Before I begin, this isn’t written out of disrespect and hate. This isn’t an article dedicated to slamming or shaming someone. This is an opinion piece based on my analysis of the Washington Redskins over the past six seasons.
With all due respect, Jay Gruden is a much better football mind than I am. All love to the Gruden family. This is a picking of my brain on the entire Jay Gruden era with the Washington Redskins.
The Jay Gruden era in Washington provided a breath of fresh air for the franchise back in 2015, but ultimately has put Redskins fans back into a reality that has been felt deeply over the past 20 years. With a division title (most would say by default) in only his second year, mediocrity has crept back into a Washington Redskins franchise that has longed for better days. With a 22-25-1 record over the past three seasons, and in totality a record of 35-48-1, Coach Gruden’s days are numbered.
What is combined to be a .423 winning percentage as the coach for the Washington Redskins, which ranks 18th all-time in Redskins history, shows the minimal positive impact that has come from the Gruden era. A Redskins team that is currently 0-4, has never seemed to find a rhythm on either side of the ball. A variety of issues, which I’ll tackle, have seemed to always haunt the Redskins during the Jay Gruden era. Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. With all due respect, it is time for Jay Gruden to empty his office, and no longer be the coach for the Washington Redskins.
How it started
Back in the summer of 2014, the Washington Redskins took part in what was one of the most active offseasons of this decade. The firing of Mike Shanahan and the resignation of son Kyle, one season after giving Washington the breath of relevancy it desperately needed, was an inevitable move. After posting the worst statistical season since 1994, the Redskins went out and hired one of the most sought-after coaching candidates, a “QB Guru” for the Bengals: Coach Jay Gruden.
While there have been ups in the Gruden era, like making the move to Kirk Cousins, and winning seven games TWICE with a historically injured bunch, the overall success of the team hasn’t changed. The Redskins during the Jay Gruden era have been mediocre at best while losing the relevance battle to the Washington Mystics in their city. Something they hoped would change after making the hire back in 2014, the Redskins, in the words of D.J. Swearinger, have been “Blah”.
Where has Jay Gruden gone wrong?
Management of the Redskins quarterback position
Jay Gruden is no stranger to controversial personnel decisions in D.C. Originally brought in to solve the Rubiks cube that was left of Robert Griffin III, Jay set the franchise and the fans on fire after benching the former AP Rookie Of The Year. The decision was correct in 2015. The management of the situation leading up to the decision in 2014, was pitiful, to say the least.
Back in his very first season in Washington, the “continuity” Jay Gruden mentions now in 2019, wasn’t seen whatsoever. With no true starter named after the RG3 injury, everything from under center was week-to-week as far as who would be starting. From rushing back Robert after a dislocated ankle with minimal practice reps, benching Kirk for Colt, and then Colt for RG3, then RG3 for Colt, and finally to RG3 starting the final three games, the plan for the position was totaled from the jump with no insurance. Did I mention this is all in the first season of an entirely new system?
On the same topic of quarterbacks, I’m sure we are all aware of the Colt McCoy injury. The injury isn’t at all Jay Gruden’s fault. The rushing back of Colt McCoy, in hopes he can continue a playoff run for the once 6-3 Redskins, is his fault. Gruden is on the record mentioning “We probably rushed him back” when mentioning Colt McCoy’s rehab off of a broken fibula. His management of crucial situations involving the quarterback continues to be befuddling. Now, Colt McCoy after a multitude of setbacks, barely being able to push off of his back foot to throw a pass, is in a pretty bad situation, and at least a part of it could’ve been avoided. Did I mention he’s in a contract year?
Lastly, this past season has been the absolute worst management of the quarterback position during Gruden’s entire tenure. Selecting Dwayne Haskins at No. 15 was a decision that had to be made. After the most devastating injury to this franchise within the last twenty years, the Redskins needed a quarterback. The local Maryland kid out of THE Ohio State was destined to be a Redskin, cue the Ha(Skins).
The decision to many analysts was a bright one, as Haskins was viewed among NFL Draft experts as either the first or second-best quarterback in the entire draft. It was a very smart pick, but guess what? Days leading into the draft, and months after the draft, somehow it comes out that Jay Gruden wasn’t very high on Haskins. It comes out that the front office led the charge for Dwayne, not the head coach. It only gets better from there.
As the Redskins progressed through the offseason, the constant position held by the coaching staff remained the same. “Case or Colt will be the starter, Dwayne is the backup.” Understandable. Haskins had under 20 starts since high school; he has a ton of upside, but a newly turned 22-year old learning Gruden’s West Coast offense too quickly isn’t ideal.
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Throughout training camp, preseason, and the regular season, Dwayne Haskins sees next to nothing in terms of first-team reps, which again, is understandable for a backup. As the Redskins struggle mightily throughout preseason, and the first two weeks of the season, Dwayne continues to see zero reps. We get to Week 4, and the Redskins have gotten thumped the past three weeks. Let me add, their starting quarterback turned the ball over five times the week before. And yet, Dwayne Haskins splits first-team reps with Colt McCoy for two days, while Case Keenum rehabs a foot injury.
