within 2 seconds or so. They are not good at power run blocking and they're terrible at pass blocking for over 2 seconds.

Chester does need to go, I agree. He was in the backfield almost as much as Morris this year and that's not good for a guard. And if they can keep Polumbus at that price they should. But they still need someone better to start ahead of him. Polumbus is quality depth, not starter material.

I read a mock Redskin draft at Bleacher Report today. It wasn't remarkable for who they chose but the writer at least knew what positions needed help. The draft went S, CB, G, G, ILB, and I forget the rest.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Numbers from Kyle Shanahan's offenses

Kyle Shanahan has been an offensive coordinator for six years, which allows for the ability to draw some conclusions. Shanahan's apple dropped close to the tree, as he runs offenses much like his father, Mike. He also has worked in two situations in which the head coach had great input in game plans and play-calling: for Gary Kubiak in Houston and for Mike Shanahan in Washington.

The case could be made that this experience with the Browns will be the first time Kyle Shanahan has true and complete say in the offense.

What do his previous numbers show?

• Josh Gordon should be pleased. Shanahan found a way to use his lead receiver a lot and get him plenty of yards. Three No. 1 receivers had at least 1,300 yards, a fourth had 1,100 and a fifth just missed 1,000.
• Shanahan's top receivers averaged 1,197.5 yards per season, the second wideout 662.3. Which means the second receiver had just more than half the average amount of yards as the top receiver (55 percent). Shanahan finds his No. 1 guy, and uses him. This may, as ESPN.com's Matt Williamson pointed out, actually help Greg Little keep a job with the Browns.
• Shanahan also ran the ball fairly well, though not as well as he had his teams throw it. The lowest per-game rushing total for a season was 92 yards, the best 169. His running game ranked as high as first in the league to as low as 30th, twice.
• Most interesting is that the offense did not score a lot of points, despite the yards. The most points Shanahan's offense averaged was 27 in Robert Griffin III's rookie season, and it averaged 22.05 points over six seasons, 17th in the league.

Here are the numbers, averaged over six seasons (two in Houston, four in Washington):

• Total offense -- 365.1 yards
• Total offense rank - 9.2
• Team rushing -- 117.4
• Team rushing rank -- 17.3
• Team passing -- 247.7
• Team passing rank -- 10.5
• Team scoring -- 22.1
• Team scoring rank -- 17.5
• Individual rushing leader -- 998 yards
• Individual passing leader -- 3457.3 yards
• Individual passing TDs -- 18.3
• Individual passing INTs -- 12.8
• Individual receiving leader -- 1,197.5
• Second WR yards -- 662.3

 

[(HULK)]

If we sent a package of Cousins and Helu to Cleveland (which I'm sure Kyle would love), what do you think they'd give us back? A second? I'd say that second would be of more use to us than those 2 guys (not because they're not quality depth, they are, but because it could fill a gaping hole elsewhere).

 

[fatness]

Cleveland's not going to part with any valuable draft picks for Cousins or Helu. Those guys are backups for a reason.

 

[Marvelous]

Chris Cooley has repeatedly said that OL grades out better than people think it will. He said the looked better with Cousins playing QB since they knew where Cousins would be.

I think Chester is a no brainer to cut. He is a weak guard and a $3M salary. It will be hard to justify the expense.

Polumbus will make $900k next year. That is a lot easier to keep.

Figures are from here: http://www.thehogs.net/washington-redskins/salary.php?search=TotalCapHitNext

If you listen to Cooley's game breakdowns, they're vastly informative but at the same time tend to overrate players' performances. He gave few bad grades when anyone watching the game could see Player X getting beat routinely. The O-line is only good when they're on the move zone blocking, or when the QB releases a pass within 2 seconds or so. They are not good at power run blocking and they're terrible at pass blocking for over 2 seconds.

Chester does need to go, I agree. He was in the backfield almost as much as Morris this year and that's not good for a guard. And if they can keep Polumbus at that price they should. But they still need someone better to start ahead of him. Polumbus is quality depth, not starter material.

I read a mock Redskin draft at Bleacher Report today. It wasn't remarkable for who they chose but the writer at least knew what positions needed help. The draft went S, CB, G, G, ILB, and I forget the rest.

I agree that Cooley has been less critical of the players he knows well. That said, he actually has been quite critical of the Redskins. Cooley's thought the top offseason priority is getting a 2nd wr, because outside of Garcon, not a single receive can win their matchups. Not a glowing review of Moss, Robinson, or Morgan. He said Hankerson has potential.

Cooley's assessments are even more interesting because they don't line up with public opinion nor the Redskin's personnel moves.

 

[Sidewinder16]

Redskins have signed WR Aldrick Robinson to a 1-year contract extension ($570,000) and DE Doug Worthington to a 1-year contract (exclusive rights tender; $495,000).

 

[fatness]

Reasonable signings.

 

[Marvelous]

Reasonable signings.

It's an almost no brainer to re-sign your restricted free agents. They are pretty inexpensive and they usually don't get much since they have no negotiating leverage. I don't think they get any guarantee on their contracts either.

 

[Marvelous]

I thought I saw a list of Redskin free agents, but could not find it in this thread. Here is what I found;

Defense (15 FA/5 starters):
London Fletcher, ILB - 38 years old
Brian Orakpo, OLB - 27 years old
Chris Baker, NT/DE - 26 years old
Nick Barnett, ILB - 32 years old
EJ Biggers, CB/S - 26 years old
Reed Doughty, S - 31 years old
Jose Gumbs, S - 25 years old (Exclusive Rights Free Agent)
DeAngelo Hall, CB - 29 years old
Rob Jackson, OLB/Playmaker - 28 years old
Bryan Kehl, ILB - 29 years old
Jerome Murphy, CB - 26 years old
Perry Riley, ILB - 25 years old
Darryl Tapp, OLB - 29 years old
Josh Wilson, CB - 28 years old
Doug Worthington, DE - 26 years old (restricted)

Brandon Meriweather

Offense (6 FA):
Dezmon Briscoe, WR - 24 years old
Fred Davis, TE - 27 years old
Rex Grossman, QB - 33 years old
Josh Morgan, WR - 28 years old
Santana Moss, WR - 34 years old
Aldrick Robinson, WR - 25 years old (restricted)

J.D. Walton

Signing your restricted free agents is almost a no brainer. Robinson and Worthington have already signed. Gumbs most likely will be re-signed.

