Time Is Now for Jay Gruden to Rebuild the Redskins His Way

It's fitting that, from my perspective, the final straw for the 2014 Washington Redskins—the game that confirmed this team must be completely rebuilt in order to stand a chance—was a matchup with the St. Louis Rams. 

It's also fitting that before pummeling the Redskins 24-0 on their own turf, receiver Stedman Bailey, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, defensive tackle Michael Brockers, running back Zac Stacy, left tackle Greg Robinson and linebacker Alec Ogletree acted as the Rams' captains for the pregame coin toss. 

All six of those fine players were acquired with draft picks that the team possessed as a result of its blockbuster 2012 trade with the Redskins. 

In exchange for four high-end draft picks that turned into a significant short- and long-term haul for the Rams, Washington, of course, wound up with quarterback Robert Griffin III, who held a clipboard (or a tablet, I suppose) for the majority of the afternoon. 

That's because Griffin is now nothing more than a backup quarterback. 

And the Redskins are now nothing more than a laughingstock. 

That's undeniable. It happens when you've gone through three quarterbacks in one season, all of whom have failed. And when your locker room becomes a factory for vitriol and divisiveness. 

It happens when you've lost 10-plus games for the fifth time in a six-year span and when your players are using the word "nightmare" anonymously with TMZ. 

It usually happens when TMZ is involved period. 

What's sad is this team has a decent amount of talent. Trent Williams is a top-tier left tackle, DeAngelo Hall is a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback, DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon are dangerous receivers in their prime, Jordan Reed is emerging at tight end, Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo are stud pass-rushers, Jason Hatcher and Barry Cofield stand out along the defensive line and young linebackers Keenan Robinson and Trent Murphy appear to have bright futures. 

Sure, a lot of those guys have been hurt. But injuries happen to everybody, and this is a team that has embarrassed itself even with the majority of its best players on the field. There's no way this franchise can blame the fact that it has lost 24 of its last 30 football games on bad luck with health. 

So with Griffin's welcome beyond worn out and with Hall, Garcon, Orakpo and Cofield representing a lot more of the past than the present or future, it's time for general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Jay Gruden to start from scratch. 

There was faint hope, based on a few respectable performances as the interim starter, that preseason third-string quarterback Colt McCoy could save this ship from sinking. McCoy's only one man, but in this day and age a good quarterback can make up for almost anything that ails a football team. 

But then McCoy went out on Sunday and threw two wretched interceptions at FedEx Field, reminding us that if it looks like a McCoy, throws like a McCoy and quacks like a McCoy, then it probably isn't a franchise quarterback. 

We already know that applies to preseacon No. 2 Kirk Cousins, who threw seven interceptions in a three-week span in relief of Griffin earlier this season. 

As for Griffin, it's impossible to envision the former No. 2 overall pick redeeming himself in D.C. There's too much baggage now, on and off the field, and he doesn't suit Gruden's offense whatsoever.

Extraordinarily talented players can succeed despite being square pegs in round holes, but Griffin's game is too flawed. He continues to make terrible decisions, he continues to turn the ball over, he continues to lack basic mechanical skills, he continues to expose himself to injuries, he continues to spend too much time in the pocket and he continues to act as a poster child for lazy quarterback play. His footwork is a joke, his pocket presence is nonexistent and thus his football future is bleak. 

Metric	Rookie season	Ever since
Record	9-6	4-13
Comp.%	65.6	62.2
TD-INT	20-5	18-15
YPA	8.1	7.1
Rating	102.4	83.0

In less than five months, the Redskins will have a chance to make a first-round draft pick for the first time in three years. Not only that, but it's likely to be a top-10 selection (they're currently on track to pick sixth).

Until recently, I've had trouble wrapping my head around the notion that the 'Skins should use that pick on another potential franchise quarterback. After all, they'd basically be committing four consecutive first-round picks to the quarterback position.

But as Bleacher Report colleague and economist-at-heart King Kaufman reminded me on his radio program last week, three of those picks are sunk costs. They can't be recovered, so it's probably not fair to use them as rationale for not picking another quarterback, even if it's natural to do so. 

