Biggest Takeaways from Washington Redskins' 2014 Season

The end of Jay Gruden's first year in charge of the Washington Redskins might as well be groundhog day for the Washington Redskins. The takeaways from 2014's 4-12 finish are largely the same as those from Mike Shanahan's ill-fated final season in charge.

This team still has a dysfunctional dynamic between ownership, management, head coach and quarterback. The latter remains a problem position because the same questions persist about the long-term potential of Robert Griffin III.

Elsewhere, the defense is still a mess, one littered with bad coaching and mediocre personnel. The same is true for the offensive line, which once again retains its annual title as this team's Achilles heel.

But there are some silver linings for the Redskins. The defense, as bad as it is, still boasts a pair of keepers at the linebacker and secondary level.

Offensively, the team's biggest offseason addition has certainly proved to be a worthy investment, rather than the potential distraction he was advertised as.

But ultimately, the Redskins remain in a very similar position. The same questions still need answers and the same weaknesses still need to be upgraded.

Take a more in-depth look at Washington's biggest takeaways from 2014.

All statistics via NFL.com.

Jim Haslett's Defense Remains a Mess

Uncredited/Associated Press

If Jim Haslett is still Washington's defensive coordinator next season, frustrated fans may consider hiring a team of code-breakers to work out why. For the fifth season running, Haslett has failed to craft a unit that's even solid. (Update: Haslett has left the organization, per ESPN.)

In fact, the only thing Haslett's 2014 defense was guaranteed to do was surrender big plays. In this context, season-ending rankings of 20th in yards and 30th in points come as no real surprise. In fact, they're par for the course under Haslett.

If there's mitigating circumstances, Haslett can point to the catalogue of injuries that have robbed his unit of any continuity. The changes have been weekly and widespread, so much so it was a like a game of Guess Who? identifying who was lining up during the season's final weeks.

The injuries forced Haslett not only into adapting on the fly, but also risking inexperience at key positions. That's been most obvious in the secondary where missing veterans DeAngelo Hall and Tracy Porter meant relying on rookies and pressing practice squad members into emergency service.

Similar issues were present at linebacker. Losing Brian Orakpo early didn't help. It forced second-round pick Trent Murphy into the lineup ahead of time. On the inside, injuries meant fielding a combination of Will Compton and Steve Beauharnais.

But while the injury list has been lengthy, it doesn't explain or excuse all of the defensive woes. The real root of the problem is schematic inconsistency.

Haslett's group has been devoid of an identity all season. That crisis stems from altering the system on a large scale every week.

This damaging habit was most obvious in Weeks 8 and 9. In the former, Haslett crafted a blitz-happy plan that stunned the Dallas Cowboys and their young O-line.

That ploy led to a shock 20-17 road win. That's why it was equally baffling and frustrating to see the Washington defense revert to passive three and four-man rushes against the Minnesota Vikings and rookie passer Teddy Bridgewater a week later. The result was a dismal 29-26 defeat.

Every defense wants to be multiple, but the best units have a regular way to travel. Haslett's units have never benefited from that level of continuity.

You'd also have to question the merits of any play-calling that leaves linebackers covering wide receivers and "move" tight ends. Confusion has been a common sight in both coverage and when it's come to just getting lined up.

That level of chaos has its roots in incoherent coaching. It said a lot when one of Haslett's ex-players, middle linebacker London Fletcher, spectacularly took his former coach to task.

Fletcher's delivery was sledgehammer-style, but it was hard to really argue with the basis of his message. Gruden indicated Haslett would be "evaluated" once the season finished, per Tom Schad of The Washington Times. It's tough to imagine the failing coordinator has done enough to save his job.

There could be several high-profile defensive minds available this offseason, including names such as Wade Phillips and now former New York Jets boss Rex Ryan. It's time Washington had a quality strategist who can stamp a real identity on the defense.

Amid the doom and gloom, a new coordinator would have two very promising building blocks to work with.

Keenan Robinson Is a Budding Star

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

If you want to credit Haslett with anything, commend him for rolling the dice on Keenan Robinson. The coordinator boldly opted to make the ultra-brittle 2012 draftee his defensive signal-caller this offseason.

That essentially meant Robinson was replacing Fletcher as the heartbeat of the defense. The former Texas product clearly wasn't wowed by the task, establishing himself as a star in the making.

After appearing in just 11 games during his first two years in the league, Robinson began his third season in fine style. He logged eight combined tackles in the season opener against the Houston Texans, including six solo stops. Robinson bookended his fine campaign with 10 total tackles, one pass breakup and a sack against the Cowboys in Week 17.

In between, the 25-year-old became the first Redskins defender since 2011 to earn NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors, following a 14-tackle effort in Week 7 against the Tennessee Titans, per Redskins.com.

