The Washington Redskins finished 5-11 this year. Sweeping the NFC champions, the New York Giants, is a big confidence boost that this team is on the way to being able to compete with the top dogs in the NFL. However, the record says otherwise. So where do they go from here?
The Redskins have the 6th pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. In that draft, Andrew Luck will go number one and amid all of the speculation that Robert Griffin will be taken well before the Redskins pick, they will trade up for the second pick in the draft with the rams.
For the pick, the Redskins give their 6th pick to the St. Louis Rams, along with promising running back Evan Royster and Santana Moss, who the Redskins no longer need with the braking out of Jabar Gaffney. The Redskins select RGIII and all of DC gets excited about the pick. His jersey becomes the hottest buy in DC.
Once the time for OTAs and training camp hits, Shanahan states that Griffin is not the starter and that he will asses each quarterback during the workouts to determine who of the 3 (Beck, Grossman, Griffin) will be the starter, clearly upsetting the fans.
Preseason comes, Grossman gets the start and plays exceptionally well. Griffin comes in to play in the second half and plays decent. Nothing special out of Griffin. Second game Grossman starts again and plays well again, however not as good as last time. Griffin comes in for the second half and outplays Grossman. The media assumes he wins the start.
Third preseason game, Robert Griffin III gets his first start and performs very well, leading the offense up the field efficiently. Rex Grossman comes in for the second half and throws a few interceptions. At this point, Beck is pretty much out of the equation. Last preseason game, both quarterbacks play well, not exceptional in a quarter of work each.
Shanahan makes no announcement for the starter until 4 days before the first game, naming Rex Grossman the week 1 starter. Fans start calling for Shanahan's head, despite the fact that this is probably the best decision.
The Redskins start 0-3, fans start chanting "R-G-3-R-G-3" at every home game. The Redskins continue to play poorly, pulling out a few ugly wins to go into the halfway point of the season 3-5. After losing their next two to fall to 3-7, Shanahan finally puts Robert Griffin III in to start.
He goes 3-3 as a starter while the Redskins finish 6-10 but plays well enough to solidify his spot as a starter for many years to come. Redskins fans have reason for optimism based on 1,000+ yard seasons from Jabar Gaffney as well as Roy Helu. A 7th overall pick in the 2013 draft is also sure to help.
Next year becomes a turning point for the Redskins. The point where they begin to build around a stable starter at quarterback and add depth to the offensive line. Finally, the Redskins take a justified positive outlook into the off-season. Changes will be made in 2012 for the better.
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