The season is crumbling. Actually, it's crumbled. But here's reason to be optimistic that the team needs just two ingredients to become very good: a starting-caliber QB and a reliable offensive line.
The Defense is already solid, although I would suggest we find another defensive coordinator. I see our defense playing well because of talent, not scheme. Excellent players in an excellent scheme would yield a top-5 defense. But that said, our defense is ranked 10th based on Expected Points Added, and 12th in total defense according to NFL.com.
As for the Offense, there is good young talent at the skill positions TE (Fred Davis), WR (Hankerson, Paul, Austin), and RB (Helu, Hightower, Torrain). Moreover, the offensive scheme has a long record of being productive in both Denver (Mike Shanahan's unstoppable run attack) and Houston (Kyle Shanahan's top-ranked pass atack).
What's missing is a starting-caliber QB and a reliable offensive line to protect him. If Shanahan can find a real NFL QB and can finish the O-Line overhaul he began this past off-season, the Skins could actually become a good team.
Some are disappointed that in Year 2 of the Shanahan regime we are not yet there. But part of the Shanahan approach is to build through the draft and through well-priced free-agents. This approach takes years to work.
The alternative is the old Redskins way -- big-name free agents with big price tags. We tried that approach for more than 10 years and it never paid off.
So let's give the Shanahan approach 3-4 years before making up our minds.
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