Commentary: Redskins 2015 and Unavoidable Optimism

Having held a rookie minicamp, three phases of Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and a mandatory team minicamp, Washington Redskins second-year head coach Jay Gruden appeared very upbeat about the state of his team.

“Really, this time of year,” he said during his final press conference before the long break until training camp, “I don’t have any concerns or anything negative to say about anything. I feel very good about where we are, the way we practice. The attendance rate here was excellent, the tempo was outstanding and I feel like we made major strides already.”

This didn’t go over well in some circles. After all, the team was 4-12 last season. It was 3-13 the season before and 5-11 two years before that. Why should anyone be pleased or optimistic? Many wonder why they should be encouraged after remembering all that they have endured from this team.

As players exited the area for a little over five weeks of down time until training camp begins on July 30, there are still as many questions remaining about certain roster positions as there were at the end of the 2014 season. That said, however, there are things going on with the team that are encouraging enough to be at least somewhat bullish about the upcoming season. When comparing what the Redskins have done recently to how things have been done in the past, the indication is that after all these years, real learning-from-mistakes has been accomplished in Washington.

Recall the hope that the hire of Gruden inspired last season. A successful college and Arena Bowl League quarterback, he was subsequently the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals for three years. Part of the thinking was that his past experience as a signal-caller would be beneficial to quarterback Robert Griffin, III and yet pretty much the opposite happened. Griffin did not, in fact, get much better than in 2013 and, in some cases, seemed to regress when it came to reading defenses and his pocket awareness.

As well as Gruden’s hire, fans were excited that the chains that previous head coach Mike Shanahan had placed on defensive coordinator Jim Haslett were now gone with Shanahan’s departure and the defense was therefore set to go wild. Sadly, it would be an understatement to say, “this did not happen.” The squad was deplorable at times, especially in the secondary and the only real bright spots were the emergence of some relatively unknown players; then-rookie cornerback Bashaud Breeland and defensive tackle Frank Kearse among them. Both flashed periodically and showed a lot of potential.

Until a season is over of course, no one knows whether their optimism was wasted energy or not . That said, however, examining the differences between past offseasons and this one is warranted, given the changes the Redskins have made these past six months.

• Washington has gone through long periods with no true general manager at the helm. Since 1999 ― when current owner Dan Snyder bought the team ― Washington has employed Vinny Cerrato, Marty Schottenheimer, Joe Mendes, Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan to evaluate and bring in football players. In four of those 16 years, the team had a winning record.

As well during that time, the likes of QBs Daniel Wuerffel and Shane Matthews; S Adam Archuleta, WR’s Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, DT Albert Haynesworth; head coaches Steven Spurrier and Jim Zorn, “offensive consultant” Sherman Lewis and QBs Rex Grossman and John Beck were brought onto the team. None of these names inspired a lot of confidence from Redskins Nation in the decisions being made.

Previous to the Daniel Snyder era, Jack Kent Cooke owned the team and the Redskins went through several years where they had true general managers, most notable among them, Bobby Beathard and Charlie Casserly. In those 20 years, from 1978 through 1998, the team had 10 winning seasons.

Keeping in mind this history, it was a happy surprise to fans and media alike when, soon after the disappointing 2014 season President Bruce Allen finally hired a real, live, successful football-player-evaluating general manager in Scot McCloughan. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that Allen and Snyder appear to be letting the man do his job. Wholesale changes were made within the Redskins organization right away… the the offensive staff, save the head coach and offensive coordinator; and all of the defensive and special teams staff was replaced. In addition, the team hired an actual quarterbacks coach, which it did not have last year. The coaching changes were much-needed, especially defensively. It was as if that unit had gone stagnant after all the losing.

• In addition to the changes in the coaching staff, McCloughan wasted no time in addressing two areas of need as soon as he was able, adding to the defensive line and the secondary. Trusting that he knows what he’s doing, fans can be optimistic that the defense will be better.

Last season ended with a secondary containing a regressing CB David Amerson that struggled mightily after veteran Pro Bowler, DeAngelo Hall was placed on injured reserve fairly early in the season. Defensive end Jason Hatcher started the season with knee problems which plagued him so much later in the season that he was eventually put back on injured reserve and his potential impact was never realized. McCloughan added three defensive linemen via free agency that are fairly young but experienced. He has also added two veteran cornerbacks and a safety and two of those DBs; CB Chris Culliver and FS Dashon Goldson, have already made their presence felt during OTAs and minicamp. This not only means that the Redskins have quality depth in the secondary, these two will surely start and are instant upgrades.

