Mocking the NFC East: What’s wrong with the Redskins, and how do you fix it?

The Washington Redskins started the 2008 season very hot. They won 6 of their first 8 games, but one of those first two loses were against to dreadful St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns. The lose to the Rams was a pre-cursor for what was to come. The Skins went 2-6 for the remainder of the season. For the first 8 games, Clinton Portis was an MVP candidate and new head coach Jim Zorn was the toast of Washington. When the season ended, people were openly asking for Zorn’s head on a plate, and wondering out loud if Portis was done. Such are the winds in Washington.

Regardless of who is to blame, the fact is the Redskins averaged only 12.5 points per game during the second half of the season. They cracked the 20 point barrier only twice, and lost the only game they went over 20 points. Football Outsiders ranked them #15 in the league in offensive efficiency, but that is a very misleading ranking. When your offense averages roughly 12 ppg over an 8 game stretch, consider yourself lucky they didn’t go 0-8. “Efficiency” means nothing if you don’t score, and points in this man’s NFL come out of the passing game, boys and girls.

Now, when examining how the Redskins will approach the draft, one might as well try their hand at predicting the weather using a tin foil hat and a pair of TV antennae. The Redskins are woefully erratic at the NFL Draft, which is why their team has been up and down (mostly down) since the days of Mark Rypien, Earnest Byner, and a league with no salary cap. So, unlike the NY Giants and Philadelphia Eagles (who are outstanding at drafting, and follow a specific pattern of player evaluation), my analysis of the Redskins is not what they will do. It is what they SHOULD do.

Trust me, I’d prefer to blog about what they will do because I find that more interesting, personally. But since Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is so meddlesome, it is damn near impossible to predict what Redskins GM Vinny Cerrato will do on draft day. Cerrato has the right mentality to build this team through the draft, but Snyder’s presence makes such a philosophy nearly impossible. And if you can’t build through the draft (or refuse to), then your team will not win many football games. Again, this is a team that managed to con Mike Dykta into giving up his entire draft in 1999 so he could take Ricky Williams, and even with all those draft picks, the Skins STILL couldn’t make a champion. And while all this may come off as harsh, I say it because I think I share my draft frustration with Redskins fans: It is brain busting to try and figure out what Washington will do in late-April. I know that has to drive Skins fans batty.

So, when you see me doing pre-draft evaluations for the Skins, please keep all this in mind. My focus with them is what they should do, not what they will do. I don’t think Jesus could predict what they will do. Far too many variables affect Washington’s decisions on draft day. That said, I think the focus of the draft for the Skins will indeed be their offense; in particular the offensive line and running back positions.