How Have Washington Redskins Addressed Biggest Weaknesses from 2014?
Forget about the nuts and bolts of Scot McCloughan's plan to rebuild the Washington Redskins. What's really defined the new general manager's first offseason in charge has been the aggressiveness of his approach.
It's rare to remember a time when the Redskins have been so aggressive in pursuit of help for the weakest positions. The big-bucks splurges of years gone by don't count, as there's a difference between being aggressive and just plain reckless.
While owner Dan Snyder and previous general managers approached retooling rosters with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, McCloughan has opted for precision laser surgery.
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His approach has been less about new personnel as it's been about changing the personality. Specifically, McCloughan has carried out a definite plan to alter the style of this team on both sides of the ball.
New recruits have been added not simply because they represent a need or fill a void. Instead, signings have been made primarily based on how they fit the personality McCloughan wants to create, a real change from previous offseasons.
The new personality is simple to define.
Bigger and Tougher on Both Sides of the Ball
If you study Washington's moves this offseason, you probably wouldn't need to be told McCloughan previously worked for both the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. The two NFC West foes are among the most physically formidable teams in the NFL.
They both made smashmouth football the defining feature of their division on McCloughan's watch. The formula is simple: Power in the trenches on both sides of the ball, brute-force running games and swarming, hard-hitting defenses.
Every move McCloughan's made since he arrived at Redskins Park has followed this formula. He started with the defensive front.
Wanting bigger, more dynamic personnel, McCloughan signed defensive tackles Stephen Paea and Ricky Jean Francois, along with nose guard Terrance Knighton.
As that trio arrived in town, Barry Cofield Jr., Stephen Bowen and Jarvis Jenkins all left. They had joined the team during Mike Shanahan's tenure, signed and drafted to create a disruptive, two-gap 3-4 front.
But McCloughan and current head coach Jay Gruden want a more penetrative D-line. The latter made that clear as early as January, per Mike Jones of The Washington Post.
Adding a pair one-gap pass-rushers in Paea and Francois to join 3-technique Jason Hatcher accomplished that mission. So did hiring Joe Barry as defensive coordinator.
He wasn't a particularly popular choice, but Barry does at least come from a San Diego Chargers scheme that required linemen to be playmakers rather than just magnets for blockers.
Gruden is already anticipating Barry's system will help "get the handcuffs off of" Washington's linemen, per Tom Schad of The Washington Times: “Not that they had [handcuffs] on last year, but the frame of mind is to be a more aggressive-style defense and let them play.”
But as much as Paea and Francois will increase the potential for big plays from the edges of the line, it's the big man in the middle who will really define it. Signing Knighton was one of the major coups of free agency.
First, it finally gave a team running a 3-4 the right focal point to make the scheme work. That's long overdue after enduring the likes of Albert Haynesworth over center.
Second, Knighton's arrival well and truly emphasized McCloughan's commitment to building a bigger football team. They don't come much bigger than Knighton, who's listed at 331 pounds by the league's official site, but claims to be currently over 360, according to Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post.
More than once this offseason, McCloughan has made it clear how he believes size in the trenches is the foundation of a winning team, per Stephen Czarda of the team's official site: “I think it’s a big man’s game, and I think size and strength and like I said passion, toughness is very important up front. If you can control the line of scrimmage on either side, it’s a pretty good start.”
That thinking has certainly influenced the remake of a dire offensive line.
Getting bigger has been the defining feature of McCloughan's bid to retool a front that surrendered 58 sacks a year ago. He endeared himself to many Redskins fans as the GM who finally showed right guard Chris Chester the door.
But while some of his personnel decisions along the O-line garnered headlines, it's the move made to alter the personality of the group that will really count. In an offseason of coups, McCloughan scored another one when he hired Bill Callahan to coach a new-look front five.
Last season, Callahan offered a reminder of his credentials as one of the NFL's best line gurus. He shaped a unit mostly comprised of high draft picks into a dominant force, particularly in the running game.
Callahan's line helped DeMarco Murray stomp his way to a league rushing title and powered the Dallas Cowboys to the NFC East crown and a playoff win. Callahan hasn't inherited quite as much talent in Washington, although his starting group should feature two former first-round picks.
With three-time 1,000-yard rusher Alfred Morris ready to run behind a revamped front, Callahan's impact in D.C. might not be too far removed from what he created in Dallas.
Speaking of power, that's just what's expected from Morris and the ground game this term. McCloughan drafted Frank Gore when he was running the show for the 49ers. He also saw firsthand what Marshawn Lynch's bruising brand of running meant for the Seattle Seahawks.
Now he wants that same dynamic in Washington. It's certainly no empty promise either. McCloughan proved that when he used a third-round pick to select Matt Jones despite Morris' status as one of the league's best.
Jones is a classic, straight-ahead thumper between the tackles. He's going to play a major role in altering the style of Washington's offense.
B/R analyst Matt Bowen believes Jones' downhill qualities can help a team being built with more "old school" values in mind:
It's not so much that McCloughan has altered the running game dramatically with Jones' arrival. He's just ensured a key personality change.
Gruden's stated the team wisely won't junk the zone principles that helped make Morris a star. But he's also noted how bigger linemen such as 320-pounder Spencer Long will add something new, per Real Redskins blogger Rich Tandler:
"We’re going to do both. We’re not going to abandon the outside zone. Alfred Morris is a great outside zone runner. He’s a great zone runner. I think the ability to do a little bit of both is very, very important to keep defenses off-balance. Spencer is a very powerful man and very good for the power running game, the gap-style blocking, but he also has some great movement skills.
