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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:53 am
by VetSkinsFan
I'm not defending the FO. I just like to buck up a little when people try to look like geniuses with hindsight. See this thead for people who have what it takes. I've never kept up with college so I don't even try to critique the draft and say "we should have done <insert brilliant hindsight idea here>." I can only critique what the guys that we DO draft do when given ample opportunity.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:00 am
by Redskin in Canada
VetSkinsFan wrote:I'm not defending the FO. I just like to buck up a little when people try to look like geniuses with hindsight. See this thead for people who have what it takes. I've never kept up with college so I don't even try to critique the draft and say "we should have done <insert brilliant hindsight idea here>." I can only critique what the guys that we DO draft do when given ample opportunity.
Fair enough. :wink:

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:35 am
by fleetus
VetSkinsFan wrote:I'm not defending the FO. I just like to buck up a little when people try to look like geniuses with hindsight. See this thead for people who have what it takes. I've never kept up with college so I don't even try to critique the draft and say "we should have done <insert brilliant hindsight idea here>." I can only critique what the guys that we DO draft do when given ample opportunity.


I agree, in that, I would like to see more lineman drafted, but many times DL's are over-drafted. What I mean is, most EVERY team wants to draft DL's EVERY year. So, at least one team will reach way too high to draft a DE in the top 15, who is graded as a questionable 1st round talent. So, it can be frustrating to see the Skins pass on DL's, but until they get another top 15 pick, it will be hard to draft a DE without trading away picks to move up or drafting a 2nd-3rd round talent in the 1st round.

Of course, there isn't any good reason why we haven't drafted more top G and C's, who can often be had in the 2nd and 3rd, but hopefully Rhinehart (who we drafted in the 4th last year) pans out and Cerrato continues the trend by drafting another OL this year.

Don't forget both Golston and Montgomery were late draft choices and are not spectacular, but solid.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:06 am
by VetSkinsFan
Don't forget both Golston and Montgomery were late draft choices and are not spectacular, but solid.
for depth....

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:36 am
by PulpExposure
Redskin in Canada wrote:When was the last time we had a real run stopper??? :hmm: Butz?

When was the last time we had a feared pass rusher? :hmm: Manley?

That is an awful LONG time brother. The clowns at the Front Office have not come to the conclusion that games are won and lost in the trenches.


Butz was actually a draft pick of the Cardinals (5th pick in the draft, actually), not ours.

If you want to go back to Butz/Manley, you can't pin our inability to draft or develop a decent D-lineman in the mid 1980's and 1990's on Snyder/Cerrato as well...because they weren't in control then.

Our inability to draft a good defensive tackle/passrusher is something we, as a franchise, have never been able to do, no matter who controls the draft. It's bizarre, to say the least.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:55 am
by Chris Luva Luva
fleetus wrote:Don't forget both Golston and Montgomery were late draft choices and are not spectacular, but solid.


Right, those guys should be reserves to give our monster guys a break. They should NOT be our starters.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:01 pm
by John Manfreda
Cerrato is an idiot.

Re: Cerrato Explains Why the Skins Don't Draft Linemen

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:06 pm
by cleg
Chris Luva Luva wrote:By Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post....

http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/detail.jsp?key=328072&rc=dc_sp&p=0

Here's the key point: Cerrato said drafting according to need can be a way to sink your team. "You can't just go take a need," was the exact quote. "The way that you can screw up your team is if you go draft a need, you're gonna get a bunch of guys at those positions but you're not gonna be happy with the results."

And as an example, he pointed to the poor rookie seasons of two defensive ends who some Skins fans wanted: Miami's Phillip Merling, and Arizona's Calais Campbell.

I going to shoot myself - there is no hope for this franchise until Vinncy C. is gone.

"I mean, it came down to Phillip Merling, people say that we maybe should have taken," Cerrato said. "He has seven tackles right now for Miami."

Damning. Except it's not even close to accurate.

When Cerrato said this, Merling actually had 23 tackles (17 solo) and a sack, according to NFL.com. For a defensive end who has started just two games, that's actually not too shabby.

