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(photo by Brian Murphy)

Jason Taylor in Washington was a complete failure. This is not even debatable. Sure, he’s been a Hall of Fame caliber player the other 12 years of his career, but his one season as a Redskin was downright embarrassing.

And why is that? Because the coaching staff developed a gameplan heading into the 2008 season that was built towards the strengths of Phillip Daniels, not Taylor. Once Daniels, a 305 lb. defensive end, was injured on the first day of training camp, the front office moved quickly to acquire Taylor. And even though Mr. Dancin’ with the Stars weighs 50 pounds less than the guy he was tasked to replace, the team never altered the gameplan.

They took a perennial Pro Bowler who made a career out of speed rushing on the edge, and asked him to be like Daniels, a solid, but unspectacular power-based end. It’s that whole “square peg, round hole” kind of deal. It’s also why we don’t blame Taylor for failing in D.C.

Great teams look at their roster and build their gameplan around the strengths of their players. Unfortunately, recent history shows the Redskins don’t.

So why are we bringing up Taylor? Why can’t we do like the rest of folks around town and pretend his time in burgundy and gold never happened? Well, because we can’t help but see a parallel between Taylor’s situation a year ago and the ongoing struggles of quarterback Jason Campbell and Jim Zorn’s West Coast Offense.

It’s pretty much universally agreed upon that Campbell is not your prototypical timing-based, precision passer this offense requires. He’s much more comfortable throwing intermediate to long passes than what he’s currently being asked to do by Zorn. Campbell is also much more comfortable playing out of the shotgun (which likely stems from playing behind a mediocre offensive line in Washington) than lining up directly behind the center. Even Zorn knows this.

“I think he plays well in the ‘gun,” Zorn said of Campbell to the Washington Post earlier this week. “He’s a tall guy. It’s immediate pass protection right at the snap.”

But every time Zorn is asked about working the shotgun in more often to play to his quarterback’s strengths, he talks about not wanting to run the shotgun exclusively – as if there’s no middle ground between using it every down and simply working it into the offense more often to play to Campbell’s abilities.

The topic of Campbell and the shotgun came up during our interview with Doug Farrar, who authored the Washington Redskins chapter of the Football Outsiders Almanac 2009. Here’s what he had to say:

“The one thing I’d like to see more of from Campbell and the Redskins offense is him in the shotgun. Last year, Campbell had a DVOA [defense-adjusted value over average] of 9.1 under center and a 35.6 in shotgun,” Farrar said. “And we’re not talking about a small sample size. There were over a hundred shotgun attempts. The Patriots, Chiefs and Cardinals all ran over 50 percent of their offense from the shotgun last year and it would help Campbell a lot. He seems to be able to progress in his reads better when things aren’t so much in his face and he can get a sense of what’s going on down the field.”

Campbell threw 506 pass attempts in 2008, and according to Farrar, a hundred or so came out of the shotgun. That’s roughly 20 percent of the time. So if you’re a Redskins fan who is tired of the inconsistent play for Campbell, just know his head coach only saw fit to play to his strengths once every five passes, statistically speaking.

Here’s how things played out in the season opener for Campbell when he threw out of the shotgun versus when he lined up directly behind the center.

In the shotgun, Campbell completed 15 of 17 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown (9.5 yards per attempt) against the Giants. Behind center, Campbell was just four of nine for 50 yards (5.5 yards per attempt). And, oh by the way, he also threw an interception and was sacked three times. Those numbers make the case far better than we could.

We already brought up Zorn’s predictable playcalling in regards to the running game earlier this week, but this is the other area that concerns us the most. Zorn went on record repeatedly this summer saying emphatically that Campbell is his guy, while his own front office attempted to acquire several other high-profile quarterbacks.

If that’s the case, then why not actually put Campbell in a position to succeed? Why go out of your way to lobby for management to keep him, if you’re just going to continue to try and force that square peg into the round hole? Either use him the way he’s best suited to help your team win football games or move on to a quarterback who better fits your vision. By continuing this charade, you’re only bringing down everyone involved and ensuring that no one wins – both metaphorically, and in the standings.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

On the first offensive play of the Washington Redskins’ 2009 season, running back Clinton Portis rushed for 34 yards. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there.

While standing on the sidelines of Giants Stadium, we couldn’t help but dwell on what we thought was lackluster playcalling by head coach Jim Zorn – especially on first downs.

