Although Washington Redskins’ General Manager Scot McCloughan met with the media to talk 2015 NFL draft, he began the session by saying the team would, in fact, be exercising the 2016 option on quarterback Robert Griffin, III. He said that the team would formally announce this Monday, May 4.
More importantly than what McCloughan said about the quarterback, however, was the clues he gave regarding what the Washington Redskins could become with him at the helm.
For years, this franchise has been searching for an identity. In fact, the last time it had one that the entire NFL world recognized was back in the 1980’s when running back John Riggins was ramming the rock down defense’s throats and the team was a perennial postseason challenger. Since then, it has had good teams… especially defensively. But the Redskins just haven’t made a long-term mark on people’s psyche when it comes to who and what they were.
Since the new general manager’s first press conference, he has made it clear that football is a big man’s game. Three days from now, he will bring in a new crop of “big men.” After that, there are organized team activities, mini-camps then and training camp. During these team undertakings, the team’s personality will be developed and fine-tuned but the forming of the team’s identity has actually already begun.
The GM continued the theme he started in his introductory presser, revisiting the physical traits that he looks for in the big football players he likes… length, height, strength, agility, intelligence and passion.
“Their ability to get to the quarterback,” he said, smiling, when asked about the skill set he looks for in a pass rusher. “You know what, they come in all shapes and sizes. Again, I like big guys, long guys, length, but you need to have speed and you need to have quickness but you also need to have power. If you get all three, now you’re talking about a really good prospect. But some guys just have two of the things or one of the things. It doesn’t make them not a prospect for us, it’s just a different value in the draft for us. But I think it’s very important to have physical traits that allow you to dominate a guy one-on-one and get to the quarterback.”
“It’s pretty much with any position,” the GM said as part of his answer to evaluating the team’s needs along the offensive line. “Especially offensive line – big guys, intelligent guys, competitive guys. You know, it’s about the five guys up front. It’s not about the one guy. It’s all five guys working together. I think it’s a big man’s game, and I think size and strength and like I said passion, toughness is very important up front. If you can control the line of scrimmage on either side, it’s a pretty good start.”
It is safe to say that the Washington Redskins are going to look a lot different in 2015 than they did from 2012 to 2014. The regularity with which the team’s new front office manager talks of size is something that will show up on the field. He has discussed the importance of power in the trenches and he reiterated today how important controlling the line of scrimmage is.
“Well, the thing with tackles,” McCloughan said when asked to describe the skills he wants to see in offensive linemen. “Especially with left tackles, we know – we’re lucky to have Trent here – size, arm length, foot quickness, flexibility in the lower [body], being able to adjust, movement. I think you want your tackles to be your bigger guys – taller and longer. With our guards and with [offensive line] Coach [Bill] Callahan and what our plans are is power. You know, in-line power. We’re talking 320-plus [pounds] hopefully, coming off, head-butting and going. We want to be able to run the football, it’s very important. It sets up everything else for us. The center, of course, is usually the leader. He needs to be highly intelligent, be able to read the defenses and make the checks he needs to make. But again, at any one of those positions, we want big guys, we want smart guys and we want tough guys. I’ll give a little bit on athletic ability – especially inside at guard and center – for just a consistent football player that gets out there every day and you know exactly what you’ve got.”
Speaking of Callahan, there has been much speculation about whether or not or how much the running game might change now that there is an emphasis on power and size along the offensive line. Starting running back Alfred Morris is a shifty runner, capable of taking one step, shooting through a gap and then taking off downfield for more yards. This style of rushing was perfect for former Head Coach and former Offensive Coordinator Mike and Kyle Shanahan’s scheme. They needed athletic, mobile linemen to move laterally easily and open quick gaps for Morris to get through and out into space. McCloughan has a different idea of what the Redskins’ running game will be this season and the linemen who will block for it.
“I think it will change,” the general manager said about the running game. “I think with the idea that the past position coach that went on from here was more into undersized, quicker, faster guys, more athletic guys. Coach Callahan totally agrees with my same philosophy that we want big, tough, nasty, strong guys… I was talking to [team President] Bruce [Allen] about it this morning. We’re not going to win every game. I want this team when they go out – when you get done playing the Washington Redskins, you know you’re playing them. You’re going to feel it. I want those guys. We get late in the year and playoff runs and cold weather and nasty games and field conditions, you need to be able to run the football.”
McCloughan’s statement that: “When you get done playing the Washington Redskins, you know you’re playing them,” will strike a chord in any Redskins fan that was watching the team back when the Hogs were an essential part of the team’s identity and it didn’t matter that opposing defenses knew that then Head Coach Joe Gibbs was going to call 50-gut.
Could the 2015 burgundy and gold eventually come to resemble that 1980’s Redskins team if the current general manager has his way?
This is the time of year football teams are made. This is when they begin to come together as a team and figure out who they are and what they are. If McCloughan’s sense of what an NFL “football player” looks and acts like is embraced by owner Dan Snyder, Allen, Head Coach Jay Gruden; plus every position coach, every trainer, every assistant coach and maybe even the chef; the Redskins just might find their new identity in 2015.
“[They] came in in really good shape,” the GM said when asked about this first week of workouts for the team. “I sat down with Trent Williams – he’s in great shape – talked to him. So it’s nice to see that, to see the energy level up. It’s hard this time of year because you are coming off a 4-12 season, you are last in the division. Sometimes it’s hard to get them fired up, get them going, but I think with me coming in and being new, we’ve got some of them that understand, ‘Listen, I better be there this first offseason, make sure he understands that I’m all in.’ Because the guys that are here, they’ve been working their tails off. I think it’s vital right now because that’s when you start winning games on Sunday in the fall – them working together and taking care of each other.”
It all starts now.
Hail.