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In this series, I will be looking at the history of coaches, quarterbacks, rushers, and receivers for all 32 franchises. For coaches and quarterbacks, I will be looking at how much their franchise’s career records (regular season only) would change if we removed the games with that person. For rushers and receivers, I will note how many times that player was the team’s leading rusher/receiver over the course of their time with that franchise (regular plus postseason).

Previous Teams:

Dolphins
Cowboys
Bills
Eagles
Jets
Giants
Patriots

Joe Gibbs is the best coach in Redskins history, and it’s not very close. He went 124-60 as the team’s head coach in the ’80s and early ’90s, and then came back for a second stint at the age of 64. Even then, he wasn’t bad: Washington made the playoffs twice in four years, although his overall record was only 30-34.

But even with that second stint, Gibbs stands out as the best regular season coach the team has ever had (he’s also in the conversation for best playoff coach in NFL history, or at least NFC history). Washington has had an ugly run of football for about 20 years, but the franchise still has an above-.500 record all-time. That’s thanks to Gibbs: with him, the team is at 0.504, and without him, it’s at 0.474. Two other coaches were great for the franchise in shorter doses: George Allen had a great run in the ’70s, and Ray Flaherty had a lot of success with Hall of Fame QB Sammy Baugh.

Ovr RkCoachGWLTHC Win %FrGFrWFLFrTFr W%Win% w/o HCDiff
17Joe Gibbs2481549400.6211218600590280.5040.4743%
40George Allen98673010.6891218600590280.5040.4881.6%
47Ray Flaherty78542130.7121218600590280.5040.491.4%
111Dudley DeGroot2014510.7251218600590280.5040.50.4%
147Dutch Bergman106310.651218600590280.5040.5030.1%
160Vince Lombardi147520.5711218600590280.5040.5030.1%
177Dick Todd95400.5561218600590280.5040.5040%
191John Whelchel73310.51218600590280.5040.5040%
193Lud Wray104420.51218600590280.5040.5040%
195Marty Schottenheimer168800.51218600590280.5040.5040%
196Lone Star Dietz24111120.51218600590280.5040.5040%
197Jack Pardee48242400.51218600590280.5040.5040%
205Terry Robiskie31200.3331218600590280.5040.5050%
224Bill Austin146800.4291218600590280.5040.505-0.1%
233Turk Edwards35161810.4711218600590280.5040.505-0.1%
253Curly Lambeau24101310.4381218600590280.5040.505-0.1%
288Otto Graham42172230.441218600590280.5040.506-0.2%
299Eddie Casey112810.2271218600590280.5040.507-0.3%
315Joe Kuharich60263220.451218600590280.5040.507-0.3%
334Richie Petitbon1641200.251218600590280.5040.507-0.3%
340Jim Zorn32122000.3751218600590280.5040.508-0.3%
341Steve Spurrier32122000.3751218600590280.5040.508-0.3%
364Jay Gruden80354410.4441218600590280.5040.508-0.4%
378Norv Turner109495910.4541218600590280.5040.509-0.5%
383Herman Ball2041600.21218600590280.5040.509-0.5%
399Mike Nixon2441820.2081218600590280.5040.51-0.6%
429Mike Shanahan64244000.3751218600590280.5040.511-0.7%
482Bill McPeak70214630.3211218600590280.5040.515-1.1%

Speaking of Baugh, which quarterbacks have helped/hurt the Redskins overall winning percentage the most? Keep in mind that for the quarterback record portion of this series, I am only looking at data from 1950 to 2018. That means most of Baugh’s career is excluded, because we don’t have quarterback starts data pre-1950. Since 1950, the Redskins have been a below-average franchise, winning 48.8% of their games. Take out Norm Snead — who also ranked last on the Eagles list — and that mark nearly jumps to 0.500. The top honor here goes to Joe Theismann, whose teams had a .621 winning percentage in games he started. The full list is below, and as always, I recommend sorting by games played to get a more complete picture:

Ovr RkQBGWLTQB Win %FrGFrWFLFrTFr W%Win% w/o QBDiff
30Joe Theismann124774700.6211018489513160.4880.4701.8%
43Billy Kilmer74502310.6821018489513160.4880.4731.5%
59Mark Rypien72452700.6251018489513160.4880.4781%
70Jay Schroeder3124700.7741018489513160.4880.4790.9%
124Brad Johnson27171000.6301018489513160.4880.4840.4%
195Sonny Jurgensen108525150.5051018489513160.4880.4860.2%
222Ed Rubbert33001.0001018489513160.4880.4870.2%
223Todd Collins33001.0001018489513160.4880.4870.2%
242Tony Banks148600.5711018489513160.4880.4870.1%
245Alex Smith106400.6001018489513160.4880.4870.1%
289Sammy Baugh21111000.5241018489513160.4880.4870.1%
316Stan Humphries53200.6001018489513160.4880.4880.1%
329Jeff Hostetler32100.6671018489513160.4880.4880.1%
417Danny Wuerffel42200.5001018489513160.4880.4880%
424Jim Ninowski21100.5001018489513160.4880.4880%
508Shane Matthews73400.4291018489513160.4880.4890%
523Josh Johnson31200.3331018489513160.4880.4890%
529Eagle Day10100.0001018489513160.4880.4890%
530Dick Shiner10100.0001018489513160.4880.4890%
531Mike Kruczek10100.0001018489513160.4880.4890%
532Jeff Rutledge10100.0001018489513160.4880.4890%
533Mark Sanchez10100.0001018489513160.4880.4890%
694Al Dorow146800.4291018489513160.4880.489-0.1%
695Trent Green146800.4291018489513160.4880.489-0.1%
712Rich Gannon41300.2501018489513160.4880.489-0.1%
713John Friesz41300.2501018489513160.4880.489-0.1%
715Randy Johnson20200.0001018489513160.4880.489-0.1%
716Cary Conklin20200.0001018489513160.4880.489-0.1%
773Mark Brunell33151800.4551018489513160.4880.489-0.1%
817Donovan McNabb135800.3851018489513160.4880.490-0.1%
825Kirk Cousins57263010.4651018489513160.4880.490-0.1%
827Tim Hasselbeck51400.2001018489513160.4880.490-0.1%
829John Beck30300.0001018489513160.4880.490-0.1%
893Patrick Ramsey24101400.4171018489513160.4880.490-0.2%
906Rex Grossman1661000.3751018489513160.4880.490-0.2%
909Doug Williams145900.3571018489513160.4880.490-0.2%
918Jack Scarbath103700.3001018489513160.4880.490-0.2%
921Colt McCoy61500.1671018489513160.4880.490-0.2%
969Heath Shuler134900.3081018489513160.4880.491-0.2%
975Jeff George71600.1431018489513160.4880.491-0.2%
1042Gus Frerotte46192610.4241018489513160.4880.491-0.3%
1046Robert Griffin35142100.4001018489513160.4880.491-0.3%
1077Ralph Guglielmi2151330.3101018489513160.4880.492-0.4%
1083Harry Gilmer80800.0001018489513160.4880.492-0.4%
1087Eddie LeBaron57233220.4211018489513160.4880.492-0.4%
1139Jason Campbell52203200.3851018489513160.4880.494-0.6%
1204Norm Snead4293030.2501018489513160.4880.498-1%

The Redskins have a number of running backs play well in short bursts for the team. John Riggins, Clinton Portis, Stephen Davis, Larry Brown, and Terry Allen all were standouts in fantasy football for the Redskins for at least a year or two. Brown was the most dominant RB (and also league MVP) in 1972 and Allen was the NFL’s best fantasy running back in 1996. There were also four times a Redskin ranked as the 3rd most valuable fantasy RB based on my system: Davis in ’99, Riggins in ’83, and Brown in ’73 and ’70. And we can’t forget about Portis, who had strong years in ’05 and ’07, and led the team in rushing in 87% of his games. But it’s The Diesel who takes the cake here, leading the team in rushing in 78 games (postseason included).

RusherFirst YrLast YrLeading RusherTotal Games%
John Riggins197619857812363%
Clinton Portis20042010768787%
Stephen Davis199620026510164%
Larry Brown196919766310958%
Alfred Morris20122015546682%
Terry Allen19951998505296%
Earnest Byner19891993408746%
Mike Thomas19751978375469%
George Rogers19851987304764%
Don Bosseler19571964309631%
Ricky Ervins19911994236535%
Rob Goode19491955215141%
Ladell Betts200220092010619%
Charley Taylor196419772017012%
Billy Ray Barnes19621963162273%
Reggie Brooks19931995153050%
Dick James19561963159915%
Charlie Harraway19691973157420%
Joe Washington19811984135125%
Matt Jones20152016132065%
Charlie Justice19501954134330%
A.D. Whitfield19661968133735%
Ryan Torain20102011121867%
Johnny Olszewski19581960113135%
Adrian Peterson20182018111669%
Kelvin Bryant19861990115221%
Gerald Riggs19891991104323%
Leo Elter19551957103529%
Brian Mitchell19901999101686%

Washington has been blessed with some very good wide receivers, too. Hall of Famer Art Monk unsurprisingly comes out on top, while a pair of former Jets in Santana Moss and Laveranues Coles were great in short stints for the team.

ReceiverFirst YrLast YrLeading ReceiverTotal Games%
Art Monk198019937122032%
Charley Taylor196419775917035%
Santana Moss200520145115034%
Gary Clark198519925013537%
Bobby Mitchell19621968429843%
Ricky Sanders198619933612928%
Hugh Taylor19471954329434%
Pierre Garcon20122016307639%
Henry Ellard19941998286543%
Michael Westbrook19952001288234%
Roy Jefferson19711976279030%
Laveranues Coles20032004233272%
Chris Cooley200420122112117%
Jerry Smith196519772117512%
John Carson19541959195733%
Frank Grant19731978197824%
Bill Anderson19581963187424%
DeSean Jackson20142016164139%
Rod Gardner20012004166425%
Charlie Brown19821984154137%
Albert Connell19972000155229%
Jamison Crowder20152018155726%
Jordan Reed20132018156623%
Fred Davis20082013127217%
Jim Podoley19571960114326%
Danny Buggs19761979115022%
Leslie Shepherd19941998115620%
Ricky Thompson19781981106316%
Clarence Harmon19771982107813%

That’s it for the Washington version of this series. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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