With that in mind, we went back and logged every play the Redskins ran on first down. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Portis rushes left for 34 yards.
2. Wide out Antwaan Randle El sacked for 11-yard loss.
3. Portis runs off left tackle for no gain.
4. Quarterback Jason Campbell to tight end Chris Cooley for 17-yard gain.
5. Campbell to Randle El for 13-yard gain.
6. Portis rushes left for 2 yards.
7. Portis rushes left for 2 yards.
8. Campbell passes to Cooley for 11-yard gain.
9. Campbell passes to running back Ladell Betts for 23-yard gain.
10. Campbell passes to Randle El for 8 yards.
11. Portis rushes left for 2 yards.
12. Portis rushes left for 2 yards.
13. Campbell pass intended for Cooley is incomplete.
14. Betts runs right for 1 yard.
15. Portis runs left for 1 yard.
16. Portis runs left for 3 yards.
17. Portis runs right for 6-yard loss.
18. Wide out Devin Thomas gains no yards on end around.
19. Campbell pass intended for Betts is incomplete.
20. Campbell to Cooley for 4-yard gain.
21. Campbell to Randle El for 16-yard gain.
22. Campbell to Cooley for 17-yard touchdown.

To recap, that’s a total of 22 first downs for the Redskins on the day. The playcalling splits evenly between 11 running plays and 11 passing plays. But, as you’ll see, the production wasn’t nearly the same between the running and passing game.

After picking up 34 yards on the first run of the day, Portis was shut down the rest of the game – especially on first down. Nine times on first down the team handed Portis the ball and he picked up a total of 40 yards (which translates to a healthy 4.4 yards per carry). But don’t be fooled. Take away the big first carry and you’re looking at eight carries for just six yards. We repeat – eight carries for six yards. That’s not going to get it done, folks.

The ‘Skins were so predictable on first-down running plays that Portis ran to the left – behind tackle Chris Samuels and guard Derrick Dockery – eight out of nine times. Of course, the one time he tried to run behind right tackle Stephon Heyer, Portis was stuffed for a six-yard loss. So it’s not difficult to see why the team kept trying to run left, even when it wasn’t successful.

As for the passing game on first downs, Campbell completed eight out of 10 attempts for 109 yards and a touchdown. That’s 10.9 yards per completion, and translates to a robust 145.4 quarterback rating. So basically, when Campbell was allowed to throw the ball on first downs, he picked apart the Giants defense – especially down the middle of the field (as evident by the abundance of passes to Cooley and Randle El).

So where are we going with all of this? We realize that last season the bread and butter of the Washington offense was a potent rushing attack, led by Pro Bowler Clinton Portis. However, the Giants have a suffocating defense, which starts up front with their stout defensive line, that rarely gives up much in the way of rushing yards.

A smart coach would have noticed fairly early on that running to the left on first down was good for a two-yard gain tops. And unless they really, really liked facing second down and eight over and over, that smart coach would have made a mid-game adjustment and tried a different approach.

Clearly, Campbell fared well on first downs when he had time to throw the ball. Sticking with more of the short and intermediate passes would have forced the Giants defense to back off and helped open things up a little for Portis on the ground.

Instead, the ‘Skins seemed content to run Portis into a wall, take the two yards per attempt and run their offense three plays at a time. Unless you’re an avid fan of punter Hunter Smith, that’s not the kind of football you want to see your favorite team run.

But all is not lost. The Giants, just two years removed from a Super Bowl victory, remain among the league’s elite. And at times this past weekend, the Redskins were able to make plays and move the ball against New York’s aggressive defense.

Between now and Sunday, Zorn needs to take a critical look at his offense and, more importantly, his playcalling. Figure out what worked, and continue to develop ways to stick with what works. For the rest, see what adjustments need to be made, and if you can’t fix it, then scrap it.

A season cannot be won or lost in week one, but there are definitely lessons to be learned from this game. Here’s hoping Zorn and friends are willing to make an honest assessment of the situation and are willing to do what is needed to help get this offense to where it needs to be. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long year.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Unquestionably, the highlight of the Washington Redskins season-opening loss to the New York Giants was an eight-yard touchdown run by punter Hunter Smith just before halftime.

Trailing 17-0 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, the Redskins decided to go for a fake fieldgoal and caught the Giants sleeping, as Smith took off untouched down the right sideline for an easy score.

So we wondered – how excited were the special teamers when the play call came in?

“They really don’t tell me a lot,” said snapper Ethan Albright. “For me, I do the same thing – I snap it. I really don’t need to know if it’s a fake or not. So I’m not involved in the planning or anything like that.”

Settle down, big fella. No need to get crazy here.

