Washington Redskins Need More Help Than One Offseason Can Provide

The Washington Redskins finished up another mediocre season with more questions than answers in the long offseason ahead of them. The front office and coaching changes that occurred last offseason will be rivaled by the player turnover this offseason is likely to bring.

Both the draft and free agency are looking promising in terms of who will be available, but it comes down to getting the right players to fit the team plan or adjusting to fit the best players into the system.

No matter what happens, the Redskins won't be able to plug every hole the aging roster has in just one offseason.

Mike Shanahan's first season in Washington did not turn out as well as many had hoped, but the numerous additions made in his first months as head coach and director of player personnel amounted to a band-aid on a bullet wound, or several in this case.

Trading for Donovan McNabb was seen as a positive until McNabb failed to win games. Albert Haynesworth captured headlines with his selfishness even after Shanahan had done everything in his power to make Haynesworth a part of the team.

Those were just the two players that saw the most media coverage, masking the more important issues the team was facing.

McNabb and Haynesworth aren't likely to be back next year, so dwelling on the seasons they turned in for 2010-2011 are negligible. It is time to move and figure out how to make the Redskins into a winner. It starts with free agency and leads into the draft, both of which should be eventful for Washington.

The free agent class has the potential to be one of the strongest in a long time, and for once the Redskins could cash in on quality players rather than throwing money at players with very little to offer.

First and foremost, the Redskins need a ton of help along both the offensive and defensive lines. The entire interior or the offensive line was mediocre at best through the season, and the defensive line did not occupy blockers or collapse running lanes. That means the Redskins need six new starters on both lines, which would require hitting on every draft pick or free-agent signing this offseason.

Just another daunting task for the Redskins to overcome, and it only gets worse from there.

The defense went through an adjustment period with the switch from 4-3 to 3-4. Washington does not have the proper personnel for the the scheme aside from Brian Orakpo and LaRon Landry.

With the Pittsburgh Steelers in mind, the Jim Haslett iteration of the 3-4 is a disgrace to the stout scheme. The defense failed to stop the run which opened them up to the pass and had the unit ranked 31st against the pass and 26th against the run.

The Redskins need a true nose tackle, proper 3-4 defensive ends, another outside linebacker, free safety and maybe an inside linebacker.

Finding the right pieces along the defensive line is a difficult task, but not impossible. Finding a competent free safety SHOULD be easy, but Kareem Moore showed that being the starter by default does not make you starter material. He missed too many tackles and was out of position on too many plays to be considered a lock as starter for next season.

For all of the negatives the defense has to overcome, there were times when it looked like a lockdown unit.

Switching sides, the offense has its interior line issues to go with the need for a quarterback and true No. 1 receiver. Santana Moss is best used as a slot receiver at this point in his career and Anthony Armstrong is the gamebreaker, averaging almost 20 yards per catch. There is no true go-to guy on the roster, and the Redskins also lack a good possession receiver.

None of them really matter without the proper passer in place to deliver the ball, and McNabb is likely to be gone before next season.

Rex Grossman is not the answer at quarterback, and the only way he maintains the starting role is if he is merely a place holder and not the future. Whether they draft someone this year or next year, Grossman is not going to be the starter for more than a year, maybe a year and a half. The question then becomes who will be the franchise quarterback?

Cam Newton is probably the trendy pick, but with Andrew Luck returning to Stanford there aren't many safe bets in the coming draft class.

For Washington, the list of needs outweighs the resources to fill those needs. It is nothing new, but fans expected different with the new cast in the front office and on the sidelines. Maybe the previous regime is to blame for the dire straits the Redskins are currently in.

No matter the cause, the Redskins are in for a rough couple of years in terms of wins and losses, but the key is to finish a season with more positives than negatives.

The long months between the Super Bowl and training camp are still a few weeks away, but the Redskins would be foolish to not have their eyes fixed on the players that could help them next season. Whether that means sending scouts on missions to find the right prospects or evaluating and prioritizing their needs, Washington would do well to be vigilant for the foreseeable future.