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Everyone knows that the Washington Redskins will select Baylor quarterback with the second pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. That much has been assured since Washington swapped a bevy of picks with the St. Louis Rams for the second-overall pick in the draft. They might be getting the better of the two quarterbacks, the other being Stanford’s Andrew Luck, according to NFL Films expert Greg Cosell.

Cosell released a 2012 NFL Mock Draft on Monday afternoon. Rather than arguing about predictions, Cosell mocked based on his own personal opinions of players and teams. In his mock, RG3 was the first overall pick, and Luck was second, the Redskins.

Set aside the bizarro world stuff for a bit, and read what Cosell had to say about RG3:

1. Indianapolis (I know they are taking Andrew Luck but that’s not important for this exercise): My highest rated quarterback is Robert Griffin III. Projecting college quarterbacks to the NFL demands an understanding of the attributes needed to play on Sunday. I presented those earlier this week. My conclusion: Griffin is a superior arm talent and better natural passer than Luck. This debate will rage for a long time, but that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

High praise from a guy that knows his stuff on player evaluations. Washington traded away a ton of picks, but the results should be worth it.

For more news and analysis on the Washington Redskins, make sure to visit Hogs Haven and SB Nation DC. For all the latest on the 2012 NFL Draft, please stop by Mocking the Draft. Still not enough football for you? The SB Nation NFL Hub Page has all the latest on all 32 teams around the National Football League.

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) Free-agent linebacker Bryan Kehl has signed with the Washington Redskins after spending the last two seasons with the St. Louis Rams.

The 6-foot-2, 244-pound Kehl has played in 59 NFL games, including five starts, for the Rams and the New York Giants. He has made 58 tackles, one interception, one sack and two fumble recoveries.

Kehl was a fourth-round draft pick in 2008 out of BYU.

The Redskins announced the deal Monday.

After trading up and giving up a lot for Robert Griffin III, it’s no real secret that the Washington Redskins have some seriously high hopes for the Heisman Trophy winner.

They have a franchise quarterback in mind. They have touchdown passes in mind. They have winning football games in mind.

But how realistic is it for Griffin to do all this?

I mean, the kid’s only a rookie. Heck, he’s not even drafted yet.

The expectations for RG3 are just as high as they are for Andrew Luck—if not higher, considering what the Redskins gave up for the Baylor quarterback. And for all those expectations, RG3 should not be expected to drag the Washington Redskins out of misery and into the playoffs in his first season in the NFL.

Let me rephrase that: Griffin will not take the Redskins to the playoffs this year.

Washington will look to do what the Cincinnati Bengals did with Andy Dalton last year as he led them to the playoffs—surround him with a tough defense and let him make big plays. But for all the skills and brilliance of Dalton, it wasn’t he who led the Bengals to the playoffs.

It was the Cincinnati defense.

The Bengals ranked seventh last year in total defense—allowing just 316.2 yards and 20.2 points per game as well as 37 touchdowns for the season.

It was this defense that won them football games and took them to the playoffs, not their 20th-ranked offense led by Andy Dalton.

He made good throws at the right time, but at the end of the day, it was the Bengals defense that ultimately led them in to the playoffs.

The Redskins will look to RG3 as the NFL Playoff Messiah when in reality, then need to be looking at him achieving that in three to five years’ time.

Give the defense a chance to grow and get better, then expect the Heisman Trophy winner to lead you into the playoffs.

Give Griffin a few years in the National Football League before expecting the playoffs—he’s bound to experience growing pains right now, simply because the rest of the Washington Redskins aren’t good enough to win football games.

They’re not good enough to compete in a division where no other side finished with a losing record.

Not yet, anyway.

RG3 is going to experience some growing pains in the NFL.

It doesn’t mean that he wasn’t worth trading up for, and it certainly doesn’t mean that he won’t do it at some point in the future.

What it does mean is that he’s more like Cam Newton than Andy Dalton.

Personally brilliant, but the star in a struggling team.

Winner of the Rookie of the Year award, but owner of a 6-10 record.

Cam Newton didn’t lead the Carolina Panthers to the playoffs, and that didn’t mean that he wasn’t one of the most exciting and brilliant prospects in several years.

