Any hopes the Redskins had of competiting behind the strength of their defense in 2009 ended when the secondary had it’s worst season to date since the 2006 disaster that landed the Redskins squarely in double-digit loss territory. In a year where the Redskins defensive pass rush laid waste to opposing quarterbacks behind great seasons from Andre Carter and Brian Orakpo, the Redskins defense still wasn’t very good, entirely because Carlos Rogers, DeAngelo Hall, LaRon Landry, and Chris Horton all had really poor years in coverage.
For all the failures of one of the three worst units on the 2009 Redskins (tip of the cap to the OL and WR units, which were also horrible), there’s been surprisingly little turnover on this unit in the last two years. Carlos Rogers had a rebound year in 2009, then left. Kevin Barnes is still here in an expanded role, Byron Westbrook is also still here. DeAngelo Hall is still here. Justin Tryon has been replaced by Philip Buchanon, though Tryon was a rare Redskins DB performing well for the Redskins in 2009. The safeties are 80% identical to who they were two years ago, only now the Redskins have O.J. Atogwe and DeJon Gomes who could make the team. Replacing Rogers is Josh Wilson, formerly of Seattle and Baltimore.
And, wouldn’t you guess it: the secondary actually got worse as a group in 2010, and looked horrible against the Steelers in the first week of the preseason. When you talk about the four acquisitions the team has made since decending into the depths of poor pass coverage two years ago: Buchanon, Wilson, Atogwe, and Gomes, that’s not exactly a targeted effort to pull the Redskins secondary out of the abyss. The main players (or culprits, if you prefer negativity) are still Hall and Landry, the main youth is still Barnes, and the big free agency additions Atogwe and Wilson. That is expected to be the Redskins nickel defense package against modern wide open offenses. For all the talk about what an important signing Barry Cofield is at nose tackle — talk that isn’t unfounded — Kevin Barnes is going to play as many if not more snaps as the nickel corner who comes in for Cofield in 3 WR sets. Take a moment to digest that. For the 36 million that the Redskins spent to bring in Cofield, when you talk about improving the pass defense, a third year player, Barnes, is a more significant part of the puzzle.
So when I point out that the secondary could struggle and hide some real important gains made in the defensive front seven, I’m not just blowing hot air. This is a bad unit, and has been from quite some time. The “improvements” that have been made to it might work for offsetting bad decisions (such as trusting Kareem Moore as an NFL defensive back). But the Redskins play in a division with Tony Romo, Michael Vick, and Eli Manning. They must find the kind of talent necessary to stop strong passing attacks. Right now, they’re just not at that point just yet.
What changes must be made to this unit? That depends on the play of safeties Landry and Atogwe this season. If Landry can’t get healthy and Atogwe ends up an innocent bystander chasing down vertical routes all year, we’ll enter an offseason where Landry is an unrestricted free agent, and Atogwe is a 31 year old safety on the downside of his career. In that case, a total rebuild will be in order, where the Redskins will have to assess what went right at the corner position, and rebuild the secondary through the draft and free agency.
But if LaRon Landry is healthy, has another good year, and helps Atogwe settle in as a veteran contributor in Washington, and the Redskins finally shore up the safety position, so problematic since the death of Sean Taylor in 2007, then perhaps the Redskins can evaluate players like Josh Wilson and Kevin Barnes simply off of on field production, and keep the parts that helped the Redskins win in 2011.
On some level, it’s nice to be not talking about the Redskins quarterback situation. But now that Casey Rabach has (finally) been put out to pasture, it’s the secondary that replaces the interior of the Redskins offensive line as the glaring area that should have been upgraded two years ago, and now fans like you and I are reluctantly subjected to another year of more of the same in terms of covering the pass.
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