Are the Redskins now favorites in the NFC East?
— -- For the first time in a long while, the Washington Redskins enter the offseason on stable footing while multiple NFC East rivals conduct coaching searches.
A Redskins team that went into 2015 as a 14-1 betting long shot to win the division emerged with a 9-7 record, its first NFC East title since 2012 and legitimate hope at quarterback. This was a trifecta for second-year coach Jay Gruden and first-year general manager Scot McCloughan. Losing 35-18 to Green Bay in the wild-card round Sunday should not affect the Redskins' trajectory as long as coach and GM maintain what appears for now to be a stable environment.
This alone does not make Washington the NFC East favorite for 2016, but in looking at where the Redskins and their division rivals stand, the case for Washington staying atop the division is much easier to make than anyone could have anticipated even six months ago.
Vital signs positive this offseason
Gruden will be entering his third season with the team, but this does not look like a 3-year-old program. McCloughan and key assistant coaches Bill Callahan, Joe Barry and Perry Fewell did not join the organization until after Gruden's inaugural 2014 season. Kirk Cousins did not become the full-time starting quarterback until this past August. Drama stemming from Robert Griffin III's situation did not subside until Cousins played well enough to justify his spot in the lineup.
The Redskins' front office, coaching staff and quarterback situation have seldom, if ever, been this stable at the same time during Daniel Snyder's ownership. There are still some uncertainties. Snyder is still proving he can stay out of the way. McCloughan is one year into re-establishing himself after disclosing a drinking problem in his past. Cousins will need a new contract. There are no guarantees, in other words, but there is the potential for a winning framework.
"With Scot there, they will be a team that goes after the best available player, nothing too fancy," a GM from another team said. "They can do things the right way now. They can keep evolving off this season, seeing who they are as a team that wants to run the ball and now has a quarterback who can manage that offense, running it and hitting the tight ends. They have to address the defense, but the key is really just to stay boring. Follow the blueprint."
East rivals less settled
The idea of Gruden outlasting Tom Coughlin and Chip Kelly in the division would have seemed laughable when Gruden became the latest coach to step into Snyder's world, but not now. The personnel-related issues facing the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles raise questions about their readiness to rebound quickly. Neither has hired a head coach, so much remains unknown.
Coughlin paid the price for the Giants' personnel deficiencies. The players the Giants drafted since Jerry Reese became GM in 2007 combined to play a league-low 10,767 offensive and defensive snaps in the NFL this season. Other teams' picks over the same span averaged 16,448 snaps per team, or about 53 percent more snaps than the Giants' selections. It doesn't matter from the Redskins' standpoint how much of the blame lies with Coughlin, Reese, the players or bad luck. The state of the Giants' roster is all that matters for Washington's chances, and the roster is not great.
The possibility of Eli Manning having to learn another offense after two resurgent seasons under coordinator Ben McAdoo is another potential strike against the Giants.
Philadelphia is tougher to figure out. Shifting away from Kelly's up-tempo offense will change the dynamic on both sides of the ball. It's also not clear how the Eagles will proceed at quarterback, or what it means if they do bring back Sam Bradford. The Eagles' roster appears diminished after Kelly shipped out high-profile talent in favor of players he considered better fits for his program.
Dallas will be the NFC East favorite if Tony Romo returns to the lineup and stays there. He beat expectations by playing 15 games in 2014, when he was coming off back surgery. Romo missed 12 games to a fractured collarbone this past season. He had missed only two games over the previous four seasons, but with his 36th birthday looming in April, staying healthy could remain a big challenge.
Lots of work to do
Winning the NFC East during a down year for the division does not mean the Redskins have arrived. They were 12th (last) in my ranking of playoff teams. They are 24th in ESPN's Football Power Index, between Miami and Tampa Bay. Washington went 0-3 in its only games against playoff teams, as Carolina, New England and Green Bay outscored the Redskins 106-44. A look through Pro Football Focus grading at 13 positions showed Washington's highest-ranked player averaging 28th overall at those spots.
You get the picture. This roster remains in the early stages of a rebuild. There are questions, but they are conventional roster-related ones. No one is wondering whether the coach and GM are on the same page. No one is wondering who should play quarterback next season. For the Redskins, that's progress. Now it's about building the current foundation while waiting to see how the rest of the NFC East takes shape.
Related Stories
ABC News Live