Reed Doughty is also a no brainer. Backup safeties don't cost much, but he is a good backup and a very good special teams player.

Chris Baker is probably the next most important. He is young and really coming on.

Orakpo would be nice to keep, but could be very expensive. There is talk of using the franchise tag on him.

Rob Jackson is also a very nice player to keep.

The easiest player to not re-sign: Josh Morgan, Fred Davis, London Fletcher, Rex Grossman. Grossman is not expensive, but I suspect Gruden will want to move on with his own QB if he keeps 3 QBs.

 

[Sidewinder16]

Grossman is not expensive, but I suspect Gruden will want to move on with his own QB if he keeps 3 QBs.

Keim, I believe, has noted that the Bengals have only kept 2 QBs on their roster with Gruden there. Grossman was really only still with the Redskins because he knows Kyle's offense so well so there is very little reason to think he'll be back.

 

[fatness]

Last month, reports out of Washington indicated that the Redskins would bring Doug Williams back to the organization in a front office role. Those reports were on the monry. The Redskins announced that they have hired Williams as a personnel executive who will work with General Manager Bruce Allen and the rest of the front office to build the roster in Washington.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/10/redskins-hire-doug-williams-for-front-office-role/

 

[RGIII HTTR]

John Keim predicts that Brandon Merriweather will be gone for 2014. I'm going to say that his concerns about Brandon being suspended for hits and such is from the rumblings he hears, even thought he has never stated that it comes from that. Just a guess...but will be interesting to see how it plays out. Since we have some youth there, I doubt our 2nd round pick will be a safety...I see them getting 2 FA's (as I stated in prior posts) and letting Thomas and other grow under them.

 

[fatness]

John Keim is also quite down on Rambo, saying he made no plays and couldn't tackle and is at best a future backup. And Thomas is as unknown as he was last year. I hate seeing young guys lose a year.

Glad to see Keim's getting some credit at PFT now.

His former quarterbacks coach thinks it will be the first of many big steps up for Griffin this offseason. Matt LaFleur, who left the team when they parted ways with head coach Mike Shanahan and now coaches at Notre Dame, believes that Griffin will benefit a great deal from being able to focus on only football after spending his first full offseason in the NFL recovering from a knee injury.

“Everybody will see a big jump in his game and he’ll look more like he did in Year 1 than in Year 2,” LaFleur said, via John Keim of ESPN.com. “He’ll be able to recognize and play the position faster.”

Griffin is expected to ditch the knee brace he wore last season, which wide receiver Pierre Garçon and others thought made for less mobility last season

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/11/former-redskins-quarterbacks-coach-expects-big-jump-from-rgiii/

 

[fatness]

I realize this means little but

When it comes to strength of schedule next season, the Redskins rank 17th in the NFL, as their opponents had a combined winning percentage of .490 in 2013

Dallas is 18th (.488); Philadelphia is 20th (.479) and the New York Giants are 27h (.465)..

 

[(HULK)]

Everytime I notice Rambo on the field, it was because he'd just been juked out of his shoes or blown a tackle.

I say good riddance to Merriweather. He plays dirty. Leads with his helmet and doesn't even attempt to use his arms on 95% of his "tackles". I won't miss him.

I really miss Sean Taylor. What could've been.

 

[MattFancy]

Grossman is not expensive, but I suspect Gruden will want to move on with his own QB if he keeps 3 QBs.

Keim, I believe, has noted that the Bengals have only kept 2 QBs on their roster with Gruden there. Grossman was really only still with the Redskins because he knows Kyle's offense so well so there is very little reason to think he'll be back.

Yeah I believe Grossman was making around $1M/yr. Not a bad gig for a 3rd string QB. I don't see how or why he would be back.

 

[RGIII HTTR]

Every time I hear that Kirk Cousins has spoken to someone, he mentions that he is open to a trade. How many times do we have to hear this? Enough already!!! I could understand if he blew it up when he started, but he didn't...Kirk, you haven't shown anyone that you are worthy to be a regular starter in the NFL yet.

Tired of this already and at this point I want him to shut up before this becomes more of distraction than it is...

 

[dgreen]

Every time I hear that Kirk Cousins has spoken to someone, he mentions that he is open to a trade. How many times do we have to hear this? Enough already!!! I could understand if he blew it up when he started, but he didn't...Kirk, you haven't shown anyone that you are worthy to be a regular starter in the NFL yet.

Tired of this already and at this point I want him to shut up before this becomes more of distraction than it is...

All those fantasy players who picked him up and started him against Cleveland last year think he's awesome.

 

[Marvelous]

John Keim is also quite down on Rambo, saying he made no plays and couldn't tackle and is at best a future backup. And Thomas is as unknown as he was last year. I hate seeing young guys lose a year.

Glad to see Keim's getting some credit at PFT now.

His former quarterbacks coach thinks it will be the first of many big steps up for Griffin this offseason. Matt LaFleur, who left the team when they parted ways with head coach Mike Shanahan and now coaches at Notre Dame, believes that Griffin will benefit a great deal from being able to focus on only football after spending his first full offseason in the NFL recovering from a knee injury.

