Concerned about winning?

[PAPDOG67]

I know this may sound cheesy, but I started reading the book The Blind Side this week, the story about Ravens OT Michael Oher. I'm about 1/2 way thru and its a pretty good read. The first chapter talks in depth about how LT changed the game by the way he crushed QBs on a regular basis, and it actually gives a lot of detail about the play which ended Thiesman's career. In that chapter there were a couple of lines which totally described what I believe is wrong with our beloved Redskins. It came from Bill Parcells describing how LT played with a ridiculous motor and passion for the game. This is from the actual book: "Parcells believed that even in the NFL a lot of players were more concerned with seeming to want to win than with actually winning, and that many of them did not know the difference. What they wanted, deep down, was to keep their jobs, make their money, and go home." I think this is the problem with the Redskins right now. I know our coaching staff isn't the best right now, but there is no denying that we have a lot of talented individuals on this team. The problem is how many of them really want to win on a weekly basis??? There are a lot of over paid primadonnas on this team who would rather come out ahead on the stat sheet than on the scoreboard. Two of them that come to mind immediately are Hall & Landry. The remainder of this season should be dedicated to playing the younger guys to see what they got, and identifying who the real players are, and who is just out there collecting a pay check. Just wondering if anyone had their opinion on who the keepers are. I know I have my list and Fletcher & Orakpo are at the top. There are a handful of others, but there are a lot more I'd just as soon cut tomorrow.

[El Mexican]

Totally agree, man.

Where are the core Redskins?

And please don't tell me Portis is one of them.

Maybe ey. We'll see about Orakpo.

[aswas71788]

I would add Portis, Hall and Moss to the list of overpaid primadonas (is this the same as under achievers?).

As for the keepers list, add ey, Yoder, Smoot (he got humbled in Minn.), Wilson, Mitchell, Daughtry (sp?), Haynesworth, Mitchell.

A big question is who our quarterback will be. I would be surprised if Campbell is still with the team.

[SkinsJock]

I'm not sure who I would keep - I'm not that qualified - I do hope that we get a decent talent evaluator here though and he can bring in the coaching staff that can assemble a team - right now we have a lot (I repeat, a lot) of talented NFL players but when you put them together they do not make for much chance for a very good team and we certainly have very little quality depth - I am hopeful that a bunch of these guys can get some stuff on film in the next 8 weeks that the new guys coming in can make good sound decisions from

Of course if the same talent evaluators that are here now are going to be selecting the group of players for next year and giving the new coaches as little chance for success as they did this to this group this year, then we have a world of trouble

the good news is we are now only 8 games from the end of this season

[markshark84]

Totally agree, man.

Where are the core Redskins?

Retired a couple decades ago.....

[chiefhog44]

Players that are cancers to this team are Portis and Moss. Portis has an attitude problem and has a direct line to the owner...which is a BAD thing. Other players see that and don't know who to follow.

Let me break this down for you. Last year, there was a sideline feud with Zorn and Portis, and Zorn sat Portis for the remainder of the game. Then Portis publically called out Zorn on the John Thompson show about being a genious a day or two later. Anyone know what our record was at that time? We were like 6-2. I think that game was the Lions game. We ended up winning but the team had a choice to make. Follow Portis or follow Zorn. Zorn came out the next day and said that all was well between the two and that he sat Portis because of an injury or someting (can't remember exactly). Had Zorn had the gonads to bench portis or cut him right then and there for insubordination, I bet that we wouldn't be in this predicament we're in right now. Zorn would have established himself as the clear cut leader of this team and there would be accountability for players actions (look at Josh Mcdaniels as an example of how he handled B. Marshall...get in line or get lost). Instead, I'm sure Vinny or even Danny came to Zorn and said, Portis is the face of this franchise and you better keep playing him. So he had no choice. We played Pittsburgh the next weekend and lost. The cancer started to spread, the attitude went south and now we are 4-12 since. Portis has GOT to go, and in my opinion, Moss does as well because that attitude has rubbed off on him (and the guy drops more balls than anyone on the team besides Davis). Hopefully, they hasn't infected the other young receivers beyond repair yet.

[VetSkinsFan]

Totally agree, man.

Where are the core Redskins?

And please don't tell me Portis is one of them.

Maybe ey. We'll see about Orakpo.

Maybe ey? If there's one guy BESIDES Fletcher I'd keep, it's ey. He shuts his mouth and puts out on the field.

And Davis hasn't been on the field long enough to have a good eval of him.

[tribeofjudah]

I would add Portis, Hall and Moss to the list of overpaid primadonas (is this the same as under achievers?).

