Washington Redskins: Pieces fitting together in peculiar way

Despite a few catastrophic losses to injury somehow the Redskins look to have righted the ship and are charting a course for a winning season.

The Washington Redskins extraordinarily productive draft classes have been very well documented. The current depth chart lists seven starters and eight quality backups acquired through the last three draft classes alone.

Redskins fans finally witnessed the front office building the team through the draft. They were actually adhering to the proven, time-tested formula for building a championship team.

Gone are the days of signing washed up veterans whose glory days have long since passed, gone the way of the typewriter and the eight track cassette, never to return.

Redskins fans are pleasantly surprised to see a roster comprised of twenty-somethings as opposed to players well into their 30s that should have long since been set out to pasture in the broadcast booth.

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As longtime ‘Skins fans adjust to this new philosophy of team building something else catches their attention. The Redskins appear to have adopted a football team building ideology of “familialism”. Defined by Merriam-Webster as “prioritizing the needs of the family (team) higher than the needs of the individual.” A novel concept for Washington indeed.

To accomplish this Herculean task the Redskins, apparently by sheer coincidence, (wink, wink), have drafted and acquired via free agency multiple players from the same schools. Many of these guys did, in fact, play with, and in some cases alongside, each other in college. This approach promotes cohesion and selflessness by making players more comfortable from day one.

Before getting to the three most recent and blatantly obvious attempts to build a team by bringing in pre-existing unity I would be remiss if I did not bring to your attention that the Redskins have multiple players from eight power-five programs.

Now for the big three; Alabama, Oklahoma, and Virginia Tech. The Redskins have six players from Alabama, five from Oklahoma, and four from Virginia Tech. All three of these situations are fascinating.

LANDOVER, MD – SEPTEMBER 03: Adonis Alexander #36 of the Virginia Tech Hokies celebrates following their 31-24 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers at FedExField on September 3, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Virginia Tech DBs Greg Stroman, Adonis Alexander, and NT Greg Settle were all drafted by the Skins this year. Stroman in the seventh round, Settle in the fifth, (possibly the steal of the entire draft), and Alexander in the supplemental draft.

Coincidentally, all three played for the Hokies defense last year and were usually on the field at the same time. How convenient, and brilliant, especially since Torian Gray, famed DB coach for the Redskins spent 10 years coaching DBs at Tech., and during that time he sent 11 defensive backs to the NFL.

His DBs ranked second in the nation in passing yards allowed per game, and were the best in the country in pass completion percentage – for 10 years! Not surprisingly Gray brought his winning ways to the Redskins defensive backfield.

Despite all the ugly stats from last year, worst in the league against the run, etc., the Redskins DBs had the third-best completion percentage in the NFL allowing only a paltry 57.6 percent completion rate.

The Alabama connection is even more intriguing. I have to make a couple of predictions here; Cam Sims will make the team and have an extremely productive season and Arie Koundjio will come off of IR to start some critical games at left guard.

TAMPA, FL – JANUARY 09: Defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne #94 and defensive lineman Jonathan Allen #93 of the Alabama Crimson Tide attempt to tackle quarterback Deshaun Watson #4 of the Clemson Tigers during the first half of the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

The rest of the Alabama contingency does not require a crystal ball. Jonathon Allen, DaRon Payne, Ryan Anderson, and Shaun Dion Hamilton, the whole right side of Alabama’s 2016 defense, will be reunited on the field once again as they suit up for the Skins this year. As much subbing as the Redskins do, especially on defense, we should see these former Crimson Tide standouts on the field together, hopefully dominating offenses yet again.

Finally, the Oklahoma Sooner selections; Trent Williams and Adrian Peterson actually played together for a season way back when, and Samaje Perine and Peterson have something in common as well. Peterson is the third all-time leading rusher for the Sooners with 4,045 yards. Ahead of him in second place with 4,071 yards is the great Billy Sims. And, of course, the all team leading rusher in Oklahoma Sooner history with 4,118 yards, Perine.

So the Skins have taken a unique approach to assemble this team. Whether or not any of it was done by design is open to debate. It is, nonetheless, interesting.

One thing Washington obviously did on purpose was to bring in two 30 something-year-old free agents. But, this time they get a pass. Yes, Alex Smith is 34 years old. But, his three Pro-Bowls were last year, 2017, the year before, and 2014. The only quarterbacks in the NFL to win more games than Alex Smith over the past five years are Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. Clearly, this guy is in his prime.

SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 05: Adrian Peterson #23 of the Arizona Cardinals rushes with the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium on November 5, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Peterson, who they signed for the league veteran minimum wage, is two years removed from being first team All-Pro while leading the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns. He really didn’t play in 2016 and 2017 saw him play for two different teams. The Saints didn’t give him the ball and the Cardinals just weren’t very good.

If AP has nothing left in the tank, he’s going to have to bring his 12,276 career rushing yards and 104 total touchdowns to D.C. and prove it. As for Alex, I believe most Redskin fans welcomed him and his 31,888 career passing yards and 197 total touchdowns with open arms.

In the past, the Redskins have been justly criticized for bringing in players who were past their prime and had little or nothing to offer the team. That criticism is somewhat foolish this year.