Top 7 Position Battles to Watch in Washington Redskins Training Camp

In his third year as head coach of the Washington Redskins, Mike Shanahan is facing immense pressure to produce a winning season or risk losing his job. With training camp on the horizon, there are several position battles that could make a big difference in how the 2012-2013 season plays out.

All eyes will be on Shanahan and rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, but Griffin can only perform as well as the players around him allow.

The Redskins have a balance of youth and experience on their roster and plenty of players with a lot to prove. Here are the positional battles that will matter most heading into the regular season.

Kicker

Training camp battles between kickers are hardly the stuff legends are made of, but the last 20 years or so have not been kind to the Redskins at the position. In three seasons with the Redskins, Graham Gano has hit 59 of his 80 field goal attempts, missing more than his fair share of important kicks.

The Redskins decided to bring in the experienced Neil Rackers to compete for the kicking job.

Rackers has spent seasons with Cincinnati, Arizona and most recently Houston, earning a single Pro Bowl appearance in 2005. Where Gano has shown inconsistency from all distances, Rackers is only troubled by kicks of 50 yards or more.

Gano had five of his kicks blocked last season alone, which speaks more to the blocking than his ability, but Rackers has had just four of his kicks block in his entire career.

The pressure is on Gano to become the consistent, clutch kicker the Redskins need him to be, and Mike Shanahan believes he can be. If he was the long-term solution, the team would not have signed Rackers this offseason or experimented with Shayne Graham last offseason

Advantage: Neil Rackers

Right Tackle

It isn't being considered much of a battle at this point, but there is no guarantee that Jammal Brown makes it through training camp as the unquestioned starter at right tackle. He brings a veteran presence at the position but showed signs of struggling early last season.

Whatever improvement Brown made over the course of the season is meaningless if it does not carry over to this coming season.

The Redskins drafted South Dakota tackle Tom Compton in the seventh round, but that doesn't put him in position to usurp Brown. Willie Smith showed his mettle last season, starting the final three games of the season at left tackle in place of the suspended Trent Williams.

Smith doesn't have the wear and tear that has held Brown back, and it could spell the difference in the battle. Experience is likely to win in the end, but if the hip injury that sidelined Brown last season persists, experience won't matter.

Safety

The Redskins played most of last season a man down in the secondary, particularly at the safety positions. Neither LaRon Landry nor Oshiomogho Atogwe were 100 percent for any stretch last season, and both were sent packing this offseason.

The starting job will be hotly contested by free agent additions like Madieu Williams, Tanard Jackson and Brandon Meriweather.

Both safety spots are up for grabs in training camp, and the new faces look to have the inside track. Reed Doughty is a solid backup, and DeJon Gomes needs to develop more. The uncertainty the Redskins have in their holdovers gives more credence to the notion that Williams and Meriweather are in line to be the opening day starters.

Jackson struggled with substance abuse in his time with the Buccaneers and has too much to prove to be considered a frontrunner for the starting free safety spot.

Wide Receiver

When the Redskins signed Pierre Garçon and Josh Morgan as free agents, there was discussion about how the depth chart would shake out. With the release of Jabar Gaffney, the picture at wide receiver has become a bit more muddled.

The only certainty at this point is that Washington will have a new set of starting receivers come opening day.

Garçon has the ability to take on the No.1 job on the outside with second-year man Leonard Hankerson possibly working his way into the second spot. A lighter Santana Moss will likely spend most of his time in the slot, with Morgan as the fourth receiver. The issue isn't where everyone fits, but how the depth chart ultimately shakes out.

If Moss can prove himself worthy, he could be the second receiver while sharing time with Hankerson. There is also the potential for Morgan to rise, Garçon to fall and Anthony Armstrong to work his way out of the dog house.

The receiving corps will play a huge part in the early success or failure of Robert Griffin III.

Running Back

What would a Mike Shanahan coached team be without a running game to speak of? Second-year backs Roy Helu and Evan Royster are prepared to build on their impromptu rookie successes with both Tim Hightower and Ryan Torain no longer with the team..

The addition of the FAU's Alfred Morris to the backfield makes things even more intriguing.

Before suffering an injury of his own, Helu turned in three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances and broke the team record for receptions in a game with 14. Royster turned in two 100-yard outings of his own and averaged 5.9 yards per carry on just 56 carries.

Morris is a well-rounded back with a good burst through the hole, though he lacks elite speed. Historically, Shanahan's running backs have not been burners. Terrell Davis ran a 4.7 40-yard dash, while Morris turned in a 4.67. 

With a rookie quarterback, the backfield should see an increased workload, which means plenty of carries to go around. Each is capable of making a mark on a game at any given time, so it will be interesting to see how that workload is distributed.

Defensive End

Adam Carriker and Stephen Bowen turned in great seasons for the Redskins, solidifying the front line of the improved 3-4 scheme. Bowen signed as a free agent last year and Carriker was re-signed this offseason to the tune of $20 million over four years.

It is expected that Carriker and Bowen will reprise their roles in the trenches, but Jarvis Jenkins could pressure both for snaps this season.

Jenkins showed great promise during the Redskins' preseason last year but tore his ACL in the third contest, ending his rookie season before it began. Carriker and Bowen combined for 11.5 sacks last season and earned their rights to the starting defensive end positions, but Jenkins is talented and hungrier after having to sit out his rookie year.

Carriker was not a shoo-in for the starting job before Jenkins went down, and his new contract doesn't guarantee him anything. Jenkins could make a big push in training camp to reclaim what he earned last year.

Quarterback

There is no question that quarterback Robert Griffin III will be the opening day starter for the Washington Redskins. Training camp will decide whether controversial pick Kirk Cousins or questionable re-signee Rex Grossman will act as Griffin's backup.

The only way Grossman breezes through as the unquestioned backup is if Cousins struggles mightily, or the deciding factor is NFL tenure.

Cousins doesn't have the big arm NFL scouts fawn over, but he is accurate in the pocket and has experience in a pro style offense. Grossman has experience in Kyle Shanahan's offense but is a top-of-the-line turnover machine.

If the Redskins have plans to move Cousins in the future, they would do well to put him ahead of Grossman on the depth chart to drum up his value sooner rather than later.

Fans would prefer to see another body between Grossman and the starting job, but he has astounded everyone with his staying power thus far.