Fact or Fiction for Washington Redskins' Biggest Offseason Question Marks

On a defense that's been revamped everywhere, are the Washington Redskins still weak at inside linebacker? Has the offensive line, which was given a major fillip during the 2015 NFL draft, improved enough to really make a difference in the new season?

Those are just two of the question marks hovering over Redskins Park as head coach Jay Gruden and his staff are busy shaping the roster new general manager Scot McCloughan has constructed.

A solid offseason has actually gone a long way toward answering some of the biggest questions surrounding this team, but changes have also created a few new dilemmas.

For instance: After a change in ground schemes, along with the addition of a high-round draft pick at the position, is there really a competition brewing at running back?

Of course, that question is nothing compared to the one that still looms largest: Is this a team still destined to be undone by its quarterbacks?

Find out which of these concerns have a basis in fact and which are merely the stuff of dreams.

Fact: Inside Linebacker Is Still a Weakness

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Rather than "weakness," it may be more accurate to say "concern." Inside linebacker is still a concern in Washington.

The position group has only one legitimate impact player, as Keenan Robinson made tremendous strides in 2014 as the first-year play-caller of the defense.

He showcased excellent instincts, the kind of closing speed only top players at his position boast and a knack for hitting like a freight train whenever he closed on the ball.

Robinson isn't even content with the 109 total tackles, three pass breakups, 1.5 sacks and one interception he tallied last season. The former Texas standout wants more and isn't resting on his laurels in new coordinator Joe Barry's scheme.

In fact, linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti has praised the player's attention to the small details, via Aaron Dodson of the Washington Post: “The biggest thing with Keenan is, and he does a good job of it, every day finding something small to get better at.”

But while Robinson continues to develop, fellow starter Perry Riley Jr. needs to halt an alarming regression. A major playmaker when the Redskins made the playoffs in 2012, Riley's game has deteriorated ever since. He reached his low point during a 2014 campaign littered with coverage lapses and missed tackles.

Riley has to rediscover his best form and start matching Robinson stride for stride.

The problem is that there is little in the way of credible alternatives if 2010's fourth-round pick still struggles to make the grade: Will Compton and Steve Beauharnais were the backups and occasional starters last season.

That's not a recipe for success when one starter has struggled as much as Riley has, while Robinson has endured more than his share of injury woes. Those factors no doubt influenced McCloughan's decision to select Martrell Spaight in the fifth round of this year's draft.

But the ex-Arkansas tackling machine remains a raw prospect whose most realistic immediate future likely lies on special teams.

With question marks at the starting level and depth that's even more dubious, it's easy to believe McCloughan and the Redskins missed a trick by not recruiting a veteran to solidify things in the middle.

The silver lining to any potential storm cloud hovering over the heart of the linebacking corps is provided by the improved talent along the defensive line. With Stephen Paea and Terrance Knighton joining Jason Hatcher to tie up blockers and create more havoc, the inside linebackers should get many more opportunities to run free.

They'll be made to look good this season.

Fiction: The Redskins Did Enough to Retool the Offensive Line

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

Selecting Brandon Scherff with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft was one of the best moves any team made this offseason.

It instantly boosted the credibility of McCloughan (already maybe too high in many circles) as a serious team-builder faithful to a specific plan. McCloughan didn't use the "best player available" fallacy. Instead, he took the best player who answered his biggest need.

But did drafting Scherff, college football's best O-lineman in 2014, really solve Washington's problems up front?

As great a move as it was, it's hard to answer "yes" to that question. To be clearer, this isn't just a discussion of how bad the line was in 2014. "Pretty darn bad" would be the extremely sugarcoated description for a unit that surrendered 58 sacks and allowed the running game to wilt.

But last season's woes up front were not part of an isolated incident; far from it. The O-line has been a problem in Washington virtually every season Joe Gibbs hasn't coached the team.

Scherff will be a big part of the solution, but even his help won't come easy. The former left tackle, who many draft analysts believed would convert better to guard in the pros, is already experiencing problems.

