Last Season: 9-7, 3rd in NFC East, lost in Wild Card round, +24 point differential, -5 turnover ratio Additions: DE Jason Taylor, S Stuart Schweigert, Subtractions: WR Brandon Lloyd, S Pierson Prioleau, DE Philip Daniels (on IR) Rookies of Note: WR Malcolm Kelly, WR Devin Thomas, OL Chad Reinhart What I like Offense: Washington is solid across the board with their anticipated offensive starters. There probably aren?t any Pro Bowl candidates other than RB Clinton Portis and maybe T Chris Samuels, but if everyone stays relatively healthy the Skins don?t have any position where their starter isn?t at least league average. Portis is the spirit of the team and still a legit difference maker when he?s healthy and not overworked. He?s also perhaps the best blitz pickup RB in the league, an important asset last season when the OL suffered a rash of key injuries. Bro Sweets (one of Portis? well-received alter egos that handle his press commitments) also has some good hands, netting 47 catches. The team has a quality backup in Ladell Betts, who needs more than the 93 carries he got in 2007. QB Jason Campbell was finally living up to his 1st round promise when he got injured in 2007. His ability to stand tall in the pocket and deliver a catchable ball is underappreciated. He displayed calmness in the face of pressure, though he does have some ability to buy time with his legs. Campbell and TE Chris Cooley make a quite effective combo. Cooley can line up in the backfield, in line as a traditional TE, or even split out, and he catches everything near him. He?s a great middle-of-the-field complement to whomever lines up on the outside (more on that later). Both Portis and Betts are weapons out of the backfield. The playoff run emerged with the impressive performance of longtime backup QB Todd Collins, who stepped onto the field and played like a perennial Pro Bowler once Campbell got hurt. His accuracy, poise, and quick release (made quicker compared to Campbell?s long windup) caught teams off guard. He proved the depth at QB is just fine, thank you. The front line turned in a truly admirable performance in 2007. The best run blocker on the line, RT Jon Jansen, went on IR after Week 1. Solid RG Randy Thomas tore his triceps a week later and missed nearly 12 games. My biggest bugaboo with the Redskins headed into 2007 was a putrid lack of depth along the OL, but those backups proved me wrong. Stephon Heyer, Jason Fabini, and Todd Wade filled in admirably, helped by Coach Gibbs employing more max protection packages. Center Casey Rabach turned in his best season, and he got better as the year wore on. Veterans Chris Samuels and Pete Kendall form a solid, savvy left side of the line. All that depth has more seasoning, and the team believes (and I believe them) they found a gem in 3rd rounder Chad Rinehart. It?s not the best line in the league; in fact it?s probably the weakest line in the NFC East, but it?s a more than adequate group that performs consistently well in both run and pass blocking. A return to health by Jansen ratchets up the nastiness factor. Defense: Adding Jason Taylor to bolster the DE position transforms this front 7 from adequate to asset. Taylor should wash himself of the miserable 2007 Dolphins and get back to being one of the best pass rushers and all-around ends in the league. His versatility to line up all over the place gives Coordinator Greg Blache freedom to experiment and blitz more. Taylor will open things up more for Andre Carter on the other side, who notched 10.5 sacks despite having no pressure help from the other side. The interior linemen were a pleasant surprise in 07, with the emergence of lightly-regarded Anthony Montgomery leading the way. He and the finally-healthy Cornelius Griffin shored up the porous run defense between the tackles, occupying blockers so the linebackers could clean up whatever they didn?t stop. Banking on Griffin to stay healthy again is risky, but the Skins have decent depth with former starter Kedric Golston, swingman Demetric Evans, and Matthias Askew, who has earned his roster spot by playing great on the practice squad. The linebackers are where the name recognition clicks in for most people. Marcus Washington, London Fletcher-Baker, and Rocky McIntosh are a rock-solid LB corps. Fletcher-Baker is the leader of the defense and a bastion of effort and stability in the middle. He?s getting up there (he?s 33), but the John Carroll product will go down as one of the best tacklers of his generation. Washington played great through about Thanksgiving, when his body wore down. He?ll come off the field more this year in an attempt to keep him fresher down the stretch. McIntosh has a devoted following for a guy who hasn?t done much in his two seasons, but he lives up to his potential often enough to be an effective starter. HB Blades looked like a real find in his rookie year, and he has the perfect mentor for a short LB in Fletcher-Baker. Washington is in good shape at CB. Veteran Shawn Springs remains an elite talent when he?s healthy, a speedy veteran with size and outstanding route recognition. The return of Carlos Rogers, who missed the second half of 2007, is important. Rogers was playing at a Pro Bowl level before he got hurt, and his recovery looks near complete if the preseason is to be believed. That slides Fred Smoot to nickel back, which gives the Redskins a very talented trio. Smoot looked like the stain of his awful Vikings experience is gone. Leigh Torrence is wildly inconsistent, but there a far worse #4 CBs in the league. With Laron Landry coming off a very good rookie season at free safety, the Skins have the potential for a very good pass defense that can force some turnovers. Landry thrived playing centerfield, and Blache appears to have noticed and will keep him in position to play that style more often in 2008. What I dislike Offense: The issues primarily deal with unknown quantities, not lack of overall talent or depth. Jason Campbell has to learn another system under yet another coach; someone might want to research whether Campbell has some sort of curse attached to him that prevents offensive