To make a 3-4 work, inside linebackers must be masters of all trades. They have to be smart and steady in coverage, aggressive, sound and decisive in run support and dynamic on the blitz.

Robinson's team-high 109 tackles, 2.5 sacks, three pass breakups and one interception are proof of his complete game. During the season, Gruden reserved special praise for Robinson's versatility, per Tom Schad of The Washington Times:

"

I think you feel him when you’re on the field. You feel his speed. He’s starting to really bring the thump with him on the tackles, also. His pass coverage—everything…With the athletic ability that he has, the more he sees, the more confident he gets with what he’s going to do, he’s going to be a dominant force because he’s got the great athletic tools.

"

Robinson has played like a guided missile this season, one preprogrammed and launched to wreck every level of an offense. Keeping him healthy remains the key, although his 13 starts in 2014 are an encouraging sign in that regard.

A fully fit Robinson is now the bedrock of this defense. But he's not the only young defensive ace this team can hope to count on for years to come.

Bashaud Breeland Was a Draft Steal

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Bashaud Breeland didn't generate major buzz when the Redskins plucked him from Clemson in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft. But injuries to veterans Hall and Porter have let the rookie prove he was a draft-day steal.

Breeland has started 15 games this season and now owns the title of Washington's best cornerback. He led the team with a pair of interceptions and 13 pass breakups. The scrappy 22-year-old also forced two fumbles.

More importantly, Breeland showed a knack for decisive contributions. It was his interception against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16 that positioned the offense to win that game.

Back in Week 8, Breeland knocked away a Tony Romo pass to confirm victory over the Dallas Cowboys. That particular clutch moment completed a night where Breeland locked down star wideout Dez Bryant.

There's been plenty to love about Breeland's debut season. However, it must be said his inaugural campaign hasn't been without its problems.

Aggression is the defining characteristic of his game, but occasionally it would be nice to see some guile offset the fire. Breeland has hoovered up penalty flags as if he's trying to fill a museum dedicated to the wonders of yellow cloth.

His angry demeanour has also led to scuffles with teammates. ESPN Redskins reporter John Keim detailed a fight between Breeland and receiver Andre Roberts during a practice session late in the season.

Yet Breeland's faults are ones that can be eradicated by smart coaching and guidance aimed at channeling his aggression the right way. If that happens, the ex-Clemson ace could be really special.

That's something Gruden noted after the Eagles win, per CSN Washington.

At his best, Breeland gives the Washington secondary a physical and tenacious press-style corner. He can make life difficult for an opposing team's best receiver and enable the defense to be more creative and daring up front.

Building a credible defensive backfield around this young ace must be an offseason priority.

DeSean Jackson Was Worth the Investment

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

When Washington handed ex-Philadelphia Eagles malcontent DeSean Jackson a three-year, $24 million deal, it was easy to be skeptical. After all, Jackson left Philadelphia under a storm, with speculation rife his off-field connections played a part.

Jackson also arrived in D.C. with a fairly well-established reputation for diva-like behavior and being a divisive figure. His signing had all the hallmarks of the big-money, ill-conceived deals that have haunted the Redskins ever since Dan Snyder assumed ownership of the franchise.

But while the team floundered through its 4-12 season, Jackson instead proved to be one of the real bright spots. He caught 56 passes for 1,169 yards and six touchdowns.

Jackson maintained his niche as a prolific source of big plays. No matter if it was Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins or Colt McCoy throwing the passes, Jackson was usually on the end of them creating a huge gain.

He's a deep threat defenses fear, one who opens up every area of the field for this offense. But it hasn't all been about the big ball for Jackson this season.

He's also been turning short passes into electrifying plays. He did exactly that when he took a screen pass 69 yards for the points in the season finale against the Cowboys.

Perhaps most encouraging, there have been barely any incidents with Jackson. The closest came during Week 15's road loss to the New York Giants, when 106.7 The Fan host Grant Paulsen took note of an apparent lack of effort. But Gruden quickly played down that talk before watching Jackson torment old club Philly a week later.

Whatever the future under center looks like, the Washington passing game at least boasts a marquee game-winner on the outside.

Offensive Line Is Still the Team's Achilles Heel

Mark Tenally/Associated Press

When you allow 58 sacks there's a problem, a bad one. In truth, this season's dire offensive line showing is just the nadir moment that culminates in several years of failing to add marquee talent to a significant position.

It's not as if attempts weren't made last offseason. Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen used a pair of third-round picks on tackle Morgan Moses and guard Spencer Long.

But neither made the grade, barely seeing the field and enduring injury woes. It also didn't help free-agent acquisition Shawn Lauvao failed to shine at left guard.