Brian McNally, co-host on 106.7 The Fan, noted how Gruden has already seen Scherff struggle with his move to the right side:

"

Gruden admits top draft pick Brandon Scherff "has had some struggles" with move to right tackle. Loves how he takes coaching though

— Brian McNally (@bmcnally14) June 16, 2015"

Responding to coaching is one thing, and a good thing. Scherff will certainly receive expert tutelage from renowned lineman whisperer Bill Callahan.

But there is a lot of pressure on this pick, not least because of the players McCloughan passed on when he made it. It would make for better reading to know Scherff was quickly making the grade.

Yet it isn't just the former Iowa man's progress that bears watching. Looking at the other additions up front, it's easy to raise a suspicious eyebrow at the idea Washington is significantly better in the offensive trenches.

Dumping Chris Chester might be good enough to earn McCloughan a statue at Redskins Park. But the decision to replace the stayed-long-past-his-welcome free-agent flop with Spencer Long dampens a little of the enthusiasm.

After all, Long couldn't beat Chester to the starting role as a third-round pick last year. He only appeared in five games, so what's really different now?

In the middle, Kory Lichtensteiger remains a lightweight center who may not mesh well with the increased power concepts Callahan will employ. Meanwhile, left guard Shawn Lauvao's benefits from the new scheme currently exist only in theory.

As for depth, is it ever possible to feel secure about Tom Compton, Morgan Moses and Josh LeRibeus? Even fourth-round pick Arie Kouandjio is struggling.

The former Alabama guard faces a long road to contribute right away, according to CSN Washington's JP Finlay.

Heading into this offseason, it wouldn't have been frivolous hyperbole to suggest Washington needed four new starters alongside Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams. While some middle ground naturally needed to be sought, the Redskins certainly required more than a rookie switching positions and a second-year pro yet to make a start.

Fiction: Ryan Grant Will Struggle for Playing Time

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The more Ryan Grant continues to impress, the more he strengthens his case for extended playing time in his second season. That's a fact gaining greater credibility with each practice session.

Grant has spent most of this offseason wowing Gruden, according to ESPN.com's John Keim, with his precise route running, toughness over the middle and Velcro hands. Yet to many, the good work counts for naught because of the depth of talent in front of the ex-Tulane catch machine.

Real Redskins' Rich Tandler noted the many obstacles between Grant and more reps:

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Jay Gruden raved about the second-year receiver’s work ethic and ability and said that he 'won’t hesitate one bit' to start him at any of the three receiver spots. But his path to getting more than the 187 snaps and 14 targets he got last year is still blocked by more experienced receivers. And it appears that rookie Jamison Crowder could make a case to see some action from scrimmage as well. We will see how this develops over the course of the season.

"

But how much of the challenge facing Grant is only surface-deep? There are certainly talented wide receivers ahead of him in the pecking order, but for how long?

Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson will rightly be considered the feature weapons in the passing game. But the position of Andre Roberts is nowhere near as secure.

Grant can push the former Arizona Cardinals rotational pass-catcher for playing time. It's a fight he can win because Grant boasts the possession-style skills coaches wish Roberts had but doesn't.

By contrast, Grant is a natural short-range and intermediate outlet a quarterback can count on. He won't make many explosive plays but will be reliable and efficient.

If it's explosive plays Gruden really wants, he could push Jamison Crowder ahead of Grant.

Tandler was right to highlight the fourth-round pick's potential to contribute early. But that potential has to be questioned amid the allegations of domestic violence currently hovering over the ex-Duke burner.

Washington's offense needs a natural and dependable possession receiver. It's a position providing a necessary complement to Garcon and Jackson's big-play capability, as well as offering Robert Griffin III safe throws to beat pressure.

What Grant has done is seize every opportunity he's had to prove he merits this vital role. So far, he's built an overwhelming case for more playing time.

Entering his second season as an improving receiver with core skills the passing game lacked last season, Grant will certainly tally more than the seven catches he made as a rookie.

