OLB/DE Brian Orakpo made the Pro Bowl as a rookie for the Redskins this season.  He was the Redskins’ first round pick (#13) out of Texas.  He played in 16 games for the Redskins last season and he made 50 tackles, had 11 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, he forced a fumble and he defensed 2 passes.  The sky is the limit of Orakpo as he has room to grow into an even better player than he was in 2009 in the near future for the Redskins.  CB Kevin Barnes was the second pick the Redskins made last April (3rd round, #80 overall).  He played in 4 games for the Redskins last season and he made 2 tackles and he returned 1 punt for 0 yards. Linebacker Cody Glenn (5th round, #158 overall) didn’t make the cut for the Redskins.  But, he got a job with the Colts and he played in 9 games for them making 9 tackles.  Linebacker Robert Henson (6th round, #186 overall) out of TCU also didn’t do much for the Redskins this season.  He played in 6 games and he made 3 tackles for the Redskins in 2009.  TE/FB Eddie Williams was picked in the 7th round (#221 overall) out of Idaho and he didn’t play in any games.  WR Marko Mitchell (7th round, #243 overall) was the Redskins’ last pick last April and he played in 10 games catching 4 passes for 32 yards (8.0 avg).  He also made 1 tackle.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B

The Redskins have signed 24-year old C/G Kory Lichtensteiger to a reserve/future contract.  He did not play last season in the NFL.  In 2008 (his rookie season) he played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Denver Broncos.  This is just the first of many former Broncos’ players who will likely find there way to the Nation’s Capital.

The Washington Redskins signed Mike Shanahan to a five-year deal making him the head coach and executive vice president of football operations.  That means Shanahan will have the final say on all football related decisions.  The deal is worth about $7 million a year, but Shanahan is a proven winner with a career record of 146-98 and a playoff record of 8-5, including two Super Bowl wins.  This deal happened quickly after former head coach Jim Zorn was fired.  Zorn led the Washington Redskins to a 4-12 record this season and was let go on Monday.  Shanahan was one of the most sought after coaches, and this is a good move by the Redskins.

The Washington Redskins (4-12) had a late game collapse and lost a close one to the San Diego Chargers (13-3).  Head coach Jim Zorn was fired shortly after the loss, which brought an end to an ugly 2009 season for the Redskins.  It wasn’t even the Chargers starters who beat the Redskins, as backup quarterback Billy Volek hit Mike Tolbert for the game-winning touchdown pass.  Philip Rivers didn’t play much for the Chargers, but he still went 9/15 for 99 yards and 1 touchdown.  The Redskins did hold the Chargers to 50 rushing yards, but the 314 passing yards and 2 touchdown passes by the Chargers were the difference makers in this game.

Jason Campbell did a pretty good job leading the offense in this game, but the late game defensive let-down prevented Campbell from getting another win for the Skins.  Campbell went 28/42 for 281 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He did not turn the ball over and helped the Skins go up 17-13 in the third quarter after being down 13-0 in second quarter.  Campbell didn’t get much help from the running backs, with the Skins getting only 64 rushing yards on 22 carries.  Hopefully for the Redskins, a new coaching staff will help spark some life into this team in the 2010 season.

28-year old Jason Campbell’s overall numbers don’t look too bad but the bottom line is the Redskins only averaged 16.6 points per game.  Campbell played in 16 games for the Redskins this season and he completed 327 of 507 passes (64.5%) for 3,618 yards with 20 TD passes and 15 INTs (86.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 46 times for 236 yards (5.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Campbell has now played in 52 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,002 of 1,637 passes (61.2%) for 10,860 yards with 55 TD passes and 38 INTs (82.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 153 times for 786 yards (5.1 ypc) wiht 3 TD runs in his career.  The Redskins will likely try to trade Campbell in the off-season unless the new head coach likes him.

38-year old Todd Collins is likely nearing the end of the line in the NFL.  He played in 3 games for the Redskins this season and he completed 12 of 23 passes (52.2%) for 144 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs (71.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards (0.0 ypc).  Collins has now played in 47 games in his NFL career and he has completed 381 of 674 passes (56.5%) for 4,479 yards with 22 TD passes and 19 INTs (76.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 83 times for 152 yards (1.8 ypc) in his NFL career.  Look for the Redskins to let Collins walk away in the off-season.