Redskins 2005 Report Cards - Defense

[MTK]

#56 LaVar Arrington - It's tough to talk about the 2005 season without mentioning the drama surrounding Arrington. LaVar's tumultuous season began early in the '05 offseason when he lashed out at the organization over the handling of his knee injury. And then came the infamous contract grievance in which Arrington and his agents accused the Redskins of leaving out a roster bonus of $6.5M.

The dust eventually settled on both issues and as the season began fans were eager to see how Gregg Williams would utilize the talented linebacker in his aggressive schemes. The drama began to drum up again as Arrington's playing time dwindled until he hit rock botton on October 9th vs. Denver when he didn't enter the game at all.

There were whispers that Arrington's freelancing style wasn't exactly endearing himself to the coaching staff and Arrington needed to buy in and practice harder to see more playing time.

In week 7 against the 49ers, LaVar began to see the light a bit and was released from the doghouse, but for the rest of the season he was frequently pulled on 3rd downs and there were reports of a blowup between him and linebackers coach Dale Lindsey after the late season win over the Giants.

As the Redskins were gearing up for their first playoff appearance since 1999, an ill-timed article was published in the Washington Times in which Arrington openly questioned his future with the team, only adding to the drama that was the 2005 season for the once "face of the franchise".

Final Stats:
47 total tackles
39 solo
8 assists
1 pass defensed

Season highlight: In the wildcard game against the Bucs on January 7th, LaVar picked off Chris Simms setting up the Redskins only touchdown of the game. Arrington was all over the field recording 9 tackles and a forced fumble to go along with the interception.

Grade: C