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Donovan McNabb’s Health
McNabb is the only player on the roster who has experience as a key component to a perennial play-off contender. Losing him can’t happen if the Redskins want to make a serious push.
For starters, the depth behind McNabb is questionable at best. Rex Grossman , Colt Brennan, and Rich Bartel won’t get anyone’s vote of confidence. Grossman has faded since his days with the Bears while Bartel and Brennan have zero NFL starts between them.
If that’s not an indicator the season rests squarely on McNabb , then how’s this?
Washington has little to boast of in terms of skill players on offense. They have one of the worst receiving corps in the league, and a stable full of has-beens at running back.
However, all those players become a whole lot better with McNabb under center. In Philadelphia, McNabb led the Eagles to three straight NFC Championships throwing to the likes of Todd Pinkston , Freddie Mitchell, and James Thrash.
McNabb will elevate the play of the entire offense and give them something to believe in. Never in the past ten seasons has any QB been able to give the Redskins confidence they can score 20 or more points a game on a consistent basis. McNabb gives them that confidence.
Washington has been offensively challenged for much of the past decade, but with McNabb they finally have a QB who finds ways to make plays and score points. McNabb isn’t without faults, but for the first time in what seems like forever, the Redskins have a leader they can depend on.
So long as he stays healthy.
The Offensive Line’s Chemistry
This is essentially key 1a.
The offensive line’s performance goes hand-in-hand with McNabb’s health. If they can keep him upright, then consider their job done.
After several major injuries, McNabb can’t move like he used to. He is aging and won’t be able to take the pounding of a 46-sacks allowed season like the Redskins had last year.
Fortunately, the Redskins actually addressed their offensive line this off-season , bringing in six new linemen, including first-round pick Trent Williams and veteran Jammal Brown.
Williams and Brown will play left and right tackle respectively while free agent pickup Artis Hicks will play right guard. Casey Rabach and Derrick Dockery are holdovers from last season. Rabach will play center and Dockery , left guard.
The primary concern will be Williams at left tackle. Thus far, he has drawn rave reviews for how quickly he’s adjusted to the pro game, but he will be lining up against big name pass rushers, i.e. Dwight Freeney , Trent Cole, Jared Allen, Demarcus Ware etc.
With those nightmare match-ups coming nearly every week, Williams will have to adapt quickly or the Redskins might have to have Brown move from the right side over to the left.
Overall, the line is light years ahead of last year’s edition, and it doesn’t hurt that Shanahan is a blocking whiz. His zone blocking schemes have long been the key to his success and it will be again this year.
Jack Anderson is a Washington Redskins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He also writes for NFL Touchdown , Sports Fan Live , and manages his own blog Skins Talk .
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Once in a while, Life offers a confluence of circumstances that we slowly become aware of, just at the periphery of thought, but never crystallize into words.
On rare occasions, though, it will go farther that, tapping us gently on the shoulder, as if to say, “Pardon me, I believe this is what you are looking for.”
I admit to such a Redskins-related moment today.
For the past few days I had been thinking in vague, general terms about the confluence of events that have happened to, in, and around my favorite sports franchise since head coach Jim Zorn left the building in January.
In no certain order of importance and by no means exclusively…
Enter GM Bruce Allen , son of George .
Enter Mike Shanahan , coach of renown, riding in to much fanfare.
Enter The Over the Hill Gang, 2.0 , an increasingly evident assemblage of veteran players from elsewhere, brought in to man key positions, and the Future is Now expectations such an approach inescapably brings.
Consider a Washington Redskins franchise, not far removed from another brief flirtation with return to glory, swinging for the fences again before all momentum is lost:
• Prior to Hall of Fame Head Coach George Allen’s arrival in 1971, the Redskins enjoyed a very brief renaissance under legendary Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi , who died tragically after just one season at the helm of the burgundy and gold. Before Lombardi, suffice it to say that the Redskins had not tasted glory for a very long time.
• Two years prior to future Hall of Fame Head Coach Mike Shanahan’s arrival in 2010, the Redskins enjoyed a brief renaissance under returning legend and Hall of Fame head coach Joe Jackson Gibbs, who suddenly and prematurely resigned because of personal reasons. Before Gibbs II, suffice it to say the Redskins had not tasted glory for a very long time.
