Redskins 53-Man Roster - Strengths and Weaknesses

It was a long day Friday, especially if your name was Dezmon Briscoe, Anthony Armstrong and Marcus White. Like the lyrics from the great Tom Petty, "you take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waiting is the hardest part". Well, I know the anticipation I felt all day yesterday, so I can't even imagine how the players themselves felt. So, it's over.......at least for now, so all we can do is move forward with what we have; either good or bad.

I will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the Redskins 2012 53 man roster, and see where we are deep, and where we may have come up a tad bit short.

Strengths:

Quarterback: Wow, never thought I'd be saying this, but with the way Robert Griffin III, Rex Grossman and Kirk Cousins played this preseason, I almost have no choice than to list this position here. RG3 is going to struggle some at QB this season, but knowing that we do have two competent signal callers backing him up makes me sleep a bit easier at night. Grossman may be one of the better backups in the entire league, and Cousins has exceeded all expectations so far as a rookie. The future sure looks bright in D.C., and that is something Redskins fans have not been able to say for 25 years.

Linebacker: This position could very well be the strength of our team. London Fletcher and Perry Riley headline a group inside that is stout against the run, and fluid versus the pass. The duo is backed up by Lorenzo Alexander and rookie Keenan Robinson. On the outside we return Brian Orakpo and sophomore Ryan Kerrigan. They are joined by Rob Jackson and Chris Wilson, both of whom had outstanding camps in reserve rolls. If Orakpo misses any time with his recent injury, we should comfortable with what we have backing him up.

Wide Receiver: Ah, what difference a year can make. Pierre Garcon, Leonard Hankerson, Joshua Morgan, Santana Moss, Aldrick Robinson, Dezmon Briscoe..........and um(cough, cough)Brandon Banks give this corps a completely different look from what we saw this time last year. Explosive, is the word that comes to mind when I look at the names on this list. For the first time since the late 80's, we can actually say that opposing defenses must now play us honest across the entire field. I think the Redskins made the right decision for ALL the guys they kept here.

Weaknesses:

Offensive Line: It baffles me how Shanahan and co. can go into the regular season with just one true backup offensive tackle, when that position is clearly the weakest spot on our team. It confuses me even more when you cut a promising rookie, in favor of an aging vet, who was out of football just six weeks ago. Well, I guess the Redskins are hoping that NO injuries occur at either right or left tackle, because if one does........god help us all. The interior is a bit more sound, but boasts two rookies, Josh LeRibeus and Adam Gettis, to go along with Chris Chester, Will Montgomery, Kory Lichtensteiger and Maurice Hurt. The tackles are Trent Williams and Tyler Polumbus, with journeyman Jordan Black backing them up.

Cornerback: We have four cornerbacks on our roster..........let me repeat that; Four! One is a rookie, one gets burnt more than toast, and the other two are solid, yet far from spectacular. I was thrilled to see Richard Crawford make this team as a rookie, as he was one player who really stood out during the preseason. Cedric Griffin, on the other hand, drew some question marks for his up and down play. DeAngelo Hall and Josh Wilson should both be solid, but should one of them go down, we could be in for some big trouble.

Safety: I would have left this position out of the post altogether if it hadn't been for the news yesterday afternoon of Tenard Jackson's suspension. We are now faced with the prospect of having to begin the season with Madieu Williams and Reed Doughty as our starters, if Brandon Meriweather is not fully healed from his week three preseason injury. We also elected to keep rookie Jordan Bernstine and sophomore Dejon Gomes, both of whom can play nickle corner if needed. Doughty and Gomes are the only two who are back from last year - not sure yet if this is a good or bad thing.

Our roster sits at 52 players as of the writing of this post, so expect at least one more guy to be added. I would not be shocked to see us look to the waver wire to add a few potential pieces to some of the weak units I have mentioned above. What I'm trying to say, is this roster can still take on some significant change in the next few days.