“Everybody will see a big jump in his game and he’ll look more like he did in Year 1 than in Year 2,” LaFleur said, via John Keim of ESPN.com. “He’ll be able to recognize and play the position faster.”

Griffin is expected to ditch the knee brace he wore last season, which wide receiver Pierre Garçon and others thought made for less mobility last season

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/11/former-redskins-quarterbacks-coach-expects-big-jump-from-rgiii/

I think there is a curse on the Redskins safeties. It all started in the 2006 offseason when they did not even try to retain Ryan Clark and signed Adam Archuleta to the biggest contract for a safety ever.

Since then, we have had:

Sean Taylor's murder

Laron Landry's injuries

OJ Atogwe getting old and injured

Tanard Jackson signed and suspended without ever playing

Brandon Meriweather injuries and then being suspended for helmet to helmet hits

Plus low round draft picks that play a lot a never pan out (Chris Horton, Kareem Moore, Bicarri Rambo)

That is a lot of bad karma for one position.

We haven't seen Phillip Thomas yet, but he middle/low round draft pick and injured.

 

[fatness]

Not really new news, but since I've seen comments in other topics about Gruden changing the Redskins offense I'll post it:

The Redskins will continue to run a zone blocking system under new coach Jay Gruden.

http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/5522/no-thanks-to-incognito-martin?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

 

[ConnSKINS26]

Preseason is going to be so annoying as we try to decide how "vanilla" we're being and what our offense will actually look like. I know the running game will be similar, but Kyle Shanahan was obsessed with 2-WR sets (and we only have one WR that can beat 1-on-1 coverage most of the time). The route combos really only got guys open off of PA, going back to his Houston days as well. Very unimaginative and it's why Moss said a couple times over the last few years that opposing defenses knew what routes they were running. I expect our FO to invest heavily in the WR position and start spreading it out a lot more.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Annual review on Reddit

The link is better formatted

Washington Redskins - 2013 4th Place NFC East (3-13)

Offensive Rankings:

Stat Net Yards Per Game Rank Passing 3,751 234.4 16th Rushing 2,164 135.2 5th Total 5,915 369.7 9th Defensive Rankings:

Stat Net Yards Per Game Rank Passing 3,896 243.5 20th Rushing 1,769 110.6 17th Total 5,665 354.1 18th Special Teams Rankings:

Stat Average Rank Kickoff Return 20.0 32nd Kickoff Coverage 22.3 10th Punt Return 6.4 28th Gross Punting Average 42.0 30th Net Punting Average 33.8 32nd Punt Coverage 16.8 32nd Scoring:

Stat Net Points Rank Points Scored 334 23rd Points Allowed 478 22nd Differential -144 30th

• Turnover differential: -8 (25th in NFL)

2014 Draft Picks:

Round Pick Overall 2 2 34 3 2 66 4 2 TBD 5 2 TBD 6 2 TBD 7 2 TBD The Redskins gave their 1st round pick in 2014 to the Rams in the blockbuster trade that landed them RGIII.

Redskins ProFootballFocus Player Ratings for 2012 and 2013 - Click Here

Restricted and Unrestricted Free Agents:

Offense

Player Position Status Rex Grossman QB Sexy Dezmon Briscoe WR Josh Morgan WR Santana Moss WR Aldrick Robinson WR Re-signed 1 year - $570k Fred Davis TE Suspended - Substance Abuse Policy J.D. Walton OT Defense

Player Position Status Chris Baker DE Doug Worthington DE Re-signed 1 year - $495k Brian Orakpo OLB Rob Jackson OLB Darryl Tapp OLB Nick Barnett ILB London Fletcher ILB Retired Bryan Kehl ILB Perry Riley ILB DeAngelo Hall CB Josh Wilson CB E.J. Biggers CB Jerome Murphy CB Reed Doughty S Jose Gumbs S Brandon Meriweather S Note: All Redskins FA's are unrestricted.

2013 Offseason

• Last season represented the second year of the Redskins’ painful two-year, $36 million salary cap penalty levied by Goodell. For a (delightfully biased) summary of the penalty presented by /r/redskins contributors, click here.
  
• In 2012, the Redskins were still able to add new blood to the team, notably WR Pierre Garcon and WR Josh Morgan. In 2013, the Redskins did not have any space to add new players. In fact, the Redskins were far over the cap, and had to restructure the contracts of DE Stephen Bowen, DE Adam Carriker, DT Barry Cofield, FS Brandon Meriweather, CB Josh Wilson, CB DeAngelo Hall, and WR Santana Moss (nearly every starting FA on the team). Partial source here.
  
• How did Redskins fans feel going into the season? Optimistic, of course! The Redskins rode RG3, Morris, and an opportunistic defense to the division title the year before. Even though RG3 was recovering from his ACL surgery , things still looked up. Three years of sowing the coaching staff’s patient plan and we finally started producing fruit. And despite the cap issues, the Redskins were able to keep all of their key personnel from the year before. Continuity continuity continuity…the kool-aid that Redskins fans sipped comfortably all offseason.
  

2013 Preseason

• Much hoopla surrounded Shanahan’s decision to bench RG3 for the preseason akaOperation Patience. No real concern was posed, however. The Redskins beat the Titans, Steelers, Bills, and Bucs to go 4-0 in the preseason. Kirk Cousins looked great until he hurt his foot, but Sexy Rexy and Pat White proved plenty competent. The defense looked very sound and at times…..dominant....strange as it sounds in retrospect. Orakpo was back after missing 15 games in 2012, and the pass rush had Skins fans giddy.