The same goes for Robert Griffin III.

He will be brilliant. He will be spectacular. He will win football games. He will bring playoff hopes back to the Washington Redskins organization.

He might just have some growing pains along the way, though.

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Free-agent running back Tim Hightower might be back in a Washington Redskins uniform next season, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Washington Post on Saturday.

The four-year veteran visited Friday with the New England Patriots, who also have hosted free-agent running backs Joseph Addai and Ryan Grant.

The source told the newspaper that, despite those visits, the Redskins are still a possibility for Hightower.

The Redskins acquired Hightower in a trade last offseason from the Arizona Cardinals for defensive end Vonnie Holliday and a sixth-round draft pick.

Hightower played in and started five games for the Redskins in 2011 before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. He rushed for 321 yards on 84 carries and one touchdown. He also caught 10 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.

The Post reported that Hightower has wanted to return to Washington. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said at the NFL Annual Meeting in March that he wants the 25-year-old to be re-signed, telling the Washington Times that Hightower is “a potential starter on our football team.”

The Washington Redskins look poised to acquire their first franchise quarterback since Brad Johnson was under center in 2000.

The traded their top two picks in this year’s draft, along with two other number one picks to the St. Louis Rams to move into the second slot in the draft. With that pick the Skins will land either Sanford’s Andrew Luck, or more likely Baylor’s Robert Griffin III.

Luck is, by all reports, going to be selected first and go to the Indianapolis Colts. Griffin is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and will certainly be a great prize for Washington. Whichever guy is the quarterback, the Redskins did him a huge favor by bringing in 25-year-old Pierre Garcon to solidify the receiving corps.

After the Skins add Griffin they don’t have a pick until number 69, early in the third round. But that is where they will need to show some guile in the draft to fill some needs on the cheap.

Needs like replacing 37-year-old defensive stalwart London Fletcher, who is still with the team but who will not continue to play at a high level much longer. The Redskins also need to get some help on the right side of their offensive line where the oft-injured Jamaal Brown is currently the starter.

They may also look for some help at safety; the team cut O.J. Atogwe and brought in Bears castoff Brandon Meriweather this offseason. While he will probably lock up one of the starting safety spots, Tanard Jackson, Reed Doughty and DeJon Gomes are not likely to fill the other.

At middle linebacker, players like Cal’s Mychal Kendricks or Nevada’s James-Michael Johnson stand out as possibilities. Kendricks is a bit undersized at 5’11″ and just 240 pounds but concerns about his strength vanished when he put up 225 pounds 24 times at the combine. He played both inside and outside linebacker for Cal and could do both in the NFL.

Johnson is a more prototypical size for an NFL middle linebacker standing at 6’1″ and weighing 241 pounds. Johnson is an excellent run stuffer who is excellent when going north and south, but he does not play well sideline to sideline and is vulnerable to misdirection’s and stretch plays.

At tackle the Redskins are looking at players like Osemele Kelechi from Iowa State or Jeff Allen from Illinois being available when they select at 69.

At 6’6″ the awkwardly spelled Osemele is one of the biggest specimens in the draft. He stands 6’6″ tall and weighs in at 333 pounds and he uses that massive frame to devastating effect when he is run blocking. As a pass blocker he has lacked the quickness and athleticism of the elite players but he is still serviceable.

Allen is a more manageable 6’4″ 304 pound offensive tackle who was lightly recruited out of high school. He is very polished and started 47 games in his four years at Illinois, at both right and left tackle. The major knock on his is that he may not have the physical strength to compete at the NFL level.

If the Redskins choose to go the safety route they will be looking Harrison Smith from Notre Dame or Brandon Taylor from LSU. Smith may end up being selected before the Redskins pick but if he does fall to them he would be a steal who would upgrade their defense immediately.

Smith looks the part with a 6’2″, 213-pound frame, but he is not a prototypical safety. He played some linebacker and safety at Notre Dame. His skills are a bit more downhill, face the play, hard-hitting instincts of a linebacker, but his body says safety at the NFL level.

He needs to learn to be better in coverage to play every down for an NFL defense.

