The Redskins....Are In The Best Position Of Any Team In The NFC East

I can’t believe I’m typing this. And it’ll probably come back to haunt me. But fuck it. I don’t care. This is where my head’s at right now and I actually think it’s correct too. Your Washington Redskins are set up long term better than any other team in the NFC East. To quote Kurt Angle, “it’s true, it’s damn true”.

I’m just talking facts here- The Skins have the best young core in the NFC East, and one of the best in the league on defense. The d-line of Matt Ioannidis, Daron Payne, and Jonathan Allen is one of the best. The outside linebackers Montez Sweat and Ryan Anderson are young and getting better. Sweat started slow and then ended his rookie year with 7 sacks. He’s 6’6, 260 pounds, and runs a 4.5 40 time. He could potentially be a MONSTER in this league. And then…we’re going to draft Chase Young. My heavens! Adding him to the mix sets the defense up for the next decade.

Yes, our secondary is a bit thin, we all know it. Landon Collins is a nice centerpiece but Montae Nicholson is not the solution at FS, and we need big time CB help as well. Quinton Dunbar has been solid when he’s stayed on the field and I hold out hope Jimmy Moreland can continue to develop and be a solid CB for years to come as well. And it’s addition by subtraction losing Josh Norman. Getting his bloated contract and inability to cover water from a boat out of DC immediately upgrades the secondary.

And then, the offense. More young bright spots, with Haskins being the franchise guy. We watched him evolve and get better in the 2nd half of the season, finishing his final 2 games with 4 TDs, 0 INTs, completing 72% of his passes. And that was with only 1 target- Terry McLaurin. Scary Terry immediately made an impact this year as a rookie, and is only going to get better. He could very well be a top 5-10 WR in the league next year. After him is where it gets interesting- Steve Sims Jr came on HUGE late in the year.

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I’ve never seen someone develop quite like him. He can be very special in this league. Kelvin Harmon almost made big strides late in the season. This WR core is young and inexperienced, but showed a ton of promise.

At RB, if Guice can stay on the field we have a weapon. He was never injury prone his entire career, but now has ran into a string of bad luck and can’t stay off the IR. A healthy Guice is ginormous. And then don’t forget the Skins took a flier on Bryce Love out of Stanford. He was explosive in college, but tore his ACL in his final game. If he recovers 100% the Skins have a very dangerous and young backfield.

It’s the O-line where the problems lie. It was the struggle all season- no Trent, a rotating cast of tackles and guards, and Morgan Moses being generally bad. Never good when Ereck Flowers is your most consistent offensive lineman (to give him credit, once he settled in at guard, he was actually pretty decent. He’s not getting enough credit for that). But the offensive line needs work. Things need to be patched up there. Hopefully Trent returns and that takes care of a biggggg piece, but there’s still shakiness that needs to be addressed.

And then we have a pro bowl punter and a great kicker to tie a bow on the whole thing.

Now look- every year on paper I think this team is good, and then the wheels fall off, mostly because Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder. Or the fact they trusted Manusky with the defense. Or the fact the training staff couldn’t keep anyone healthy. Things have changed now- Bruce is gone, Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio are in, the training staff has been overhauled, and let me say it again, BRUCE ALLEN IS GONE.

If, and this is a BIG IF, Dan Snyder can stay the fuck out of the way, trust the football people to make football decisions, Haskins continues to develop as he did, they add pieces through the draft and free agency (WITHOUT OVERPAYING FOR OVERPRICED VETERANS), and we draft Chase Young, things are actually looking up for the long term.

It’s ok to be optimistic. Cautiously, but optimistic. I like Haskins. I like the young d-line. McLaurin is a stud. The backfield of Guice and Love could be special. Chase Young is on the way. Bruce Allen is gone. The Giants are in turmoil and the Cowboys have to pay Dak $40 million a year. The Eagles are fine, but are missing a bunch of pieces to make them a long term contender. So I’ll say it again- your Washington Redskins are set up long term better than any other team in the NFC East. It’s true,