Will the Redskins Defense Take a Step Forward?

Some have said that they expect the Redskins to take a step back this year considering the health of RGII, lack of a first round draft pick, and repeating as champs of the NFC East is a difficult task.  However, Griffin is not much of a concern now that he is cleared to play monday and so the biggest question mark is now the defense.

Secondary: The weakest unit on the Redskins defense last year was the secondary. Because of this there was a lot of talk about how the Redskins failed to really upgrade the secondary during the offseason. However, with Rambo emerging as a starter at least one safety position should be at least marginally upgraded from a year ago. Meriweather's health is still in doubt but it is hard to imagine that he won't at least play for part of the season. As a whole the safety position won't be a strength but it seems as though it has improved. When it comes to the cornerbacks the Redskins have the same starters in DeAngelo Hall and Josh Wilson. Hall was one of the worst cover corners in the league last year and Wilson didn't fair much better. But with the upgrades at safety the cornerbacks should benefit. Rookie David Amerson has shown a ton of potential during the preseason and many (including myself) expect him to earn a starting job before seasons end. The addition of EJ Biggers and Jerome Murphy should also help with depth.

Linebackers: The main reason that the defense should progress is not the slight increase of talent in the secondary but instead the return of Brian Orakpo and the emergence of Darryl Tapp and Brandon Jenkins. This group, along with Kerrigan, has the chance to produce an electrifying pass rush. We have already seen a 6 linebacker set where Kerrigan and Tapp lineup at defensive tackle and there is bound to be more to come. When Rob Jackson returns this group will only be more talented. If the Redskins can produce a significant pass rush then the secondary will improve greatly.

As for the inside linebackers Perry Riley continues to improve and could be set for a breakout season. London Fletcher has started to decline but he is essentially a defensive coordinator on the field and showed he can still come up with big plays toward the end of last season. The depth is a bit of a problem but Nick Barnett and Bryan Kehl should do fine.

Defensive Line: Early on in the season there may be some problems here with the injury to Carriker and Jenkins' suspension. The bright side is that Chris Baker has shown some improvement and Barry Cofield looks like he could become one of the best if not THE best nose tackle in the NFL. Once Jenkins returns I will expect big things from this group. The return of Orakpo will also help because teams will be forced to account for him so Stephen Bowen should see less double teams.


Overview: The Redskins' defense will not be one of the best in the NFL but there is no reason to think they can be drastically improved from a year ago. There are still a lot of holes that are only being filled by ifs at this point but the immediate future looks relatively bright. Don't forget that in 2011 the defense was consider a strength and was in the top 15 of the league.