And then, just last week, Son of George threw open the doors of Redskins Park to its players past, an event rendered significant only by the fact that for the past decade, said alumni had been proactively, tragi-comically held at arms distance by their alma mater former team.
I think you get the drift …
This is one of those deals you don’t want to study too closely; the kind that tends to recede the closer you study it. Not unlike the little black spots that swim in front of your eyes when you stare at the sky. No matter how hard you try to look directly at them, they skitter away. You know they’re there, you can see them—you just can’t pin the little buggers down.
What I’m saying is there’s a vibe.
Maybe it’s a vibe only those of us around and cognizant way back in 1971 can feel. Hell, maybe it’s one only I feel, and I need to lay off the falafel at lunch.
But I don’t think so.
I believe Life is cyclical. And I may be approaching 50 (October seems to be coming damn fast), but am not so ossified as to discount the possibility that sometimes, somehow, Life gives us signs…even over silly stuff like football.
We just have to allow ourselves to recognize them.
Well, I think Redskins history is circling around even as we speak—intriguingly, fascinatingly, inexorably. And I think Life thought it might be amusing if someone stuck their neck out and said so.
Which is why it may not have just been crazy random happenstance that I ran across the video posted below today. The video isn’t new, just new to me. And I haven’t missed many.
For the record and more linear thinkers…no, I am not predicting the 2010 Washington Redskins will hit the ground running in Mike Shanahan’s first season, turn the Capital City on its collective ear, and make the playoffs. That would be trying to look directly at the little black swimmy things.
The vibe I’m getting is more tremor at this point than a full-fledged earthquake.
But I definitely feel it.
Do you?
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Now don’t get all crazy on me, but what if the 2010 Redskins’ offensive line this season turns out to be, you know…good?
Most Redskins observers—bloggers, media, Cliff Clavins at the bar—have preached for what seems a very a long time that the offensive line has been and remains a glaring team weakness. And given how ugly it has gotten on the field at times, there is still plenty of evidence to support the notion.
The new regime at Redskins Park this offseason certainly seemed to “get it,” saying early on that the lines were going to be a priority. It seemed logical enough to conclude that they would hit the ground running in free agency and the draft to restock the offensive line.
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to their first training camp. They really didn’t…
Yes, they did start the free agency period by bringing in two relatively obscure offensive linemen, veteran journeyman Artis Hicks and third-year man Kory Lichtensteiger .
And they did later spend the fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft on the highest-rated left tackle on their board, LT Trent Williams , and I don’t undersell that move—it could pay dividends for years to come.
But that has pretty much been it.
They may still pick up another body or two in late free agency or from training camp cut-downs later this summer, but with each passing day the likelihood of finding a plug-and-play starter via that route gets slimmer.
All of which makes reading reports like this one on the current state/attitude of the five gentlemen currently projected to start the season against Dallas on September 12 that much more…relevant.
Seriously, if you had predicted back in March that come June the regime would be projecting a starting lineup of a rookie left tackle, Derrick Dockery, Casey Rabach, Big Mike Williams and Artis Hicks, I’d have told you you were nuts.
Current OL per redskins.com (projected starters in bold):
C Casey Rabach
C/G Erik Cook
C/G Will Montgomery
C/G Edwin Williams
G Derrick Dockery
G Paul Fanaika
G Kory Lichtensteiger
G/T Artis Hicks
G/T Chad Rinehart
G/T Mike Williams
OT Trent Williams
OT Selvish Capers
OT Stephon Heyer
OT Clint Oldenburg
OT William Robinson
Come on. No way a brain trust like Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen would go with that.
Would they?
Well, just for the sake of argument…what if over the past five months they have looked at what they have on hand and are not just satisfied, but happy?
Shanahan has been consistent and vocal about fostering “competition” all across the board, and management has lived up to that promise, bringing in tons of defensive linemen, receivers, running backs, quarterbacks…but not offensive linemen.
Why?
Have Shanahan and Allen spent too much time in the sun?