By way of comparison, Jason Taylor, who's banking $8 million and cost the team two draft picks, had 22 tackles (15 solo) and 1 sack at the time Cerrato offered this explanation, although Taylor did get three tackles and another half-sack yesterday. Andre Carter, the team's most productive end, had 30 tackles (18 solo) and 3 sacks at the time Cerrato was knocking Merling's production.


What can you even say? This is why this franchise is entrenched in mediocrity but I can't wait to see people defend this.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:13 pm
by Redskin in Canada
PulpExposure wrote:Our inability to draft a good defensive tackle/passrusher is something we, as a franchise, have never been able to do, no matter who controls the draft. It's bizarre, to say the least.

If they are not drafted, they can be lured to us via Free Agency, can they not??? :shock:

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:41 pm
by Wahoo McDaniels
Redskin in Canada wrote:
PulpExposure wrote:Our inability to draft a good defensive tackle/passrusher is something we, as a franchise, have never been able to do, no matter who controls the draft. It's bizarre, to say the least.

If they are not drafted, they can be lured to us via Free Agency, can they not??? :shock:


At a premium price and sometimes at the expense of a draft pick as compensation....thus compounding our problems. Once again, no way to build a team.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:47 pm
by PulpExposure
Redskin in Canada wrote:
PulpExposure wrote:Our inability to draft a good defensive tackle/passrusher is something we, as a franchise, have never been able to do, no matter who controls the draft. It's bizarre, to say the least.

If they are not drafted, they can be lured to us via Free Agency, can they not??? :shock:


And would you not say that Cornelius Griffin has been a very good DT for us...and Carter had a great year as the only passrushing threat for us last year.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:03 pm
by Wahoo McDaniels
fleetus wrote:
Wahoo McDaniels wrote:This is a ridiculous statement... no player would have been better than 6 of the 7 players that we got that have given us absolutely nothing.

Well, let's play fairy tale world and pick some players picked behind the Skins, who we could have gotten and problem would have provided better value than two WRs who were injured and out of shape, a TE who couldn't tell when to pass block and when to go out for a pass, an OG who couldn't beat out a 40 yr old or an Undrafted Free Agent, a CB who looks like the smallest player in the NFL and a Punter that, well, couldn't punt.

So let's take a look at some guys we "missed on" because of our crack Scouting Dept.


It's also ridiculous to play the annual, but ever so popular "Who We Coulda Had" game, which is an excercise in supreme skill and talent. You look at stat sheets of players on other teams, often playing in completely different schemes, and use hindsight to profess all our mistakes in the draft.

Fred Davis might have played better than Carlsen in Seattle.

With Cutler throwing to him, Kelly and Thomas might have similar stats to Royal. Especially when Denver's defense isn't much more than a Matador and forces Cutler to air it out every week.

Blame the Brooks pick on the Special teams coach. He lobbied hard for that guy.

Bottom line is, if you want to be negative, maybe you personally don't like Cerrato, then you can spend all your time pointing to "mistakes" and then go home a drink yourself to sleep -drinking But most of us know that you can't judge any of our 2008 draft picks as busts or successes yet. WR's especially are notoriously slow to develop.

Personally, I hope Cerrato approaches the next couple of drafts exactly like he did last year. Use discipline and follow your own draft board and not stray from it because of a perceived need. Cerrato did not have Merling, Groves or Calais in his top 50 of his draft board. If you're desperate to fill a need, you aren't likely to get what you want from a rookie anyway and are better signing a free agent or making a trade. There isn't a Skins fan out there who, before the draft, would have chosen Phillip Merling over Jason Taylor.

So, you can claim hindsight 20/20 now, but fact is, Vinny traded down and not only picked up an extra pick, but got the same players that he and almost every analyst had graded worthy of the 1st round pick he traded down from. THEN, when some of you were crying about the lost chance to get the amazing Phillip Merling or Calais, Vinny snagged Jason Taylor, 2006 NFL Defensive MVP. So, from Vinny's perspective, he went out and got some pretty decent talent for the coaching staff to work with. Let's hope, that Zorn and Blache learn from this season and figure how to "Coach'em up" better next year. I for one, hope Danny let's Vinny to continue with his value approach to the draft.


