Redskins at Giants: Zorn Again

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
7:00 p.m. Giants Stadium
It was an interesting off-season to say the least. A coach leaves, an offensive coordinator is hired, a nationwide coaching search is undertaken, no big names can be found, the big name assistant coaches are ignored, the offensive coordinator is promoted to head coach, a bizarre draft unfolds followed by an up-and-down preseason. It wouldn’t be an off-season without several major events and subsequent panics. That brings us to September 4th. Without further ado, let’s meet your 2008 Washington Redskins.

Coaches: Without doubt, the biggest change in the off-season and the biggest question coming into the regular season. Jim Zorn seems like a nice guy. He seems like he could be an awfully good offensive coordinator. His taxes are probably up to date, and I’m sure his credit rating is impeccable. But should he be the head coach of the Redskins?

I’ve been torn on Zorn from Day 1. The hiring is bold, and the effect is unpredictable (even for The Predictor himself). That may be exactly what this franchise needed after four seasons of Joe Gibbs football. Don’t get me wrong, I love Joe Gibbs football (especially considering the alternatives of Norv Turner football and Steve Spurrier football). But Gibbs was predictable. He was boring. It was as if your grandfather was coaching the team. So you knew there was going to be consistency, but the other team knew that as well and usually knew exactly what was coming. Over the last four years, the Redskins hit a wall. They had too much talent, both on the field and on the sideline, to be anything less than a 6 or 7 win team. However, there wasn’t enough creativity or excitement around the team to generate anything more than a 10-win team. Clinton Portis can only dress up in costumes so many times.

Zorn is definitely the solution to that problem. But with the change comes the risk that this team will be much worse than anything Gibbs could have possibly produced. At times this preseason, Zorn has looked and sounded great. He made the players practice hard during two-a-days, but kept the atmosphere light and enjoyable. It sounded as if the players were actually having fun. However, Zorn has already made some crucial mistakes. He’s called out established veterans on several occasions. He bowed willingly as the incompetent Vinny Cerrato made several curious draft picks. He’s allowed the illusion of upper management controlling roster moves to exist, which instantly damages his credibility among players. So all in all, Zorn is predictably being unpredictable.


Jim Zorn...or Jim Zorn Robot? I'll tell you this, his hairstyle doesn't say "head coach".

So, is he the right man for the job? Right now, I say no. This business with benching Jon Jansen a week before the season starts is not smart. You don’t bench the longest tenured Redskin, a guy who has fought back after major injuries and played with two broken hands, this close to the opener. I don’t care if may be the right decision (more on that in a moment). Even if you decide to cut punter Derrick Frost, you have to stand up and take ownership of that decision. You can’t allow it’s to seem that the only reason the team is cutting Frost is because they spent a draft pick on a different punter. Anyone who followed the Skins knew the competition was a farce. Again, it might be the right decision, but it sets a bad precedent. You can’t yell, embarrass and deride rookies who are actually hurt because they are hurt. Injuries happen. If a player is coming off of knee surgery and his knee swells up, that’s not an opportunity to bash the player’s commitment. I’m sure Malcolm Kelly didn’t plan his injury out. Setbacks happen, you have to deal with it. And you certainly don’t bash the team based on a couple of preseason losses. Zorn’s reaction to the losses worries me more than then losses themselves.

Zorn is the ultimate wild card. This hiring may have been a stroke of genius. The West Coast Offense (which I’ve never been a fan of) may be exactly what Jason Campbell needs. The hiring of Zorn and his personality may be exactly what this team needs right now. Or this could all be the beginning of a monumental failure. We’ll know a lot more in December.

Offense: We’ll start up front with the offensive line. The left side of the line is solid. Chris Samuels, Pete Kendall and Casey Rabach are all fine players. Kendall and Rabach have normal wear and tear on them, but have never been a serious injury concern. While Samuels always seems to be dinged-up, he’ll often play through it. He is a multi-year Pro Bowler who still has several good seasons left in him.