2013 Season

• The balloon of anticipation was full to bursting leading up to the Monday night showdown Week 1 against the Eagles. That balloon turned out to be full of hot air.The Eagles thrashed the Redskins in the first half, feasting off of missed tackles and Redskins turnovers. At one point, the Eagles had run 53 plays while the Redskins had managed 63 total yards. RG3 threw INTs, Morris fumbled the ball, and even Kai Forbath missed a FG. Some late TD passes by RG3 were not enough to overcome the 26-7 halftime deficit and the Redskins were left stunned.
  
• Week 2 against the Packers was a chance at redemption. It didn’t happen. The Packers went up 28-0 at half to cruise to a 38-20 win. Aaron Rodgers threw for 480 yards and James Starks rushed for 132 yards.
  
• The Redskins were 1-3 entering their bye week (a welcome chance to regroup and return to form), and faced the Cowboys in Dallas Week 6. A close game for the most part was blown apart by Dwayne Harris in the return game. Harris had 2 punt returns for 109 yards and 2 kick returns for 113 yards to enable a 31-16 win.
  
• Miraculous last-minute wins against the Bears - thanks to Roy Helu's 3 rushing TDs and the Chargers - thanks to Darrel Young's 3 rushing TDs (offset by a blown 4th quarter lead against the Broncos) put the Redskins at 3-5. In 2012, the Redskins were 3-6 before going on a 7-game win streak to win the division, so an enticing Thursday night game against the Vikings was a great opportunity for the Redskins to get to 4-5 and in great position in the horrible NFCE.
  
• The Redskins looked great. RG3 went 24/37 for 281 yd, 3 TD, 0 INT. Morris had 26 carries for 126 yd. Garcon had 7 catches for 119 yd . The Redskins had a 24-14 lead at half. The Redskins, as if guided by instinct, let Matt Cassel sub in and go 4/6 for 47 yards, AD had 20 carries for 75 yd and 2 TD on the day, and a failed goal line attempt by the Skins meant the Vikings won 34-27 and essentially killed the Redskins season.
  
• The Redskins would not win another game in 2013. While the media pointed its finger straight at a sloppy RG3 and a dysfunctional locker room (no legitimate source found), a flimsy defense and an abysmal special teams were the top two contributors to 2013’s failures. RG3 getting maimed in three straight games against the Niners, Giants, and Chiefs prompted Mike Shanahan to bench him for the remaining three games. It simply was not worth another injury and altered offseason for our franchise's most important player considering that Redskins playoff hopes were long gone. With Kirk Cousins at the helm, the Redskins were able to manage two one-point losses against the Falcons and Cowboys, and a joke of a game against the Giants finally put a nail in the coffin for 2013. Both Mike and Kyle Shanahan were fired at the end of the season along with a large number of his staff and Jay Gruden's reign as HC begins now.
  

2013 Highlights

• Pierre Garcon played 16 games and had 113 receptions for 1,346 yd. His 113 receptions led the NFL and broke HoF'er Art Monk's franchise record of 109 receptions in 1984. He is also the 3rd player in history to have 5+ catches in every game of the regular season. While many catches came on smoke screens and on underneath crossing routes, many catches were eye-popping and incredible . Pierre Garcon proved that he's worth his 5-year, $42.5 million contract and a legit WR1 for the Redskins when he stays healthy.
  
• Alfred Morris proved his sensational rookie season (in which he broke Clinton Portis' franchise season rushing record with 1,613 yards) was no fluke. He had 276 carries for 1,275 yards (4.6 ypc) and 7 TDs. His 1,275 yards were 4th in the NFL. His vision and performance earned him his first trip to Hawaii this year.
  
• Brian Orakpo missed 15 games in 2012 due to a torn pectoral muscle and came back with a vengeance in his contract year this year. He started 15 games, got 10 sacks , and 60 tackles. He even got his first INT in his life against the Bears and returned it for a TD. He made his third appearance in Hawaii this year.
  
• DeAngelo Hall had a lot to prove following a couple of inconsistent years in 2011 and 2012. On a one-year contract, D Hall got four INTs: INT 1 INT 2 INT 3 INT 4 and three TDs and was the lone bright spot in an otherwise incompetent secondary.
  
• Trent Williams started all 16 games this year and has played 56 games in his four years in the NFL. The Silverback has developed into the Redskins best player on offense, even showing the ability to outrun Pierre Garcon on a screen pass . He went to his second straight Pro Bowl this year.
  

2013 Lowlights

• Special Teams: 9-year STC Danny Smith left the Redskins in 2013 to coach for his native Pittsburgh. Mike Shanahan replaced him with Keith Burns, the Assistant STC from Denver. Hiring Keith Burns was perhaps Mike Shanahan's worst decision in his Redskins tenure. The ST unit was the worst ever tracked by Football Outsiders through 14 weeks. Just ask a Chiefs fan about Week 14, when they returned a punt for a TD and a kickoff for a TD .
  
• The Redskins went 0-6 in the division. The Eagles blew out the Redskins in the first half in both games and held on for the win in the second half. The Cowboys led the entire game in Week 6. The Redskins were up 17-14 in the 4th quarter against the Giants Week 13 only to lose. Week 16 against the Cowboys provided a huge opportunity to spoil the Cowboys' chance at the playoffs, and a huge stop on 3rd and goal seemed to set the Skins up for the upset. On 4th down, Tony Romo found DeMarco Murray to sneak into the endzone and cause heartwrenching agony for Redskins fans. Week 17 against the Giants was a comical display of "football" with with the Skins losing 20-6 in a sloppy, turnover-riddled game.
  

RG3's Sophomore Season

• RG3 started 13 games and went 274/456 (60.1%) for 3,203 yd (7.0 ypa), 16 TD, 12 INT, and had 56 carries for 489 yd (5.7 ypc). While Redskins fans would be more than pleased with these numbers for any 2nd year QB, the regression from his rookie year was certainly cause for disappointment.
  