• Another area of need on the team, the offensive line, was also upgraded by the GM albeit not until the draft. It was clear this was important to McCloughan because when finally addressed, it was by using the first first-round draft pick that the team has owned since 2012. Offensive tackle Brandon Scherff was projected by many to be worthy of a late first-round selection but Washington’s GM was not going to take any chances with another team getting him. He used the fifth overall pick.

While some may insist that the former Iowa Hawkeye was drafted too early for the value, Scherff has shown every indication that the Redskins have gotten themselves a tough, talented, athletic lineman that will be around for years to come. He has played at the right tackle position so far and, with him anchoring that side of the line opposite Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, enemy defensive linemen are likely going to find the going a little tougher in 2015. Veteran Chris Chester was let go and the new offensive line coach, Bill Callahan, is cross-training the other young linemen on the team. Young, tough guys in the trenches with decent depth finally is a good reason for optimism.

• McCloughan has made some quality roster changes but a team doesn’t get better on talent alone. It has to have good coaches. Considering that there is basically an entirely new coaching staff on board now ― again, except at head coach and offensive coordinator ― it would be hard not to be hopeful that the team will be better. The aforementioned Callahan is an intense, no-nonsense, get-the-most-out-of-the-players leader that has done it all. He has been both a college and NFL head coach, an offensive coordinator and the O-line coach of the very successful Dallas Cowboys. It’s well-documented how hard he’s working the Redskins players. It is only logical that the unit will be improved. That should, in turn, help the quarterbacks on the team which is a huge area of concern right now.

Joe Barry replaced Jim Haslett as defensive coordinator and so far, the players seem to have bought in to what he’s teaching. During the few practices that the media was allowed to watch, Barry was hands-on, high-energy and in the middle of everything concerning the defense.

While OTAs and minicamps must be viewed as just what they are (and that is NOT training camp), the players looked to be working hard. The first minicamp practice day that the media was allowed to attend was high-tempo and came close to becoming very physical a few times. The new guys have integrated well into the team and are emerging as the leaders McCloughan says he brought them here to be. Terrance “Pot Roast” Knighton frequently speaks of everyone being on the same page. Veteran safety Duke Ihenacho spoke last week of DBs coach Perry Fewell being an old school disciplinarian while still calming and Phillip Thomas said that his new coach likes to teach through music; his go-to guy being Michael Jackson many times when he uses song lyrics. While we won’t know if Barry and Fewell’s methods will absolutely improve the defense, with as ineffective as the squad has been over the last few years, just removing the status quo made things better. Why would fans not be optimistic?

• Perhaps one of the biggest changes that could impact the team for the better is the addition of quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh. While Gruden, a former quarterback himself, could quite possibly do a lot for the signal-callers on the roster, he has all of the other duties of head coach to take up his time. He admitted that last year he and his OC (Sean McVay) found themselves in a little over their heads, not having enough time to work with Griffin and his fellow QBs. That was especially detrimental because it was their first year of a new system. Gruden being a rookie and Griffin still developing his pocket skills combined with the implementation of a new system was not conducive to a really productive offense. In retrospect, it should not be a huge surprise that things didn’t go well. Gruden could have handled the QB situation more patiently but once again, he was ― and no doubt still is ― learning.

Cavanaugh’s purpose there is to improve the quarterbacks. Griffin and the others did not have that luxury last year. It stands to reason that the quarterback position will improve.

History would suggest that things won’t change with this franchise while Snyder owns it. This is a typical sentiment amongst Redskins fans. But Snyder seems to have changed his ways … “change” being the operative word here… and shows signs of behaving like a smart owner: staying out of the way and letting is GM do his job. Perhaps Allen is still a bit too much in the mix but baby steps, right?

In the absence of static, there is change and, based on just the changes in the front office staff, coaching and roster there will be improvement. While it’s always possible to have a 0-16, 1-15, 2-14 or 3-13 record no matter who is running, coaching or on a team, when breaking down the changes made for 2015, the odds are that the team will improve.

It is likely true that Gruden should simply maintain that the team has a long way to go and perhaps publicly lament the improvements needed after his 4-12 rookie season. Actually, he did… sort of.

“I feel good about it where we’re going, where we’re headed,” he said Wednesday during his presser. “Got a long way to go obviously but we’re on the right track, I promise you that.”

Some pessimism will always go hand-in-hand with the Washington Redskins until the team is consistently winning. It’s a tough market here in this city with it’s political climate and there is always something to criticize. But given that many of the changes promised by Allen and Gruden last year have actually been delivered, it’s not unreasonable for fans to be somewhat optimistic right now.