2009 is supposed to be the year that Jason Campbell and Jim Zorn step up and take their places among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks and playcallers, respectively.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, it won’t be. But not for the reasons you might think.

No one should panic after one game, least of all often jilted Redskins fans. In 2008 the Giants wiped the Redskins all over the Meadowlands before the team reeled off a fairly impressive winning streak.

So don’t panic when the team drops another one to the Giants, and even looks a little better doing it.

But you might want to grab a seat and a paper bag for this one: the team’s best right tackle, Stephon Heyer, can’t play in the NFC East. And neither can the guys behind him.

The team either loves Heyer, hates drafting offensive linemen, and/or somehow thinks that Coach Bugel can coach up just about any guy off the street to block Osi Umenyiora.

No disrespect to Coach Bugel, who has coached up some of the best offensive linemen to grace the professional gridiron, but a group of aging linemen supplemented and backed up by other team’s castoffs just ain’t gonna cut it.

Pure math reveals the team’s flaw in building the offensive line. Five of the team’s 22 positions on the field are offensive linemen, or 23 percent of your starters. Based on this, each team should be drafting one or two offensive linemen every season.

Washington has only taking two offensive linemen in the draft in the last five years. Only one remains on the team and none of them start.

This had led us to Stephon Heyer. Heyer has won the right tackle job a few times now and in the last two years in the absence of Jon Jansen, who was hurt in 2008 and stuck in Detroit this season. Heyer isn’t the best man for the job; he’s simply the best man for the job currently on Washington’s roster.

Heyer has consistently been beat one on one by the superior defensive ends of the NFC East. On one particular key play last week in New York, Heyer faced off against Umenyiora on third and goal later in the game. Umenyiora had to take three steps forward to reach the same spot that Heyer needed to reach with one step backward.

Umenyiora won.

Okay, no problem, happens to everyone. Heyer, consistently slow off the snap, compensated by pushing Umenyiora off slightly to the right and away from the quarterback, which is what you do in that situation. The little shove gives Heyer a beat to reset and recover, again needing to shift slightly to the right before Umenyiora beats him to the edge.
Umenyiora won again.

Result: Campbell rushed the pass, no touchdown.

This play, a pretty good example of Heyer’s abilities show two things. One: he’s been taught very well. He’s got his technique down. Two: He’s too slow to pass block in the NFL.

And the team knows it.

On another play against the Giants, it was another obvious passing down from the middle of the field. The left side of the line, coupled with center Casey Rabach, set up one-on-one blocks. Guard Randy Thomas shot immediately off the line and way to the right. Seeing a gaping hole in the A-gap, the Giants shot a safety straight up the middle and straight into Campbell before he got a chance to even set up and pass.

Result: another Hunter Smith punt.

Compensating for Heyer isn’t the answer, either. The team will either be susceptible to the safety or middle linebacker blitz, or have to keep Heyer covered with a tight end on virtually any longer passing touchdowns.

Is this how the Redskins should be using Chris Cooley? If not, to send Cooley on passing routes, they will need a double tight end formation with Yoder assisting Heyer on his blocks, taking another potential receiver off the field.

Because of the lack of investment in the line, the team doesn’t have much of a choice in-house. They could promote Mike Williams, but the former first round choice hasn’t made it all the way back. He was injured a bit in training camp, and was a bit slow and stiff in the limited reps he received.

There’s always the free agent market. Veterans Jon Runyan and Langston Walker are currently available, and receiving a fair amount of looks. Runyan also has a fair amount of experience in the NFC East, having played several years for the Eagles. But how long will it take to get them up to speed and ready to take a starting position?

To get to the playoffs from the NFC East, you have to beat teams in the NFC East. Can Heyer lock down Demarcus Ware when Dallas comes to town?

Here's the worst of it: if Heyer is the team's fifth best lineman, what happens if one of the other starters get injured?