Yes, Haskins splits reps with the quarterback I mentioned earlier, who is just now being able to push off of his back foot to throw a pass. Week 4 comes, the Redskins are getting worked. After abysmal play from Case Keenum, Jay decided to put Haskins in, to “provide a spark.” On cue, Haskins starts well, and then a timing route comes upon a goal-to-go situation. Guess what play is called? A speed out to Vernon Davis, the route Haskins struggled with in the preseason. The route that is solely based on timing, especially in the end zone.
With minimal practice reps with the first-team, Jay Gruden trotted out Dwayne Haskins essentially to “see what he’s got” with little to no preparation, a completely one-dimensional yet simple game plan which is understandable. The thing is, when you’re down 14 at the half, you must come up with something different. Well, you can’t come up with something else, because Haskins wasn’t prepared for anything other than a vanilla game plan. The better option was to stick with Keenum until Miami and start Dwayne against the worst team in the NFL. Mismanagement of the position. having your players not prepared, expecting anything other than low-level production from a 22-year old rookie who hasn’t seen much outside of scout team reps, is a laughable approach. This is a continuing factor to the point, Jay Gruden continuously mismanages the quarterback position.
Personnel decisions / in-game decisions
Joe Barry and Greg Manusky gave Jim Haslett a run for his money as the worst defensive coordinators of the Redskins for this decade. The Redskins decision-makers, when it comes to coaching, are pitiful. Blame Bruce Allen, blame Dan Snyder, blame Jay Gruden. They are horrendous at picking just an average defensive staff. The Redskins haven’t had a defense that was worth mentioning since Sean Taylor, unfortunately, went to heaven early. While Gruden wasn’t in Landover for that entire stretch, the coordinators and personnel he has picked have been abysmal.
With loads of talent on the defensive side of the ball, Jay put his bets on Greg Manusky after Joe Barry joined Los Angeles back in 2017. Of the numerous candidates the Redskins were linked to, Jay chose an unproven outside linebackers coach to run his defense. As for Joe Barry, the same defensive coordinator who coached the 0-16 Detroit Lions, Jay Gruden placed his bets on him to run his defense before Manusky. Giving someone an opportunity based on their previous track record or based on their progression and projection is one thing. Both hires have been proven to be horrendous.
Jay’s in-game decisions haven’t been any better. Against the Giants, Jay Gruden accepted a third-down penalty that “pushed the Giants out of field-goal range”, although Aldrich Rosas is 7 for 8 on kicks 50-plus yards or more, with a long of 57. Knowing you have one of the worst third-down defenses in the NFL, finally getting a stop and forcing Rosas to kick a 46-yard field goal where he’s 10 of 15 in his career, would have been the stop the defense desperately needed. How did that drive end up instead? The Giants ended up scoring a touchdown.
Another aspect of Gruden’s in-game decisions is his lack of awareness involving situational coaching, and a lack of awareness toward his personnel, among various other things.
Situational coaching and lack of awareness of his personnel at times go hand-in-hand. I mean the various attempts to continue something that isn’t working. Whether it be not enough shots down the field, not enough boot-action, non-creative, bland plays that, outside of a go or post pattern, get minimal yardage, or a continuous attempt to run the ball on first and second down when it isn’t working, the over-confident approach in a game plan that doesn’t fit the personnel at hand.
Example, Jay said he didn’t think Adrian Peterson‘s running style fits the “scheme.” The funny thing is, it would be much easier to run the ball into what has been your strength of the offensive line (Left Guard-Center-Right Guard) than the outside tackles. You’re missing Trent Williams, and Morgan Moses leads the league in penalties. Wouldn’t Peterson’s power running style work best when you can’t get any movement, any momentum, on the outside? You cannot pull to the right or left side using your tackles, because of the lack of athletic ability, lack of chemistry, and the plethora of penalties drawn. On the topic of the offensive line, the trouble the Redskins have had defending stunts along the defensive front has been awful. The Redskins continuously get torched during the Gruden era on issues that boil down to a lack of communication, and a lack of discipline.
When it comes to the defensive side of the football, and the attention to detail on that side, I can’t put too much blame on him. One thing I can blame is the unawareness of critical passing plays that continuously hurt the Redskins. I’m talking about pick plays, and shallow cross patterns. When asked by reporter Craig Hoffman after the Week 3 loss about said plays, Jay responded with: “I wouldn’t say it happens all the time. The Colts got us last year a couple of times.” Jay, I love you bud, but the pick plays and shallow cross patterns routinely beat the Redskins like a drum. Plays that have torched Washington for years, during every defensive coordinator’s tenure under Gruden. It’s a constant, and the Redskins haven’t had true and strict attention to detail.
Conclusion
Jay Gruden’s time in Washington has come.
Once again, the Redskins embarrassingly miss the playoffs. Once again, like it seems to always do, the Redskins cannot steer the ship straight after it starts to go left.
This Redskins bunch has continuously shown a lack of attention to detail, a lack of execution, and a true lack of being able to flip the switch and gain some momentum. Once a Redskins team under Jay Gruden is down on the scoreboard, they seem to never recover and lose.
That’s a stat, by the way. The Redskins were 1-9 in games they lost a lead or got down on the scoreboard first. Never able to capture or gain a lead. Never able to truly get things turned around, in the Jay Gruden era.