Yet the real root of this season's problems stems from entering the new campaign with largely the same cast of characters who floundered the previous year. Washington retained four of the five starters who couldn't get it done in 2013.

Eventually, Gruden saw sense over right tackle Tyler Polumbus, who shouldn't have kept his starting berth in the first place. The fact he was replaced with Tom Compton, a left tackle drafted in the sixth-round in 2012, summed up the negligible recruitment policy that's crippled this O-line since 2010.

The combination of a pass-happy offense called by Gruden, indecisive and struggling quarterbacks, along with a lack of talent in the trenches, produced diabolical results this season.

Those problems reached historic proportions of ineptitude late in the year, as Michael Phillips of the Richmond-Times Dispatch noted.

If this team doesn't spend major dollars in free agency, as well as using a prime draft pick or two totally revamping the line, heads should roll in Washington.

Without better protection it won't matter who plays quarterback or lines up at wide receiver. This offense will never reach its potential.

Robert Griffin III Hasn't Progressed and His Future Is Murky

The quarterback situation must be fixed. That's obvious to anyone who's watched even a minute of the Redskins' 2014 season.

At the heart of the problems lies Robert Griffin III's staggering lack of progress. The player deemed good enough to deal away two first-round picks and a second-rounder to select in 2012 hasn't just struggled.

Griffin has been downright terrible most of the times he's seen the field this season. What should really concern the Redskins is his familiar problems aren't going away. In fact, they appear set to stay with a vengeance if this season is anything to go by.

Griffin still holds on to the ball for an eternity. That still leads to a phone book's worth of sacks that could be avoided.

The one-time Baylor sensation is also still guilty of locking on to his first read and staring down receivers. Not only does that mean missing big plays elsewhere, it also leads to negative ones, specifically turnovers.

Griffin showed that bad habit when he was intercepted by Bruce Carter against the Cowboys in Week 17. The depressing thing was how easy it was to create the interception.

Carter didn't do anything sophisticated. All the linebacker did was take a simple spot drop in zone coverage. But that's all it takes to fool a quarterback who rarely sees anyone else other than his primary read, as 106.7 The Fan host Grant Paulsen described:

"

Robert Griffin never saw Bruce Carter. He locked on Pierre's slant entire way and Carter was sitting underneath waiting for the throw.

— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) December 28, 2014"

The most alarming thing about this play? Griffin made exactly the same gaffe against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 14 last season. Then he failed to spot Derrick Johnson dropping into an underneath zone and threw it straight to the linebacker who gratefully returned it for six.

This mirror-image failure is the perfect symbol of Griffin's, and by extension, Washington's 2014 season. It's Groundhog Day with only one more win in the W column to fool you into thinking something's changed.

In reality, the Redskins remain mired in losing because their so-called franchise quarterback is hovering dangerously close to "bust" status. There's so much wrong with Griffin it's difficult to believe he can ever be fixed enough to eventually make the grade.

Even if he could, the process would demand a sea change in his work habits, something discussed in the above video by B/R's Stephen Nelson and NFL Insider Jason Cole. Griffin has a particular issue with film study, according to ex-Washington head coach Mike Shanahan, who famously lost confidence in the young quarterback, per the NFL on ESPN Twitter account:

"

"He's got to make a commitment in the film room like he's never done before" - Mike Shanahan on RG3 pic.twitter.com/AjfqiiIL1I

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 21, 2014"

Putting stock in anything Shanahan says qualifies as risky business. But as Griffin continues to exhibit the same problems reading defenses, it's hard to dispute his former coach in this case.

Shanahan couldn't make it work with Griffin. Now the question has quickly become will Gruden ever get it right?

The Quarterback-Coach Relationship Must Improve

For anything good to happen with Griffin, and this team for that matter, his relationship with Gruden must improve. That would certainly be a welcome change following a season of publicly played-out squabbles that appear to have taken this relationship past the point of no return.

The battle lines were most thickly drawn following Week 11's 27-7 home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the low point of a nightmare season. That prompted Griffin to appear to place the blame on those around him, per ESPN Redskins reporter John Keim:

"

If you want to look at the good teams in this league and the great quarterbacks, the Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Mannings, those guys don't play well if their guys don't play well. I need every guy in that locker room and I know they are looking at me saying the same thing.

"

Gruden's initial response to Griffin's ill-chosen words was typically blunt to say the least:

"

It's his job to worry about his position, his footwork, his fundamentals, his reads, his progressions, his job at the quarterback position. It's my job to worry about everybody else. And, yes, everybody else needs to improve. There's no question about it. But it's not his place. His place is to talk about himself and he knows that. He just elaborated a little bit too much.

