The Washington Redskins’ season came to a close with a loss against the New York Giants, finalizing the team’s record to 7-9. As division rival Philadelphia Eagles soar into the playoffs with the division title, many Redskins fans are left reflecting on what went wrong this season and what changes need to be made for next season.

One of the most heavily debated topics for fans is the future of quarterback Kirk Cousins. Drafted in 2012, Cousins was a backup quarterback for Robert Griffin III. Griffin was benched due to injuries and Cousins was named starting quarterback in 2015. This season, the Redskins used the franchise tag to keep Cousins for the second time, making Cousins one of the highest paid NFL players. Cousins is expected to become a free agent this year unless the team uses the franchise tag again on him. Some fans want the team to ditch Cousins for a younger quarterback that could possibly cost the team less money, but freshman David Eller thinks otherwise.

“Even though we could draft a [new quarterback], we don’t know how [that’s] going to turn out like what happened to RGIII in 2012,” Eller said. “We should re-sign [Cousins] and draft [for] positions of need.”

Many fans point the finger at the numbers of injuries the team had this season as the primary reason the team floundered in later games. The team ended the season with 20 players on injury reserve. One of the most prevalent problems for coaches was shifting the offensive line to accommodate injured players. The Redskins used 26 offensive line combinations this season. Many key starters were injured including wide receiver Terrelle Pryor Sr., tight end Jordan Reed, running backs Robert Kelley and Chris Thompson and offensive tackle Trent Williams. Head coach Jay Gruden told the Washington Post that he is looking to find methods to prevent future injuries next season.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that’s something we have to take a close look at, whether it’s recovery after games, whether it’s how to prevent injuries, how we practice,” Gruden said. “The problem is there are so many different types of injuries; it’s not like they’re all soft tissue — they’re [not] all knees or shoulders. We have such a wide variety of injuries. How many of them are actually preventable? That’s what we have to take a look at.”

Despite the lows of this season, there were definitely some highs. This season showed us the talent of players like Thompson, wide receiver Josh Doctson, running back Samaje Perine and linebacker Zach Brown. Eller believes that safety D.J. Swearinger really stood out this year. Swearinger had four interceptions and the second highest number of tackles on defense.

“D.J. Swearinger [stood out] because we needed help with our secondary and he really made the secondary a lot better,” Eller said.

As fans turn their eyes to the draft, they’re hoping that maybe the 2018-2019 season will turn out better for their beloved Washington Redskins.