Read the post again, Fleetus. I prefaced it by saying this was a fairy tale world. I too am not in the game of actively second guessing a draft that less than a year old...I was merely questioning the previous posters statement that we couldn't have done any better with the draft picks we had than the players we got...this is preposterous.

But I am in the business of second guessing drafts that we have had over the past 4 years and the lack of picks that we have had due to spending foolishly in free agency....Trung Candidate, Matt Bowen, Duckett, Jason Taylor, Chad Morton, John Hall, Brandon Lloyd all gave us NOTHING and cost us picks. With the picks that we did have, we have had very little success.

So, while you're right to tell me to be patient with the 2008 picks, I'm still being patient thinking that Taylor Jacobs and Cliff Russell are going to turn into players seeing it takes a while to learn how to play WR in the NFL (don't tell Marques Colston that).

Seriously, here's all of our draft picks since 2001....there's no way you can defend this.

2008 2 34 Devin Thomas WR
2008 2 48 Fred Davis TE
2008 2 51 Malcolm Kelly WR
2008 3 96 Chad Rinehart T
2008 4 124 Justin Tryon DB
2008 6 168 Durant Brooks P
2008 6 180 Kareem Moore DB
2008 6 186 Colt Brennan QB
2008 7 242 Rob Jackson DE
2008 7 249 Chris Horton DB
2007 1 6 LaRon Landry DB
2007 5 143 Dallas Sartz LB
2007 6 179 H.B. Blades LB
2007 6 205 Jordan Palmer QB
2007 7 216 Tyler Ecker TE
2006 2 35 Rocky McIntosh LB
2006 5 153 Anthony Montgomery NT
2006 6 173 Reed Doughty DB
2006 6 196 Kedric Golston DT
2006 7 230 Kili Lefotu G
2006 7 250 Kevin Simon LB
2005 1 9 Carlos Rogers DB 2
2005 1 25 Jason Campbell QB
2005 4 120 Manuel White RB
2005 5 154 Robert McCune LB
2005 6 183 Jared Newberry LB
2005 7 222 Nehemiah Broughton FB
2004 1 5 Sean Taylor DB
2004 3 81 Chris Cooley TE
2004 5 151 Mark Wilson TE
2004 6 180 Jim Molinaro T
2003 2 44 Taylor Jacobs WR
2003 3 81 Derrick Dockery G
2003 7 232 Gibran Hamdan QB
2002 1 32 Patrick Ramsey QB
2002 2 56 Ladell Betts RB
2002 3 79 Rashad Bauman DB
2002 3 87 Cliff Russell WR
2002 5 159 Andre Lott DB
2002 5 160 Robert Royal TE
2002 7 230 Jeff Grau C
2002 7 234 Greg Scott DE
2002 7 257 Rock Cartwright FB
2001 1 15 Rod Gardner WR
2001 2 45 Fred Smoot DB
2001 4 109 Sage Rosenfels QB
2001 5 154 Darnerien McCants WR
2001 6 186 Mario Monds DT

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:05 am
by crazyhorse1
DEHog wrote:
SkinsFreak wrote:
DEHog wrote:Again somebody please tell me who we have drafted or sighed for that matter that is a prennail all-pro and will be talk about as a HOFer.


Clinton Portis? Chris Cooley? Chris Samuels? Tough to predict the future of young guys like Landry and Cooley, but Portis is already getting some to consider...

Peter King wrote:4. I think Clinton Portis is going to be in front of us one day for Hall of Fame consideration. Two games shy of seven full seasons, and he's already past 9,000 yards. He's 27 years old. Can he muster 4,000 more yards? I'd think he will. If so, he'll be in Eric Dickerson territory.



