When the offense of the Washington Redskins step on the field against the Miami Dolphins on September 9^th, they will be aiming to pick up where they left off at the end of the 2006 season. Last year, Jason Campbell was named the starting QB for the last seven games after Mark Brunell was unable to move the unit down the field. As soon as Campbell stepped on the field, the Redskins automatically had a vertical passing game, something that lacked a great deal under Brunell. Ladell Betts stepped in nicely for the injured Clinton Portis and the running game never looked better. This season, the Redskins are optimistic that they will be able to move the ball up and down the field with the weapons they currently have.

Their main weapon is young QB Jason Campbell, who has worked extremely hard in the off-season to learn the incredibly large playbook of offensive coordinator Al Saunders. Campbell has thrown the ball pretty well in the preseason and has seemed very poised in the pocket despite the oncoming pressure. In the second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Campbell looked sharp before going down with a knee bruise late in the first quarter. The fans at FedEx were able to breathe when Jason was able to walk off the field and had to feel more relieved when back-up Todd Collins came in and immediately led the Skins down the field and in the end zone. The back-up QB battle between Todd Collins and Mark Brunell has been an interesting one this preseason. Although Collins has looked better, he hasn’t played in a regular season game since 1998. Honestly, Joe Gibbs will be better off giving the back-up position to Collins than relying on Brunell to be relieve Campbell in case of an emergency. Hopefully, Jason Campbell can stay healthy for an entire season. The Skins chances of making the playoffs rely on his health and development.

Campbell will also need better play from his Wide Receivers. Santana Moss and tight end Chris Cooley combined for 112 receptions and 12 touchdowns in 2006, but didn’t get any production from their new acquisitions Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd. Jason Campbell will not be able to rely on just Moss and Cooley to make plays in the passing game. Lloyd has vowed to improve his play this year while Randle El is convinced that last seasons struggles were based on the offense learning the new playbook.

One of the biggest strengths of the offense will be the running game. When Ladell Betts took over after Clinton Portis broke his hand in week 9 of last season, he lit a spark in the offense, finishing the season with over 1,100 rushing yards. Now that Portis will be returning to the lineup in 2007 (hopefully he stays healthy), the Redskins will have a dangerous one-two combination. It will be interesting to see how both Portis and Betts can gel together to become a dominating duo.

The off-season and training camp hasn’t been kind to the offensive line. Left guard Derrick Dockery left the Skins for Buffalo where he received an $18 million dollar signing bonus. Joe Gibbs and o-line coach Joe Bugel assumed backup tackle Todd Wade could feel the void at left guard, but that experiment has been a failure so far. So what did the Skins do? They made a trade for disgruntled Jets guard Pete Kendall, Something that should’ve happened as soon as Dockery bolted. Now Kendall must pick up the system and gel with the current linemen in time for the opener against the Dolphins. The Redskins are also hoping that pro-bowl left tackle Chris Samuels will be 100% healthy in time for the opener. Early in training camp, Samuels went down with a knee injury and has been sitting out since. He will need to be in game shape in order to fend off Jason Taylor who will be licking his chops.

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