Photo Courtesy of Keith Allison

Robert Griffin III injures his ankle after throwing for a first down against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This season, the Washington Redskins have posted a dismal 3-9 record. Their mediocre showing this year may come as a surprise to some fans, since the team added a considerable amount of talent during the off-season, and many people expected quarterback Robert Griffin III to shine. Unfortunately, their season did not get off to a very good start as RGIII was injured during week two.

Junior and varsity football player Christian Campbell, was optimistic about the Redskins at the beginning of season.

“I was surprised [that they did not perform well] at the beginning of the season, but once RGIII got hurt, I was not as surprised,” said Campbell.

David Adams, a math teacher and avid Redskins fan, believes the Redskins’ struggled this season and is very disappointed with their performance.

“[The Redskins are] a bunch of losers,” said Adams.

He was not surprised that they have not performed well this season, and went on to say that the Redskins have some really good players, but that they do not have a very good offensive line or secondary. P.E. resource teacher and Redskins fan, Rod Fry, thought the offensive line is the weakest part of the team.

Adams commented on the defensive backs, saying that they are miserable, and Campbell agreed with Adams. He said that since the loss of cornerback DeAngelo Hall, the secondary has not been very good.

“[The Redskins secondary has been] picked apart,” he said.

If the secondary cannot guard the opposing wide receivers, it will be difficult for the defense to stop the opposing offense.

Despite Adams’ criticisms, he also had some good things to say about the team. He thinks that their defensive line is very good, and he called the wide receivers amazing. Those assets could help turn their season around. If the defensive line plays well for the remainder of the year, it will help the rest of the defense. If the defensive line can pressure the opposing team’s quarterbacks and stop the opposing team’s running backs, it also could help to improve the secondary. Additionally, if the defensive linemen are able to pressure the quarterbacks, it might force the quarterbacks to throw the ball quickly, and that could provide easy interceptions for the defensive backs.

After RGIII’s injury, some may have thought that the Redskins had found their new starting quarterback in Kirk Cousins, but he was replaced by Colt McCoy a few weeks later. McCoy actually fared well against the two teams that he faced, leading them to a comeback victory over the Tennessee Titans after replacing Kirk Cousins in that game. The following week, he led the Redskins to a win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night in Dallas. After his brief success, and the return of RGIII the following week, the question facing the Redskins was whether or not they should start McCoy, rather than RGIII, because RGIII has struggled since his return.

Adams does not think that there will be a quarterback change. He does not want Cousins to start at quarterback instead of RGIII, because he feels that Cousins turns the ball over too many times.

On the other hand, Campbell thought that the Redskins should have started McCoy over RGIII, so that RGIII could sit out and not risk more injuries.

Even with all the injuries that they have suffered, there could be a glimmer of hope for the Redskins this season. Adams talked about the possibility that the Redskins could turn their season around. He thought that they could play better, but they will not make the playoffs.

A little more than mid-way through the season, the Redskins have not played very well this year and their record illustrates that. Adams, Fry and Campbell had the same views on the Redskins season, and Adams had very low expectations going into the season. Even though the team had high expectations at the beginning of the season, their season has been disappointing thus far.