We have now gone through and released our outlook on what to expect from the different units of the Washington Redskins offense. The quarterback position will be mostly determined by Robert Griffin III‘s execution of head coach Jay Gruden‘s offense in his second year. The running backs and receivers for the Redskins is talented but have to be given the opportunity to make plays for the team through Griffin. Finally, the offensive line, which was dreadful last year, will likely be improved but will be dependent on how quickly they grasp Bill Callahan‘s new blocking schemes.
Now we go through and project each unit’s grade during the season and predict the Week 1 depth chart that consists of the 53 man roster, of which we will assume 25 will be on offense.
- Quarterbacks: C with a potential of B. The grading of this unit begins and ends with Griffin. It is highly unlikely that the 2012 offensive rookie of the year will be benched unless he struggles immensely, which means the unit has probably already failed. It is also unlikely that backup quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy can do significantly better in their somewhat limited sample size in Gruden’s offense. Barring injury and if Griffin is continued to show the improvement he already has in training camp, the quarterback unit has the ability to be average, which would be a big upgrade from the past two seasons.
- Running Backs: B. Alfred Morris has proven he is an upper echelon back in the NFL. He might not be in the same tier as LeVeon Bell or LeSean McCoy, but Morris has been a work horse for the Redskins and consistently averaged more than four yards per carry. The addition of physical bruiser Matt Jones can only help Morris stay fresh throughout the season as well as wear down the defense behind their power running game.
- Receivers: B+. Between DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon, and Jordan Reed, the Redskins have a strong group of talented receivers that can each beat single coverage and at times all demand double teams. Despite Reed’s injury, Jackson and Garcon both did their parts to have successful seasons but were not always rewarded for getting open because of the constant shifting and missed reads of the Redskin’s quarterback. Thus, it will again be up to Griffin to take advantage of the talent he has around him.
- Offensive Line: B-. Last year the right hand side of the line was awful. Chris Chester and Tyler Polumbus were incompetent of protecting all of the Redskins quarterbacks even if once claims they did not get rid of the ball quick enough. The line has been improved mostly due to the acquisition of offensive guru Callahan. However, coaching can only go so far. The effectiveness of the line will depend heavily on the duo of rookie Brandon Scherff and second year tackle Morgan Moses. Early on in the seasons, things might look bad for the two as the youngsters get acclimated against the likes of Cameron Wake and other premier rushers, but their development throughout the season will end in a much improved unit.
Projected Offensive Week 1 Depth Chart:
- Quarterback: Robert Griffin III, Colt McCoy, Kirk Cousins
- Running Back: Alfred Morris, Matt Jones, Chris Thompson
- WR1: DeSean Jackson, Andre Roberts, Ryan Grant
- WR2: Pierre Garcon, Jamison Crowder, Evan Spencer
- Tight End: Niles Paul, Jordan Reed, Logan Paulsen
- Left Tackle: Trent Williams, Willie Smith
- Left Guard: Shaun Lauvao, Arie Kouandjio
- Center: Kory Lichtensteiger, Josh LeRibeus
- Right Guard: Brandon Scherff, Spencer Long
- Right Tackle: Morgan Moses, Tom Compton
Bottom line: Griffin has the ability to turn the Redskins offense into a top 10 offense in the league. That is if everything goes to plan, regardless however the team should improve in their scoring production and are built to continue steadily improving.
Come back next week to see our look at our defensive units outlook starting with the much beefed up defensive line on Monday.