Portis is not homegrown and how many times has he been ALL-Pro and is not on a winning team
Cooley...he digressed this year andwill be challege for playing time by Davis in the future and is not on a winning team

Samuels is the best argument but in the end they will say he was on bad teams and he couldn't handle the speed rushers??


Cooley is All Pro this year, the 2nd leading TE in regard to receptions in the NFL, the all-time top Redskin TE receiver in history (set this year both for career and for a single year. He's also the team's top receiver this year, in receptions and first downs. He's also young and rarely gets hurt.
Tell me again why we should have drafted Davis?


Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:21 am
by Gibbs4Life
The 2009 Draft someone said is stocked with good lineman; I think in our division we need 5 exceptional lineman. I really can't fault Vinny for betting on Jansen Thomas Rabach and Kendall going into this year, we could've thought 1 of 2 things, either they're too old, or that's a "veteran group" we went with "that's a veteran group" instead of really challenging their potential for this season

BUT Kendall and Rabach earned the benefit of the doubt after last season's push.

This offseason, and this team has pretty much trained me to enjoy the off-season, during this one if we can overhaul the lines on both sides we could compete.

Everyone (except some new lineman) will know the offense, we have Sellers, Portis, Moss, Cooley, and Devin and Malcom and Fred, I would'nt mind drafting a special WR someone who we know will be a superstar like Percy Harvin, because we need touchdowns, that's what we thought Devin and Malcom would bring us, points 6 at a time, Percy Harvin has special God given talent like speed (fastest at the combine garaunteed) and strength 195lbs and he's 5-11, and he gets open. Florida recievers are where it's at, not Michigan State.

My train of thought is 1st round you draft the best player availible. After that you go need.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:48 am
by Redskin in Canada
PulpExposure wrote:And would you not say that Cornelius Griffin has been a very good DT for us...and Carter had a great year as the only passrushing threat for us last year.
Too bad these are only two good picks with no decent backups, eh?

OL and DL have been overlooked and NEGLECTED.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:06 am
by PulpExposure
Gibbs4Life wrote:Florida recievers are where it's at, not Michigan State.


That makes me laugh. Have you thought about the Florida receivers who went to the NFL?

I can name a few...Travis Taylor, Taylor Jacobs, Jabbar Gaffney, Chad Jackson, etc.

Chad Jackson got cut earlier this year...and this article names a few more bust WRs from Florida

And so continues the streak of University of Florida wideouts taken early in the draft who don't pan out. Chad Jackson, please meet Taylor Jacobs, Reche Caldwell, Travis Taylor and Jacquez Green. Welcome to the club, sir.


It's totally possible Harvin could succeed, but I think he may be the first UF receiver to do so (I can only think of Ike Hilliard as a UF receiver who has done anything in the NFL).

Redskin in Canada wrote:OL and DL have been overlooked and NEGLECTED.


Absolutely. I was just saying it's weird how we really haven't drafted a great DT or DE since Manley. A time frame spanning several different Redskins coaches, FOs, and owners even.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:18 pm
by John Manfreda
Wahoo McDaniels wrote:
SkinsFreak wrote:
spenser wrote:I don't think that SkinsFreak was necessarily defending vinny, rather saying that LAST years draft was not bad, due to the fact that very soon we will need some receivers (tall ones), and another TE. WR's obviously take a few years to develop, so by drafting them last year, hopefully they will be ready to step up and pan out for us when we lose ARE and Thrash. I agree with this. now... don't go twisting my words and say Im defending vinny, or that I don't think he is an idiot. we HAVE neglected the lines, and vinny IS for the most part an idiot, in my opinion. But I agree with skinsfreak that we got better value, and hopefully solidified another posistion by getting 3 players in the 2nd, as opposed to 1 player who may or may not pan out....


Thank you. All I said was that we needed some WR's, (as did most everyone else at the time) there wasn't any linemen in the 2nd round who were worthy, and all of a sudden I'm defending Vinny. Joke. :roll:

Drafting Merling would not have changed one damn thing about the course of this season. And other than that one guy, NO ONE has offered any player in THIS YEARS DRAFT that was worthy or offered better value.