Taylor is a three-year starter on the very formidable and impressive LSU defense. Though he is on the small side at 5’11″ and 209 pounds he is a very physical presence on the football field who love to lay out his opponents with big hits.

He has been a bit of a liability in man coverage throughout his career, but as a safety in that concern is somewhat mitigated by the fact that he will mostly be in zone coverage.

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When the Washington Redskins traded up to the No. 2 pick in the draft, it was for the privilege of taking one of the best quarterback prospects in years; we just didn’t know if it would be Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III. While we could assume the Colts would take Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick leaving the Redskins with Griffin III, we can’t know for sure until he reaches a contract in Indy or we hear his name called next Thursday. But now Adam Schefter is reporting that the Colts have told Andrew Luck that he will be the pick.

Which means, as we expected, the Redskins will be taking Robert Griffin III at No. 2 overall.

For more news and analysis on the Washington Redskins, make sure to visit Hogs Havenand SB Nation DC. For all the latest on the 2012 NFL Draft, please stop by Mocking the Draft. Still not enough football for you? The SB Nation NFL Hub Page has all the latest on all 32 teams around the National Football League.

The arbitration hearing between the NFL, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins on the salary-cap penalties levied against the teams will be heard May 10 in front of league system arbitrator Stephen Burbank.

Motions must be filed before the hearing, and while that process can take time, it’s expected to happen as scheduled. The site of the hearing is up to Burbank, who is expected to hold it in Philadelphia, near or at the University of Pennsylvania, where he works as a law professor.

The Redskins are appealing $36 million in cap space docked by the league, applied over this season and next. The Cowboys are appealing a similar cap-space penalty of $10 million.

ProFootballTalk.com was first to report that the hearing was expected in May.

The league penalized the Redskins and Cowboys in March for using the uncapped 2010 year to create what was characterized as an unfair competitive advantage going forward, dumping large base salary numbers into 2010 on contracts for wide receiver Miles Austin in Dallas’ case, and cornerback DeAngelo Hall and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth in Washington’s case. The teams’ perspective is that there were no rules against doing that on the books, though other teams were upset about the moves.

A number of teams were adversely affected by the actions of the Cowboys and Redskins and were active in supporting the league pursuing the punishment, reflected by the 29-2 vote of owners (Washington and Dallas voted against it, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers abstained) taken at the March league meeting to move forward with the penalties.

Among those hit were the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens.

Austin’s contract was instrumental in pushing the franchise receiver price tag from $9.5 million in 2010 to $11.3 million in 2011. San Diego franchised Vincent Jackson at the latter number in 2011. The leverage Jackson gained from having an $11.4 million tender made him difficult to sign to a long-term deal, and the resulting 2012 franchise figure — by rule, 120 percent of the previous number, which came out to $13.7 million — made it even harder for the team to tag him again.

So San Diego, which likely would have tagged Jackson again had the number been more affordable, let Jackson walk. He signed a five-year, $55.6 million contract with the Bucs this offseason.

Similar to Austin’s deal, Haynesworth’s contract with the Redskins was central to the defensive tackle number soaring from $7 million to $12.5 million. Baltimore subsequently tagged Haloti Ngata at that figure in 2011. And while the Ravens wound up getting Ngata signed to a five-year, $61 million contract, having that extra $12.5 million on the cap from July until September cost them the ability to be more aggressive in free agency, according to team sources.

A similar dynamic existed, from a budget standpoint, in Miami, where Paul Soliai played 2012 under the $12.5 million defensive tackle tag figure.

The franchise tag number also soared at Hall’s position (cornerback), jumping from $9.6 million to $14 million. No player was franchised at the corner position in 2011.

The top 2011 free agent at that position, Nnamdi Asomugha, would’ve had a high number regardless, because of his already high financial numbers, and the Oakland Raiders contractually couldn’t tag him anyway. But Johnathan Joseph is an example of a player who might have been franchised if the number was lower than $14 million. The Cincinnati Bengals franchised kicker Mike Nugent instead, and Joseph bolted to the Houston Texans.

Follow Albert Breer on Twitter @AlbertBreer

The 2012 NFL schedule for the Washington Redskins has just been released, with the team opening at the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, September 9. What follows are the top three storylines coming out of the schedule.