“It’s a very rare occurrence,” Smith said of just the second touchdown of his 11-year career. “And momentum is such a huge part of the game in the NFL, and that was a momentum shifter a little bit for us. It’s one of those deals where you wish you could get it done in the end, so it would have been a little bit sweeter.”

How long has that play been in the works?

“We just saw something this week – something new we could go after,” Smith said. “We took a look at it [on film], practiced it and it worked just like we practiced it.”

If someone would have told you that you’d be the first Redskin to score a touchdown in 2009, would you have believed it?

(Laughs). “That’s trivia for 20 years from now,” he said.

As we previously mentioned in our Giants playlist, this was not Smith’s first NFL touchdown. He scored on a 21-yard fake fieldgoal run in 2003 as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. But did Smith remember his other touchdown?

“Uh … I scored against the Jets,” Smith said. “Back in 2000 and something. It was not nearly as much of a sure thing. It was actually very risky for us at the time.”

So what goes on in your mind when this fake is happening?

“It’s kind of all in slow motion,” he said. “It happens and then suddenly it’s over with and you go ‘Oh wow. That just worked.’ It’s probably not like it is for position players. They probably feel the game and see the game.”

It kind of looked like you were high stepping a little bit. What say you?

(Laughs). “No, no, no,” Smith said. “I didn’t know if someone was behind me and I wanted to make sure no one tripped me up at the line.”

So is this something you’re going to be lobbying for coaches to call up more often?

“I think the last one was five years ago or something, so this may be an every five year kind of occurrence,” he said. “People have to forget that you can do it before you can do it again.”

Even if this is something Smith doesn’t anticipate seeing again for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t mean his teammates can’t get excited.

“It’s great to have an athlete like Hunter, where those kinds of plays are a possibility,” Albright said.

Well … not all of his teammates.

“Who is Hunter Smith,” asked tackle Chris Samuels. And sadly, he was completely serious.

When informed by linemate Derrick Dockery that Smith was, in fact, the team’s punter, Samuels said, “Oh, I thought he was a guy on the Giants or something.”

Touchdown or not, that should tell you just where punters rank in the big picture to a football team. They’re happy to take the points on his fake fieldgoal run … as long as they don’t have to learn the guy’s name or anything.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Yesterday, we brought you part one of our interview with Matt Bowen, the former safety who now writes for the National Football Post. In it, Bowen broke down the strength of the Washington Redskins – the defense – and had nothing but positive things to say about guys like Brian Orakpo, Albert Haynesworth and LaRon Landry.

Today, we turn our attention to quarterback Jason Campbell and the rest of the offense, as well as how Bowen ultimately sees the 2009 season playing out in D.C.

Let’s cut right to the chase. Jason Campbell – is he going to get it done this year or not?

“He has to,” Bowen said. “He can’t fail. That’s his entire season. He has to get it done. The last I saw him was the preseason game against the New England Patriots. And I thought the way he led those last two drives in that game were great. You know, I played with Campbell a long, long time ago. He was a rookie on the scout team, and even then, he threw a beautiful football.

“Now, I love his leadership,” he continued. “I love that he led two scoring drives, and I love the fact that he got blasted a few times in that game and came right back, kept playing and scored a touchdown. That tells you something about him. It’s tough to be him. I mean, the ‘Skins tried to trade him at least twice. They tried to get rid of him and basically said, ‘You’re very replaceable. We can get someone better than you to do your job.’ It didn’t happen. But he didn’t pout. He didn’t run to the media. He just kept playing football. And for his sake, I hope he has a great year. Because if the Redskins don’t want him, he can go somewhere else and make some money. But there’s a lot riding on this season. His head coach’s job is on the line too. He has to perform.”

We know what Santana Moss brings to the table. Same with Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis. With the emergence of Malcolm Kelly enabling the team to slide Antwaan Randle El back into his natural position as a slot receiver do you think the team now has enough weapons to actually put some points on the board?

“Yeah, I think so,” Bowen said. “Those two young kids – Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas – it’s time for them to grow up. Let’s be honest. They’re in their second year in the NFL. They’re not rookies anymore, so they can’t use that excuse. It’s time for them to make some plays. That’s why they’re getting paid that money. This is a production-based business, and if you don’t produce, you’re going to end up on the street sooner or later.

“And that’s a good point about Randle El,” he continued. “Antwaan is a phenomenal athlete. He’s a guy who kicked my butt back in college when he was a quarterback, but he’s not a number two receiver in this league. He’s just not. He’s a slot guy. That’s where he belongs. He belongs on the inside because, when you put a guy like him on the inside, it creates very favorable matchups. I think you’re also going to see that this year in Minnesota with Percy Harvin, and I wish they would do that here in Chicago with Devin Hester because it gives you so many options and make those guys so tough to cover.

