1. Washington Redskins
Here's a very iffy pick: The Redskins will unseat the
Cowboys as champions of the
NFC East. These are the
ifs:
*If the Skins can stop the
run.
*If their rookies come through on
defense.
*If they can figure out what's wrong with Michael
Westbrook.
*If Alvin Harper can get
deep.
*If the team doesn't fold down the
stretch.
Washington finished 28th in the league in total defense in
1996, last against the run. Still, the Redskins were there,
fighting for a playoff spot. Then Dallas hit them for 201
yards on the ground while rolling to a 21-10 victory on
Thanksgiving, and 10 days later the Bucs socked them for 209 rushing yards in a
24-10
win.
Why couldn't the Redskins stop the run? Well,
303-pound tackle Sean Gilbert was hobbling on a sprained knee
and held up by a succession of double teams. The other
tackle, Marc Boutte, had a sore knee too. It is crucial
this year that this twosome be intact, especially since
middle linebacker
Marvcus Patton is new to the
position, having moved from the weak side. In other words they
must sign Gilbert, who was a holdout as of Monday, and
Boutte has to stay healthy. The pass rush is in good shape,
with Ken Harvey flying in from one wing and Rich
Owens, whose 11 sacks were the most by any Redskins lineman
since Charles Mann's
11 1/2 in 1991, coming off the
other.
Coach Norv Turner wrote off his team's defensive collapse
to "poor tackling, injuries, sometimes just bad
luck," but five
days after the season ended, he shook
up
his staff, replacing defensive
coordinator
Ron Lynn with the Giants' Mike Nolan. He also devoted his
draft to defense, using six of his eight picks for players
on
that side of the ball. Top pick Kenard Lang of Miami is a
solid run-stopping
end, and the next two selections—speedy linebackers Greg
Jones of Colorado and Derek Smith of Arizona State—should
help fill Patton's outside spot. Turner's most important
free-agent pickups were defenders, too: Oilers cornerback
Cris Dishman and Chargers end Chris
Mims.
Turner could focus on his defense
because his offense is in decent shape. When
it's clicking, it's a pretty thing to watch, with running
back Terry Allen banging
behind one of football's best lines and Pro Bowl
quarterback Gus Frerotte lighting it up through the air.
But as dangerous as the Redskins' passing game has been, it
often seems that there aren't enough receivers to go
around.
One missing person has been Westbrook, whose two-year
dossier includes 22 games in, 10 out because of injuries.
When the team made him its first-round pick in '95 he was
supposed to be a game breaker. But so far he has been more
of a jawbreaker—witness
his ugly assault on teammate Stephen Davis during practice
last week. Westbrook's future with the
team remains in question. (He was fined
$50,000 last Saturday, and there
were
suggestions from the Redskins' brass that
the matter might not be settled.)
Prophetically, Turner fortified his wideout corps in June when he
claimed Harper off
Tampa Bay's discard
pile.
Turner was the offensive coordinator in Dallas from 1991
through '93, for the first three of Harper's four years
with the Cowboys. Harper was Troy Aikman's deep threat, but
in two seasons with the
Buccaneers, he rarely went long. "It
almost
seems like those two years down there
didn't happen," he says. "Being back with
Norv? Well, it's like a
reunion."
The feeling here is that Washington's ifs will work out.
Look at it this way: In three years under Turner, the
Redskins have won three games, then six, then nine.
According to that progression, they will finish 12-4 this
season, right? We'll say
11-5.—Paul Zimmerman
SCHEDULE
SKINNY
Last year the Redskins broke on top with a 7-1 start, and
they'll have to come out flying again because the first six
games stack up like
this: Carolina and Pittsburgh on the road, Arizona at home in the
first game at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (no
pushover, because the Cardinals have won seven of the last eight
meetings), Jacksonville at home, Philadelphia on the road
and Dallas in a Monday nighter at
home.
STRENGTH OF
SCHEDULE
NFL rank: 15
Opponents' 1996 winning percentage: .496
Games against playoff teams:
7
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