And the more I see what's happening to this team and the more I consider the reality that you simply can't succeed in the NFL in this era without a strong presence under center, the more I realize that the Redskins must take a shot at finding their next franchise pivot this offseason.

And he has to be Gruden's guy. With the system they run and the personnel they have that probably means a pocket passer who can be groomed the way Gruden did with Andy Dalton in Cincinnati.

Maybe that's Jameis Winston out of Florida State, or maybe it's UCLA's Brett Hundley. Maybe it's someone else. Maybe the Redskins use the pick and acquire Jay Cutler from the Chicago Bears. Hell, maybe they roll the dice on impending free agent Mark Sanchez. 

Just do something. Hopefully more than just the Sanchez thing, but something. 

From there, you rebuild the offensive line. The current line is a silly hybrid of undersized blockers left behind from the Mike Shanahan era and big-bodied blockheads from a half-assed attempt to rejuvenate the unit in Gruden's initial offseason. Right tackle Tyler Polumbus is one of the worst starters in the game on an annual basis, and it's time to give up on younger tackle Tom Compton as well as veteran guard Shawn Lauvao.

And while we're giving up on guys, it's time to end the Jim Haslett era. The longtime defensive coordinator has never been given much of a chance due to salary-cap constraints and injuries, but at some point a coaching change becomes necessary. 

Haslett and former Redskins linebacker London Fletcher never appeared to have any issues during their four years together in Washington, which is why it's telling that Fletcher went out of his way to tear Haslett apart Sunday on CBS, per CBSSports.com's Will Brinson:

"He's clueless as a defensive coordinator," said Fletcher. "He lacks attention to detail, he lacks feel on how to call a game. Some of the calls he used to call when I was playing were head-scratchers. They were so bad I used to change them." 

Since Haslett took over as defensive coordinator in 2010, this defense has never ranked better than 21st in points allowed or 13th in yards allowed. During that span, only four teams have surrendered more points. This year, it ranks 25th in terms of points allowed and 27th when it comes to takeaways. 

	Total	Rank
Points allowed	1956	30th
Yards allowed	27830	26th
Takeaways	120	18th
Sacks	170	23rd

"This is a guy who would take the '85 Bears and turn them into a mediocre defense," added Fletcher. "He's clueless. He has no idea what he's doing."

Time's up.

Speaking of the D, Washington has to find a whole new batch of new cornerbacks and safeties. A lot of rope has been given to 2013 second-round pick David Amerson at corner, but the guy has been beaten far too badly on far too many occasions to remain an NFL starter in his third season. 

Metric	Total	NFL rank out of 113
PFF grade	-17.4	113
Opposing QB rating	133.0	110
Opposing comp.%	74.6	99
TDs allowed	6	102

At safety, Ryan Clark (the NFL's only player over the age of 80 and likely done anyway) and Brandon Meriweather (so shaky he isn't worth a backup spot) should already be as good as gone.

Frankly, the only current Redskins defensive back who needs to be on the roster come summertime is rookie standout Bashaud Breeland. 

Oh, and forget about Orakpo, who can't stay healthy and is losing his prime. Kerrigan's better and younger on the outside, and Washington used its top draft pick last year on his supposed long-term replacement, Trent Murphy. 

And up front, Cofield and Jason Hatcher aren't hurting anybody, but they also aren't part of the long-term future. It's time to start giving possible replacements some looks. 

It's too early to give up on Gruden, who has everything you want in a head coach save for experience. That's something he's acquiring as we speak, so booting the guy one season into a five-year contract might be pushing it. And in order to maintain a healthy hierarchy, if Allen goes, so should Gruden. Those two are attached to one another now, and they deserve a chance to get this right. 

The good news is the Redskins are finally clear of those crippling cap restraints and are out of draft jail now that the Rams have been fully compensated for RG3. In addition to that, they're expected to have about $18 million in cap space entering the offseason, according to Over the Cap. 

NFL teams can turn it around in a hurry nowadays. We've seen proof of that recently in Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Arizona. The Redskins can dig themselves out of this hole faster than most of us figure, but in order to do so, they have to go all in by completely tearing apart a roster built primarily by the previous regime and its prehistoric head coach. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon