A Midseason Review

[Laxpunk2006]

This may be beating a dead horse, but I thought an opinion is warranted.

Last Spring the Redskins looked utterly lost. Of our 4 big FA acquisitions of the previous year we had nothing to show. Adam Archuleta went from star safety, to personal punt protector, to a 6th round draft pick from Chicago. Brandon Lloyd made more noise with his antics than his play, Randel El hardly lived up to his $30 paycheck and Andre Carter seemed to be relearning his position. With a lack of draft picks 2007 looked like another year of holding down the basement in the ultra-competitive NFCE.

In the offseason we made the most of our limited picks, selecting immediate starter and DROY candidate Laron Landry, STer and possible future MLB HB Blades and well... that's about it. Ecker battled injuries along with Sartz and project QB Palmer showed that he definitely is not his brother. We were fairly quiet in FA but did pick up league leader in tackles London Fletcher and welcomed Fred Smoot back home where he belongs.

In camp we discovered gems such as Chris Wilson a rush end, Leigh Torrence ST stud and spot CB (in my opinion has looked good in coverage), John Eubanks (active over David Macklin), along with others whose seasons were ended by injuries such as Will Whitticker and Mike Espy.

At the mid point of the season we have tied our win total of 2006 (hey it can't get any worse) and already beaten our sack/to totals of last year. Our defense is up to 11th, from the 31st ranking of last season. Portis is #3 in the NFL in rushing, and Campbell is showing signs of improvement. Randel El has stepped up as a legitimate recieving target, and Sean Taylor is tied for the NFC lead in interceptions, virtually taking away the deep ball for opposing offenses.

All of this while losing Jansen and Thomas in the first two weeks, our #1 reciever in Santana Moss, starting corner Carlos Rogers (who was playing phenomally) and Marcus Washington. Injuries may not be an excuse to lose, but there is no debating the winning teams are usually the healthiest. With a depleted roster the Redskins are still competeing in arguably the best division in football. The same division that sent 3 teams to the playoffs last year, and likely will send at LEAST two this year.

My end season prediction is we'll likely miss playoffs. A 9-7 record would not surprise me, although neither would a 10-6 if we can get healthy. Taking away the key injuries this is a playoff team, a team that could do some damage. 2007 is a big step in the right direction. We have gotten better, and younger across the board. Another conservative offseason matched with another year in this offense could propel the Redskins deep into the playoffs. I'm going to sit back and enjoy the rest of the season, and look forward to a bright future.

We are in much better shape than we were 2 years ago and I fully expect this trend to continue.