The Jags drafted TWO DE's. Guess what? Their defense sucks and they just fired their defensive coordinator. The knock against the Eagles is that they don't have any skill players because they use all their picks on linemen. What has that gotten them? Since 2000, the Eagles have used 6 of their 8 first overall picks on a lineman, yet they have one skill player with any talent, and that's Westbrook. Point? There is no one successful formula.

VetSkinsFan wrote:A back-up TE in the 2nd? I don't think that was really a smart move. Cooley's still got many years ahead of him and a back up TE can be found.


And Vet, Davis will not be a "back-up". Teams use multiple TE sets and rotate that position quite frequently. We've used Yoder quite often over the past few years even though we have Cooley. Zorn previously explained this in detail.


This is a ridiculous statement... no player would have been better than 6 of the 7 players that we got that have given us absolutely nothing.

Well, let's play fairy tale world and pick some players picked behind the Skins, who we could have gotten and problem would have provided better value than two WRs who were injured and out of shape, a TE who couldn't tell when to pass block and when to go out for a pass, an OG who couldn't beat out a 40 yr old or an Undrafted Free Agent, a CB who looks like the smallest player in the NFL and a Punter that, well, couldn't punt.



So let's take a look at some guys we "missed on" because of our crack Scouting Dept.

Rd. 2 Pick 34 - We pick Devin Thomas.

Other possibilities...
Pick 38 - John Carlson - TE - 50 catches, 600 yds
Pick 42 - Eddie Royal - 75 catches 850 yds.
Pick 44 - Matt Forte - 1100 yds rushing, 55 catches

Rd. 2 pick 48 - We pick Fred Davis
Pick 49 - DeShaun Jackson -- 'nuff said

Rd. 2 pick 51 - We pick Malcolm Kelly

Other possibilities....
Pick 52- Quentin Groves
Pick 61 - Martellus Bennett


Here's the one that especially hurts....
Rd 6. Pick 168 - We pick Durant Brooks

Pick 169 - Trevor Scott -- leading the league in sacks for rookies


Obviously, you don't declare a draft great or a bust after one season, but it's crazy talk to say that no one else could have helped us more than the group of players we got. That's straight ridiculous.

I'm not saying we were wrong to choose the players we've got, but what do you say when you let DeShaun Jackson and Eddie Royal go and they're already producing at a position (WR) that most people say it takes more than one year to grasp. Coincidentally I thought we were going to take one or the other when the pick came up (mostly Royal because of the DC connection), but our crack scouting dept had other ideas.

Am I the only one who sees Michael Westbrook and Desmond Howard when I look at Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas?

Lets see TE, as two of the possibilities, so basically we would have another Fred Davis because Cooley is in the line up, Jackson newsflash we were looking for a big Wr, Eddie Royal see Jackson, 6th round pick, thats monday morning Qb, even the team that drafted him didn't think he was good, OTHERWISE THEY WOULDN'T HAVE DRAFTED HIM IN THE 6TH ROUND. Forte, yeah we really needed a rb, we are just really weak at that position. Quetin Groves, and offensive lineman, and Phillip Merling are the only legit criticisums one can make. We should have drafted a TE instead with our third second round pick :roll:

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:29 pm
by SkinsFreak
crazyhorse1 wrote:Cooley is All Pro this year, the 2nd leading TE in regard to receptions in the NFL, the all-time top Redskin TE receiver in history (set this year both for career and for a single year. He's also the team's top receiver this year, in receptions and first downs. He's also young and rarely gets hurt.
Tell me again why we should have drafted Davis?


<sigh> Because the TE position is not like other positions, in that you need more than one "starter" at the TE spot, due to the use of multiple TE formations and the frequent rotation at that position. Also, Yoder may be gone after this season and you need to get a replacement coached up. All you have to do is read a little or listen to Zorn himself to get these answers.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:44 pm
by Chris Luva Luva
SkinsFreak wrote:
crazyhorse1 wrote:Cooley is All Pro this year, the 2nd leading TE in regard to receptions in the NFL, the all-time top Redskin TE receiver in history (set this year both for career and for a single year. He's also the team's top receiver this year, in receptions and first downs. He's also young and rarely gets hurt.
Tell me again why we should have drafted Davis?


