The People vs. Joe Barry

By Richard Rogers

Fourteen games into the season, Washington Redskins fans have handed down an indictment of Joe Barry. He has been charged with being the worst Defensive Coordinator in the National Football League. After the final game of the season, Barry will stand trial and account for his actions. It’s clear that fans are ready to prosecute Joe Barry to the fullest extent of the law, but what’s uncertain is who, and what is his defense? The jury will probably consist of the owner, president of the team, general manager, and maybe a mixture of assistants and locker room leaders. As the fan base continues to gather its evidence, Joe Barry continues to fight for his NFL life.

This appears to be a “slam-dunk” case for the prosecution right? The Washington Redskins rank dead last in the NFL in stopping opposing teams on 3rd down. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, how many times have we seen teams pick up 3rd and double digits to go? Under Joe Barry, the Washington Redskins rank 24th in the league in points per game, rank 29th in the league in points allowed per game, 26th in the league in pass yards allowed per game, and 22nd in the league against the run. As the often quoted Steve Spurrier once said, “not too good”. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, Joe Barry as a defensive coordinator in the NFL has never had a top 20 defense and was infamously the defensive coordinator for the 2008 winless Detroit Lions. If that’s not enough, look at the games for yourself. RB Jonathan Stewart for the Panthers has not had a 100 yard game since LAST SEASON against the Washington Redskins. The Philadelphia Eagles went for it on fourth down four times in their week 14 matchup. What does that tell you about the respect level for Joe Barry’s gamesmanship? If that’s not enough, watch the number of broken coverages in the secondary and missed tackles. Bashaud Breeland has regressed and has played better defense on Twitter against fans than he has on the field. Kendall Fuller seems lost. Donte Whitner can’t run, and the defensive line cannot get pressure without bringing multiple lineman on a blitz.

Barry’s defense team must do a good job in making the case that this team is still an unfinished product in the middle of a rebuild and a defense devoid of talent. That’s going to be a tough, but not impossible sell to the jury. You have an owner who does not like to be embarrassed, and every now and then regresses to his days of impatience and knee-jerk reactions. The team president who has shown loyalty to his “Tampa Connections”, but is this a case of blind loyalty? Then, there’s the general manager, who says he wants “football players”. Do the Redskins have “football players” on defense? This may be Barry’s best defense. The Washington Redskins have drafted just two defensive linemen since 2010 in Jarvis Jenkins and Matt Ioannidis. In the same period of time, the Redskins have drafted four safeties in Dijon Gomes, Phillip Thomas, Kyshoen Jarrett, and Bacarri Rambo. The defensive line has a mix and match of “long in the tooth” vets and try-hard guys. And where’s the speed? Kerrigan, Murphy, Smith, Compton, and Foster are collectively slow, but make plays here and there. Notice that three of the five I mentioned played defensive line in college and have since been converted into linebackers, but that may be inadmissible at this point in time.

Barry’s “lack of talent” defense may be his only avenue to an acquittal for this season, but the odds are against it. When your boss has an offense that’s top five in the league, the horrific defense stands out. Any defense attorney worth his salt would point out that the Redskins are 2nd to last in the NFL in cap dollars spent on defensive players. What does that mean? It means that the defense has not been adequately addressed. Fans can use the argument, and with good reason, to say that a good defensive coordinator gets the most out of bad players, but the fact of the matter is that talent trumps coaching. Look at the offensive side of the ball. The Redskins are 2nd in the NFL in the amount of cap space spent on offense. Let’s looks at the results: Reed, Crowder, Cousins, Scherff, Williams, Long, Moses, Jackson, Garcon. There’s top 10 in the league talent on offense, and that’s what gets you the 2nd ranked offense in the NFL. The defense has Josh Norman and a budding star in Su’a Cravens.

As the season comes to a close, it may be that Barry takes a plea deal and resigns or he rolls the dice, goes to trial and puts his fate in the hands of the jury. As with many trials, it could go either way. When the evidence is mounted against the defendant, a conviction appears to be a “no-brainer”, but is there a “hold out” juror who can’t find it in them to convict Barry? Is it Gruden? Is it Scot McCloughan? We’ll never know, but an acquittal could mean a fan uprising.