Difficult Schedule Overall

The Redskins will likely have one of the more difficult schedules of any team in the NFL in 2012. It features matchups not only against NFC East opponents in the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants, but also the Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Ravens. The most difficult stretch will probably be from week 7 to 9, when the team plays at the Giants and Steelers, and then comes home to play against Cam Newton and the up and coming Panthers.

Thanksgiving with the Dallas Cowboys

One of the more interesting games to watch for the Redskins in 2012 will be a Thanksgiving Day matchup against their division rival Dallas Cowboys. It is not known yet whether the Redskins will get Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III, but in any case I would expect either to be starting by the time the team heads off to face the Cowboys, if not sooner. Washington’s defense will need to step it up against Romo and the Cowboys, who will have a lot of pressure on them to make it into the playoffs after a disappointing 8-8 season last year.

Featured Matchup: Baltimore Ravens Week 14

The Redskins will be hosting the Ravens in what will likely be an exciting matchup to watch, given how close the teams are located to one another. Not only will the Redskins have to figure out a way to stop Joe Flacco and Ray Rice on the defensive side of the ball, but also how to score enough points against a Ravens defense that will likely be among the best in the NFL again in 2012.

Washington Redskins 2012 Schedule

1 – at New Orleans Saints September 9

2 – at St. Louis Rams September 16

3 – vs. Cincinnati Bengals September 23

4 – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers September 30

5 – vs. Atlanta Falcons October 7

6 – vs. Minnesota Vikings October 14

7 – at New York Giants October 21

8 – at Pittsburgh Steelers October 28

9 – vs. Carolina Panthers November 4

10 – Bye

11 – vs. Philadelphia Eagles November 18

12 – at Dallas Cowboys November 22

13 – vs. New York Giants December 3

14 – vs. Baltimore Ravens December 9

15 – at Cleveland Browns December 16

16 – at Philadelphia Eagles December 22

17 – vs. Dallas Cowboys December 30

Ryan Kekoufski lives near the Redskins’ stadium and has been following the team for well over a decade. He covers sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and currently resides in Virginia.

Now that NFL.com has confirmed that the New York Giants have acquired ex-Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers for a 2012 fifth-rounder, the Redskins should sign former Big Blue starter Jonathan Goff.

According to the New York Times, the Giants may use the trade of Rivers as an opportunity to move Michael Boley into Goff’s sot at middle linebacker. Goff visited the Cleveland Browns earlier in free agency and yesterday visited the Miami Dolphins. The Giants cap limits have meant they have only offered minimum length deals to many of their free agents this offseason.

The Redskins front office has yet to reach a new deal with defensive leader London Fletcher. Moves made this week, including finding room for contracts for Leigh Torrence, Madieu Williams and James Lee, leaves the question, why has Fletcher still not been re-signed?

The inside linebacker is crucial to Washington’s defense and his loss would leave a huge hole in the front seven. Goff has the attributes to man the middle of the Redskins’ 3-4 scheme and could revive his career in D.C.

At 6’2″ and 241 pounds, he has the size necessary to plug the middle and take on blockers in coordinator Jim Haslett’s 2-gap system. Goff is a stout run defender with sure tackling technique and excellent instincts.

He is more of a thumper in the middle, possessing decent downhill quickness, but lacking true range and athleticism. However, Goff compensates for these deficiencies with natural smarts and the ability to diagnose plays.

A career 4-3 ‘backer, Goff has the intelligence to make a quick transition to the nuances and requirements of Washington’s 3-4 front. The only serious question mark surrounding him is durability.

Goff missed the entire 2011 campaign with an ACL injury. The Redskins front office would need to be sure that the ailment hasn’t robbed Goff of the necessary mobility and initial quickness to succeed.

He would need to quickly demonstrate that he is capable of returning to his 2010 level. Goff started all 16 games that year and tallied 80 solo tackles and one sack.

The 26-year-old is a savvy, young linebacker who has overcome a lot to earn starter’s status in the league. He fits the mould of the kind of player Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen have pursued in the last two free agency periods.

If he can prove his fitness, Goff could step in for Fletcher and develop in the scheme, or even learn from the veteran for a season before taking over. At the very least Goff would boost the Redskins’ depth at linebacker and provide insurance in case Fletcher finds a new team for 2012.

