Last year was not the first time in recent memory that the Skins D has ranked in the top five. During Marvin Lewis first year the Skins were the fifth ranked defense in the league, but the following year with basically the same personnel the defense plummetted to #25. A large part of that fall was due to Marvin Lewis' departure. But not all of it can be blamed on the coordinator when the personnel were practically the same.
Despite the outstanding defensive performance, and abysmal offensive performance last year it is the future of the Defense that I worry about.
This offseason we lost two solid contributers in Pierce and Smoot. I'm not willing to crown Pierce as the next Ray Lewis just yet. He was system player who performed very well under Williams, but thats it. The Giants aquired Pierce and suddenly they have false hopes of returning to the glory days of the mid to late eighties.
The bigger loss was Smoot. Smoot was a leader and a good player, but perhaps more importantly he was young. Last year we were already thin at Cornerback. Smoot departure leves us with four CB's. The two projected starters are over 30. Wilds showed sparks in limited playing time but it is unclear whether he will be able to perform as well as he would need to should Springs or Harris go down. The fourth Corner is Ade Jimoh....nuff said! Of our two starting safeties...one is a future Hall of Famer with a huge chip on his shoulder and a petential hold out. The other is a quality starter approaching 30.
Our Linebacker situation for the first time in years is cause for concern. Barrow and Arrington are still rehabing and if they are both able to return then we will be in great shape. However we have a 35 year old playing MLB. Marshall's starting experience from last year helps to provide some insurance at both the Outside and Mike LB spots. This unit should perform well barring any injuries, but once again depth and age are a concern.
The Redksins have had a pretty strong back seven for years. Now the back seven is aging and thin. But that isn't the only place where the skins are aging.
The D-line last year had very low expectations which they were able to supercede. The Addition of Cornelius Griffin tuned out to be much better than expected. That Griffin didn't get a pro-bowl nod is robbery. Outside of Griffin we have Renaldo Wynn, Brandon Noble, Phillip Daniels, Joe Salavea....all 30 or over by opening day.
We were able to get pressure on opposing QB's last year but it was rarely the D-line itself causing that pressure. It was often a CB blitz, or a seven man rush that produced the sacks. That kind of aggressiveness can backfire on you. We have decent depth on the D-line but only one real impact player, Griffin.
This year we will not be able to rely on sticky man-to-man coverage like we were last year. We have to draft a CB. We only have four. But if we were to draft a quality cover man (as opposed to getting a CB on the second day) then we could once again use creative blitz packages to take pressure off of the D-line. Or we could draft an impact pass rusher and take the pressure off of the secondary. Without doing one of these things you can surely bet that the Skins defense will not live up to last years standards.
When you have a strength on a team you want to keep that strength and even build upon it. Last year we had a very good defense....not 2000 ravens or 85 bears good, but good. If we can add youth and talent to that squad then we could have a truly dominant Defense for years to come. If we rest on our laurels then don't expect the defense to get better.
So what about the horrid offensive performance last year? Well, despite our performance last year this is the side of the ball with the most talent. Portis, Moss, Randy Thomas, Samuels, Jansen, Ramsey,
ey. We have depth and youth in most of our offensive units. Folks are lamenting our lack of a prototypical number one reciever, but I ask you what about last year when we did have a legit number one? Did it help us? We also had two tall WR's Gardner and McCants. Didn't seem to help. Inconsistent O-Line play, Swithching QB's, and Gibbs first season jitters I think attribute to our Offense grossly underachieving. It certainly wasn't a lack of personnell.
We could use an upgrade at TE....particularly we could use a big blocking TE. And I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at a great talent at WR....but I've heard the hype before about top ten WR's and seen them turn into average players too many times to get my hopes up. We have plenty of young burners in that unit who haven't had an adequate shot at showing what they can do. I won't be upset if we go into this year with the Offense exactly as it is now. Consistency and improved O-line and Ramsey under Center will improve our Offense. Not to mention Gibbs second year is bound to be better than the first.
I won't be upset with whatever Gibbs decides to do, but I think that neglecting the Defense will lead to decline for that unit not just this year but in the future. We are old and thin at Defense. Our offense has plenty of young talent....they just need to learn to put it together.
Chad
