2010 WASHINGTON REDSKINS

In the past five seasons the Washington Redskins have gone 4-12, 8-8, 9-7, 5-11, and 10-6 respectively. They have gone through two coaches. One a hall of fame coach who was past his prime in Joe Gibbs and a neophyte who was in over his head in Jim Zorn. What has changed since that point? Well for one, Gibbs has been retired for two years and Zorn is back to coaching quarterbacks in Baltimore. The question is, will they be able to win more then 7.5 games. Yes, they will.

What is the main reason for change you ask, well I will tell you, Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen. Gone are the days of free wheeling and dealing of what I like to affectionately call Synerrato. Dan Snyder and Vinney Cerrato will no longer bring in high priced free agents who are past their prime or who are over paid malcontents. No more Adam Archuleta or Jeff George. Gone are the days of bringing in Bruce Smith, Mark Carrier, and Deon Sanders. No more winning the off season, they will now start taking down the regular season. The Washington Redskins only have one last piece of that previous regime and even though he is an over paid malcontent he will make a major impact on the Redskins defense. I'm speaking of Albert Haynesworth. While he started off training camp the worst way he possibly could he has finally made up with the head coach. This is a good sign for fans of the team. While he may be a self serving jerk Albert even at his worst last year made a noticeable impact on the defense. He helped Andre Carter accomplish a career year with 11 sacks. He also had a noticeable effect on the Redskins run defense. When Albert was on the field the Redskins allowed a nice 3.1 yard per carry average. Without him they averaged over 5 yards per carry. Simply put, the Redskins are better with Albert on the field.

Along with the change of no longer having a in over his head head coach, they have also brought along a tremendous offensive coordinator in Kyle Shanahan. Last year while with the Houston Texans Kyle led Houston's offense to a number four ranking for total yards per game. They were also number one in the NFL in passing yards per game. I think we can all say this is the area where the Redskins need to improve in the most. Gone are the days of bad play calling of Jim Zorn. The Redskins now have professional coaches who know how to win super bowls in this era.

Along with the improvement in coaching the Redskins have dramatically improved the offensive talent. They have brought into two perennial pro bowl players in Donovan Mcnabb who has hall of fame worthy numbers, and offensive tackle beast Jamal Brown from the super bowl champions. With the addition of Artist Hicks to hold steady in the guard position and left tackle wunderkind Trent Williams they have revamped the two most glaring needs of the Redskins, offensive line and quarterback. Some naysayers will point to the lack of talent at wide receiver which they say will hinder the progress of the team. I disagree. I point to Donovan Mcnabb's past years with the likes of Freddie Mitchell and Todd Pinkston. If the past has taught us anything it's that Donovan's favorite target is and almost always is the tight end. See Brent Celek and LJ Smith. Oddly enough that just so happens to be were the Redskins have the most offensive talent with Chris Cooley and past USC standout Fred Davis. I will also point to Mike Shanahan's success in the past with tight ends see Shannon Sharpe and Tony Scheffler. Overall the offense will be vastly improved compared to previous years.

This year the Redskins will be sporting a brand new 3-4 defense. Some have asked why they have made the switch since it appears their personnel fit more of the 4-3 variety. Jim Haslett has been quoted saying that on defense you build around your best player, and that happens to be Brian Orakpo. In last years defense the 4-3, Brian rushed the quarterback less the 500 times yet he still recorded 11 sacks. In this more attacking style of defense, they say his quarterback rushes should more then double that thus resulting in a higher sack total. It is also to be noted that during this preseason the Redskins have been a much more of a ball hawking team. This is something that Haslett has the team practicing every day. While they have been in the top 10 in defense the past couple years they have never created the turnovers that top teams seem to do. This will change under Haslett.

Moving onto special teams. Bye bye Antwan Randle-El. Gone are the days of your cloud of dust and move no where punt returns. I don't think I have ever seen so many fair catches in my entire life. In comes 5-8 speedster Brandon Banks. He already has a punt return for ta touchdown this preseason. The Redskins with Devin Thomas returning kick offs and Banks, Hall, Moss, platooning on the punt returns, special teams might actually be dangerous this year. The Redskins also for the first time in years now have a stable kicker in Grahm Gano. This is also a major improvement. So no more trading back and forth with the Cowboys.

Onto the final review of the schedule. I think you have 4 wins between St. Louis, Detroit, Jax, and Tampa Bay. While the rest of the schedule is tough considering it is the NFC east, if they can at least go .500 out of the final 12 games I think you have a 10-6 win team or 8-8 at worst.

The value is over 7.5 wins my friends.