Dallas Cowboys

NFL preview magazines break down the 2015 Redskins

This breakdown was a hit with readers last year so I’ll continue it again this year.

The Washington Redskins are attempting to start fresh under new general manager Scot McCloughan, who has brought a different attitude and scouting perspective after stints with successful franchises like the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.

The team isn’t expected to improve on it’s record from the last two seasons (3-13 in 2013 and 4-12 in 2014) much, if at all, but under McCloughan’s guidance, the quality of the roster appears to be on the upswing.


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Brandon Scherff: What to expect

The Washington Redskins needed a change in attitude along the offensive line and they got that in the form of former Iowa Hawkeye road grader Brandon Scherff at fifth overall.

Scherff is the fifth offensive lineman selected in the first round in team history. Sixth if you count TCU’s I.B. Hale, a tackle drafted eighth overall in the 1939 NFL Draft.

The others tackles taken? Mark May (1981 – 20th overall), Andre Johnson (1996 – 30th overall), Chris Samuels (2000 – 3rd overall) and Trent Williams (2010 – 4th overall).

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Redskins 2015 free agents: Keep ’em or let ’em go?

By Jake Russell

The Redskins are expected to have 16 players with free agent designations when the new league year begins on March 10. The open negotiation period between free agents and other teams opens on Saturday but deals can’t be signed until Tuesday at 4 p.m. The team will need to make several big decisions.

Assuming restricted free agents Kai Forbath, Trenton Robinson and Justin Rogers, and exclusive rights free agents Chris Thompson and Rishaw Johnson all return, the team will be left with 11 unrestricted free agents, meaning they are free to sign anywhere after March 10.

Safety Ryan Clark was set to become an unrestricted free agent after signing a one-year deal last year. The 13-year veteran instead opted to retire after a lackluster 2014 season.

The team re-signed tackle Tom Compton on February 27, who was slated to become a restricted free agent. Compton played in all 16 games in 2014 and started the final nine games in place of soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Tyler Polumbus.

Exclusive rights free agent safety Duke Ihenacho was re-signed on March 4. As an ERFA, the fourth-year veteran would have had to either re-sign with the team or retire.

Below is a list of the team’s 11 unrestricted free agents.

Keep ’em:

OLB Brian Orakpo

Photo by Brian Murphy.

Photo by Brian Murphy.

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Redskins Pros and Cons: Week 11

By Jake Russell

Embarrassing. Disheartening. Lifeless. Sad.

Those are just a few of many words that can be used to describe what an announced crowd of 77,442 witnessed at FedExField on a gray Sunday as the Redskins lost to the 1-8 Buccaneers 27-7.

As someone who has attended about 150 Redskins games in my lifetime, a 20-point loss to a one-win Buccaneers team rivals a 27-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on a rainy Sunday night in December at FedExField in 2003. Yes, the same game in which Redskins quarterback Tim Hasselbeck put up four interceptions and a 0.0 passer rating.

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Redskins Pros and Cons: Week 8

They weren’t supposed to win. No chance. No way. Not on primetime.

The Dallas Cowboys were fresh off their sixth straight win and two weeks removed from upsetting the reigning Super Bowl Champions on the road.

Meanwhile the Redskins barely slid by the hapless Tennessee Titans after turning to third string quarterback Colt McCoy.

Oh yeah, and the Redskins are bad during primetime games. Like coming into the game 3-17 in primetime games since 2008 bad.

But as the saying goes, that’s why you play the game. Turns out the Redskins had some fight left in them and managed to pull within three games of the NFC East lead, a feat that didn’t seem likely not too long ago.

Under the direction of McCoy, a 20-17 overtime victory was in order.

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How does the Redskins run defense stack up against DeMarco Murray?

Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray has been far and away the best running back in the NFL this season.

He has sped past not only his first seven opponents but also the NFL record book, becoming the first NFL player to begin a season with seven straight 100-yard rushing games, eclipsing Jim Brown’s previous record of six straight.

Through seven games Murray has rushed for 913 yards, seven touchdowns and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Heading into Monday night’s showdown versus the Washington Redskins he leads the Arian Foster, the NFL’s next best rusher, by 147 yards. That gap will surely widen after Monday night, but by how much is the question.

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Redskins Pros and Cons: Week 7

By Jake Russell

A changing of the guard occurred during the Washington Redskins’ 19-17 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday when third string quarterback Colt McCoy took over for Kirk Cousins after halftime.

Cousins isn’t progressing the way the team would like and head coach Jay Gruden announced on Monday that McCoy will be the team’s starter heading into next Monday night’s showdown against the 6-1 Dallas Cowboys unless Robert Griffin III is 100 percent healthy and ready to go.

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Redskins make first round of cuts

The Washington Redskins began the process of making their first round of cuts on Sunday, two days ahead of the Tuesday deadline in which all 32 NFL teams need to trim their rosters to 75 players.

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