Do they not see what seems so abundantly clear to everyone this side of departed personnel head Vinny Cerrato?
Did they look out across the big man landscape and not see anything else early in free agency or the draft that they liked, and resign themselves to watching helplessly as yet another Redskins quarterback gets abused by swarming defensive linemen?
Or could it be that maybe, just maybe, they know something the rest of us don’t?
Is it conceivable that the red-headed stepchild of the burgundy and gold roster—an offensive line so long maligned it has become almost cliche—might actually be able to play?
Maybe we should at least allow for the possibility, if for no other reason than doing otherwise would flatly imply that Shanahan and Allen are ignorant of the proverbial woolly mammoth in the room.
Which brings us to the fun part…
What if the offensive line actually does turn out to be good?
What if whatever combination emerges from the running back competition among returning (and presumably healthy) Clinton Portis, newcomers Larry Johnson and Willie Parker, and whoever else ends up on the final roster has holes to run through?
What if newly acquired six-time Pro Bowl QB Donovan McNabb has a little time to throw?
What if the revamped receiving corps he has time to throw to has enough professional-grade depth to dictate single coverage from time to time?
What if opposing defensive coordinators discover they cannot simply send the house after the Redskins quarterback on every passing down with little fear of being burned down the field?
What if new Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan finds he can draw up an actual NFL-level offensive gameplan, comfortable enough that he can occasionally expect his six-time Pro Bowl passer to get enough time to take a seven-step drop, look off the safety and come back across the field?
What if he gets to pick and choose from his gameday playsheet and establish an offensive rhythm (don’t worry younger Redskins fans, you’ll know one when you see it), because his line is holding its own, and his playmakers are getting opportunities to use their skills?
What if new defensive coordinator Jim Haslett can game-plan and call his defense with a reasonable expectation of his offense that his offense will sustain drives as often as not, providing him field position, a fresh pass rush, and (gasp) perhaps a more-than-one-score fourth-quarter lead once in a while?
Oh, I know. Silliness. Burgundy-and-gold-colored glasses. The Redskins offensive line is a stone-cold-lock weakness. It is old, thin, generally blows chunks, and everyone knows it.
Still, as the days and weeks slip by and all remains quiet on the Redskins OL front, I can’t help but wonder …
What if everyone is wrong?
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As if all the negative publicity surrounding beleaguered NFL star Albert Haynesworth wasn’t enough, the Washington Redskins’ prize defensive tackle has managed to find another way to drag his name through the mud.
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This is a strange time of year for the gridiron obsessed. Free Agency has dwindled to a trickle and the occasional second (third?) tier signing. The NFL Draft is a memory. Training camp is still a couple months away. It would be easy, if one was to allow it, to lose sight of the seismic shift that has taken place in the world of the Washington Redskins.
At the very top, Daniel Snyder is still the owner. Beyond that, however, not much remains of the previous administration … or even the previous several.
Departed, unlamented de facto general manager Vinny Cerrato, tragi-comic symbol of the dysfunction that has befallen the storied Redskins brand since Jack Kent Cooke died in 1977 … gone. In his place, Bruce Allen, legacy, son of former Redskins Hall of Fame head coach George Allen.
Allen may not be a reputation superstar quite on the level of the Indianapolis Colts’ Bill Polian or even Baltimore’s Ozzie Newsome, but is generally respected both in and out of the game. He is, in short, the “real GM” Redskins fans loudly and consistently have called for over recent years. This transition is also the biggest surprise in recent years – no one saw Cerrato’s departure coming.
Former head coach and quasi-granola Jim Zorn, as likable as they come but clearly not ready for the big headset handed to him two years ago … gone. In his place, Mike Shanahan, future first-ballot Hall of Fame head coach.
Yes that Mike Shanahan. he one with the two Super Bowl titles. The list of NFL head coaches who have won two or more Super Bowls is special enough: Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Belichick, and Mike Shanahan.
Know who has won two in a row?
Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Bill Belichick … Mike Shanahan.
If the words ”Mount” and “Rushmore” don’t at least flit across your mind, they probably should.