“Part of Jason Campbell’s success this year is going to be can those receivers make plays for him,” Bowen said. “Sometimes you have to just throw the ball up and your guys have to make plays. Think of Brett Favre. A lot of times he just chucks that ball up and his guys go up and get it. Everyone loves the way Favre plays and it makes him look great, but it’s his receivers that are doing a lot of the work. These receivers need to do some of that for Campbell.”

If there’s one area that’s a concern heading into the season, it’s the offensive line. What’s your take on the Redskins O-line?

“I think Chris Samuels is going to have another big year,” he said. “I’ve known Chris for a long time, but let’s be honest, the rest of that offensive line is pretty weak. It’s below average. But they’re going to have to find a way to open up holes, because as much as everyone wants to talk about Campbell and the passing game, if the Redskins can’t run the ball, they’re done. To win football games in the NFC East, they’re going to have to run the football – especially when the weather gets bad later in the year. And, if you have a lead in the second half, you’ve got to be able to grind the clock out.

“One of the most frustrating things back when I was a defensive player was getting the ball back with four minutes and telling the offense, ‘Okay, we did our job. Now go do yours. Get us two first downs and the game is over,’ and then they go three-and-out” Bowen said. “Then you’re back on the field, dying to get off again and hoping you can win the football game. So running the football is huge, and I don’t know if that line is going to open up enough holes. They’ve got to get it done for Clinton. He’s one of the more explosive backs in the NFL, but he is a smaller back and does wear down when he takes a lot of hits.”

What do you think of head coach Jim Zorn?

“Well, he was a player, so that gives him a little advantage,” he said. “But, unless you’re Joe Gibbs, it’s tough to coach in that town. I played for Gibbs and I played for Steve Spurrier, and it was tough for Coach Spurrier because Mr. Snyder expects productive very quickly. If you don’t win, you’re gone. There’s a lot of talk about all the big names that are going to be around next year. Guys like Bill Cowher, Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden are big names, and they’ll sell a lot of tickets. Those are names that have won Super Bowls. There’s going to be a lot of pressure on Coach Zorn. I hope he and Jason Campbell can both produce this year because the only way I see him coming back is if they make the playoffs.”

Okay, fair enough. So point blank – will the Redskins make the playoffs?

“I don’t think so,” he said. “If they were playing in another division, then yes. Think about the teams they’re going to have to jump to get there. Dallas? You know how competitive those games are. Philly and the Giants? That division is loaded. Can they do it? Yes. Without a doubt, they can. But will they? I don’t think they will. To do that, you’ve got to win in the division. All those other games are great to win, but if you don’t win in the division, you’ve got no chance.

“We’ll find out a lot about this team this weekend when they play the Giants,” Bowen said. “That’s going to be a physical game and guys are going to get beat up. The training room is going to be full on Monday. So it’d be nice for them to come out of New York with a win.”

Okay, you said they’ve got to make the playoffs for Zorn to keep his job. Since you’re not saying they’re going to do so, who will be the head coach next season?

“Mike Shanahan,” he said. “That’s my call. I could be totally wrong, but that’s how I see things playing out.”

That’s not exactly the happiest of endings to this interview, but anyone who saw our official predictions earlier this week knows we’re on record basically saying the same thing. This team has a ton of talent, but the playoffs are far from a certainty. And if the ‘Skins don’t make the postseason, we’ve got a feeling Shanahan will be the 28th head coach in franchise history.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

In the days leading up to the NFL draft, we checked in with several different media members in hopes of getting an idea of which direction the Washington Redskins might go.

Having spent more than a few days at Redskins Park during his time in Washington, safety-turned-writer Matt Bowen spoke confidently about how he saw things playing out.

He believed that ‘Plan A’ for the ‘Skins was to trade up for USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. The fallback plan, if they didn’t have enough to execute a trade, would be Texas Longhorn standout Brian Orakpo, Bowen said.

Of course, the rest of us had to wait until the draft came and went to see everything unfold. And while the front office didn’t get their first wish, Redskins fans are thrilled to have the crazy-talented Orakpo added to an already stout defense.

With that in mind, we went back to Bowen, who writes for the National Football Post, to see how he thinks the 2009 season will play out for the burgundy and gold. In part one of our interview, Bowen focuses on the defense. And yes, he’s just as excited as the rest of us to see all of these talented pieces come together.

The last time we chatted was right before the NFL draft. Had we simply listened to you, we could have skipped the entire draft and known Orakpo was on his way. So tell us, what do you think of the highly-touted rookie?