• You will find hundreds of reasons why RG3 did not perform as well this year. Most center around his knee and his game being rusty. Most fail to mention that the pistol read-option was lethal in 2012 because of its novelty. Kyle Shanahan admitted that offensive production came easily in 2012. Defenses were much better prepared 2013, and running a conventional offense exposed weaknesses, particularly in protection from our RG and TEs and painful drops by our receivers.
  

That said, RG3 had his ups and downs this year.

Good:

• Pocket movement TD pass vs DEN
  
  
  
• Pump fake TD pass vs. MIN
• TD pass with accuracy vs Giants

Bad:

• 1st multi-int game of career vs PHI
• Costly Fumble vs. DET
• Worst INT of his career vs SF

Coaching: Jay Gruden vs. Mike Shanahan

Note: Sean McVay is our new OC/QB coach (Redskins former TEs coach). Jay will be calling the plays.

• Old System: Shanahan’s system was based off of zone stretch plays with a one-cut RB that required vision, patience and toughness to get extra yards. Shanahan then runs the PA bootleg to attack the opponent’s linebackers for 10-15 yd strikes over the middle and 1-2 times a game he went deep to test the safeties. In Washington, he ran a large number of screens to our speedy receivers (mainly Garcon) and used the TE as a safety valve in space over the middle for our QB. Kyle introduced the pistol read-option game that swept the NFL in the 2012 season and it became another cog in our offense that was downright explosive at times.
  
• New System – Passing Game: Jay doesn’t rely on one offensive philosophy. He ran a variety of formations including heavy-sets with multiple TEs and used a fair amount of screen passes to his speedy WRs. He also used a lot of designed check-downs to his speedy RB (Bernard), and Jay has already said that Morris needs to improve his hands (catching/ball security) for the upcoming season. For a great article by the Washington Post, click here.
  
• New System – Running Game: Jay mainly ran a power-run scheme including aspects of inside zone play by pulling his guards to create holes. His running game required larger lineman that the Redskins don’t have as Shanahan required smaller/agile lineman. He didn't run many zone stretch plays, which was the staple of the Redskins and Alfred Morris’s forte. Jay incorporated some read-option aspects into his game, but it was mainly from a shotgun standpoint as opposed to the pistol formation the Redskins were accustomed to. For a great article by the Washington Post, click here.Alfred Morris and the offensive line is the biggest question mark for the offense for 2014.
  
• Defense: Jim Haslett (DC) was retained to the chagrin of Redskins fans everywhere. Jay will be giving him more responsibility to run the defense than Mike did before. Jim has already talked about playing more press-coverage instead of the current off-man/zone coverage. It seems that most Skins fans wanted him canned and Wade Phillips or a different DC to be hired, but that didn’t happen.
  

Tributes

• Sean Taylor, FS: Six years after his death in late November 2007, the murderer Eric Rivera Jr. was finally brought to justice and was sentenced to 57.5 years in prison. Here is
  
  R.I.P.
• London Fletcher, ILB: The UDFA from John Carroll University finally retired after a 16 year career in which he played in all 256 out of 256 games totaling 2032 tackles, 39.0 sacks, 20 FF, 23 INTs and 1 Superbowl Ring with the Rams. Compare that to the 17 year career of Ray Lewis who played in 228 out of 272 games, totalling 2050 tackles, 41.5 sacks, 19 FF, 31 INTs and 2 Superbowl Rings.
  

2013 Rookie Recap

Here is a recap on how the 2013 Redskins rookie class performed:

• 2nd round: David Amerson, CB – Early in 2013 he played like the boom-or-bust product he was touted to be, but due to his steady improvement throughout the entire season he was one of our lone bright spots on a horrific defense. Look for him to gain an even larger role next season and eventually taking over as the CB1 or CB2 of the team in the future. GIF1 , GIF2
  
• 3rd: Jordan Reed, TE – Reed was an amazing play-maker when healthy for the Redskins. Missed the final 5 games due to a lingering concussion, but still ended the season with the Redskins franchise rookie record for receptions and yards amassing 45 rec on 59 targets, 499 yards and 3 TDs. GIF1 , GIF2
  
• 4th: Phillip Thomas, S – Best value pick in the 2013 NFL draft but tore Lisfranc Ligament in the first preseason game. Placed on IR for the entire season.
  
• 5th: Chris Thompson, RB – Speedy and elusive, but extremely brittle coming out of FSU. Placed on IR in November due to a torn left labrum.
  
• 5th: Brandon Jenkins, OLB – Didn’t get much playing time (42 total snaps) but showed flashes of potential as a good pass rusher. Needs to improve his strength and finishing ability. Expect him to continue to be a limited backup OLB assuming we re-sign Orakpo.
  
• 6th: Bacarri Rambo, S – Showed the mental capability in understanding field positioning as FS, but missed tackles littered his entire season. Backup FS is in his future for 2014 unless he greatly improves his tackling technique. GIF1 , GIF2
  
• 7th: Jawan Jamison, RB – Showed up out-of-shape for training camp and didn’t play a snap in the regular season.
  

Best Pick (pre-rookie season): Phillip Thomas

Worst Pick (pre-rookie season): Jordan Reed

Best Pick (post-rookie season): Jordan Reed

Worst Pick (post-rookie season): Chris Thompson or Jawan Jamison

2014 Team Needs and Cap Space

• With the projected cap being around $126.3 mil, the Redskins should have about $17 mil in cap space before they start making any cuts. With London Fletcher’s retirement and cuts to various other players that cap number should grow to close to $30 mil. Kirk Cousins will be shopped around as trade bait for QB needy teams, so if he is traded that extra pick(s) will be useful for filling in depth on the team.
  
• Even though we have a lack of talent and a lot of cap space we need to be wary of recklessness. Too many times in the past the Redskins resorted to signing huge FA contracts in order to shore up our team. Under the Shanahan led Redskins we didn't make any major signings outside of Pierre Garcon and looked for value additions. Good evaluation and control from our management as opposed to Madden-like impulses need to be used at all costs in order for us to be competitive in the future years.
  

Here is a list of positions of need in order of their importance for the Redskins:

• Two Cornerbacks: Both Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall are free agents. Hall will likely be re-signed.
  
• Two Inside Linebackers: London Fletcher retired and Perry Riley started 40 straight games at ILB, but wants top dollar even though he had an abysmal season. Hopefully Riley will be re-signed for much less than what he is requesting or we make the contract heavily incentivized with a low base.
  
• Safety: Brandon Merriweather did a great job at preventing deep passes this season, but needs to improve his tackling ability. Bacarri Rambo didn’t develop enough to earn the starting FS spot.
  
• Defensive End: The Redskins were terrible in run defense. New ILB’s will help, but injuries to both starting DE’s caused the run defense to suffer all season.
  
• Right Guard: Chris Chester (PFF: -5.5 overall) is terrible in pass blocking and should be cut immediately. Tyler Polumbus (PFF: +18.8 overall) had an amazing year at RT and has earned the starting RT spot next season.
  
• Outside Linebacker: This is a need if and only if Brian Orakpo (PFF: +24.9) can't be re-signed.
  
• Wide Receiver #2: Pierre Garcon had a career year, but nobody can get open or can stop dropping the ball outside of him. A new WR2 is desperately needed to take the pressure off of Garcon if Jordan Reed (TE) gets injured again.
  

 

[ConnSKINS26]

Never thought I'd read that something on Reddit is better formatted...than anything.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Never thought I'd read that something on Reddit is better formatted...than anything.

 

[fatness]

What a load of information. Thank you.

Scoring:

Stat Net Points Rank Points Scored 334 23rd Points Allowed 478 22nd Differential -144 30th

• Turnover differential: -8 (25th in NFL)

Kind of sums up the problems. And both the offensive and defensive performances were made worse by the special teams handicapping them.

New System – Running Game: Jay mainly ran a power-run scheme including aspects of inside zone play by pulling his guards to create holes. His running game required larger lineman that the Redskins don’t have as Shanahan required smaller/agile lineman. He didn't run many zone stretch plays, which was the staple of the Redskins and Alfred Morris’s forte. Jay incorporated some read-option aspects into his game, but it was mainly from a shotgun standpoint as opposed to the pistol formation the Redskins were accustomed to. For a great article by the Washington Post, click here.Alfred Morris and the offensive line is the biggest question mark for the offense for 2014.

I'll disagree a bit there. Gruden has already said he'll build on what the offense does well instead of forcing a new system on them. He's smart enough to see they don't have the offensive line personnel to run a power game. McVay has said they'll continue to use the zone blocking scheme.

I agree Jordan Reed is a great prospect as a TE but I'm more worried than most about his concussion issue ending his career.

Here is a list of positions of need in order of their importance for the Redskins:

• Two Cornerbacks: Both Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall are free agents. Hall will likely be re-signed.
  

Good. Hall should be re-signed.

• Two Inside Linebackers: London Fletcher retired and Perry Riley started 40 straight games at ILB, but wants top dollar even though he had an abysmal season. Hopefully Riley will be re-signed for much less than what he is requesting or we make the contract heavily incentivized with a low base.

  I don't agree that Riley had such a bad year. At the end of the season he was one of the best defenders they had on the field.
  

• Right Guard: Chris Chester (PFF: -5.5 overall) is terrible in pass blocking and should be cut immediately. Tyler Polumbus (PFF: +18.8 overall) had an amazing year at RT and has earned the starting RT spot next season.

• I think Chester is at best emergency depth. And I don't agree at all with that rating of Polumbus which seems more stats-driven than "watching him play" driven. The most optimistic assessment anyone could ever come up with for his is "occasionally rises to average".

 

[fatness]

Haslett, speaking on ESPN980 Thursday for the first time since he was retained by the Redskins, also told Doc Walker and Brian Mitchell that improving the pass rush is a primary goal.

Haslett said that is one reason he hired Brian Baker to coach the outside linebackers (where the bulk of the pressure comes from in a 3-4 defense). Haslett sounded like a coach anticipating Brian Orakpo's return, too. Orakpo can be a free agent next month.

“Can we get better? No doubt about it. I think Rak can get much better, and I know Ryan [Kerrigan] can get a lot better,” Haslett said. “That’s why we hired a coach to coach them on the rush element. We’ll try to turn them loose more this year, do more with them game-wise. Don’t worry so much if they lose contain, because they’ll lose ####### contain half the time. Let’s roll and make sure the tackles cover for them. Different things like that.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/5482/haslett-on-olbs-well-turn-them-loose?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

 

[fatness]

Where contract money is spent, by position.

CB - 2.15%

S - 1.78%

 

[fatness]

2013 predictions at Hogshaven. A tad optimistic.

 

[Marvelous]

Haslett, speaking on ESPN980 Thursday for the first time since he was retained by the Redskins, also told Doc Walker and Brian Mitchell that improving the pass rush is a primary goal.

Haslett said that is one reason he hired Brian Baker to coach the outside linebackers (where the bulk of the pressure comes from in a 3-4 defense). Haslett sounded like a coach anticipating Brian Orakpo's return, too. Orakpo can be a free agent next month.