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Being more physical is a battle cry that's extended to every level of the team. It's very obvious in the way a patchwork secondary has been overhauled.
McCloughan used free agency to sign safeties Jeron Johnson and Dashon Goldson, as well as cornerback Chris Culliver.
The signings are interesting because of how strictly they fit McCloughan's vision. His fidelity to that plan, no matter the risk, has defined Washington's offseason.
Sticking to the Plan
Certainly, there were more accomplished safeties on the market than Goldson and Johnson. The former's career has hit the skids after two dismal seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. By contrast, Johnson's career has barely gotten going, after just one start at his primary position during four years in Seattle.
Yet despite any reservations, both perfectly suit the new makeup of this team. Goldson is a hitter who relishes contact. Similarly, Johnson has come from the Seahawks' famed Legion of Boom secondary, a defensive backfield noted for its punishment of receivers.
By the same token, 6'0", 199-pounder Culliver is a big, nasty corner who scraps with receivers. Following the arrival of Bashaud Breeland in last year's draft, the Redskins now boast two cover men who won't hesitate to rough up receivers on the edge.
Culliver was a risk thanks to an extended history of off-field troubles. But McCloughan was still willing to roll the dice because of how well the physical 26-year-old fit his vision.
It's been a rarity for a team-builder in Washington to even have a clear blueprint for success. It's been rarer still for successive general managers to stick so closely to a plan.
But while scattershot rebuilding has been the mode of choice in previous offseasons, McCloughan has stuck rigidly to one template. Nowhere was that fidelity more vividly illustrated than with his first pick of the 2015 NFL draft.
Given the chance to select lauded-to-the-skies defensive tackle Leonard Williams, McCloughan passed on the athletic phenom in favor of beefy offensive tackle Brandon Scherff. It was not a decision that impressed everybody.
But as a real lunch-pail type, Scherff was the natural and obvious selection for a man building a blue-collar roster. Not only will Scherff address the pressing need for better offensive line play, he'll add the nastiness and physicality McCloughan wants the Redskins to be defined by in 2015.
B/R's Matt Bowen correctly endorsed the decision to take Scherff as a symbol of the way McCloughan is building in D.C.:
Passing on an impact player like Williams for an unfashionable road-grader on the right side of the O-line sets McCloughan up for a mountain of criticism. ESPN.com writer Jason Reid spelled out exactly how this decision could backfire: "The thing is, in the court of public opinion, it won't be good enough for Scherff to merely be solid if Leonard Williams is spectacular."
Yet this is a risk McCloughan has rightly been willing to take if it means sticking to his plan.
After years of indecision and crossed purpose between coaches, executives and the owner, having a focused and decisive planner at the top is certainly a welcome change.
But McCloughan will know the biggest question still lies ahead.
Will the Plan Work?
There's a definite change going on in Washington and you'd be a fool to ignore it. But change doesn't always lead to better results.
While it's been very easy to admire the way McCloughan and the Redskins have approached things this offseason, it's been easier still to lose sight of the bigger question: Will his plan actually work?
Separating what he's trying to do from how effective his efforts will be is no easy task. For instance, starting by overhauling a drab defensive line was a brilliant move.
All good rebuilding jobs begin in the trenches, and no defense can survive without talent up front. But did McCloughan really find enough talent?
After all, Francois has been a rotational player throughout his career, one who's struggled against the run and mustered only middling production. As for Paea, he's coming off a lone standout year as a pro and is another D-lineman who can be pushed around in the running game.
Even McCloughan's attempts to add new life to a pass rush that managed just 36 sacks in 2014 raise questions. Every Redskins fan knows Brian Orakpo wasn't the most durable or consistent.
But at his best, Orakpo was a Pro Bowler capable of notching double-digit sacks. Can either Trent Murphy, who registered 2.5 quarterback takedowns as a rookie, or 2015 second-rounder Preston Smith really fill that void?
The fact that B/R analysts Chris Simms and Matt Miller both put Smith in the eight sacks a season bracket suggests otherwise:
There's also good reason to always be a little unnerved when statements like "old school" and "hit people in the mouth" are used too often. Remember, that's how Mike Singletary used to talk after McCloughan hired him as interim coach of the 49ers:
A lot of noise can often hide the fact coaches and players are limited. For instance, Barry's been making himself heard during OTAs, according to AP reporter David Elfin (h/t Daily Herald).
But no matter how bombastic he is, Barry is still a coach who oversaw two last-placed units as defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions in 2007 and 2008. He certainly doesn't have the pedigree of a Wade Phillips or Vic Fangio, two deans of defensive football Washington passed on to take a risk on Barry.
Tough talk is one thing, but the best teams box smarter. You just have to hope there's a solid foundation of X's and O's to go with all the machismo emanating from Redskins Park this offseason.
Of course, all general managers roll the dice somewhat with every major decision. McCloughan certainly deserves credit for leaving few stones, save maybe for inside linebacker, unturned in a bid to get better ahead of the new season.
If nothing else, this article has reached its end with nary a word on quarterback Robert Griffin III. Shifting the focus from the player who is as likely, if not more, to sink this franchise than save it speaks volumes for McCloughan's impact.
His aggressive and targeted moves in both free agency and the draft have remade the O-line and secondary, the two biggest weaknesses on 2014's roster. This year's depth chart is now bigger and stronger at all the core positions.
The Redskins are certainly a different team than they were a year ago. How much better they'll be remains to be seen.
All statistics and player information via NFL.com unless otherwise stated.
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