Shutdown Countdown: Washington’s issues much deeper than quarterback
Shutdown Corner is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per day in reverse order or our initial 2015 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on Aug. 8, the day before the preseason begins with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton.
This might surprise you, but the Washington Redskins’ biggest issue during a horrible season last year wasn’t the guy (or guys) under center.
Yes, we’ll talk about that quarterback who inspires so many strong feelings. But there are other issues in Washington.
The Redskins weren’t the 1999 St. Louis Rams, but they weren’t that bad in the passing game. Washington finished in the top half of the league in some key stats, like yards per game (11th), completion percentage (fourth), average yards per attempt (tied for third) and quarterback rating (15th). Not great but not incompetent either.
Washington’s rebuilding project should really start with the other side of the ball.
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The Redskins’ defense is uninspiring. It was impossibly bad against the pass last season, allowing a 108.3 rating, which is insanely bad. In NFL history, only 18 times has a quarterback posted a better rating in a season. Getting a 108 rating is fairly historic, and yet Washington’s mixed bag of opposing quarterbacks did just that against its secondary.
Washington wasn’t great rushing the quarterback, made almost no big plays (only seven interceptions) and allowed 8.2 yards per attempt, tied for the worst in the NFL. The secondary got an overhaul, adding as many as three new starters (safeties Dashon Goldson and Jeron Johnson, and cornerback Chris Culliver) in free agency. The defensive line got a boost with Terrance Knighton and Stephen Paea in the middle. Washington has to hope some of them make an impact.
The Redskins were horrible by the end of last season. A surprising victory against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 20 overshadowed how bad they were down the stretch. After the bye week, the Redskins lost six games, by 20, 4, 22, 24, 11 and 27 points. NFL teams shouldn’t be getting beat by 20 points or more, and Washington did it four times in their last seven games.
There’s a lot of work to do to get Washington back to respectability. And yes, that includes quarterback Robert Griffin III.
2014 review in less than 25 words: Quarterback drama got most of the attention, but Washington completely cratered in the second half.
Is the roster better, worse or about the same? Some of the defensive additions were important, though some pass rush help would have been nice. Maybe second-round pick Preston Smith can help there. It seems like the roster is about the same, though maybe a little bit better.
Best offseason acquisition: Washington could have gone in many different directions at No. 5 overall in the draft, but it felt Iowa offensive tackle Brandon Scherff was too good to pass up. While you can argue if that was the right choice, it’s tough to criticize Scherff as a player. He’ll impact the offense right away at right tackle.
Achilles heel: The secondary is still not good. Culliver gives the team a reasonable No. 1 cornerback, but there are many other questions at the other cornerback spot. Goldson is a big name but he’s coming off a poor season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will turn 31 early this season. Johnson, who came over from the Seattle Seahawks, has started one NFL game in four seasons and Duke Ihenacho, his competition at safety, wore out his welcome with the Denver Broncos pretty quickly. New blood was needed, but the moves weren’t enough to turn the Redskins from a unit that allowed a 108.3 rating over a full season into an above-average secondary. Or, probably, even an average one.
Position in flux: OK, let’s talk about it. For some reason a lot of people really dislike Griffin. Maybe it was too much exposure too fast. But he draws a lot of strong opinions. And most of the criticism is justified.
Griffin hasn’t developed as he should, as far as playing quarterback from the pocket (if you never saw NFL Films’ Greg Cosell show how Griffin missed five open receivers just to keep holding the ball and throw the it away under pressure, it sums up a lot of what’s wrong). But Griffin is being given every chance, and that’s smart. He’s a sunk cost; moving on now doesn’t bring back those draft picks Washington gave up to get him. And the rest of the quarterbacks are uninspiring. The strange Kirk Cousins bandwagon crashed last year, and Colt McCoy isn’t a long-term answer.
Griffin seems so fundamentally behind after three seasons that it’s hard to picture him being a completely different quarterback this year, especially after injuries have affected his mobility that helped make him a star as a rookie. But he still has some skills, and his 86.9 rating last year wasn’t that bad.
Washington would like nothing better than for Griffin to turn a corner and give it hope like it had before Mike Shanahan inexplicably left Griffin in during a playoff game to tear up his knee. Griffin’s development, or lack thereof, will get a lot of attention all season, just like it did last year.
Ready to break out: I’m still a fan of tight end Jordan Reed’s talent. He had a promising 2013, then injuries hit in Week 1 last year. He had flashes last year — a 92-yard game at Arizona and a 123-yard game at Indianapolis — but his 465-yard, zero-touchdown season was very forgettable. I still think he has a big season in him, if he can stay healthy of course.
Stat fact: Alfred Morris has gone from 1,613 yards as a rookie to 1,275 in 2014 and 1,074 last year. Morris’ yards per carry went from 4.8 to 4.6 to 4.1. There’s nothing wrong with a 1,000-yard back who averages more than 4 yards a carry, but the move from a zone-based blocking scheme to a power scheme under coach Jay Gruden didn’t fit Morris well. He had just one 100-yard rushing game last season. There’s a question if he can still be the elite back he was as a rookie.
Schedule degree of difficulty: They’re in a fairly deep NFC East, which doesn’t help. Neither does a December that includes two games against the Cowboys, games at Chicago (never fun in December) and Philadelphia, and a home contest against a tough Buffalo team. The Redskins will have to do their damage early.
Burning question
This team’s best-case scenario for the 2014 season: Considering Griffin has DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon (remember him? He’ll bounce back this season) and Reed to throw to, you can’t rule out a resurgent season from him. That would help a defense that needs it, too. If everything goes right on offense, picking up a few more wins than last year is possible.
And here’s the nightmare scenario: Did the Redskins quit on Gruden late last year? Again, NFL teams shouldn’t routinely lose by three touchdowns. If he’s not getting through to them, and especially Griffin, it could get ugly in a football city that keeps everything under the microscope. The thought by the end of last year was that team owner Daniel Snyder might have to choose between Gruden and Griffin. One can easily see a scenario in which the team wants to move on from both after this season.
The crystal ball says: Washington earned its 4-12 record last year. It was a bad football team. How will it be that much better this season? Obviously it would depend on Griffin becoming a very good NFL starter, a path he once seemed to be on. And there would need to be some magical improvement on defense, especially from the wretched secondary. Even if those things happen, it’s hard to envision a huge improvement. It seems like double-digit losses once again is the most likely outcome.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
