Line of Scrimmage: How high is the sky for Redskins?

Football Betting Lines

06/21/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two years ago, an NFL team coming off a 4-12 season made banner headlines by dealing for a highly-decorated veteran quarterback who was expected to return that franchise to glory.

The same team beefed up the offensive line that would be protecting the new QB, and also radically altered the look of its defense as part of a large-scale organizational shift.

And Brett Favre, offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Damien Woody, and defenders Kris Jenkins and Calvin Pace very nearly led that team, the 2008 New York Jets, to its targeted plateau. The record reflects that the Jets experienced a five- game improvement to 9-7, and only missed the playoffs because Favre's shoulder wasn't quite right during a season-ending 1-4 stretch of football.

Two years later, the changes taking place in our nation's capital bear a striking similarity.

Coming off a 4-12 campaign in 2009, the Washington Redskins have themselves an esteemed veteran quarterback in Donovan McNabb, and have brought in two legitimate starting tackles in rookie Trent Williams (Oklahoma) and former Saints Pro Bowler Jammal Brown (obtained in a trade over the weekend) to help protect him.

The defense hasn't brought a slew of marquee names into the fold, but there is a new look on that side of the ball courtesy of coordinator Jim Haslett and the 3-4 scheme he has opted to employ. Haslett will effectively serve as the head coach of the defense, while the real head coach - Mike Shanahan - devotes most of his efforts to overhauling the NFL's 27th-ranked scoring offense of a year ago.

Just like the '08 Jets, the '10 Redskins have made a flurry of moves and owner Daniel Snyder has spent his usual millions in the interests of winning right now. There is no five-year plan here, though Shanahan has attempted to temper expectations somewhat given all the new faces.

"Until you put pads on, you're guessing at a lot of different positions," Shanahan said after a recent OTA. "But what you try to do is learn the system, learn what we're doing offensively, learn the terminology, so once you put the pads on, you can react, you don't have to think. Same thing defensively."

To be sure, this team has some hurdles to overcome. McNabb's play as an Eagle at the end of last season suggests that the 33-year-old is in decline, and his new team is not blessed with a wealth of receiving talent. The Redskins have some big-name talent in the backfield - Larry Johnson and Willie Parker joined Clinton Portis this past offseason - but all of those players are past their sell-by date and who knows how quickly the Skins' zone-blocking scheme will take shape?

Then, of course, there is the elephant in the room, or perhaps more accurately, the elephant not in the room.

Defensive tackle and $100 million man Albert Haynesworth has not shown up for offseason activities, miffed over the fact that the team has transitioned to a 3-4 defense that would seem to marginalize his skills as a penetrating pass- rusher. The Redskins, who gave Haynesworth permission to seek a trade as long as he got it done before April 1st when a $21 million bonus came due, are ticked that the former All-Pro took the money when no trade occurred, yet failed to show to mini-camp.

Haynesworth's teammates in Washington have been fairly vocal in their disagreement with his stance as well, and if and when he does show up, the new- look Skins could already have a locker room rift to deal with.

At the same time, the Redskins are a better team with Haynesworth than without him, and you have to believe that Snyder wants him back if only to save some face over the ridiculous, bloated contract he handed the perennial problem child in free agency last winter.

The Redskins wouldn't be dead without Haynesworth - ex-Raven and Panther Ma'ake Kemoeatu is a capable and lower-maintenance fill-in up front - and Haslett has a nice mix of veterans (London Fletcher, Andre Carter) and talented youngsters (Brian Orakpo, LaRon Landry) to keep the team's head above the waves.

Once all the personnel battles are settled and schemes are in place, the big question for Washington becomes, "Who you gonna beat?" Since the 2002 realignment, there hasn't been a deeper division in football than the NFC East, which boasts four teams that have championship-level resources. The last-place team in the division was 8-8 in both 2007 and 2008.

But the Eagles are young and in transition with the inexperienced Kevin Kolb at QB. The Giants finished 2009 in a tailspin and have much work to do to get back to a Super Bowl level. That leaves the Cowboys - the sensible pick to win the NFC East - but the Redskins have traditionally made life miserable for Tony Romo in their battles with him and won't enter their 2010 encounters with any fear.

The rest of the schedule shakes out nicely for Washington as well. The toughest non-division games, against the Packers (10/10), Colts (10/17) and Vikings (11/28) are all at FedEx Field.

Winning the NFC East for the first time since 1999 might be a reach, but this is a team that can make the playoffs if most of the stars align. If it fails to happen, you can bet we'll be talking about some more headline-grabbing changes for this free-spending organization at this juncture of 2011.