The Washington Redskins will open their 2012 preseason with back-to-back road games and then play the final two exhibition games at FedEx Field.

The team on Wednesday released their slate for the preseason, announcing their opener at Buffalo. The Redskins will then play at Chicago.

The final two preseason games will come against the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, both at home.

The specific dates and times for each matchup has yet to be determined.

The Week 3 preseason matchup – which usually serves as the dress rehearsal for the regular season opener – is expected to feature a face-off between quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, who project to go first and second overall, respectively, in this month’s NFL Draft.

The date with Tampa Bay will mark new secondary coach Raheem Morris’ first meeting against the team for which he served as head coach before his firing in January.

The Washington Redskins have approximately $7.1 million in available salary cap space, a person with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday.

That figure includes the free agent additions made by the team this offseason. It also includes the $18 million salary cap reduction given to the Redskins by the NFL for the way the team structured players’ contracts during the sport’s season without a salary cap in 2010. The Redskins were given a $36 million salary cap reduction over two years, at least half of which must be absorbed this season.

The Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, who were given a $10 million reduction over two years, are challenging their salary cap subtractions in a case before arbitrator Stephen Burbank.

Coach Mike Shanahan said last week at the annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., that the Redskins want to re-sign free agent linebacker London Fletcher. Shanahan also left open the possibility of the team making a move in free agency to fortify its offensive line. But the pace of free agent moves has slowed considerably league-wide as teams focus on their preparations for the NFL draft later this month.

It is a foregone conclusion that the Washington Redskins will take Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. The real mystery is what the Skins will do after they take RGIII.

Griffin addresses the team’s pressing need for a franchise quarterback, but G.M. Bruce Allen and head coach Mike Shanahan still have holes to fill through the draft and free agency.

Since they have traded away this year’s second-round pick, as well as the first rounders in 2013 and 2014, each free-agent acquisition and draft pick is that much more important.

The 5-11 Redskins had inconsistencies in pass coverage, on the offensive line, and at wide receiver. Shanahan was aggressive in signing wideouts Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan to complement Santana Moss and the promising Leonard Hankerson, so I think it is unlikely they will take a receiver with their third-round pick (69th overall).

That leaves the secondary and the O-line as the Redskins’ two biggest weaknesses, and one of these (or both) should be addressed in the draft.

There may be a tendency to want to protect Griffin as much as possible, and there is a good argument for this. After giving up so much to get him, it seems ridiculous not to protect that investment with a solid offensive line.

Looking at the team objectively, however, the greater need is at safety. Both starting safeties from the 2011 team are gone—LaRon Landry is now a Jet, and O.J. Atogwe was released after a disappointing and injury-plagued season.

The Redskins did sign veteran safety Brandon Meriweather to fill one of the open slots, but Reed Doughty is so slow he is liable to get beat deep by smaller offensive linemen, and he is nothing more than a backup/run stopper.

There will still be safety talent available in the third round, and Shanahan would be smart to at least give Doughty some competition with this pick.

The best option here is Antonio Allen, a safety from South Carolina who is currently projected to go in the third round.

Allen is a 6’1″ 210-pound safety who specializes in playing inside the box. He ran a 4.67 40-yard dash at the combine, and was a tackling machine at South Carolina.

This may seem like a bad fit, since the Redskins’ corners like to take chances and force safeties to help over the top.

What I love about Allen, however, is his ability to cover tight ends. In today’s NFL, the tight end is becoming an increasingly important weapon on offense. Guys like Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez create mismatches because they are too big for corners to cover in man, but way too fast for a linebacker to cover downfield.

Allen specialized in press covering tight ends at USC, a skill that translates perfectly to the NFL. He did not play a traditional safety in college, but Meriweather is an experienced cover safety that can drop back in zone or help over the top.

This would allow Allen to step up and play inside the box, where he can provide terrific run support or press a tight end on a passing play.

The Redskins do need improved coverage from their corners for a safety like Allen to really be let loose at the line of scrimmage, but he would be a terrific value pick early in the third round. His size and athleticism translate well to the NFL, and I would love to see him in burgundy and gold in 2012.