The drafting of quarterback Jason Campbell has the Washington area griping again, this time because the Redskins traded three picks for the 25th overall selection and didn't even address an immediate need.
With no true No. 1 wide receiver on the roster, several question marks at middle linebacker and a conspicuous lack of pass-rushing defensive ends, the Redskins went against conventional wisdom, looked down the road and drafted Patrick Ramsey's potential replacement.
The controversial draft came on the heels of several frustrating weeks for coach Joe Gibbs, who earlier dealt with an outburst by LaVar Arrington, the absence of Santana Moss and Sean Taylor from offseason workouts, and the loss of Antonio Pierce and Fred Smoot in free agency.
Publicly, all Gibbs has said is that Campbell was too good to pass up. The coach has reiterated that Ramsey is the unquestioned starter and that a club always must be mindful of squaring away the quarterback position long-term.
But here's an unspoken theory as to why Gibbs went with Campbell ahead of perceived "needs": Ramsey hasn't won with any regularity in the NFL. He's played well at times but never sustained an upward trend. Brunell, meanwhile, showed just how bad he could be in nine poor starts last season. Even if Gibbs wants to see Brunell play again, the veteran certainly can't be counted on.
Campbell, though, gives the club a promising developmental quarterback who can learn the offense at a leisurely pace over the next year or two. Washington doesn't have to rush him into the lineup and certainly won't face public calls to play Campbell until at least 2006.
By that point, Ramsey will have demonstrated whether he's moving forward or stuck in neutral. And if it's the latter, Gibbs, all of 65 years old at that point, wouldn't have to completely start over at the quarterback position (likely burning another season and, with it, any public confidence that carried over from his Hall of Fame first stint).
Currently, the "worst" scenario is that Ramsey plays well and Campbell becomes extraneous. But at that point, Washington would be winning and it always could trade Campbell for a high-round draft pick.
From this vantage point, it appears that Gibbs made the ultimate "insurance" play in the draft - -an intriguing defensive move for a coach who spent his first offseason as team president on the personnel offensive.
NOTES, QUOTES
—Coach Joe Gibbs met with agent Joel Segal, who was in town for QB Jason Campbell's introductory news conference, regarding the fate of WR Rod Gardner. However, Gardner appears no more likely to return to the club and no trade appears imminent.
The thinking here is that Gibbs is sending up a smokescreen when he says that Gardner could be back in 2005. Washington has signed Santana Moss and David Patten; Gibbs has said he would like to see Taylor Jacobs win a starting role; and James Thrash earned significant praise and the promise of a greater role at the end of 2004.
Why would Washington pay Gardner's $2.1 million salary for a No. 5 receiver with a bad attitude and worse hands? It doesn't make sense. More likely is Gibbs making a public show of keeping Gardner to create some trade value — currently teams think Gardner simply will be released.
—DT Brandon Noble had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, the one that wasn't devastated in a 2003 preseason game. The starting defensive lineman sat out all of 2003 with the knee injury and wasn't full strength last year, but he now expects to be back without problem for full-squad minicamp in mid-June.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I like to look at it from that perspective and hope it happens that way." — QB Patrick Ramsey on the possibility of a Drew Brees-Phillip Rivers scenario in Washington, where the Redskins recently spent a first-round pick to acquire QB Jason Campbell.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
FRANCHISE PLAYER: None.
TRANSITION PLAYER: None.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: S Pat Dennis; S Jason Doering; S Todd Franz (not tendered as RFA); TE Brian Kozlowski.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS: None.
PLAYERS RE-SIGNED: LS Ethan Albright; OL Ray Brown; RB Rock Cartwright; PK Jeff Chandler; LB Chris Clemons; DE Demetric Evans; QB Tim Hasselbeck; S Andre Lott; DL Cedric Killings; LB Lemar Marshall; DT Joe Salave'a; TE Mike Sellers; RB John Simon; DE Ron Warner.
PLAYERS ACQUIRED: LB Brian Allen; WR Santana Moss; WR David Patten; S Pierson Prioleau; C Casey Rabach.
PLAYERS LOST: WR Laveranues Coles; DT Jermaine Haley; OT Vaughn Parker; LB Antonio Pierce; CB Fred Smoot.
Well i toatlly agree with the QB thing,that Gibbs cant waste another season training a QB if ramsey flaters. Its a good insurance policy.
I think we will do great this season.
Moss has pissed me off so much just from his holdout and his absence at camp. Something deep down inside is telling me this guy is inferior to Patten anyway and if he wants L.Coles type money then we shouldnt give him a new contract and let his play next season decide whether he's still a Redskin in 2006. If we give him a 30+ million dollar contract it WILL come back to bite us in the ass, watch. I'm really hoping Jacobs will show us why he was a potential 1st round pick when we drafted him that year in the 2nd
Redskins4Life wrote:Moss has pissed me off so much just from his holdout and his absence at camp. Something deep down inside is telling me this guy is inferior to Patten anyway and if he wants L.Coles type money then we shouldnt give him a new contract and let his play next season decide whether he's still a Redskin in 2006. If we give him a 30+ million dollar contract it WILL come back to bite us in the ass, watch. I'm really hoping Jacobs will show us why he was a potential 1st round pick when we drafted him that year in the 2nd
Moss's absents is upsetting but I'm not pissed, if he's not here for mandatory workouts or camps then I'll be pissed. I can't believe he didn't agree to some type of contract perimeters (NOT 30 Million) before we agreed to the deal. I too think Patten will be more of a no 1 than Moss and Taylor Jacobs will be fighting for one of the 2 starting spots. My guess would be McCants will share time with Thrash at the #4
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When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hold on....