There are those who seek to diminish Shanahan’s accomplishments and credentials by reciting the “never won one a Super Bowl without John Elway” mantra. Well, no he didn’t. But in the 10 years he coached Denver after Elway retired, he went 91-69 (.569), had eight winning seasons ,and made the playoffs four times … with the likes of Brian Griese and Jake Plummer.
But those are just numbers. The real value in a coach with the kind of credentials and reputation Shanahan brings to the table has already been amply demonstrated by the steady stream of comments from current Redskins players about the new attitude at Redskins Park. This isn’t the standard lip service stuff players play any new head coach either … anyone tuned in to the stories coming out of Ashburn all have heard the difference.
Bottom line, Shanahan is the real deal. His players know it, and every bit as importantly, the teams his Redskins will face will know it.
Oh and by the way, Elway never won a Super Bowl with Shanahan either.
On the other side of the ball, the Gregg Williams/Greg Blache “bend but don’t break until the game is on the line” defensive philosophy … gone. In its place, Jim Haslett and the controversial (at least among fans) decision to switch from the traditional 4-3 defense the Redskins have always run to the 3-4.
No one knows yet if the switch will result in measurable improvement, but one thing is sure – it will be different. If philosophically Williams/Blache were about containment; Haslett is about aggression:
“Just the unknown of where you’re coming from, who’s blitzing, who’s not blitzing. You can just do so many things out of it that you can’t do out of a four-man line. Now, if you got great four-man line people, then you play that.” He adds, “There’s no reason you can’t go 3-4, 4-3. I’ve played in both, coached in both, been successful in both. I think its just the type of players you have. I think the cornerstone of the team on defense is Brian Orakpo. He had 11 sacks last year, rushed 200 some times. In this defense, we’ll rush 600-700 times.”
Both systems can work and fail, spectacularly. Whether the Redskins can overhaul their 4-3 roster in time to field a successful 3-4 in 2010 will be one of the keys to how well the early Shanahan years go. Personally, I’m on record a Haslett skeptic. But given the totality of the circumstances at play, I am taking a wait-and-see attitude. I figure two years … by the end of 2011, we’ll know if Shanahan’s choice to lead his defense was the right one.
And then of course there is the small matter of the single most important player position in all of professional sports, the NFL quarterback.
The Redskins have started ten quarterbacks over the past 10 seasons alone: Brad Johnson, Jeff George, Tony Banks, Patrick Ramsey, Danny Wuerffel, Shane Matthews, Tim Hasselbeck, Mark Brunell, Todd Collins, and Jason Campbell. None of them will ever be confused with the man who will start opening day in 2010: Donovan McNabb.
There is an entire generation of Redskins fans who have never seen legitimate Pro Bowl level NFL quarterbacking in burgundy and gold. Unless McNabb’s skills fall precipitously off the table between the end of last season (3,553 yards, 22 TD, 10 INT, QB Rating 92.9) and the beginning of 2010 – and there is no reason to believe that will be the case – that is about to change.
But I’m not going to try to convince you of that, at least not today. Instead I am simply going sit back and watch. If I’m proven wrong this fall, I’ll say so. But I don’t think I’ll have to.
None of this guarantees a winner in 2010, of course. It’s still going to be the first year under a new regime.The Redskins are still a team coming off an ugly 4-12 season. And this is still a franchise that has had more than twice as many head coaches (seven) in the past 17 years as it has playoff appearances (three). So let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If the epic turnaround in the Washington Redskins fortunes is going to happen, common sense suggests it will probably take a couple of seasons to gather steam.
It’s May. It’s quiet. Training camp is two months away and opening day not until September.
But my god man … what an epic offseason this has been.
With that, I’m out of here for a while (again).
Left Washington Friday morning for Dallas (nice place to visit, wouldn’t want to be a football fan here) to meet my brother, pack up a U-Haul, and head out Sunday morning bright and early on a 1,377 mile cross-country trek to West Yellowstone, Montana. His new summer cabin is finished and in need of furniture, household and outdoor fun stuffs, and serious libation stock. Plus there is serious hiking to be done.
We’re the men for the job.
Back in two weeks … unless a grumpy grizzly (you try sleeping four or five months without waking up hungry and irritable) says otherwise.
Hail.
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