A once-proud franchise has now become one of the laughing-stocks of the NFL, but a new quarterback, a couple of new running backs and a Super-Bowl winning head coach may help things turn around in the U.S. capital. The Washington Redskins finished 4-12 a year ago and unlike the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the management team and owner Dan Snyder made wholesale changes to try and find the winning formula again. However, all those changes are being overshadowed by one guy.
All the talk surrounding the Redskins has revolved around new head coach Mike Shanahan vs. disgruntled 100-million dollar man Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth wanted out because Shanahan was switching the defence to a 3-4, but eventually stayed after collecting a 21 million dollar bonus.
The saga continued after Shanahan ordered Haynesworth to pass a conditioning test before practicing. Problem being that Haynesworth failed twice, skipped the test for a week citing a knee problem, but promptly passed after an MRI revealed no major problems with said knee. The Redskins are going to have to put this behind them quickly so that it doesn’t affect their play in the regular season.
The new quarterback for this club is Donovan McNabb as he replaces Jason Campbell, who went to Oakland. McNabb has a lot to prove to critics who say he’s too old to get the job done. The good thing for him is that he has a pretty good offensive line in front of him and has a trio of savvy veterans to get the ball to in: Santana Moss, Joey Galloway and tight end Chris Cooley.
Where this team might run into problems is with the run game. Clinton Portis remains pencilled in as the starter, but with his yearly injury problems, the Redskins decided to bolster their backups by signing Larry Johnson, Willie Parker and Ryan Torain. The question is simply: How much do all four guys have left in the tank at this point? Some people will suggest that Shanahan will be able to help them find form since he’s turned no-name running backs into superstars before. Problem with that theory is that he did it with young and fresh running backs, not old and tired backs. He has his hands full here.
The defense looks solid from top to bottom and will be responsible for keeping the Redskins in a lot of ball games. There are name players all over the field. The problem they ran into last year was that their offence was so horrendous, they could never stay on the field and the defense would tire by the end of ball games.
Two players I’ll be looking out for will be Trent Williams and of course, Albert Haynesworth. Williams was the fourth-overall pick in this year’s draft and will be asked to cover the blindside of Donovan McNabb. With the retirement of Chris Samuels, Williams will have to learn one of the toughest positions in the NFL and fast. For Haynesworth, the question is simple: Does he find the form that allowed him to sign for 100 million dollars in the first place? If he does, the Redskins will be much better off for it.
2010 Prediction: 7-9