Identifying Washington Redskins' Biggest Strengths, Weaknesses After Draft
The impact of the players the Washington Redskins selected in the 2015 NFL draft will be gradual at the onset of the upcoming season.
Combine their draft picks with their acquisitions this offseason, though, and it becomes crystal clear where the Redskins have improved and where they haven't from a season ago.
With that in mind, let's now identify the biggest strengths and weaknesses of the team following the draft.
Weakness: Quarterback
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Who are we kidding?
Save for the Redskins getting their hands on either one of the draft's top two signal-callers, the quarterback position was always going to be a weak spot.
The team started three different quarterbacks last season, and all three will return in 2015. As a group, Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy quarterbacked Football Outsiders' 25th-ranked passing offense.
Griffin, already named as head coach Jay Gruden's starter, was the worst of the bunch. He was 40th in the league in QBR with a mark of 30.8. As a result, of the 44 passers who attempted at least 100 passes in 2014, only two were deemed to be worse than RG3 in Football Outsiders' quarterback rankings.
2016 option exercised or not, Griffin is on the clock.
Strength: Running Back
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Two years removed from fielding the NFL's top rushing offense, Washington's ground attack was 19th in the league last season.
In the offseason, the team lost third-down back Roy Helu to free agency. Then offensive line coach Bill Callahan came aboard.
Under his stewardship, the Dallas Cowboys led the NFL in rushing last season. Coming off a down year by his standards—4.1 yards per rush—Alfred Morris will be given every opportunity to bounce back.
Even with the likes of Dez Bryant and Tony Romo, the Cowboys were still third in rushing attempts under Callahan in 2014. By comparison, Washington was 21st.
Morris will have to adjust to the power-running scheme Callahan brings from Dallas, but that's where Matt Jones comes in as an insurance policy.
The third round was a bit high to take the former Florida running back. But with his physical downhill running style, he's an ideal fit in Callahan's scheme. Not to mention, at 6'2"and 231 pounds, Jones will also bolster the team's attack in short-yardage situations.
There isn't a clear replacement on the roster for Helu in the passing game, but with an increased emphasis on running the football, the Skins' running game will again be a strength of the team.
Weakness: Offensive Line
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Quiet in free agency, Washington aggressively looked to bolster its offensive line in the draft. Three of the team's 10 draft picks, including its first one, addressed the offensive front.
Still, while the additions of Brandon Scherff, Austin Reiter and Arie Kouandjio bolster the team's depth up front, the starting lineup remains a weak area.
The Redskins return the same starting lineup from last season. One that, per Pro Football Focus, featured just two above-average starters. As the No. 5 overall pick, Scherff will be given every opportunity to increase this number to three.
And according to Gruden, per Mike Jones of The Washington Post, it'll come at right tackle.
Knocked for his missteps in pass protection by CBSSports.com's Rob Rang and Dane Brugler, Scherff alone won't transform a unit that surrendered 58 sacks last season.
So even with the improvement up front, with so far to go just to be adequate in pass protection, the offensive line remains a weakness of this team.
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Strength: Receiver
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Top heavy at receiver with the likes of DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, the Redskins sought to strengthen the bottom of their depth chart in the draft.
Mission accomplished!
In the fourth and sixth round, respectively, the team selected wideouts Jamison Crowder and Evan Spencer. More athlete than receiver at this point, the 6'2" Evan Spencer gives the team some much needed size. The 6'0" and 216-pound Garcon was the Redskins' most physically imposing wideout in 2014.
With regard to Crowder, his acquisition is all but a mulligan for the team's failed signing of Andre Roberts. A diminutive prospect at 5'8" and 185 pounds, Crowder excelled in space and as a return man during his career at Duke.
He posted 85 receptions and returned two punts for touchdowns in 2014.
There remains a glaring lack of size, but between Crowder, sophomore wideout Ryan Grant and Washington's three veteran receivers atop the depth chart, the wide receiver position remains a strength of the team.
Weakness: Secondary
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What is there to say about Washington's secondary? It has improved!
Taking into account its standing as Football Outsiders' 30th-ranked passing defense in 2014, though, that's really not saying much.
The back end does have a vastly different look. Chris Culliver, Jeron Johnson and Dashon Goldson now don Washington uniforms, and Ryan Clark and Brandon Meriweather don't.
Bringing on more change, general manager Scot McCloughan selected safety Kyshoen Jarrett and cornerback Tevin Mitchel in the sixth round of the draft.
Limited in coverage, Jarrett is the type of sure tackler the team has long needed at safety. At Virginia Tech, he ended his third year as a starting safety with 89 tackles.
As for Mitchel, he was in and out of the lineup at Arkansas. In 2014, he started five games and finished with two interceptions and eight passes defended.
So it goes without saying that neither of these players figures to drastically change the fortunes of the team's secondary.
Which brings us to the holdovers.
There's Bashaud Breeland and a host of question marks. Penalties were an issue for Breeland his rookie year, but as he demonstrated in Week 8 against Dez Bryant, he has the chops to be the starter opposite Culliver.
Recovering from two surgeries on his Achilles, it remains to be seen how much DeAngelo Hall has left in the tank. While he didn't suffer an injury as serious as Hall's, Tracy Porter's inaugural season in Washington followed a familiar storyline. He played in just three games, the sixth time in seven years he's missed at least three games.
Lastly, there's David Amerson. Of the players currently on the roster, Amerson was rated by Pro Football Focus as the worst defender in the secondary in 2014.
Any way you slice it, you're staring at the weakest link of the defense right here.
Strength: Front 7
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With the work McCloughan has done in the draft and free agency, Washington's front seven is far and away the strength of the team.
The Redskins will have a fierce rotation up front along the defensive line. Only three will start, but Jason Hatcher, Terrance Knighton, Stephen Paea, Chris Baker and Ricky Jean-Francois each saw action as starters in 2014.
This position group is so deep that the team was willing to pass on the draft's top overall prospect, Leonard Williams, at the No. 5 spot.
Moving to linebacker, the team brought aboard Preston Smith and Martrell Spaight. The headliner of the two, Smith will pair with sophomore Trent Murphy to fill Brian Orakpo's shoes.
He posted nine sacks and 15 tackles for loss in 2014.
A 4-3 defensive end at Mississippi State, the 6'5" and 271-pound Smith will see time at various spots in the front seven because of his versatility, according to Gruden, per Mike Jones of The Washington Post:
"In base defense, he'll probably start out at outside linebacker, but there's so much nickel now days that he could be a defensive end, he could stand up, he could be a three-technique. There's so many things he could do that makes him so appealing to the eye. Like I said, he’s 6'5", 270, he's got the strength to hold the point of attack, he can rush the passer, and like I said, he's long, he can get in passing lanes and be disruptive that way.
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Factor in the presence of holdovers Perry Riley, Ryan Kerrigan and Keenan Robinson, and not only should Washington build on the 36 sacks it posted each of the past two seasons, but it should field one of the best rush defenses in the NFC.
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