Another Merciful End

This might be the longest gap in between blog posts since this blog’s current reincarnation. Holiday travel and deadlines at work don’t make for ideal blog-writing conditions. So, as I started writing this I couldn’t help but think that a Redskin season wrap-up would be way late…and yet this past weekend was the 1st weekend since their bye week that there was no Redskins game. This served as not only a reminder of how crazy the holidays are, but how dismal this current stretch of Redskins seasons has been, as another year has passed with not even close to a playoff appearance. 4 out of the last 5 weeks I didn’t even see the game. For anyone that knows me, this would probably come as a shock. From the time I was a 3rd grader, I probably averaged missing about 1 Redskins game a year on TV. Granted, I was either in the car or outside the viewing area for all of these games, but in years past I would have made every effort to plant my can in front of a television set to see the game somehow, someway…not this year.

2011 was a year to forget for Redskins fans. I got frustrated during the middle of the season because so many people had clamored for the Redskins brass to finally truly rebuild the team by tearing the roster down and starting from scratch, and yet in the same breath those people complained about how terrible the team was. How can you be overly critical of a strategy that you wanted in the 1st place? However, by the end of the year I was admittedly just as disgusted with the product on the field as the same people I was originally angered by. I still maintain that the Redskins could actually have an improved team with the same or a worse record this season compared to last year. Well, my theory is about to get tested out…Mike Shanahan’s record in his 1st season: 6-10. Shanahan’s record this year: 5-11.

In Shanahan’s 1st season, it was evident just how much dead weight was on the roster. The Skins roster was not only old but overpaid and underperforming as well. Shanahan and GM Bruce Allen did well to make the roster younger and cheaper in their 2nd season, but they misfired on 1 acquisition so badly in year 1 that they contributed to their own problem. Donovan McNabb was a completely failed experiment, and while the Shanahan/Allen regime has done well overall in its 2 years of stockpiling draft picks, acquiring young talent, and avoiding the overpriced aging veterans (at least compared to the Vinny Cerrato era, where management gave away draft picks like they caused an allergic reaction), the McNabb trade may still prove to be the singular move the dooms Shanahan’s stint in Washington. The draft picks and money they spent getting McNabb and the team’s mistake at the most important position in the sport probably set the team’s rebuilding/development back at least 2 years. The best thing you can say is that at least they cut their losses early on and didn’t stubbornly hold on to him too long when they realized McNabb was a complete bust at this point in his career.

Next year will be the 3rd year of the Shanahan/Allen battery. While a combined 11-21 record over the last 2 years was acceptable and somewhat expected, a plucky 6-10 season will not be tolerated in 2012. 3 years should be long enough to clean house, put your system in place, and fill the roster with the type of player that can produce a winning team. Shanahan is oft-criticized in the personnel department, but most of the players they picked up last year look like they could help the team for the next few seasons. Roy Helu shouldn’t be mistaken for Arian Foster, but he and Evan Royster look like steals for 4th and 7th round draft picks. Ryan Kerrigan could be a bookend rush linebacker along with Brian Orakpo for years to come. Leonard Hankerson showed promise as a receiver in the 1 game he was given an opportunity before getting injured. Barry Cofield and Stephen Bowen look to be cost-effective upgrades to the defensive line. And Jarvis Jenkins, who was hurt in preseason and lost for the year, will basically be an extra 1st or 2nd round pick next year. None of this means that anyone deserves a parade just yet, but it’s at least a small glimpse of hope to hang on to.

There are still plenty of holes to fill. The defensive secondary is awful. London Fletcher could use some help at inside linebacker (if they even choose to resign him). You can never have enough offensive linemen, and that’s even if Trent Williams gets his act together. Fred Davis probably cost himself a lot of money with his shenanigans as well, which may have made him much more affordable for the Skins to resign if they so choose. The receiver corp has lacked a fast, big-bodied, do it all Calvin/Andre Johnson type receiver since forever. And most importantly, the Skins need an upgrade at quarterback. While John Beck was a complete disaster in his audition, as bad as Rex Grossman was at times you would have to say he at least did a serviceable job as a fill-in this starter this year. If the Redskins believe Grossman is actually their answer at QB, they are nuts. However, their draft position puts them in a tricky position: they have a high pick, but not high enough that the guys thought to be elite franchise-type quarterbacks will still be around when it comes their turn to select. Hopefully, they don’t reach for a guy that they really don’t believe in just out of desperation. I would be more than fine with someone like, say, Justin Blackmon (probably will be picked by then as well, but one can only dream). If they can’t pick or trade up to pick Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin, I fully expect them to be in the Matt Flynn running, as he seems to be the guy most likely to have someone throw starting quarterback money at this offseason. Otherwise, the best we can probably hope for next year with Grossman at the reins is 8-8 or 9-7 (assuming the team improves in other areas). That’s all pie in the sky stuff for now though, but hope springs eternal. As for Skins talk, see you in April at the draft.