The right side of the line has quickly become an issue. Let’s start with Jansen. Since I have behind-the-scenes access to the team, I’m going to let you all in on a dirty little secret. The last couple of years, even before Jansen broke his leg, there had been whispers throughout the organization about replacing him. Jansen had been slipping for some time. Gibbs was afraid to do it out of loyalty and because there was no one better available. Zorn had no previous ties with Jansen, so he wasn’t afraid to name Stephon Heyer the starter for opening day. Heyer isn’t better than Jansen right now, but Zorn saw the same things that Gibbs and his staff saw. They figure it’s better to let Heyer get more playing time right now and become better than to wait another year or two and have no where else to turn when Jansen’s legs finally give out. As for Randy Thomas, I think the rumors of his demise are a bit premature. Thomas, when fully healthy, is still a terrific guard. I don’t see what others are talking about when they say he can no longer block stronger defensive linemen. Overall, the offensive line is a veteran bunch that has played together for a long time. Familiarity is something that can’t be overvalued when talking about o-lines. The Redskins line may not be as strong as it was a couple of years ago, but it is still a Top 10-12 unit in the NFL.

The Redskins have a myriad of weapons. Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts are still a dangerous backfield combination. Santana Moss is finally 100% healthy, and poised for a season similar to the one he had in 2005. Antwaan Randle El is an x-factor. Chris Cooley is a player that about 25 teams would love to have and would be an upgrade over what they currently have. All the Skins need is for either Kelly or Devin Thomas to step up. A talented possession receiver adds another dimension to this offense that was missing under Gibbs.


The Redskins best offensive weapon. Please get the ball to Chris.

That brings us to quarterback. I’ll spare you the lengthy discussion since I’ve touched on it so many times in the past and will continue to do so throughout the season. I don’t think Jason Campbell is a franchise quarterback. He is not the long-term solution for the Redskins. He is the best option this season, and will probably be the best option next year. He is certainly a better option than Todd Collins, despite the run had at the end of 2007. If Zorn can’t make Campbell better than neither one deserves to be here. In my opinion, it would be wise for the Redskins to look elsewhere in the off-season. And that doesn’t mean look to Colt Brennan, who looked great against third-stringers in the preseason, but would probably be a poor man’s version of Philip Rivers in games that count. The offense has enough personnel around Campbell that, despite the new system, he should succeed and show major improvement by the end of the season.

Defense: Like the offense, the names are there. London Fletcher, Marcus Washington, Jason Taylor, Andre Carter, LaRon Landry are all big names and all have Pro-Bowl type years left in them. Guys like Cornelius Griffin, Shaun Springs and Fred Smoot are all supporting cast players. But all except Taylor have a history of nagging to moderate injuries and Taylor was just recently hurt in the preseason. So can the majority of these guys stay healthy for the season? Doubtful. That’s where the defensive problem comes into focus. In a perfect world, in a Madden-world where you can turn off injuries, this is a Top 10 defense. But if a couple of these players go down for a significant amount of time, then there is no depth for the Redskins to fall back on. It’s not like the Skins are alone in that regard. It’s unusual in the NFL for a team to be stacked 1 through 53. Unfortunately, the Redskins have all their depth on the offensive side of the ball. So other than Anthony Montgomery and H.B. Blades, there are no capable backups on defense (And you might notice I’m not including Carlos Rogers anywhere in this paragraph except for these parentheses. Rogers doesn’t count. No one should count Rogers for anything. I’m not even sure that Rogers counts himself).

For now, all I can do is analyze the starters. Up front, the Redskins are stronger than many believe. Taylor may not have a great statistical year, but he should free up Carter to have a better season. Carter had a solid season last year, but no one in the sports media cared to pay attention. His name isn’t Andre Favre or Andre Romo. Griffin and Kedric Golston are an above-average group of nose tackles, and Montgomery does provide adequate depth.


Jason may be smiling now, but it's Andre Carter that will be smiling at the end of the year when we look at the stat sheet.

On the flip side, the linebackers may not be as good as people expect. Fletcher should have another great season. The outside linebackers worry me. Washington is going to miss a decent amount of games. He’s always hurt. He rarely plays through it. He’s also been on the decline the past few seasons. That’s not to say he can’t have a great year, but I don’t think he will. The jury is still out on Rocky McIntosh, who was slowly making strides before his injury last season. If he take a step up, or if his knee is still a factor, then the Redskins could have major issues on the outside.