As for the keepers list, add ey, Yoder, Smoot (he got humbled in Minn.), Wilson, Mitchell, Daughtry (sp?), Haynesworth, Mitchell.

A big question is who our quarterback will be. I would be surprised if Campbell is still with the team.

Come on man....Jcam is OUT...turn off the lights, party is over for him.
See ya soup....don't let the door hit cha on the way out.

5 years of medium.... not gonna cut it. We need an elite qb.

I wonder what Gibbs ever saw in Soup.....

[El Mexican]

Totally agree, man.

Where are the core Redskins?

And please don't tell me Portis is one of them.

Maybe ey. We'll see about Orakpo.

Maybe ey? If there's one guy BESIDES Fletcher I'd keep, it's ey. He shuts his mouth and puts out on the field.

And Davis hasn't been on the field long enough to have a good eval of him.

Yes. By core Redskins I prefer guys we drafted. ey is surely one of them.

Fletcher is the best FA pickup the team has done this decade.

[dmwc]

We need an elite qb.

I dont think so... I would rather have a team that plays smart and hard verses an group that depends on 1 or two people...

[Skinsfan55]

Core Redskins? Ryan Clark and Antonio Pierce...

Oh wait.

[aswas71788]

We need an elite qb.

I dont think so... I would rather have a team that plays smart and hard verses an group that depends on 1 or two people...

I didn't write that but do agree with the statement, somewhat. Look at the teams that are doing well, San Diego, Indy, Pittsburg, New Orleans. They all have quarterbacks that are among the best in the NFL at getting their teams to score. Forget about their passing stats, quarterback ratings etc., look at their ability to get their team to score. An Eli Manning, McNabb or Rogers would be an exceptional improvement over what we have. Shucks, even if Sonny Jurgenson came back it would be an improvement.

The other side of the quarterback is that all of these guys have a good team around them. Without that, they could not be as effective. We need a quality quarterback but also need quality players in other positions as well.

[SkinsJock]

A good team is just that a good team - a lot of franchises today have a good offensive team or a good defensive team - a lot of franchises have groups of players that the coaches are trying to make into a 'team', some are more successful at it than others

A good team is not easy to assemble because the combinations for success on defense and offense are very hard for most to acertain without a great deal of experience - I would be very surprised if our record would be very different with Manning, Brees or Brady running the show here and that is the main problem - the guys in charge have tried their best to bring in talented players (and coaches) without really knowing the difference between a group of very talented players and a good team - most all NFL players are very talented, the hard part is finding players and coaches that make the other players around them better

to take it one step further - a great player or an impact player is only effective if he is surrounded with other players that 'work' together - an LT (for example) would not have been nearly as effective if he had not been forced to play within the parameters as laid down by Parcells - great players like Bosworth fail because they think they can be an impact player and do not need the other players around them

this is a team game and better players are 'better' only because they play with players who make each other better

you'd think after 10 years, Snyder would have figured that out

but then again he's kept Cerrato here after all his failings too

[DEHog]

I think what we are seeing is the culmination of the way the Skins do business. For years we have thought the Skins were intelligent cap managers. That doesn’t seem to be the case. When you look at the depth on this team it’s easy to see we lack that second string player at key positions who can be productive. We have had to go out and sign guys who were out of work at this time last year…do they want to win?? Or are they just happy to have a job. When I look around the league I see players who priorities are…
1 Health
2 Money
3 Winning
So to me as an Owner, GM or coach you have to manage with this in mind. 60 % of NFL players in any given year are playing with the only contract they will ever have and that contract is not guaranteed. I think these priorities do change a bit from player to player depending where they are in their careers. A young guy may not be as concerned about his health as he is about getting a big contract and his play reflects that. Some guys later in their careers may no be as concerned about a big contract as they are about winning a SB.
I think the Skins have done it backwards they have gone out and signed a few player who were playing for a contract on their other team and then we get that player and his priorities change and now he has his money and is concern about his health. We need guys playing for a contract to play here i.e. Bailey, Clark Pierce etc…
Also I think the NFL needs to address this if they were to give guaranteed contracts and/or long term healthcare to players I think they’d play to win and not worried. IF a player got hurt they could make a rule that his salary doesn’t count against the cap in any way. The bottom line is the Skins must get better at raising their own players and knowing who to give the money to and who no to. I’m so tired of hearing about having a owner who will spend money..if spending the “cap” was equated to winning we be great every year!

[BurgundyandGoldfaith]

I completely agree, Bailey, Pierce, and Clark played lights out to try to get a contract. Our leaders minus a few aren't hungry like that any more. Fletcher's hungry. Portis is well-fed