I really hope we trade Gardner. I MUST release him otherwise. I don't think he is as bad as others think but his presence will hurt the development of our other receivers who are signed to longer contracts.
The Hogster wrote:some of us really believe that 50/50 could be the #1.
Well....I'd like to see a show of hands of those who actually believe that one! My guess is that not too many will be raised.
I know the folks in the front office thing that Moss may be our number one guy, but I'm thinking our WR depth chart is this:
1. Patten 2. Moss 3. Jacobs 4. Thrash 5. McCants
I'm thinking (and hoping) that Patten is gonna surprise a lot of you folks this year.
I don't believe it, but there was a debate in Smack where one of our buddies made that comment that he could be. I then tried to enlighten him, but he hasn't recoiled from that argument as ridiculous as it is.
I think Gardner has the talent...u guys have to admit when he does catch the ball its amazing...if he learned to be consistent he would be good, I just would hat to see him leave and do good for another team
" But you should've seen Joe (Gibbs) when they said he couldn't coach anymore...his chest puffed out and said..i dont care what it takes, were not leaving here without another ring." Coach Joe Bugel
I think Moss not being here for workouts is going to screw him up. Taylor Jacobs and Ramsey are apparently working well together and Jacobs could forseeably wind up being the starter.
I would actually like to see Jacobs start with Patten. If we incorporate more 3 receiver sets, Moss could really exploit defenses running out of the slot by forcing matchups against safteies or LB's.
This is why he is so vital. With him, patten and Jacobs, the defense would have to either
a) put corners on Patten and Jabobs (legit deep threats) leaving the slot (Moss matched) against Safety or LB.
b) the defense has to go nickle with an extra db. this would take a defender out of the box opening up the run game.
c) running effectively out of that set opens up the playaction pass, a staple of Gibb's offense.
Moss is important to what we are trying to do. outside of him, the only other deep threat we have is Thrash. We need Moss, Patten, and Jacobs to be ready to punish the defenses.
We don't run alot of three receiver sets, but we do run them. We need the proper personell to execute it though, Moss can really shine in this type of offense.
I honestly don't understand why people are so enamored with Patten. He's 30 years old and in 8 seasons in the NFL hasn't distinguished himself. We're his 4th team already and you don't often see truely talented receivers switching teams so many times. He's had several solid seasons, such as last year, but has never reached 1,000 yards on a season. I can see him being a solid #2 but he doesn't have the natural talent of a Santana Moss, or even a Taylor Jacobs. Scouts, Inc. has him ranked as the 88th best receiver in the NFL, which is actully behind both DMac and Thrash. Persoanlly I think that our best starting combo would be Jacobs and Moss, with Patten used as the #3. Thrash would likely serve as the #4, since he is valuable on special teams. DMac would then get any catches that are left over.
Good point Hogster! I think that this might be what Musgrave and Gibbs are thinking also, as we did not "address" a WR concern (IF there was one!) and they seem to want to let this group get it done.
Hopefully Moss gets here soon to start working with Ramsey. I think he could help himself a lot this season (with this group!) and he should start to consider that too!
Until recently, Snyder & Allen have made a lot of really bad decisions - nobody with any sense believes this franchise will get better under their guidance Snyder's W/L record = 45% (80-96) - Snyder/Allen = 41% (59-84-1)
I think we will run more three reciever sets this year. Gibbs said he was going to make some changes and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the change he made.
I don't know what it is but i just have a feeling McCants is about ready to explode onto the scene. Have nothing to base this on just a gut feeling.As for Gardner he was given permission to seek a trade. No takers. With that being said look for Gardner to really step it up if he has it in him. His stock has been proven and the Skins may reap the rewards.
C'fieldSkin wrote:I think Moss not being here for workouts is going to screw him up. Taylor Jacobs and Ramsey are apparently working well together and Jacobs could forseeably wind up being the starter.
With Taylor's long arms and strides he does remind me a bit of Gary Clark. If he could only develope some of those moves after the catch that Gary had.....I do ask for alot.
Over! Nothing is over until we say its over. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor! Hell no! -- Future Sen. Blutarski.
C'fieldSkin wrote:I think we will run more three reciever sets this year. Gibbs said he was going to make some changes and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the change he made.
Did you hear how Gibbs is contimplating the shotgun?
He did use it briefly with Theisman... I think against the Bears because of the pass rush but never went back to it.
Over! Nothing is over until we say its over. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor! Hell no! -- Future Sen. Blutarski.
Until any of our receivers actually show us ANYTHING, Gardner is the closest thing that we have to a number one receiver. Yeah, there I said it! Patten and Thrash are average receivers who are good in a number 2 or 3 spot. The only thing that we have to look forward to is the hope that Jacobs or McCants actually get the time on the feild and have the tallent to become a #1 WR. Moss would be best used as a #2 or #3 to stretch the field (if he actually shows up). I don't want to hear any of that cr@p that he hasn't missed any "mandatory" training because that is a bunch of horse pucky. If my Boss said, "Hey I really want you to be at work with everyone else, but it is "technically not mandatory"", I would be fired or at least put in his dog house.
I hope that McCants gets the time on the feild to prove his worth, because I think that he is at least a good possesion receiver and could be more. But the real reason I want him to get on the feild is so EVERYONE CAN STOP WANKING "What about McCants! We never gave him a shot!".
(Can I say WANKING?)
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain"
(It is time to roll the dice) Tai'shar Manetheren
"Duty is heavier than a Mountain, Death is lighter than a feather" Tai'shar Malkier
