Washington Redskins Football Is Upon Us!

Well Loyal Reader, tonight is the night.

Tonight is the night to see if all of the hopes and dreams that we've piled on Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb get off to a good start.

Don't get me wrong, it's only the first preseason game, so I'm not expecting fireworks or anything.  But I'm hoping the new and improved first team offense puts up a touchdown, maybe two before taking the rest of the night off.

Also I'm hoping for the new 3-4 defense to really show me something.  The strongest part of the Redskins for the past five seasons or so has been the defense.

However, they've been more of a bend not break type of defense for most games, but with the offense so anemic the fourth quarter has rarely been kind to them.

With Defensive Coordinator Jim Hasslet's new attacking 3-4 scheme, not only do I expect the defense not to bend, I expect a lot more take aways and sacks, something this team hasn't done much of in the past.

To make a long story short, I expect a complete 180 from last year.

How much of a 180 you ask? 

Well the team finished 4-12 last year, and I'm expecting 12-4.

What!?

I'm sure you just yelled, especially you haters out there, but I'm serious.

My main argument is that the team on the field last year was better than 4-12.  Shoot, they were better than 8-8, which was their record the year before.

What was lacking was a real head coach (sorry Zorn, you're a nice guy and all but you were in way over your head the last two years) and a true leader on offense (again, Jason Campbell, nice guy but wasn't much of a leader and too indecisive with the ball).

This year the team doesn't only have a real head coach, but also an offensive coordinator (Kyle Shanahan) who made Matt Schaub look great. Just think what he'll do with McNabb.

And speaking of McNabb, we finally have a real presence at the quarterback position, one I say we really haven't had since Brad Johnson was unceremoniously forced out of town in favor of "never-been" Jeff George.

It was apparent on day one of OTAs that the head coach was going to hold everyone accountable and that the new quarterback was going to step right in and fill the leadership void that had been lacking on offense.

Speaking of the offense, this team believe it or not has plenty of weapons to help out their new quarterback.

First off, there has been a lot of hate directed at Clinton Portis, some deserving, but for the most part an overreaction by a town that has been fed up with a decade plus of mediocrity.

Don't worry CP, I've continued to stand by you mostly because I know you're a baller.  With the exception of two injuried seasons, he's never rushed for under 1,200 yards.  Say what you will but the man produces on game-day, and with the zone blocking scheme I expect at least 1,500 yards from him this season.

At tight end the Skins already have an established play-maker in Chris Cooley (sure to be a favorite target of McNabb) but also Fred Davis seems to be on the rise.  By Week One the team could have two hard to tackle men running routes and stunning defenses.

The only real question for me is at wide receiver.  I feel Santana Moss should return to big-play form with McNabb behind center but other than him we really don't know about our wideouts.

Malcom Kelly (though often injured) and Devin Thomas showed promise in there limited use last season, but there really isn't much conclusive evidence to say either one is poised for a breakout season. Though both have a better shot under Kyle Shanahan then they ever did with Zorn.

Other than the three from last season, we have Joey Galloway, who is hoping to return to his days of glory, Anthony Armstrong, Austin Terrence, Brandon Banks, Mike Furrey, Shay Hodge, Bobby Wade, and Roydell Williams.

There are a lot of question marks in that last paragraph.  From everything I've read about camp, Galloway has impressed, and could very well be the number two receiver. 

One could read that sentence and think that Galloway has gotten back to his old form, but one could also take that to mean that Thomas and Kelly aren't that good.

With the exception of Kelly (who is once again hurt) we'll get to see if Galloway has returned to form or if Thomas (who hasn't seen much praise this off season) is just play bad.

Either way, with Davis and Cooley at tight end, I think the team could get by with only three or four wide receivers and still be very successful.

On the defensive side of the ball I see nothing but upside.  Despite being in the top ten the past two seasons, the Redskins' defense was quite passive.   

Under new defensive coordinator Jim Haslett the new 3-4 scheme is poised to be more aggressive and get after the quarterback.

Last season rookie linebacker Brian Orakpo was sent after the quarterback about 250 times and managed 12.5 sacks.  Haslett has promised to blitz Orakpo 700 plus times.

Now I'm not expecting Orakpo to have twice as many sacks since he'll be blitzing slight over 2.5 more plays than he did last year. But I'm expecting him to have sacks in the upper teens (if not 20) and to create a lot of problems for opposing passers.

And even though I said I was done writing about him (though if memory serves I said I was done writing about him not showing up) I can't avoid the giant elephant in the room.

And that is big Albert Haynesworth.  The man tried to take the money and run, and honestly I'm glad the team didn't let him.  Haslett is psyched to have the guy even though Haynesworth isn't that psyched about being in a 3-4 defense.

However, since he's passed his conditioning test and started practicing with the defense, he has seemed pleased with his role in the scheme.

Sure he'll play a lot at nose tackle in order to bottle up the middle during run plays, but Haslett knows what he has in Hayensworth, and you better believe on passing downs the man is going to be sicked on the quarterback.  At the very least that should keep Big Al happy.

All this pressure being put on opposing QBs by default should create more opportunities for the secondary to get turnovers, which has be dreadfully lacking the last five seasons or so.

The NFL is a funny league, one in which a team can be down one year and then be a contender the next.  I truly believe (barring injury) the Redskins could be that team this year.

Will the new front office and new scheme translate to a big year?

I hope so, but at the very least everything done this off season was a step in the right direction.

I think this team is going to turn some heads and create a lot of havoc this year in the NFC.

Also, how sweet would it be to win the Super Bowl in Dallas? I honestly couldn't think of anything so awesome as that.  In fact I dare not think it because something that awesome could stop the world from spinning.

Until next time Loyal Reader, take care, and Hail to the Redskins.