Coming into the offseason the Redskins’ top priority was to improve their defense, especially the line. They signed free agents Terrell McClain and Stacy McGee and drafted Jonathan Allen in the first round. Ziggy Hood re-signed, getting a two-year deal. It should be noted that there also were subtractions, notably the departure of Chris Baker as a free agent and the release of Ricky Jean Francois.

Even with the losses there seems to be a net gain in talent, especially with the addition of Allen in the first round. But we don’t know at this point. There have been 10 OTA sessions but those practices are conducted in helmets and shorts with no-contact restrictions.

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You can glean something from a no-pads, no-contact one-on-one battle between a cornerback and a wide receiver. You can’t get nearly as much when an offensive and a defensive lineman face off. And with the quarterbacks wearing those yellow “don’t touch” jerseys, you can only imagine how effectively the linemen can rush the passer.

While Jay Gruden preaches the importance of the offseason program, as all coaches do, even he didn’t make much of an effort to sell the notion that he can tell how his defensive line is progressing at this point.

“All we can work on right now is the work ethic and how they’re picking up the system, where they’re fitting, where they’re getting their hands on people,” said Gruden. “But as far as shedding and rushing, it’s really hard. It’s hard to go out here and coach team drills and say ‘OK, we’re competing but don’t compete because we’re not live and we can’t hit anybody.’ It’s a fine line. It’s hard to coach that.”

It sounds like Gruden would be happy if the Redskins headed to training camp in Richmond today instead of seven weeks from now.

“So, I think we’ll see more once we get the pads on, do some one-on-one pass rush, do some third-down drills where we’re live, he said. “We’ll get a better understanding, but you can see in individual drills and some of the other drills their fluidity and how they change direction and how they use their hands and all that, where they put their hands and their pad level. You can see a little bit of that. More will be determined once we get them [the pads] on.”

Fans are anxious to know about the progress along the line but you just can’t tell much right now. I mean, you can’t figure out if a player’s pad level is proper if they don’t have, you know, pads. Look for some deeper analysis of the unit starting on July 27.

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