I can second guess with the best of them, so now I’m trying to fathom the meaning of the Washington Redskins’ focus on linebackers.
Middle backer London Fletcher-Baker is the first free-agent signed. Two of the Skins’ five draft picks are linebackers, Dallas Sartz and H.B. Blades. And then there is that ostensibly misguided trade offer for Lance Briggs, without a single trade or draft for a defensive lineman.
On the surface, you could say the Redskins blew the draft by not addressing the pass rush. The Redskins have some of the best football minds anywhere. There is some reason why the team did not go for linemen, so lets try to infer what they are thinking.
Does the coach-in-chief see linebacker play as the biggest shortfall in the defense? That could explain the interest in Briggs, which didn’t die until the eve of the draft.
Linebacker coach Dale Lindsey was the only coach to lose his job. Other coaches surely contributed to the shortfall, but Lindsey was the only one to pay a price. He was replaced by young Kirk Olivadotti, in his first position coach role. Perhaps Olivadotti will build a stronger, more supportive, relationship young Rocky McIntosh, Sartz and Blades.
Gregg Williams wondered at the end of last season if other teams figured out his defense. One recent news item referenced a Redskins move to a Chicago Bears style defense. No details were provided, so that could mean anything, or nothing.
Chicago’s defense channels plays toward its linebackers who make the big hit. That would go a long way towards explaining the Redskins’ interest in Lance Briggs. Chicago plays the 3-4 defensive alignment. Even when playing a nickel-back, more linebackers are on the field and in coverage.
MVN Draft University has a nice write-up on the difference between the 3-4 and the 4-3 defense and the differing player attributes that make those schemes work. Go take a look. (Be sure to come back.)
A Redskins move to a 3-4 could draw Rocky McIntosh on the field for more plays. When he was drafted, McIntosh was described as an “every down linebacker who could stop the run, rush the passer, or drop into coverage.” Only the coaches know why he did not see more action last season. One of those coaches is not with us.
A move to 3-4 could explain why the Redskins did not draft a D-lineman. In the 3-4, you look to linebackers for sacks. (IF this is the case, it would be ironic that the team traded Adam Archuleta just when they are moving to the defense where he excelled.) Sartz and Blades could be here simply because the Redskins don’t have enough young backers under development. Or, maybe the Redskins know more about Marcus Washington’s recovery than they are saying. I shudder at the thought of the defense without Washington. Even when LaVar Arrington was healthy, Washington surpassed him as the Redskins’ best backer.
Finally, perhaps the Redskins already have their pass rusher. In December and January, the team signed defensive ends Joe Sykes, Jamaal Green, Chris Wilson and Bryant Shaw. Today, they added UCLA DE Justin Hickman to the roster. We never heard of them. It means nothing. In 1979, the Redskins signed an undrafted free agent linebacker few people heard of. Fewer still could pronounce his name. That guy hung around for eleven years.
He was Neal Olkewicz.
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