Washington Commanders

Joe Barry excited to run an aggressive defense with Redskins

Published Jun. 9, 2015 2:13 p.m. ET

foxsports

When Washington Redskins hear the phrase "aggressive defense", they might immediately think, "oh not again". Former defensive coordinator Jim Haslett's hyper-aggressive scheme often left gaping holes in coverage over the middle and deep half of the field. The Redskins fielded one of the NFL's worst pass defenses by any metric over the last two seasons in Haslett's scheme. New defensive coordinator Joe Barry will be bringing in his own scheme, and he has his own way to use an aggressive approach that fits the players to the scheme.

”We’re aggressive. I would absolutely say that,” Barry said per the Redskins Blog. “We’re really stressing effort. We’re really stressing playing fast, playing with good fundamentals, having our knees bent, sprinting to the ball, things like that. …So, yes, it is something we’ll stress and will continue to stress.”

Barry is excited about the group of potential defensive starters that new general manager Scot McCloughan brought in this offseason. The players most likely to earn a starting role from this group include defensive linemen Stephen Paea and Terrance Knighton, edge rusher Preston Smith, cornerback Chris Culliver and safety Dashon Goldson.

“I think the No. 1 thing, again back to Scot [McCloughan] and his scouting staff, is we’ve not only brought in good football players, we’ve brought in good guys, good character guys,” he said. “I think that’s important when you bring guys into the locker room. You want good football players, but you want good people and we’ve done that. The character on this team is outstanding. There are going to be ups and downs in a season, and that’s when you really need those character guys.”

If the players have trouble picking up the scheme or staying motivated to adapt the aggressive approach on every snap, Barry feels that the right veteran leadership is in place help the defensive unit get on track.

“I think at each group we really have great veteran leadership,” he said. “You’ve got a guy like Jason Hatcher with the front, you’ve got a guy like Ryan Kerrigan with the linebackers, you’ve got guys like Dashon Goldson and DeAngelo Hall in the back end. That’s what you want. You want great players, but you want great players with great character and we got that.”

The Redskins have added a lot of new and talented players to what was one of the worst overall defensive units in 2014. A lot is expected from this unit in Barry's first season as coordinator.

(h/t Redskins Blog)

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports