The 5 O’Clock Club: Who gets voted off the island?

The 5 o’clock club is published several times per week during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.

You may be familiar with the TV show Survivor, where someone gets voted off the island every week.

After a 1-9 start and the embarrassment of the home loss against the Jets, I figure it’s time to start getting rid of people.

Fifty-three players and a full coaching staff is too unwieldy to hold open voting. Since it’s my column, I’m gonna make a few nominations and then open the voting.

Let’s send someone packing before the home game against the... let’s see... the Lions this Sunday (Jeez... I actually had to look it up).

The Nominations

Defense - Josh Norman

Josh has been 3 to 5 steps behind receivers all year. He’s always been a bit slow, but this season he seems to have lost a step that he couldn’t afford to lose.

Also, part of Josh’s game has always been eyes on the quarterback, and breaking off his assigned coverage to make plays on the ball. That’s great when it works, but it is called “busted coverage” when it doesn’t. Josh gave up an easy touchdown on Sunday because he wanted to do someone else’s job instead of his own.

I have never been Josh Norman’s biggest fan. He talks too much but says too little. He has been putting in more effort to build his “brand” in recent years than he has in trying to win a championship.

Even last year, I felt like Josh was doing enough to keep his spot on the team, but, in 2019 he has looked terrible. I know a lot of people will say that he should have been gone a season ago; others will say he never should have been signed.

I was good with the signing when it happened; I’ve felt like he was contributing each year through 2018, but this season I’ve come to expect him to be beaten. With a $10.8m base salary and a $14.3m cap hit, that’s not good enough. The ‘Skins reportedly tried to shop him ahead of the trade deadline but couldn’t find any takers.

I realize that, as a vested veteran, his salary is guaranteed for the year. I don’t care.

There’s no reason to wait until the off-season to get rid of Norman. Cut him now. Let him go through the waiver process. Hopefully he’ll get claimed by Cincinnati, Miami or the NY Jets. Josh has been a selfish and loud-mouthed underperformer for a long time now. The Redskins don’t owe him a thing anymore.

Vote to send Josh Norman off the Island!

Offense - Morgan Moses

Mark Tyler had to buy extra memory space this week to hold all the GIFs he made of Morgan Moses failing to make his blocks in the Jets game.

Moses has been picking up penalties for holding and false starts at an alarming rate for the past couple of seasons. Instead of getting back to basics and re-focusing himself, Moses has lambasted the referees and accused them of targeting him because he has a reputation for holding.

There’s a reason he has that reputation.

He’s undisciplined, underperforming, and consistently costs the team field position with bad penalties. Moses has been regressing for a while now. It’s time to cut bait.

Vote to send Morgan Moses off the island!

Coaching - Greg Manusky

Let’s face it — Greg Manusky was a weak option when he was named defensive coordinator, and he got the job in part because other better candidates didn’t want to hitch their wagons to Jay Gruden’s rapidly descending star.

Jay himself once explained that he hired Manusky largely because he knew he would get Jim Tomsula along with him in a sort of package deal.

In fact, many argue that the only reason that Manusky is still here now is that the Redskins don’t want to lose both him and DL coach Tomsula.

It doesn’t matter any more. There’s no reason to fear losing two-for-one. Manusky has to go no matter what.

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Redskins defense is not bereft of talent, but they play as if they are — especially at inside linebacker and cornerback. This squad is rated 22nd in the league, but they play worse than that, routinely giving up third-down conversions like Oprah giving away gifts to her studio audience.

Manusky’s defense can’t stop the run, can’t stop the pass, can’t win in the red zone, can’t get off the field on third down, and the DBs often look like pee-wee players who have been told to just go out and run around a bit, then come back when your tired or dizzy.

It’s time for a professional and aggressive DC who can design a scheme that enhances his players’ strengths and masks weaknesses. It’s time for someone who can react and adapt if Plan A isn’t working. It’s time for someone who can teach, motivate and discipline players in order to turn 11 individuals into a cohesive unit.

It’s time to vote Greg Manusky off the island.