Washington Redskins Cont.

Washington Redskins
While conventional wisdom from the popular media would suggest that a shakeup is in order given the disastrous results from last year's personnel on the Defensive Front, the 'Skins avoided the panic of rebuilding their entire defense and stuck to their guns with last year's scheme and personnel. The resulting situation may not be as bad as some pundits who suggest that 'business as usual' will result in the same 'business as usual' results from last year's defense. At no point starting from August until nearly November, were the 2005 combination at DT of Griffin and Salave'a both healthy at the same time or play together. Instead the 'Skins went through the growing pains of developing the maturation of the two rookies Golsten and Montgomery--who played alongside Griffin at various points in the season depending upon health. The redevelopment of the defensive front at the point of attack was one of many reasons why the defense suddenly performed below 2005 levels of performance eventhough Archeluta was scapegoated for much of the blame by the coaching staff.
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The Offense, on the otherhand, has some real vulnerabilities. During Joe Gibbs' previous tenures, challenges from adversity--particularly on the offensive line in terms of injuries--ended up strengthening the Hogs by not only developing depth, but by shaping them into a super bowl calibur offensive line. Several Hogs learned to play several different positions on the offensive line in order to overcome injuries and adversity. Last year would have been the perfect season in which this type of development could have strengthened the offensive line in terms of depth and performance. Many of the league's losing teams overcame injuries on their lines and bettered themselves as a result. Unfortunately, the Redskins were not among those teams. They endured last year's losing season with roughly the same starting five on the line in nearly every game. Certainly, various starters endured injuries and were nicked up at various times---but not enough to knock them out of the lineup. As a result of this, the Redskins are vulnerable in terms of depth on the offensive line. In addition, the loss of Derrick Dochery to the Buffalo Bills puts the 'Skins in a rebuilding position at the line as the opening of the 2007 season nears. Throw in the loss of Chris Samuels, and the Redskins may have some struggles with their power running game in early September. The fact that Samuels went down in early August may be a blessing in disguise in that, his loss at any other time during the season, would almost certainly disclosed their vulnerability in depth during more critical times in the season. The 'Skins might actually have stepped up their development of their offensive line depth during training camp as a result of being forced into a position where the backups are forced to step up.