Reassessing Washington Redskins' Offseason Plan, Breaking Down What's Left to Do

Scot McCloughan firmly believes in the old adage that you can't build a house on a shaky foundation. The new Washington Redskins general manager has been putting that into practice this offseason, at least on the defensive end.

McCloughan used free agency to underpin a unit seemingly built on quicksand with a firmer foundation. Like any smart NFL craftsman, he's building from the line out.

McCloughan added a trio of beefy building blocks for the defensive front from the veteran market. Now all he needs to do is use this year's rookie class to find the same structure for the offense.

Washington's strategy for the 2015 NFL draft must involve finding a few solid blockers. It doesn't matter how many times head coach Jay Gruden tries to make the case: The current incumbents aren't going to give this offense the basis it needs.

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That would be a great shame considering how the lack of firm footing would waste one of the more talented contingents of skill players in football. Three-time 1,000-yard runner Alfred Morris will dominate only sporadically behind the same line, the way he did in fits and starts during 2014.

Perhaps more important, Washington's trio of quarterbacks won't be afforded fair chances to make the job their own. How, for instance, can Robert Griffin III learn how to properly set his feet and progress through reads when the pocket consistently crumbles around him?

How can Kirk Cousins learn to take less chances with the ball when he's consistently set upon by the type of heavy pressure that makes even the best quarterbacks panic?

Just like with the defense, everything starts up front offensively.

Unfortunately, the messages about refreshing a line that can only count left tackle Trent Williams as regularly competent have been mixed.

Gruden has talked about the merits of possible solutions already on the roster, specifically 2014 third-rounders Morgan Moses and Spencer Long, via Mike Jones of The Washington Post: "We’re hoping Morgan and Spencer make a great transition into their second year and compete."

But Gruden has also been sure to leave the door ajar regarding some new blood, according to Andrew Walker of the team's official site: “Offensive linemen can come from the draft and young players via free agency.”

This failure to add to the group that yielded 58 sacks last season is the one blot on what's been a smart and relatively serene offseason for the Redskins.

McCloughan found a pillar for the defensive front when he brought Terrance Knighton to D.C. The house-sized run-stuffer automatically becomes what this defense has missed the most since 2010: a true nose tackle and natural anchor.

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That's been the main theme of McCloughan's early efforts: securing the trenches to make the schemes work.

Defensive tackles Stephen Paea and Ricky Jean Francois may not be everybody's idea of ideal free-agent recruits for a 3-4. They aren't mine. But the duo does fit the more aggressive, hybrid, one-gap system Gruden wants new coordinator Joe Barry to implement, according to Jones:

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There will be some different ideas that we have, as far as it’s not a two-gap 3-4. It might be more of a shoot-the-gap-type of 3-4, a get-up-the-field-and-rush-them 3-4, you know what I mean? There’s going to be some variety involved in that. In this day and age, with as much nickel as you see, there’s a lot of 4-3 elements anyway, but the way we do our base defense, it will be a 3-4 starting point.

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It's simply not possible to play this type of 3-4 with classic, 5-technique space-eaters. Will Paea and Francois be stout enough against the run? Their history says no. But the pair will certainly create plenty of pressure on the pocket and "get-up-the-field-and-rush-them," as Gruden put it.

The same thinking has to be applied on the other side of the ball, where Gruden wants more of a power-based running game.

That's what he expects new O-line coach Bill Callahan to implement, according to ESPN's John Keim. Yet Gruden knows it will take different road graders than the slight and mobile blockers he inherited from predecessor Mike Shanahan: "We have to adjust our running game to the style we want to be, but we have to make sure we have the linemen in the building to do what we want to do."

Those linemen aren't on the roster, so expect Washington to go hunting for them in this year's draft. Keim noted Callahan will need "bigger guys who can move" for the new scheme.

That means a top prospect like Iowa's Brandon Scherff simply has to be on the radar. So does a projected second-round guard such as Duke's Laken Tomlinson. He's a classic drive-blocker and one of the smartest players in this year's class.