“Can we get better? No doubt about it. I think Rak can get much better, and I know Ryan [Kerrigan] can get a lot better,” Haslett said. “That’s why we hired a coach to coach them on the rush element. We’ll try to turn them loose more this year, do more with them game-wise. Don’t worry so much if they lose contain, because they’ll lose ####### contain half the time. Let’s roll and make sure the tackles cover for them. Different things like that.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/5482/haslett-on-olbs-well-turn-them-loose?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Sounds great. As I said before, I think getting a better pass rush is really the top priority of the defense. It is hard to have a good defense when you cannot get pressure on the QB, especially in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line and you know they are going to throw the ball.

 

[fatness]

And it's hard to get a good pass rush without a big push from the NT and DE's in a 3-4. That is still a problem.

 

[Marvelous]

Kevin Sheehan today said they recently found out that the Champ Bailey trade was accommodating Bailey, who had a lot of non-football reasons for wanting to leave DC. I think Nittanylion had some info that was consistent with this.

This is actually consistent with Gibbs, who after the first season said anyone who wants out, let him know and they would try to accommodate them. Laverneus Coles was subsequently traded for Santana Moss.

 

[ConnSKINS26]

Kevin Sheehan today said they recently found out that the Champ Bailey trade was accommodating Bailey, who had a lot of non-football reasons for wanting to leave DC. I think Nittanylion had some info that was consistent with this.

This is actually consistent with Gibbs, who after the first season said anyone who wants out, let him know and they would try to accommodate them. Laverneus Coles was subsequently traded for Santana Moss.

That Bailey stuff has been known for a long time, at least on the Redskins forum I frequent. There have been stories for years and years that he was having an affair and his wife wanted OUT of D.C.

 

[Bob Magaw]

Does anybody want to pick for WAS in Andy's mock on page one?

 

[RGIII HTTR]

What a load of information. Thank you.

New System – Running Game: Jay mainly ran a power-run scheme including aspects of inside zone play by pulling his guards to create holes. His running game required larger lineman that the Redskins don’t have as Shanahan required smaller/agile lineman. He didn't run many zone stretch plays, which was the staple of the Redskins and Alfred Morris’s forte. Jay incorporated some read-option aspects into his game, but it was mainly from a shotgun standpoint as opposed to the pistol formation the Redskins were accustomed to. For a great article by the Washington Post, click here.Alfred Morris and the offensive line is the biggest question mark for the offense for 2014.

I'll disagree a bit there. Gruden has already said he'll build on what the offense does well instead of forcing a new system on them. He's smart enough to see they don't have the offensive line personnel to run a power game. McVay has said they'll continue to use the zone blocking scheme.

Already been announce they are keeping the ZBS, so this would lead us to believe Gruden is building upon what works already. No worries here!

Here is a list of positions of need in order of their importance for the Redskins:

• Two Cornerbacks: Both Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall are free agents. Hall will likely be re-signed.
  

Good. Hall should be re-signed.

Hall will be back and deserves to be back. This is one player that has really grown in the past two years, I wish we had more players like him. I think the 'Skins will lock up one of the premier FA CB's that hit the market. I can see them landing Talib as 'Skins were close to getting him before, just didn't have the funds to make it work...now they do.

Two Inside Linebackers: London Fletcher retired and Perry Riley started 40 straight games at ILB, but wants top dollar even though he had an abysmal season. Hopefully Riley will be re-signed for much less than what he is requesting or we make the contract heavily incentivized with a low base.

I don't agree that Riley had such a bad year. At the end of the season he was one of the best defenders they had on the field.

I think if Riley price becomes an issue, he is easily gone. The reason being that there are comparable ILB'ers out there that can do the same. I expect signing of two ILB'es are a minimum and I am getting sold on B. Spikes filling Fletch's shoes. Of course, Riley is more the covering ILB, so his spot will naturally have to be more of that type of role...Butler (SD) is good at that, but lacks run stopping ability.

Although the OL and WR positions need to be addressed, I see the 'Skins landing several Defensive players via FA. One of the more pressing needs, along with CB is Safety. I also think they will land an impact type DL, not a pure pass rusher as 3-4 DL's usually are not that type, but one that can push the pocket and control the line.

I base this by what we have learned from Shanny's exit, where they planned to be active in FA last year for Defensive players, but cap penalty hindered it. I am very interested to see what is to come, their strategy and how it plays out.

 

[RGIII HTTR]

Per sources...D. Hall has re-signed with the Redskins (4 year deal).

 

[ConnSKINS26]

Hopefully it's reasonable, and hopefully they can get out of it after a couple years (though I think he could at least man the slot effectively in a few years, I'd hate to see us paying him as an outside corner to play that diminished role in his early 30's).

 

[Ted Mullins]

Rapoport said on twitter "nearly $5m/year" for Hall, don't think anyone has said yet how that will be broken out, what's guaranteed, etc. Completely agree that it'd be nice if they can cheaply get out of it in a couple years if need be. Glad they kept him though, still some fans that are down on him but I like him and they need all the help they can get back there.

 

[dgreen]

Probably some large, non-guaranteed roster bonus in year four that inflates it to "nearly $5m/year". No way he sees anywhere near $20m out of this deal and I'd be very disappointed if there's a large cap hit to let him go in the last year or two.

 

[fatness]

Probably some large, non-guaranteed roster bonus in year four that inflates it to "nearly $5m/year". No way he sees anywhere near $20m out of this deal and I'd be very disappointed if there's a large cap hit to let him go in the last year or two.

I don't think there will be any big cap hit. And I look at the contract this way:

1. They just re-signed their best CB for reasonable money, instead of letting him walk (as they did with Carlos Rogers).

2. They've got a CB for 1-3 years and a S for 1-3 years in Hall.

Very glad they re-signed him. He's missed very few games, was their best defender last year, and is good on run support also.

 

[fatness]

It's nice hearing the coaching staff talk more this year. Here's a bunch of stuff from Haslett, not all of which I agree with but some of which is interesting.