“I think the telling thing about Brian Orakpo is that Greg Blache is going to start him,” Bowen said. “Because I’ve played with Greg Blache and he’s very tough on rookies. Extremely tough. But the fact that he’s starting says a lot about his ability to show the coaching staff what he can do back in camp. And it also shows that the Redskins need playmakers up front.

“I fully expect Orakpo to be in a three-point stance on third downs,” he continued. “I know the ‘Skins don’t show a lot during the preseason, but they want to get the most out of his talent and that means putting him on the edge and letting him use his speed to rush the passer and make plays. That’s why you draft a guy like that. You don’t draft a ‘tweener’ to drop him back into coverage all the time. Let him hunt. Put him on the line and let him go after some quarterbacks. Let him go after Eli Manning this weekend and see what he can do.”

Another new face in town is defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. What are your thoughts on that signing?

“I think it’s a big signing, and you can’t say they overpaid for him because Dan Snyder has a lot of money,” Bowen said. “And he’s going to spend it. And yeah, he invested a lot in Haynesworth, but he invested a lot in players when I was there too. That’s just what he does. If he wants someone, he’s going to get him.

“The thing about Haynesworth, he eats up two guys at the line of scrimmage,” he said. “You can’t block him one-on-one. And when he takes up two guys, it allows guys like London Fletcher to make plays. And as we saw in the preseason, when Haynesworth gets to the quarterback, he can take them out. He can take them out for the season. He’s very physical and, depending on his conditioning, you want him in there on every crucial play because he’s a difference maker. The only negative people can bring up is that they overpaid for him, but if he brings wins, you can’t put a price on that. That’s what this league is about.”

The final addition on the defensive side was the resigning of cornerback DeAngelo Hall. What’s your take on Hall and the secondary in general?

“I really like their secondary,” Bowen said. “I’m not a huge DeAngelo Hall fan, but I talked to guys who played with him in Atlanta, and they said he’s the best athlete in the National Football League. That’s a big statement. It didn’t show in Oakland, but a lot of players don’t show it in Oakland. There’s something wrong out there. There’s something going wrong, especially when they lose at least 11 games in each of the last six years.

“Maybe he is a reborn player,” Bowen said of Hall. “Maybe that’s what Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato saw, but I like him there. I like Carlos Rogers. You know, Fred Smoot’s my guy. I played with him when I was there, and I couldn’t believe that Maurice Jones-Drew was talking about Fred Smoot tackling him. Freddie’s not that type of guy. And LaRon Landry is one of the most underrated safeties in the National Football League. That guy can play some football. He can hit. He can make plays.”

After the death of Sean Taylor, the Redskins really had to change Landry’s responsibilities. Now, with the emergence of a guy like Chris Horton, you’ve got to figure Blache is comfortable enough to start finding new ways to utilize Landry, right?

“I played with Sean, and there’s not a better athlete that I’ve ever seen in my life than Sean Taylor,” Bowen said. “And yeah, it did force them to make some tough decisions and to move some guys around. But I’m telling you, when you see a safety who can go from the middle of the field and overlap a nine route – basically a fly route – and get there with a physical presence, that’s what you’re looking for. That’s when you break out the big money, because those guys are hard to find.

“At that position, you’ve got to be fast, you’ve got to be physical and you’ve got to know the offenses well enough as a student of the game to know where the ball is going,” he said of Landry. “He’s all of that. If they can get the pressure up front, that allows Landry to play centerfield. And if that happens, a lot of plays are going to be made.”

Anything else we should address on the defensive side?

“You know, I hope Smoot has a great year,” Bowen said. “Fred Smoot is one of my favorite players of all time. The guy’s been through some tough things off the field, up in Minnesota and everything, but the guy comes to play football and he’s entertaining. If you ever get a chance during training camp, get down there on the sidelines and listen to him when the guys are stretching. People should have to pay for that comedy. It’s that good.”

Like you said earlier, it’s unheard of that Maurice Jones-Drew would say something about Smoot, especially since he’s not exactly known for his hitting …

(Laughs). “Man, I ran into Fred one time in practice and they brought the ambulance out on the field,” he said. “Seriously. Out on the practice field. He gotten taken away and everything. It was like a daytime soap opera, and he was back at practice the next day. He’s the best. He really is.”

Needless to say, it is our mission to check in with Smoot this weekend in New York to get his side of the soap opera … er … story.

Check back tomorrow for part two of the Bowen interview, in which he breaks down the offense and shares his prediction on how things will ultimately play out for the Redskins this season.