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The desire to become more punishing on the ground will influence Washington's draft strategy, but it must also be balanced with the need to create more pressure on quarterbacks. After managing a paltry 36 sacks last season, 13.5 of those from Ryan Kerrigan alone, the Redskins must do more to ruin the pocket.

A necessary first step was tweaking things up front, but there's a more direct way to boost the pass rush. 

It involves replacing outside Brian Orakpo, who was let go in free agency. Despite his injury issues and inconsistencies, Orakpo was, at his best, a very capable edge-rusher. He was also the only obvious bookend for Kerrigan.

Now the team is left to rely on 2014 second-rounder Trent Murphy, a stout hybrid edge-setter, but one who struggled getting to the passer as a rookie.

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Just as significant is the need for quality depth. Jackson Jeffcoat has real potential but is very raw and relatively untested.

Adding another pass-rusher will be a central focus of Washington's draft plan for one simple reason: It is a great way to match answering an obvious team need with McCloughan's preferred "best player available" strategy, according to Keim.

This year's class is fully loaded with gifted pass-rushing prospects. Quality and depth are most obvious in the first two rounds.

The names are, or at least should be, familiar to all Redskins fans by now: Dante Fowler Jr., Shane Ray, Vic Beasley, Randy Gregory, Owamagbe Odighizuwa, Eli Harold and Nate Orchard (just in case you needed a reminder).

In fact, Bleacher Report's Chris Simms believes drafting Fowler fifth overall would be the best way for McCloughan to kick off a defense-led draft strategy:

It really is a case of "pick your poison" for Washington. The volume of talent at the position means the Redskins have options for influencing the design of this season's defense.

Do they want an obvious mainstay, an instant hit and partner for Kerrigan? If so, targeting one of the quartet ticketed for the first round would make sense.

Alternatively, would Barry prefer Murphy beefing up the base defense on run downs before giving way to a raw but more natural pressure specialist in nickel situations? That would put prospects like Odighizuwa and Orchard firmly on the radar as well as give McCloughan the chance to tab a marquee O-lineman in Round 1.

Of course, this offseason's plan isn't just defined by what new personnel will mean for the X's and O's. There's also a strong element of personality refreshment to many of McCloughan's signings.

It's most obvious in the secondary, where the new GM has wisely added a trio of new starters. Each one of cornerback Chris Culliver and safeties Jeron Johnson and Dashon Goldson are defined by one thing: physicality.

If nothing else, Johnson and Goldson give this defense a pair of heavy hitters along the last line. There'll be an air of intimidation about this secondary, a brutal bravado, if you will.

Johnson knows the value of a formidable image from his time as a member of the rotation with the Seattle Seahawks' punishing Legion of Boom secondary. McCloughan is counting on Johnson bringing some Seattle-style "swagger" to Redskins Park, according to CSN Washington's Tarik El-Bashir.

McCloughan knows he can count on Goldson to set a certain tone. After all, he drafted the free safety back in 2007.

Simms already sees Goldson as an "integral part" of a new-look defense:

Goldson has wasted no time promising to ensure a more physical defensive backfield, via Stephen Czarda of the team's official site: "Some people don’t like to get hit—point blank. That’s just the way it is. People don’t like to get hit. That’s what I’ll bring to this defense, and I’ll try to get the guys around me to feed off my energy. I can say vice versa, I’ll feed off theirs."

Maybe the Redskins will feel they need some of that appetite for destruction at the heart of the linebacker corps. McCloughan could tab Mississippi State's Benardrick McKinney, provided he falls beyond the opening round.

McKinney is a big-bodied and versatile thumper with three-down potential who would be a major upgrade over Perry Riley Jr. B/R draft analyst Matt Miller favorably compares him to New England Patriots' roving playmaker Jamie Collins:

McCloughan has clearly made an effort to construct a bigger, tougher defense. It makes sense considering his belief that football is a "big man's game," according to Real Redskins' Rich Tandler.

What's left to do is use that same blueprint along the offensive front. Every truly consistent winner in the NFL is strong in the trenches. Getting the lines right has to be the starting point in every rebuilding plan.

The Redskins have already taken a solid step in the right direction this offseason.