5 Mistakes Washington Redskins Can't Repeat in 2015 Offseason

Tasked with rebuilding a Washington Redskins franchise that's been mired in mediocrity for much of owner Daniel Snyder's tenure in D.C., new general manager Scot McCloughan has his work cut out for him.

In the past seven seasons, the Redskins have just one playoff berth. Needing to look no further than to the man who hired him, McCloughan already has a template in place for what not to do when it comes to building a winner.

With that said, let's take a look at the five mistakes Washington can't repeat in the 2015 offseason.

Have an Unproductive Draft Class

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

The absence of a first-round pick certainly played a part, but to be frank, the Redskins' 2014 NFL draft class was relatively unproductive.

To start things off, of the eight players selected, only five made the team. Taking a closer look at this "Fab Five," Bashaud Breeland was the lone key contributor.

Establishing himself as a defensive cornerstone, Breeland tallied 67 tackles and two interceptions in 2014. Penalties were an issue for him, but in place of DeAngelo Hall, he proved himself to be the team's top defensive back.

The buck stops with him, though. Washington's first selection, Trent Murphy, had a middling rookie season. In eight starts, he registered just 2.5 sacks and 32 tackles.

Shifting the focus toward Ryan Grant, Spencer Long and Morgan Moses, the trio simply couldn't garner playing time. With the depth the team has at receiver, this is understandable in Grant's case. In light of the struggles the Redskins had along the offensive line, though, this stands as an indictment of Long and Moses.

Cost-effective players a team has control over for at least four years, NFL draft picks are the lifeblood of every franchise. With new contracts on the horizon for Trent Williams and Ryan Kerrigan and possibly Robert Griffin III, Washington can ill afford to strike out in the draft again.

Sign Over-the-Hill Veterans

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

You can't say that Daniel Snyder isn't charitable.

How else can you explain the signings of Jason Hatcher, Ryan Clark and Tracy Porter?

While they weren't grossly overpaid per se, the roles and contracts they garnered were unwarranted. Just think about it. Clark, Porter and Hatcher were free agents for a reason.

Despite leading the Dallas Cowboys in sacks in 2013, Hatcher was allowed to hit the open market. Why? Well, for starters, his final year in Dallas was the only season of his career that he tallied more than four sacks. Not to mention the fact that he opened the 2014 campaign at the age of the 32.

You could debate on whether or not his production was sustainable. But with the mileage he'd accrued over the course of an eight-year NFL career, it was never wise for Washington to offer Hatcher a four-year, $27 million contract.

While he managed to play in 13 games and garner 5.5 sacks, Hatcher was predictably hampered by injury.

The same can be said in the case of Porter. On his fourth team in four years, Porter played all of three games for his newest team. A player who eclipsed 14 games played in a season just once prior to arriving in D.C., the Redskins can't claim they didn't see Porter's absence coming. 

Ditto for Clark's deteriorating play. The play detailed here by ESPN Radio 980 was an all too familiar sight for Clark in 2014:

"

Ryan Clark had the runner Joseph Randle wrapped up BEHIND THE LOS and did not bring him down...Touchdown. #Redskins

— ESPN 980 (@ESPNRadio980) December 28, 2014"

Every team has at least one, but as Washington hopefully learned this past season, it's unwise to lean heavily on a veteran player past his prime without a contingency plan in place. 

Fail to Address the Secondary

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Washington fielded the NFL's 20th-ranked pass defense in 2013. It sported a starting secondary of Josh Wilson, Hall, Brandon Meriweather and Bacarri Rambo that season.

For much of the 2014 campaign, the team featured a starting unit of Clark, Meriweather, David Amerson and Breeland.

Does anybody see much of an upgrade here?

No? Good, because there wasn't one. The Redskins actually fell to 24th in pass defense.

Clearly a weakness, it's hard to justify the team doing next to nothing to upgrade the secondary. It's already been touched on, but was the team really expecting Clark to make that much of a difference on the back end?

While Amerson was expected to progress in his sophomore season injury or not, a 31-year-old Hall trailing top-flight receivers was never going to turn out well. A liability in coverage for some time now, Meriweather wasn't going to transform as a player eight years into his career.

All told, while the team viewed its pass rush as a means to cover up the secondary's deficiencies, Washington's inaction here ultimately set the defense up to fail. 

With money to spend and the likes of Devin McCourty, Byron Maxwell and Rahim Moore set to hit free agency, there's little reason for Washington to exit this offseason without making upgrades to its secondary.

Make Only Subtle Changes to the Offensive Line

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

You've heard it for some time now: Washington's offensive line is a problem! It was a problem in 2013, when it allowed 43 sacks, and once again this past season when it surrendered an NFC-high 58 sacks.

And wouldn't you know, it was relatively the same starting unit that caved in the face of pass-rushers.

Kory Lichtensteiger did move from guard to center, but Shawn Lauvao was the only new starter up front.

A head-scratching move to this day, despite their efforts, Chris Chester and Tyler Polumbus both managed to see another day in the starting lineup—although Polumbus was eventually benched.

You could point to the selections of Moses and Long as an attempt on Washington's part to upgrade this unit. But evidenced by their inability to supplant Chester and Polumbus in the starting lineup, their additions alone weren't sufficient enough to placate this issue. 

Lauvao's dead cap hit of $3 million, via Spotrac, may keep him in D.C. for another season, but the time has come for the team to part ways with both Polumbus and Chester. Polumbus is a free agent, and Chester, while under contract, would save the team $4 million if he were cut.

With a free-agent class that features the likes of Mike Iupati, Orlando Franklin and Bryan Bulaga, the Redskins won't be short on options to revamp this offensive line.

Not Hiring a Quarterbacks Coach

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Systems don't win games in the NFL; players do. Judging from his first season in Washington, though, head coach Jay Gruden didn't get that memo.

Opposed to utilizing his quarterback's dual-threat capabilities by virtue of his play-calling, Gruden confined Griffin to making plays from the pocket. A feat RG3 should strive to accomplish, he was an utter mess under such restraints in 2014. 

As Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk notes, Griffin took sacks at a historic rate this past year.

"Griffin was sacked 33 times last year while throwing only 214 passes. How rare is that? Not since Hugh Millen of the 1992 Patriots has a quarterback been sacked so many times while throwing so few passes," Smith said.

Then there's his efficiency on third down. According to ESPN.com, he threw one touchdown, three interceptions and completed just 58 percent of his throws on the money down for quarterbacks.

So save Gruden heeding the advice of one Art Briles, RG3 has a long road ahead of him to fit Gruden's offense. 

With Griffin in need of around-the-clock work to foster improvement in his passing mechanics, footwork and ability to read defenses, the Redskins would be wise to hire a quarterbacks coach.

Without such a coach in 2014, the responsibility fell on Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay to work with the team's quarterbacks. While he didn't cite this as a reason for the team's struggles at the position, Gruden did reveal to The Washington Post's Mike Jones that he'd be open to adding a quarterbacks coach in 2015.

Knowing that 2014 was a lost season in terms of development for RG3, mostly because of injury, it'd be in the team's best interest to hire a coach whose sole focus is on coaching up Griffin and the other quarterbacks.