Fiction: There's a Competition Brewing at Starting Running Back

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Rookie third-round running back Matt Jones may be determined to "put some pressure" on starter Alfred Morris. Jones may be a more natural fit for the power-style running game Gruden and Callahan want for 2015. Jones may offer better skills as a receiver and blocker than Morris.

Jones may be a lot of things. But one thing he isn't is someone who's about to supplant the man who's recorded three-straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons for the Burgundy and Gold.

Ever since Jones was taken off the board on the second day of the draft, buzz has been brewing about the future of Washington's running game. The questions aren't unreasonable.

For one thing, Morris is a free agent in 2016. He's insisted his contract situation won't be a distraction, according to Real Redskins' Rich Tandler. That's easy to say now, but when the questions about his future are mounting alongside the pressure of real games, Morris may sing a different tune.

His future could even be decided by what the new schemes on the ground mean for his overall production. Morris went from unknown sixth-rounder to dominant pro runner in the confines of former head coach Mike Shanahan's famed outside, zone-stretch scheme.

Many have become stars in this scheme, but life outside it has often been unforgiving. That should concern Morris considering Washington is shifting toward more power principles for the new season.

It's a scheme a smashmouth bruiser like Jones can't wait to embrace, according to CSN Washington's JP Finlay: "Being a runner like I am, I love to lower my shoulder. Out here you can't really have contact like that, I got to ease up a little bit and back off a little like coach told me one practice."

Finlay also noted how Gruden has been impressed with Jones' versatility: "He’s been very impressive to us. His running style is unique. It’s a physical style, but he does have good change of direction—he’s shown that out in space—and good hands."

Being able to function effectively as a receiver as well as help out as a blocker gives Jones something of an edge over Morris. Those things just aren't core skills for No. 46.

But Morris is still the best workhorse on the roster. Even with so much changing around and in front of him, that fact has stayed the same.

Morris is also keen to run behind power-blocking and batter defenses with more straight-ahead, brute force than he often used in the team's one-cut zone system, as noted by ESPN.com's John Keim.

What Morris has now are more chances to stay fresh during games and over the course of a long season. Jones will spell him and provide one more weapon on the ground for defenses to fear. Those can only be good things for Washington.

But this rushing attack is still Morris' show.

Fact: Quarterback Play Will Still Undermine the Rebuilding Redskins

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

The offensive line is a little better. The secondary and defensive line are a lot better. There are more options at both wide receiver and running back.

But no matter how you dress it up, the success of Washington's revamped roster still hinges on the quarterbacks. Considering all three rate as major question marks, that's bad news.

Griffin is the starter, even though he has an uneasy relationship with Gruden and needs building from the ground up as a competent, pro-level passer. At least the rhetoric from the coach regarding his starter is softer than the sledgehammer-like salvos of last season, via Paul Woody of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

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This year, Gruden is saying, 'I’m not going to criticize him for ever aborting a play and getting out of the pocket and trying to make a big play. Once the pocket breaks down, Robert’s going to be Robert and do the best he can to make the play work.'

Robert’s going to be Robert? Where is that coming from?

"

But soft soap may only be the order of the day because nothing else has worked. A gentler-sounding Gruden can't hide the fact that Griffin still needs to alter fundamental issues with his mechanics.

The trouble is that he also can't hide the fact that the problems under center aren't just limited to 2012's second overall pick. How could they be when backup Kirk Cousins is turnover-prone and veteran Colt McCoy is an uninspiring athlete?

There's an ugly truth in Washington that no amount of spin and a thaw in previously frosty relations can change: There are just too many problems with each of this team's quarterbacks to fix in one offseason.

In fairness, the Redskins have taken some excellent steps in this area during 2015. Hiring Matt Cavanaugh as position coach was a notable footstep toward progress.

But the three men tasked with possibly leading this team are so far removed from being ready to win, it's almost wise to view 2015 merely as another season of transition. That's a great shame, because McCloughan has quickly molded the rest of the roster to win now.

All statistics and player information via NFL.com.