Five questions the Redskins must start to answer during training camp

Will Jay Gruden finally prove himself as a head coach?

Entering his sixh season in Washington, the longest run for any coach during the Dan Snyder era, Gruden will aim to avoid missing the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.

Many have speculated that short of making the playoffs, or seeing an incredible stride in the development for Dwayne Haskins, that Gruden is a dead man walking. While it isn’t simply that black and white, it is possible that Gruden doesn’t finish out 2019 in Washington. The debate can be had that he shouldn’t have finished out last season. After an incredible 6-3 start, the team under Gruden ended up winning only one of its next seven games, including an embarrassing loss to the then 4-8 New York Giants.

Gruden has been dealt terrible luck with injuries during his career in Washington. Last season alone, the Redskins at 24 of its players on IR and even more questionable from week to week. The team started four different quarterbacks on its 7-9 journey and had to deal with another rotating cast of offensive linemen with Trent Williams and Brandon Scherff missing major time with injuries.

To put it simply, Gruden has had many obstacles to face other than poor performance and preparation, yet his teams always seem to find themselves around .500 come season end. This year, he has a team that, on paper, looks as bad as it has ever been with him in command. But, he may still find a way to survive and get a chance to finish out his contract in 2020.

There is little hope from fans and collective media that the Redskins will compete for a division crown and many have Washington struggling to even compete for a wild card. If this all falls the way it looks like it’s primed too, Gruden’s fate will fall on one person. Dwayne Haskins. If Gruden can somehow have Haskins show development in season, or simply win a few games impressively with Haskins under center, Gruden will have an argument as to why he should come back next year.

Every year, we see young quarterbacks fail to develop due to constant change around them in coaching and scheme. See Marcus Mariota, Ryan Tannehill, and any number of Browns quarterbacks that never got the chance to show if there was any real potential. Snyder and Allen are still licking their wounds for how things went with RG3 and the last thing they want is to have another first-round passer ruined due to constant change and lack of talent around him.

Gruden should be able to make the call on who starts and who sits in his offense, especially since he should have only one goal this year, win and survive.

Gruden isn’t Sean McVay or Bill Belichick, but he’s had success with his offenses, and even made Andy Dalton look like a guy who can lead a team all the way. This could very well be Gruden’s one and only shot to prove he’s got what it takes to be a solid head coach. If he fails, he could be looking at the coordinator role for the remainder of his career.

It won’t be easy for Gruden, but he has a shot. And if he’s allowed to do his job with little interference from above, he could buy himself another year in Washington.

Going into training camp Gruden should be very transparent about who he wants in what role. There shouldn’t be any flip-flopping with the QBs. Guice and Peterson’s roles should become obvious as time goes by. And we will see which wideouts step up and force Gruden’s hand. This is Gruden’s most important camp yet and what should be expected from his team will become very clear right away.