Outlook For 2014 & Beyond

Sorry to create another thread but wasn't completely sure where to post this in one.

This season was as depressing and bleak as any season I have ever experienced as a Redskins fan, with 2009 being the only reasonable comparison. At the same time, examining our team from top to bottom, this team is a lot different than the types of rosters inherited by Mike Shannahan in 2009, Jim Zorn in 2007, or Joe Gibbs in 2004. All of those teams were marginally more successful by record compared to this one, but all of them were teams in perennial cap hell, lacking a franchise quarterback or stuck believing in a guy who was unlikely to become it, and were heavy on overpaid underachieving guys.

What makes this time any different? Well we have a franchise quarterback who health and system permitting is as good a bet to be our "guy" for the next 8-10 years as anybody, not to mention the backup who fans would be clamoring to start over Donovan McNabb, Mark Brunell, etc. Along with this, we also have a young, talented running back who we didn't have to criminally over-pay for in a trade to get (Portis), as well as a Pro-Bowl Left Tackle. We have a solid 1B/2A receiver who despite everything put up great numbers this season, and a young Tight End who looked like a huge weapon for us before going down with a concussion.

Defensively we could use a lot of help fixing the patchwork secondary we rolled out, and I would prefer not even to go into detail about Special Teams, but that is what Free Agency is for. At this point I am looking at the Salary Cap penalty as a blessing in disguise, as without it, we would have spent all of that money last offseason, leaving Gruden with a lot less roster flexibility coming in.

In summary: We've got our quarterback, we've got our running back, along with some useful weapons on both sides of the ball. We have a young head coach that we seem to think really highly about, and we have a ton of flexibility this offseason with money, something we really enjoy spending. Basically we have all the things we never had under the old regimes, the pieces that are a little bit harder to acquire, and with good coaching and intellegent free agent choices, we have a lot more reasons to be optimistic today than we have in years past.

I believe the coaching moves, especially if Morris replaces Haslett will be good for us. However, if we do not bolster the offensive line and give RGIII a true #2 WR on offense, and just completely revamp the defense, we're never going to improve.

I trust Bruce Allen on draft days. Every year, he (and Shanahan) found us some incredible players like Alfmo, Reed, etc.

I really believe getting our cap back will fix a lot.

The defense needs to go in a different direction, whether it's by promoting Morris to DC or letting Haslett go back to a 4-3, big changes are needed.

On offense, we need to get a bigger offensive line and let go of Shanahan's smaller zone guys.

Things can't be worse than 2013. I believe Griffin will bounce back in year #3 like Cam Newton did and he, Morris, Garcon and Reed will be an offensive powerhouse.

If we really focus on the O-line and defense, we should be a contender this year. Our division is very weak and stepping back into first place is not a difficult task with Dallas and the Giants on the decline. Philly was nowhere near as good as their 10-6 record showed and now there's plenty of study material on Kelly's schemes for the rest of the league.

Any word on the Special Teams coach? We have to make massive changes there too outside of Forbath and Sundberg. Rocca, thanks for the tackles, your time is up. I'd love to see a signing like Jacoby Jones to be the #2 WR and return man. He'd fix our returning problems immediately.

Cloudy with a 50% chance of thunderstorms.

Cloudy with a 50% chance of thunderstorms.

Absolutely. Tomorrow's weather will pretty much be the same as today's.

This boils down to what people think of Robert Griffin?

If you think he's a prima donna who won't ever learn to throw from the pocket, nothing is different. It's the same organization with the same resources making the same decisions.

If you look at this season, realize the guy was 23, and hey, those numbers would look pretty darn good for a quarterback if the year was 2006, then the answer is "Robert Griffin III."

And Trent Williams. And Jordan Reed. And Brian Orakpo They're really good too. And Shanahan's not here to explain to us in the offseason why it was critical for the success of the Redskins that we let Orakpo test the market.

lol .. dang tripp you really really dont like MS.

The outlook for me is... hazy. 4 years ago we hired Shanny and everyone thought he'd take us to the promised land and as an organization we're worse off than where we started.

I like the Gruden hire, but I'm not going to go crazy with it.

Redskins’ DeAngelo Hall: Players questioned RGIII benching (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/01/09/redskins-deangelo-hall-players-questioned-rgiii-benching/?tid=pm_sports_pop)

Good article. Hall says there was no tension in the locker room or complaints from RG3 until after he was benched. Says of RG3:

“From the first day that kid came into that locker room, all he wanted to do is impress us, try to prove to us that he would do anything to help us win football games. It was never about him. It obviously seems like it’s about him, because he’s the face."

I am not entirely sure we're worse off than 4 years ago. We are unquestionably better at the QB, RB, WR (yes, even without a legit #2 -- think of who our WRs have been in recent years) and TE position (would anyone take what we had then over what we have now, even with some questions about the long term durability of RGIII and Reed?). Our O line has an anchor LT, although admittedly not much else. Our D needs a lot of work, but we have solid players in Kerrigan, Orakpo, Riley, DHall, and Cofield, and some folks that I would still characterize as prospects (Amerson, Thomas, Rambo, Crawford). I think Forbath is going to work out, but the rest of special teams ain't special.

So there are no doubt some significant holes to fill, but we have money to do so and at least some folks who seem capable in making some decent picks and decent, albeit inconsistent, FA signings (with the occasional miss -- that will happen both with the draft and FA).

Redskins’ DeAngelo Hall: Players questioned RGIII benching (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/01/09/redskins-deangelo-hall-players-questioned-rgiii-benching/?tid=pm_sports_pop)

Good article. Hall says there was no tension in the locker room or complaints from RG3 until after he was benched. Says of RG3:

“From the first day that kid came into that locker room, all he wanted to do is impress us, try to prove to us that he would do anything to help us win football games. It was never about him. It obviously seems like it’s about him, because he’s the face."

I have to say, DHall has really impressed me this last year. Still gets the dumb penalties too much, but he's been a standup guy for the team and has played well all around.