The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

SkinsFreak wrote:Zorn's time is limited? Great. Another coaching and system change, huh? Wonderful... just what this team needs.

Going back to the Cutler/Campbell thing, here's an interesting little tidbit...

I had mixed feelings about the possibility of Cutler coming here, but the more research I actually did, the more skeptical about Cutler I became. We all know by now that he only has one more win than Campbell in just one more game. And we know that his numbers were astronomical last season, yes.

But by my informal count, only eight of his 37 career games have come against defenses ranked in the top 12 in the season he played them (and if you take the top 10, it drops to five games). Campbell had seven against the top 12 this past season alone, and still posted respectable numbers. Also, I'd hardly be the first to observe that continuity is worth a lot, and is something the Redskins haven't had a lot of in recent years.

Link

Anyone been watching the re-airs of the games from last year being shown on the NFL Network? Saw the Philly game yesterday and watched the Dallas game last week. I've also got many games on tape. Campbell looked pretty impressive during those two games specifically. All you heard from the announcers were words such as "maturation", "impressive" and "poise". JC made some very good decisions with the ball during those games and contrary to a few assertions from around here, JC made some beautiful throws, hitting receivers in stride. Going forward, I think JC has a lot to build off of from last year.

I saw the Philly game yesterday on reply as well. Thomas really looked like he could do something this year if he has a good off-season. I think the offensive PI will be squashed this year. Thomas was always fighting for yards every time he had the ball in his hands. I think he'll surprise people this year.

SkinsJock wrote:I think Zorn is convinced that we are going to get a lot more out of Thomas than we saw last year because everyone knows Moss is not a true #1 wideout and Thomas must be making Zorn feel real good about that otherwise we would be seeing a lot more tryouts with guys like Torry Holt and others that are available for a reasonable price.

I also think that Zorn's play calling will be a vast improvement over last year AND that Campbell's play at QB will be an improvement over last year as well - the fact is neither has to improve much for it to be a lot better - in my opinion they both had very bad performances and can do a lot better. The problem is that Zorn has a lot more upside as a coach in my opinion than Campbell does as a QB but I expect both to have "better' years.


I hope we can get a super RT in this year's draft and maybe add another 2 great offensive lineman in next year's draft - we are also going to need a great QB soon too - this team has a lot of needs going forward and right now they are mostly on the offensive side of the ball.

Is Zorn convinced or is this a case of Thomas needing a lot more opportunities before he can judge? I think the latter. I would really like to see Kelly get the number 1 role. Thomas made a lot of really silly mistakes if you remember and he is really a speedster anyway. Kelly is supposed to be the guy to move the chains and to be a big target in the red zone. Thomas could be a great 3rd receiver if all goes well. Randle El should be a number 4 and Thrash should be cut and I hate to say that because I like him but he can't do it anymore.



I like your attitude about Zorn's play calling and Campbell's play at QB It has to get better.




I hope we can get a super RT too. I hope we draft for need but last year was the first time in a while that we did that. I wouldn't be upset if we drafted a DE or LB but those are the holes that can be plugged with vets. I wouldn't put it past Vinnie or Snyder to draft a corner. There is a lot of them in this years draft. We also need guards and well you can usually get a good guard in the 2nd round but we do not have one this year.

Whatever the reason - we do not seem to be trying to bring in anyone as a security blanket to ensure we have a decent #1 wideout this season. Zorn would know how important that is and how much it would help everyone else on offense if we could have both a good #1 WR and Moss as the #2 WR.

We will also have to hope a lot of things happen right with our offense this year:

Jansen to have a great last year as he backs up and mentors our future HOF RT (#13 pick)

Dockery and Samuels decide that nobody is going to touch Campbell from the left side.

Rabach, Thomas and Kendall can both get some help and play their hearts out for Buges this year.

Both Zorn and Campbell really make great improvements in game planning, getting rid of the ball quickly and making the right reads before the snap.
Even then I will still be surprised if Campbell gets another chance here - he's just not the QB we need.

Thomas to be the #1 WR but it would also be great if Davis and especially Kelly can make a much bigger contribution this year.



we can always hope but it is very frustrating

VetSkinsFan wrote:I saw the Philly game yesterday on reply as well. Thomas really looked like he could do something this year if he has a good off-season. I think the offensive PI will be squashed this year. Thomas was always fighting for yards every time he had the ball in his hands. I think he'll surprise people this year.

I've been screaming this at the top of my lungs for a while now... He really impresses me!

VetSkinsFan wrote:.... I think the offensive PI will be squashed this year.

I must have 'missed' this VSF - was there something recently that gave you an inkling the offensive players were going to be allowed more latitude OR is the rule going to change? Thanks

btw - I also think that Thomas and Kelly will play well this year and show a lot of doubters how lucky we were to get both these guys.

SkinsJock wrote:

VetSkinsFan wrote:.... I think the offensive PI will be squashed this year.

I must have 'missed' this VSF - was there something recently that gave you an inkling the offensive players were going to be allowed more latitude OR is the rule going to change? Thanks

btw - I also think that Thomas and Kelly will play well this year and show a lot of doubters how lucky we were to get both these guys.

Kelly has to get (and stay) healthy first.

SkinsJock wrote: I must have 'missed' this VSF - was there something recently that gave you an inkling the offensive players were going to be allowed more latitude OR is the rule going to change? Thanks

There will be no rule changes. Thoma will mature and learn how to properly fend off DB's. Thomas admitted the he wasn't used to the aggressiveness of NFL DB's last year and couldn't fight through it. Hopefully he's getting some mentoring from veteran WR's.

CanesSkins26 wrote:... Kelly has to get (and stay) healthy first.

In case you missed this memo - "try to look on the bright side of life"

if you really need things to get concerned about, the season is about 5 months away - I'm sure that Kelly's physical ailments will be closely scrutinized along the way and I'm sure you'll enjoy the potential disaster