What are the Redskins Missing?

The Super Bowl has come and gone. 2020 is more than officially underway and the Redskins need to close the gap on the AFC & NFC Champions in a hurry.

In 2018, the San Francisco 49ers were (4-12), mostly because of injury but the old adage is 'you are what you are'. 

In 2019, Kyle Shanahan's crew was (13-3) and eight good minutes away from winning Super Bowl LIV. 

The turn around can happen quickly in this league, especially if you have a talent base to build off of. 

The Redskins don't have anywhere near enough (duh!) but they do have much more talent (at this point) than the Bengals and I would even argue that they have more talent than the Lions, Dolphins and perhaps even the Giants. 

In other words, anything is possible even if it's not likely. 

One way to get significantly better, if not Super Bowl better, is to see what the two respective conference champions have and see how you can emulate that. 

You're not getting Patrick Mahomes or anyone like that. Sorry, you're not. Dwayne Haskins is not even close so forget about it. 

Is Haskins at least in the neighborhood of Jimmy Garoppolo? Yeah I think he's in development, but I'm not sure if he's on Jimmy G's street yet. 

The Redskins have Terry McLaurin, who while not as explosive and dynamic as Tyreek Hill, is still close enough. 

I think they are close enough with running backs assuming Derrius Guice can ever stay healthy. Their defensive line is deep, especially in the 4-3. 

But here's three positions that the 49ers and/or Chiefs have that the Redskins are woefully inadequate in. 

Free Safety: Quite simply, Montae Nicholson is not good and he's completely untrustworthy. He would never be on my team. Sorry. I know he's had a couple of flashes and moments (Dallas Week 2 - 2019, Oakland Week 3 -2017) but he's had more headlines in TMZ than productive snaps in the NFL. 

The 49ers have Jimmie Ward who despite some moments is way better than Nicholson. He only allowed 16 catches on 26 targets this year with four touchdowns and eight pass breakups per ProFootballFocus.com (PFF). 

Overall, Ward had an 84.5 grade in coverage out of 100.0 via PFF. 

Just for comparison, Nicholson graded out a 51.4 this year in coverage. 

The Chiefs have the tag-team duo of Kendall Fuller and Daniel Sorensen. They are far from special but Fuller of course did come up with a huge interception in Sunday night's Super Bowl. 

I would admit that the combination of Nicholson's injuries, off-field problems and inconsistent play is the reason why I need a major upgrade at this spot and not just his on-field play alone, but I'd be willing to bet a whole lot of money that Jack Del Rio and Ron Rivera already know what they don't have. 

Fullback: Quite simply - the 49ers have a stud in Kyle Juszczyk as America got to see in the Super Bowl. If you know football, Juszczyk has been the best fullback in the NFL for a while. 

You want to know why they run the ball so well? Juszczyk is a huge reason. 

The Redskins used to believe in the fullback position during the Mike & Kyle Shanahan era. Bill Callahan brought the position back but Jay Gruden ignored it like the plague. 

Quite simply - if you want to run the ball effectively - you value the fullback. Not to mention - a sneaky effective pass catching fullback can be a huge weapon especially in the red zone. It's no coincidence that the Redskins have largely struggle in the red area since abandoning the position 

Tight End: This one is easy. Travis Kelce and George Kittle are awesome. Jordan Reed is awesome when he's full healthy, which unfortunately he never is, so as of right now, the Redskins don't have anyone even close at that position. 

Maybe they'll reel in Greg Olsen? A potential target as a pass catcher is Eric Ebron. 

Either way, they're still far off. 

Linebackers: This position is an honorable mention but very much a need. They have bodies but how good are they? I don't know. 

Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.