The secondary is in the top half of defensive backfields, but certainly not an elite unit. Add Sean Taylor to the mix, and you’d really have something. Tragically, that isn’t a possibility. Springs and Smoot are good corners that both have deficiencies. Smoot can’t tackle and Springs is like Marcus Washington…he’ll never play through injuries. He’s also lost a step. Landry will have to be the leader with Reed Doughty next to him. I think that will limit Landry’s effectiveness much like Sean Taylor’s was limited in his first few seasons without a competent safety next to him. Only last year, playing next to Landry, did Taylor begin to realize his full potential.

Overall the defense is going to be good, but certainly not dominating. If the offense thinks it can sit back, score 14-16 points and escape with wins, it’s sorely mistaken. At the same time, I do have confidence in the defense early in the season, before they get worn down by injuries, to keep the offense in the game while they adjust to the West Coast Offense.

Special teams: Shaun Suisham is a middle of the pack kicker. He’ll make a few clutch kicks and miss a few as well. The Skins haven’t had a clutch kicker since Chip Lohmiller and that won’t change this season. Durant Brooks is an unknown in the NFL, but he had a heck of a college career. Punting in college isn’t a whole lot different than punting in the NFL. There’s just a lot more pressure. Frost was cut because he couldn’t punt consistently and couldn’t come through in big slots. The Redskins have lost at least two games in each of the past two or three seasons because of bad punting and field position. Frost couldn’t get it done, so it makes sense to give someone else a shot.

Overview: I’m getting ticked by all these preseason publications saying the Redskins are going to go 5-11, while in the same publication, the Ravens or Falcons or Lions are picked to finish 6-10. I know the Redskins play in a tough division, and they have a new coach, but talent-wise, they match up with just about any team in the league. Just go through the names: Portis, Moss, Randle El, Cooley, Samuels, Taylor, Carter, Fletcher, Landry. 5-11 teams don’t have rosters like this. I think on raw talent alone, the Redskins can muster 7 wins at the minimum.

The opening schedule is rough. Three road division games in the first five weeks is a bit unfair. Again, I can’t believe the NFL continues to allow the Patriots to play the easiest schedule in the league while the Redskins have to play the Giants, Cowboys and Eagles on the road before Columbus Day. Can’t someone in the NFL scheduling office take a look at the schedules after they’re done and say “Hmm…that doesn’t look right. No other team in the league has to do this. Maybe we should change that.” All they would have to do is have the Redskins play a home game against the Cowgirls in Week 4 and give Dallas their home game in November. There, problem fixed!

With that said, after the first five weeks, there is a huge opportunity for the Redskins to get healthy. The Redskins must, must, must get through the first five games at no less than 2-3. 3-2 would be ideal (well, 5-0 would be ideal…but that ain’t gonna happen). After that, they have four of the next five at home and the only road game is against Detroit. And with games against Baltimore, Cincinnati and San Francisco in December, if they’re close at the end of the season to the top of the division or the last playoff birth, their schedule will help. I think when it’s all said and done, the Redskins are going to find themselves exactly where they were last year: 9-7 and fighting for the last playoff spot in the NFC.

As for Thursday, I actually like the Skins in the Meadowlands. Don’t know why. Could be the fact that the Giants’ heads will be too big to fit in their helmets after an off-season of hearing how great they are. Or all the pregame distractions and ring ceremonies. Or that Eli Manning had seven months to realize that he’s not Peyton and shouldn’t play like he did in January. As I’ll explain in my NFC preview later in the week, I’m on the “Giants were a fluke” train and I think they’ll finish dead last in the division. Their greatest strength, the defensive line, has suddenly become a question mark. You take Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora off that defense, and the defensive line becomes strictly average and makes average linebackers and secondary even worse. I know that the Skins usually don’t do well in the swamps and pig farms of New Jersey (aside from last year’s 22-10 beating), so just call it a hunch. Should be close, and it should be fun. It’s great to have football back.

Week 1 picks and NFC preview in a couple of days.