Because it is the offseason, it is inevitable that we look to the future, more specifically the upcoming 2016 season. Unfortunately, the schedule has not been released yet. However, each team’s opponents have been released, which means that we can start looking at the Carolina Panthers 2016 opponents. The first game we will take a look at is the game at FedExField in Landover, Md. against the Washington Redskins.

The Redskins had a better than expected 2015 season. They went 9-7, won their division and lost their first game in the playoffs against the Green Bay Packers. Redskins’ fans are hopeful that they can make it further into the playoffs this year with a healthy squad and some growth from linebacker Preston Smith as well as other young defenders.

Related Panthers are keeping in shape this offseason with a diverse set of workouts

Redskins’ defense

The Redskins play a 3-4 defensive alignment, but often line up in nickel formation (four defensive linemen, two linebackers, and five defensive backs) to counter the amount of three-receiver sets offenses deploy nowadays. The Redskins rotate OLB Preston Smith, defensive tackle Chris Baker, defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois, defensive tackle Stephen Paea, outside linebacker Trent Murphy, and outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan along the defensive front. Smith is a second-year player who would like to build off his successful rookie season, Baker and Jean-Francois are steady interior line players, and Kerrigan is the pass rushing star of the defense. By adding Paea and Murphy to the equation, you take an already good rotation and make it top notch. This defensive line combined with a linebacker group led by Mason Foster and Will Compton is the most likely front seven for the Redskins. This unit has the potential to become a top-five front seven in the NFL and can be a deciding factor in many games.

The Redskins’ secondary is considered the weak portion of the defense. Bashaud Breeland, Chris Culliver, Will Blackmon and Quinton Dunbar rotate at cornerback while DeAngelo Hall, Duke Ihenacho, and Kyshoen Jarrett rotate at safety. Hall has been injured numerous times over the last two years, and Ihenacho has stepped up each time Hall has been injured. Jarrett is the only free safety on the roster, with Hall technically being a strong safety even though he will likely start at free safety this season. Breeland has been a shining light in an otherwise depleted cornerback rotation involving an injured Chris Culliver, a declining Blackmon and a former undrafted free agent with much to prove in Quinton Dunbar.

Scot McCloughan hired as the team’s general manager and he has made a point of building the defense from the inside out. Because of this, it is likely that he targets another defensive lineman or linebacker in the draft before he searches for cornerbacks and safeties. This defense is young but has the potential to improve quickly.

Redskins’ offense

Quarterback Kirk Cousins will need to prove that his 2015 season was not a fluke and that he can perform at a high level if he wants to stay in Washington D.C. in the future. The Redskins have surrounded Cousins with offensive firepower in wide receivers DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon, and Jamison Crowder as well as, tight ends Jordan Reed, Vernon Davis and running back Matt Jones. The skill positions on the Redskins’ offense are filled with quality players who can help the young quarterback build off of his impressive performance over the final 10 games of the season. Cousins finished the year with 29 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions but over the final 10 games, the Michigan State product had 23 touchdown passes to just three interceptions.

The main deficiencies on the offensive side of the ball come from the interior offensive line. Teams often got good pressure up the middle against center Kory Lichtensteiger, and guards Shawn Lauvao, Spencer Long and Brandon Scherff. Pressure up the middle is a quarterback’s worst nightmare and unfortunately for Cousins if pressure was going to come, it was more likely to come from the middle than the edges during the 2015 campaign.