coordinators from lasting longer than 12 months around him. At least the West Coast-based scheme this year is essentially familiar, and Campbell has the skill set and attitude to handle the subtle changes. The performance of the rookie receivers will have a major impact on Campbell and the offense as a whole. I favorably rated both Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas, but both have their detractions and have proven nothing yet. In addition, both have missed time with injuries this summer, and Kelly might not be ready for the start of the season. That missed learning time lowers the ceiling for their rookie performances. Wide receiver was far and away the biggest problem in 2007, and without Thomas but especially Kelly it?s hard to see much chance for improvement. Santana Moss and Antwan Randle El return as the starters, and that looked a lot better in 2005 than it does now. Moss had a lousy 2007 punctuated by a playoff game where his teammates wanted to strangle him, and his production and concentration appear on a steep decline. Randle El is a very good slot receiver who simply doesn?t have the size or fight to thrive on the outside. If one of the rookies can allow Randle El to move back into the slot, the Skins passing offense has a chance to be much improved. Getting that size on the outside should certainly help, but another guy the Skins have in camp (Billy McMullen) proves that height isn?t everything. Defense: You simply do not replace a talent like the late Sean Taylor, one of the best safeties and feared hitters in the NFL. His tragic murder last November wound up producing one of the truly impressive emotional rallies in sports. The defense really stepped up their performances to cover for their fallen mate, particularly Smoot and Landry. As great as that was, sustaining that emotional buzz is unrealistic. Filling Taylor?s spot falls to Reed Doughty, who handled the pressure well last season but doesn?t offer much against the pass. Coupled with the durability issues surrounding Springs and Rogers, it?s hard to see the pass defense being so lofty in 2008. It?s actually more likely to show up in the ancillary secondary functions like run support and tackling after the catch. The biggest battle in training camp has been at punter, where rookie Durant Brooks and incumbent Derrick Frost are competing to be the lesser of two evils. I actually like Brooks and hope he does well, but whoever wins the gig will have to show more consistency and better directional accuracy. Kicker Shaun Suisham turned in the best kicking performance for the Skins in years, but that?s not the great accomplishment it seems. His kickoffs are notoriously short, and he?s not helped by a coverage unit that lacks a true gunner. It?s hard to say how the coaching search fiasco impacts the team on the field. After Joe Gibbs retired, the team lurched thru a bizarre winter where Gregg Williams, Jim Fassel, and Steve Spagnuolo were all thought to have been thisclose to landing the Head Coach position. All the while, Jim Zorn bided his time as the new Offensive Coordinator. The divorce with Williams was particularly bitter, as he reputedly had a contract clause that paid him $1 million if he wasn?t promoted to the head spot from his defensive assistant role. Owner Daniel Snyder finally settled on moving Zorn up to the head man, a role he?s never held at any level. Zorn has never even been a coordinator at any level. I happen to like Jim Zorn and the early reviews are favorable, but jumping into such a foreign position on a team like this in a media market like DC is a major challenge. Snyder appears to be learning from the numerous errs of his ways, but an itchy trigger finger and chronic impatience don?t go away overnight. With so many key components (Springs, Taylor, Fletcher, Samuels, Jansen, Moss) nearing the end of usefulness, the pressure is on the coaching staff to win now. Best Case/Worst Case: These are combined for a reason. The success of this team will be determined by how well the team adjusts to life without Sean Taylor and the emotional surge that carried them following his death. This team was 5-7 at one point last year for legit reasons, needing overtime to finish off the lowly Jets and lowlier Dolphins just to make it that far. If that is the Skins team that comes out in 2008, they?ll plummet back down to the 5-win total of 2006. If greenhorn coach Zorn can squeeze more life from the team that won its last 4 games impressively, there is no reason to think the Skins won?t be back in the playoffs with a 9 or 10 win season. Bellwether Games: It sounds trite, but the Redskins fate essentially comes down to how well they perform against their NFC East brethren. If they can manage a 4-2 or better divisional record, these Skins are almost certainly headed back to the playoffs. If they can?t manage at least a split with all 3 teams (PHI, NYG, DAL), they will be hard-pressed to secure the final Wild Card spot again. As hard as it might be to fathom, the Skins could get swept in the division, easily the most talented in the league. That would cap their win total at around 6. Prediction: As much as the Redskins fans want to ignore it, this team was real lucky to be 5-7 before they went on their memorable run behind their backup QB after losing their most talented player. The injuries to the young wideouts will slow their progress and keep Jason Campbell from making the next step. Coach Zorn?s learning curve will also hold back a precariously talented team full of chronic injury risks at many key spots. A deceptively difficult schedule, drawing the tougher opponents (CLE, NO, PIT) at home while facing the more ?winnable? games (CIN, BAL, SF, DET) on the road, will also hurt their chances. That?s before any games in the brutally strong NFC East, where their three divisional foes can all legitimately argue they are the best team in the NFC. It?s going to be a painful year for Washington, made more so by the improbably successful finish to 2007. This Redskins team finishes 4-12 and earns a top 5 overall draft pick. Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com