<sigh> Because the TE position is not like other positions, in that you need more than one "starter" at the TE spot, due to the use of multiple TE formations and the frequent rotation at that position. Also, Yoder may be gone after this season and you need to get a replacement coached up. All you have to do is read a little or listen to Zorn himself to get these answers.


I'm happy to have Fred Davis. I'm excited about their potential. But did we NEED to draft a TE at that time? No, it was not really a need. The fact that it's not a need is that Davis has not played. We could have gotten a TE this year, or just resigned Yoder who is serviceable.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:20 pm
by SkinsFreak
Chris Luva Luva wrote: But did we NEED to draft a TE at that time? No, it was not really a need.


Well, in my opinion, they did, as they did also. Again, you're using hindsight to your advantage. It goes back to the "need vs. best player available" scenario. Zorn said Davis was both a need as was also considered the best player available at that point in the draft, as he had a 1st round grade on their board. Zorn explained this all in detail after the draft. And by the way, the very next pick was an o-lineman.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:04 pm
by Chris Luva Luva
SkinsFreak wrote:
Chris Luva Luva wrote: But did we NEED to draft a TE at that time? No, it was not really a need.


Again, you're using hindsight to your advantage.


Hindsight? Who's using it? I'm not. If you would have asked me then, I would have told you NO. A TE at that selection was the furthest thing from my mind.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:04 pm
by prinzeofmoval
Chris Luva Luva wrote:
SkinsFreak wrote:The fact is, this year, we needed to upgrade our receiving corps for the future, and we got good value for our 2nd round picks. I'd just love for anyone to argue against that or for the future of guys like Thrash and ARE. Zorn needed taller receivers for his offense and even though the impact of these picks won't be felt until next year, we desperately needed to get these guys coached up for the future.


We did not NEED 2 WR's and a TE... How do I know??!? Cus they barely even played! At most we need one WR and that would have been Kelly.

And when Vinny tries to defend not getting Merling, he shows just how misinformed and ignorant he is. He's a joke and it's a joke to try to defend this garbage.



If malcolm had 8 tds or if Thomas would've had a great year we wouldn't be having this conversation. Its alot easier to aquire lineman via free agency. To draft one is a little harder unless its a blue chipper then its not hard at all. But it seems easier to develop a rb, qb or corner then a lineman.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:07 pm
by Chris Luva Luva
prinzeofmoval wrote:If malcolm had 8 tds or if Thomas would've had a great year we wouldn't be having this conversation.


But they didn't... And we are having this discussion... Why? Because IT'S REALITY! We could have used 1/3 of those picks at a linemen position. Or maybe even the LB position which is thinning out quickly.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:27 pm
by prinzeofmoval
Chris Luva Luva wrote:
prinzeofmoval wrote:If malcolm had 8 tds or if Thomas would've had a great year we wouldn't be having this conversation.


But they didn't... And we are having this discussion... Why? Because IT'S REALITY! We could have used 1/3 of those picks at a linemen position. Or maybe even the LB position which is thinning out quickly.


Yeah and the same reason we're having this conversation is because of injuries. Both players was injured. If i remembered correctly this was the same line that lead us and portis into the post-season last year. We drafted the best on the board at the time when it was our time. What other second and third rounder could've stepped in and helped at this point? It takes time to develop at O-line. Not only to develop skill but chemistry between the rest of the line. What second or third rounder would'ver stopped any of the front seven we faced the past 5-6 weeks? Hell even our all pro future hall of famer Chris Samuels said Demarcus Ware is an unstoppable beast.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:44 pm
by Chris Luva Luva
What do injuries have to do with those Kelly and Thomas? Thomas hasn't been injured and neither has Davis. Kelly has barely cracked the lineup since being healthy and was benchhed last week and this week.