"

Griffin was benched in favor of Colt McCoy two weeks later. Although he eventually returned, it took an injury sustained by McCoy in Week 15 against the Giants to make that happen.

It's difficult to imagine Griffin would have seen the field again this season had McCoy's neck held up.

The standoff between coach and quarterback has been the backdrop that has dominated this entire season. The problem is it will also dominate the whole offseason.

That's a point raised by B/R' Adam Lefkoe and NFL insider Jason Cole in the above video. The latter indicates tensions remain high and the air is still frosty between coach and quarterback.

It's very, very unhealthy for a rebuilding team to be blighted by a power struggle at the top. How can the roster be successfully retooled if all of the focus is on whether Griffin and Gruden are on speaking terms?

Gruden recently described his relationship with Griffin as "fairly decent," per Scott Allen of The Washington Post. With both men set to return next season, according to Cole, their relationship needs to be a damn sight better than that.

If it's not, expect another difficult season.

Gruden Has Been out of His Depth as a First-Year Head Coach

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

If there's one obvious takeaway from this dismal season, it's that Jay Gruden has been out of his depth as the sideline general for the Redskins. The first-year head coach clearly needs to work on his people skills as much as he needs to balance his play-calling.

Gruden's typical response to any problem this season has been bullish tough talk that does little to solve issues but at least provides good sound bites. In that sense, the younger Gruden has been eerily reminiscent of ex-San Francisco 49ers boss Mike Singletary (he's from the "old school," you know).

But it takes more than tough talk to fix a problem or coax the best from a player. While Gruden has remained as subtle as a sledgehammer while his team's losses have mounted up, all he's succeeded in doing is looking like a little boy lost.

But it's not just what he's growled into a microphone that's been disturbing about Gruden's dreadful first year in charge. There's also the baffling decisions he's made that have put his schematic preferences ahead of what works best for his players.

Decisions like the one not to craft an offense featuring read-option concepts for a dual-threat quarterback at his best running the read-option. Or the decision to consistently ignore the running game, the strength of the team, in favor of a pass-first approach that regularly exposed struggling quarterbacks and a feeble O-line.

Gruden has cared more about making his schemes work even though he hasn't had the players to do it. His solution to any teething problems has been to simply yell louder.

But this team didn't need a new sheriff to ride into town and browbeat players into accepting his own version of the law. Many of these players had enough of that during Shanahan's four years in charge.

The fact Gruden ignored history and still went that route proves two troubling things: First, he was the wrong hire in the first place. Second, he isn't shrewd enough or willing (both are bad) to adapt himself to the players he has.

That could be the tagline for every failed head coach in NFL history.

Bruce Allen Must Be in the Last Chance Saloon

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

If the last chance saloon actually exists, failing general manager Bruce Allen should be pouring the drinks. Allen entered last offseason firmly in "control" after Shanahan had been justly shoved through the exit door.

The newly empowered shot-caller reshuffled the executive staff, hired the coach he wanted and directed the free-agency and draft processes. But guess what? The Redskins are still as bad as ever.

That's hardly an endorsement for leaving the keys to the kingdom in Allen's hands much longer. It can't be when three of his draft picks failed to even make the team, while four others didn't make a significant impact.

Neither did free agents Ryan Clark, Jason Hatcher, Porter and Lauvao. Even a new coaching hire like special teams boss Ben Kotwica only marginally improved a dire unit.

So far, Allen's architecture efforts have yielded an unstable foundation, a house of cards that appears primed to fold and topple as early as next season. Allen's Jenga-style model for building a winner hasn't convinced anybody.

One year after he used cost-cutting measures to try and fix the offensive line and secondary, the two weakest positions on the team, Allen should be facing his last chance to get things right.

An Offseason Purge Is Needed at Both the Playing and Coaching Levels

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

If the Allen-Gruden double act is going to work, the duo needs to instigate a purge of this team at both the playing and coaching levels this offseason.

That means failing coaches such as Haslett, secondary coach Raheem Morris and O-line coach Chris Foerster must be shown the door. It also means there can be no more room to carry players such as aging and ineffective safeties Ryan Clark and Brandon Meriweather.

That pair should have to fight their way past offensive linemen such as Polumbus, Chris Chester, Lauvao and Compton on the way out. Even those proposals barely scratch the surface, but they would at least represent a start.

More importantly, swinging the axe early and often would show this franchise is serious about returning to winning ways as soon as possible. That's the bare minimum requirement in the modern NFL defined by its parity and quick turnarounds.

The 2014 season has to be made to represent a tipping point, the moment when Snyder and those around him decide they've seen all the losing they can take and they're finally ready to make the tough decisions needed to create a winning culture.

If not, expect more of this season's dysfunction and calamity in 2015.