“To me, when I look at this team, I think we’re closer to the 10-win season than I do the three-win season,” Haslett told Larry Michael on Redskins Nation recently. “The last two months of the year were probably the worst I’ve ever had in pro football. [in] 10 years playing, 25 years coaching, I’ve never been through anything like that — he said, she said. A lot of things going on that shouldn’t be going on in your locker room, that eats up players’ time when it shouldn’t. They should be worrying about football and none of the other stuff. Hopefully we never have to go through that again — or I’ll never go through that again — because I don’t want to be around something like that. That was an embarrassment to the organization, to yourself.”

Then he started discussing what had changed between 2012 and 2013, and he mostly settled on turnovers.

“Here’s why we won [in 2012]: we had a bunch of turnovers on defense, and the offense didn’t turn the ball over,” Haslett said. “That’s why we won games. That was the bottom line. You turn the ball over 14 times, you get 39 turnovers, you win a lot of games. Last year we kind of went backwards. We didn’t get enough turnovers — I think we had 29 turnovers [actually 26] — and the offense turned it over close to 40 times [actually 34]. So that’s why we lost games.

“It wasn’t what [scheme] you’re doing, it’s not who you’re doing it with,” Haslett continued. “We had the same exact players that we had the year before. We just got the ball [back], we turned the ball over, and we played much better on special teams. We weren’t put in bad situations like we were last year. So it was a number of different things. I do think this team’s closer to the team that won the division than the three-win season.”

Later in the segment, Haslett talked about how the atmosphere is now so sunny around Redskins Park.

“We had a defensive staff meeting the other day and we were talking football for about an hour-and-a-half,” the coordinator said. “We were talking one coverage, things that we want to change, things we want to do to get better. And the D Line coach, Jacob Burney, said this is the most fun he’s had in two years. And I thought all we’re doing is sitting around and talking football, trying to get some things right. And it is different from that standpoint.

“You’re going to like what you see in Jay [Gruden],” Haslett said. “Jay does a great job with the quarterbacks, he does a great job with the offense. He utilizes what the player does best. He doesn’t worry about what [players] can’t do. He finds out what they do best and he tries to use those players to the best of their ability.”

 

[fatness]

Mike Jones about Jordan Reed

Reed has recovered from the concussion symptoms that ended his rookie season prematurely, and he is back to training in preparation for his second NFL season.

 

[MattFancy]

I like the Hall signing. Was probably our best defensive player last year. Seems like he genuinely wants to play in DC. The nice thing too is that when his skills start to diminish at CB, we can always move to to S ala Charles Woodson. Sounds like the money is around $4-4.5M/yr. I don't think that's too bad at all. You could probably argue he was one of the best CBs in the division last season.

 

[(HULK)]

I had a dream last night that we packaged Cousins and someone else to Chicago for a 2nd rounder and Josh Holloway. I woke up not sure if it was real, racking my brain to remember who Josh Holloway was. Then I remembered he is the actor that played Sawyer on Lost. Lol. Weird dream.

 

[RGIII HTTR]

I had a dream last night that we packaged Cousins and someone else to Chicago for a 2nd rounder and Josh Holloway. I woke up not sure if it was real, racking my brain to remember who Josh Holloway was. Then I remembered he is the actor that played Sawyer on Lost. Lol. Weird dream.

LOL

 

[dgreen]

I had a dream last night that we packaged Cousins and someone else to Chicago for a 2nd rounder and Josh Holloway. I woke up not sure if it was real, racking my brain to remember who Josh Holloway was. Then I remembered he is the actor that played Sawyer on Lost. Lol. Weird dream.

Sounds like an upgrade at WR to me.

 

[fatness]

I had a dream last night that we packaged Cousins and someone else to Chicago for a 2nd rounder and Josh Holloway. I woke up not sure if it was real, racking my brain to remember who Josh Holloway was. Then I remembered he is the actor that played Sawyer on Lost. Lol. Weird dream.

Can Holloway play special teams?

 

[nittanylion]

I had a dream last night that we packaged Cousins and someone else to Chicago for a 2nd rounder and Josh Holloway. I woke up not sure if it was real, racking my brain to remember who Josh Holloway was. Then I remembered he is the actor that played Sawyer on Lost. Lol. Weird dream.

Met up with Todd Andrews, eh? We should have a drink to restore your equilibrium.

 

[Todd Andrews]

I had a dream last night that we packaged Cousins and someone else to Chicago for a 2nd rounder and Josh Holloway. I woke up not sure if it was real, racking my brain to remember who Josh Holloway was. Then I remembered he is the actor that played Sawyer on Lost. Lol. Weird dream.

Met up with Todd Andrews, eh? We should have a drink to restore your equilibrium.

Shhhh......

 

[Marvelous]

Probably some large, non-guaranteed roster bonus in year four that inflates it to "nearly $5m/year". No way he sees anywhere near $20m out of this deal and I'd be very disappointed if there's a large cap hit to let him go in the last year or two.

I don't think there will be any big cap hit. And I look at the contract this way:

1. They just re-signed their best CB for reasonable money, instead of letting him walk (as they did with Carlos Rogers).

2. They've got a CB for 1-3 years and a S for 1-3 years in Hall.

Very glad they re-signed him. He's missed very few games, was their best defender last year, and is good on run support also.

For the contract structure, I think the Redskins should do the opposite of what they did early in Snyder's reign. With lots of cap space available and needing more than a year to rebuild (if they can really say and believe that), the Redskins should not back load contracts and have huge pro-rated signing bonuses. They should get a lot of the cap hit up front rather than defer it. They can still guarantee salary when needed, just don't defer the cap hits to later years.

In the past, top cornerbacks went for $8M per year. Last year, the market for CBs dropped dramatically. I am not sure where the market will come out this year, but $4-4.5M per year for a good CB does not seem unreasonable.