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

• Most of the legion of critics (including some who draw a paycheck from the same company I do) who spent much of the week taking shots at our story on the Washington Redskins' interest in Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell articulated two similar, salient points: First, teams don't typically make such trade-up deals, like the one in which the Redskins acquired the 25th spot in the first round from Denver, until later in the week. Second, teams certainly don't complete that kind of deal to target one player, because there is uncertainty about whether that prospect will be available.

Having done this job now for 27 years, I'm pretty aware of that. But here's the point that the critics are missing: We're talking about the Washington Redskins here. With such a dysfunctional franchise, convention does not apply. Everyone seems willing, probably because of the presence of the sainted Joe Gibbs, to believe that Washington has straightened out its act. Yet with the exception of the brilliant hiring of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who cobbled together the NFL's third-ranked unit in 2004 despite playing with a lot of spare parts, what has the current regime done that has been all that successful? Hey, that trade for quarterback Mark Brunell -- a guy we panned dozens of times in this space before the Redskins acquired him -- worked out well, didn't it?

Maybe we'll be wrong and maybe Washington will, indeed use that No. 25 spot as part of a package to move up in the round for someone like Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards. After all, one of their coaches told a friend this week they are poised to do "something big." Heck, maybe they'll keep the choice and still pass on Campbell.

But a couple points here of our own: If the Redskins weren't so keen on Campbell, why were they so upset when we made public their interest in him? Why did vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato (a guy to whom I haven't spoken in 15 months by the way) essentially conduct an internal witch hunt trying to ferret out the source of what he assumed was an organizational leak? And has anyone yet heard Gibbs, the man who fueled the Campbell fixation, deny interest in the quarterback? The Redskins love the perception that they know how to wheel and deal. But mostly they like to squeal when someone uncovers their strategy. The fact is, whether the critics want to buy the truth or not, we stumbled onto a story that, for once, the Redskins didn't want out. They were way too ham-handed in their execution, and far too chatty with some of their fraternity brothers who reside outside the walls of Redskins Park. Going on the offensive to try to cover their tracks once the story was out of the bag -- having some of their buddies try to discredit it -- was handled in typically clumsy fashion by a franchise that's suffered through a pretty miserable offseason.

• Per usual, Redskins quarterback Patrick Ramsey, one of the league's classiest players, said and did all the right things after the story about Jason Campbell was reported. But you've got to wonder if, privately, Ramsey isn't banging his head off a wall somewhere.

Ramsey probably could have escaped Washington last spring, after the Redskins traded for Mark Brunell, had he fought a little harder to get out. Owner Dan Snyder probably would have dealt him away -- perhaps to Miami before the Dolphins completed the deal for A.J. Feeley -- had Ramsey gone out of character and become the squeaky wheel. If you don't believe it, consider for a second how Snyder reacted to Laveranues Coles this offseason, when the disgruntled wide receiver wanted to get traded. But Ramsey permitted himself to buy into coach Joe Gibbs' sales pitch about how he would have an opportunity to compete with Brunell for the starting job.

Unfortunately for Ramsey, he is repeating the mistake, investing in Gibbs' rhetoric. The truth is, there still are people inside Redskins Park who feel Ramsey isn't the team's best quarterback.

DieselFan wrote:I take back everything I said in an earlier post about Fat Lenny being a good reporter. He's a frickin' idiot. He's got an ax to grind with the 'Skins...probably because Vinny Cerrato won't give him any information anymore.

SkinzCanes wrote:Obviously Fat Lenny has an axe to grind with the Skins. But he's not exactly off in his assesment of the organization. We don't like to hear it but he does make some valid points. With 2 playoff games in 12 years it's hard to say that he's wrong.

JansenFan wrote:As long as every article gets this much attention, he will continue to bash us. If all of the Redskin faithful would agree to ignore him, you'd be surprised how short of a period of time it would take from him to start bashing some other unsuspecting team.

If all of the Redskin faithful would agree to ignore him, you'd be surprised how short of a period of time it would take from him to start bashing some other unsuspecting team.

Redskins1974 wrote:Please tell me your joking that you said Fat Lenny is a good reporter, albeit in a previous post.

fleetus wrote: I think this was a direct shot at Lenny who wouldn't know a bona fide source if it bit him.

General Failure wrote:He'll never live that long.