Washington Redskins: 5 offseason needs

The Washington Redskins are trying to get back into the playoffs, but they have needs. Here are five positions that must be upgraded.

Coming off a 7-9 season and having already found the replacement for Kirk Cousins, the Redskins are a team that seems to be treading water to some degree. Cousins will be gone and Kendall Fuller was sent to Kansas City as a part of the Alex Smith deal. Washington also could be losing Bashaud Breeland, DeAngelo Hall, Zach Brown and Trent Murphy from their defense as well as Terrelle Pryor, Spencer Long and Shawn Lauvao on the offensive side of the ball.

That being said, this is a roster that could use a lot of different things. But it also does not have one glaring weakness that stands above all others. Ideally, Washington will use free agency to patch a few holes while allowing them to take the best player available from one of several remaining positions of need early in the draft.

Lastly, don’t expect the Redskins to address quarterback after giving up quite a bit for Smith as well as inking him to a big money contract.

5. Defensive Line

The Redskins are set with their edge defenders, but that is really the only position on this defense that you can accurately say that about. Washington’s first round pick one year ago, Jonathan Allen, only played 199 snaps in his rookie year before falling to injury. There could be some concern that Allen is best used in a rotation, especially considering his size, but the Redskins should be very excited about what they have seen thus far from this 23-year-old.

The unsung hero of his group is Matt Ioannidis, who is just one year older than Allen. But Ioannides isn’t in Allen’s league as an overall talent. Washington also got a good showing from Stacey McGee is his first year since coming over from the Raiders.

Terrell McClain and Ziggy Hood also remain in the mix right now, even though they are far more underwhelming. Washington’s base defense puts three of these players on the field at one time and it is a stretch to say that three of these current big men deserve the title “Starter.” Of course they play more snaps with just two interior defensive linemen in their sub package defenses, but the Redskins currently lack a difference maker to line up next to Allen in those critical situations.