For the majority of Dan Snyder’s tenure as owner, Washington has registered on the national radar mostly for the wrong reasons. With a new general manager and new direction, the team looks to change its narrative.
2015 NFL depth charts: 3 questions for Washington’s offseason
After DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, Washington has to figure out which of its tight ends and wideouts to feature.
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Since surprising as NFC East champions in 2012, Washington has traveled a rough path. Franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III, whom the team traded away three first-round picks and more to acquire, suffered his second torn ACL since high school and hasn't been the same since. Mike Shanahan, one of the most highly regarded coaches of his era, was fired along with his play-calling son. Washington has won just seven games over the last two seasons, leading to changes in the front office.
Now with Scot McCloughan installed as general manager, the team can begin to rebuild the roster. The first step is giving Griffin the protection and weapons necessary to finally determine whether he’s worthy of a long-term investment from Washington. On defense, the pass rush needs to be reestablished with free agent additions and draft selections.
Who will catch passes for RGIII?
At the top of the depth chart, Washington has two viable wideouts: DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. Jackson remains one of the league's premier deep threats while Garcon, when healthy, can make plays over the middle to bail out his quarterback.
The questions begin with the players behind them. Niles Paul, who caught 39 passes for 507 yards, returns to Washington on a three-year deal. He's undersized, but his ability to work out of the backfield as an H-back can add extra dimensions to the offense if Jay Gruden is willing to exploit them. Tight end Jordan Reed has flashed potential over his first two seasons, but injuries continue to cloud his future.
At wide receiver, Andre Roberts is a capable albeit unspectacular option in the slot. Ideally for Washington, rookie Jamison Crowder will push Roberts for playing time. The team also invested a pick in Ohio State's Evan Spencer, who has the requisite size and athleticism to work along the boundaries.
Can Washington keep RGIII upright?
At the outset of the 2014 season, Washington rolled out a starting offensive line consisting of Trent Williams, Shawn Lauvao, Kory Lichtensteiger, Chris Chester and Tyler Polumbus. Though the unit was far from the worst in the NFL, it will need to improve in order to keep RGIII's injury woes from returning.
McCloughan used the team's top selection in the 2015 NFL Draft on Iowa's Brandon Scherff, a versatile, nasty offensive linemen who projects as the team's new right tackle. The rest of the starting line looks the same, but injuries could force young, unproven players into service.
Both Lichtensteiger and Chester find themselves on the wrong side of 30, the point when linemen usually begin to break down. Behind them are Spencer Long, Josh LeRibeus and Tyler Larsen, who combine for fewer than 200 career offensive snaps. Washington also added Alabama's Arie Kouandjio and Austin Reiter in the draft, but neither would likely fair well if pressed into action early in 2015.
Still, the odds say that at some point during the season an inexperienced, non-preferred starter (and potentially more) will line up in front of Griffin for an extended stretch. For a quarterback who has missed games each year of his career and has multiple serious injuries in his past, that’s a scary prospect.
How will Washington fill the void left by Brian Orakpo?
While a series of injuries put Brian Orakpo on the shelf often during the past three years, he was one of the few true field tilters on Washington's defense. With Orakpo now taking up residence in Nashville, the coaching staff must figure out how to manufacture pressure from the outside linebacker spot opposite Ryan Kerrigan.
The top contender for the job is second-round pick Preston Smith. At 6’5”, 271 pounds, the Mississippi State product possesses rare size for the position. Combined with Kerrigan, Washington could roll out one of the biggest outside linebacker combinations in the NFL. But Smith, who played defensive end in college, will have to get comfortable playing in space quickly in order to nail down the job.
Regardless of Smith's ultimate role, 2014 second-rounder Trent Murphy will share some of the snaps. Murphy, an explosive athlete in his own right, was a strong run defender a year ago who could blossom as a pass rusher in his second year.
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