"A Contender For the Next Three Years!!!"
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:06 pm
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/teams/redskins/
I especially love the quote, "the team has a large corps of talented players on offense and defense, making the club a contender for the postseason for the next three seasons."
Redskins Team Report
3/19/2006
By Paul Woody
Richmond Times-Dispatch
TEAM ANALYSIS: The team's big splashes in free agency are nothing new. This year, though, there is a method to their madness. Instead of overpaying for players who are on the downside of their careers, the team has overpaid for players who should be in the prime of their careers. The problem will come in three years when decisions will have to be made regarding the careers of Adam Archuleta, Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El and perhaps such players as Jon Jansen, Chris Samuels and Clinton Portis. But for now, the team has a large corps of talented players on offense and defense, making the club a contender for the postseason for the next three seasons.
PERSONNEL ANALYSIS:Andre Carter gives the team the one thing the defense has been lacking for several years, a true pass rushing end. Carter also makes the entire front four a better, more versatile unit. No one knows better than the club how effective Carter can be against big tackles. He gave Chris Samuels some difficult moments when the team met the 49ers. Carter is quick off the edge, can dive inside if the tackle makes a wrong step or lines up in the wrong set and can be a standup pass rusher in third-down situations, a role LaVar Arrington sometimes filled the past two seasons. Carter makes the defensive tackles more effective because teams now will have to focus on Carter coming off the edge and will be unable to consistently double team Cornelius Griffin in the middle. The team now has three quality defensive ends. Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn both can move inside. Daniels is big enough to play there on running downs, while Wynn has played tackle in nickel situations. Wynn is coming back from a broken arm, and if he has any problems at all, Daniels can flip to the left side. The acquisition of Todd Collins as the backup quarterback falls in line with the Joe Gibbs' master plan on developing a quarterback. In a perfect world, Gibbs would prefer that a young quarterback not play for at least two seasons. With Collins, the club has a veteran backup who is intimately familiar with Al Saunders' game plans and strategies. If Jason Campbell plays so well this spring and pre-season that he wins the backup job, that will be fine. And while the team wants to see progress, it does not want to feel pressured into playing a quarterback before he is ready. Campbell remains the heir-apparent to Mark Brunell, but it could be 2007 before Campbell takes over, even if Brunell has to miss time in 2006.
OFFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS: While it is not a new strategy, the team now will be able to take advantage of three wide-receiver sets, and not just to put pressure on defenses with the passing game. Gibbs long has seen the advantage of spreading the field with three wideouts, then pounding the defense with the running game. Gibbs has given Saunders the weapons to spread the field with Santana Moss, Brandon Lloyd and Antwaan Randle El. Defenses will have to account for those three, will be unable to slip an extra man into the box, probably will have to defend the run with just five or six players, playing into the hands of the offensive line and Portis. Randle El also gives the team a wrinkle it has lacked, the flanker-option pass. The option has been handled by Portis the past two years, but he is not a particularly good passer. Randle El will force defenses to keep men home when he runs reverses, opening things up deep if a defensive back bites on the run play. And if that happens, Randle El has a Super Bowl touchdown pass as proof of what he can do.
I especially love the quote, "the team has a large corps of talented players on offense and defense, making the club a contender for the postseason for the next three seasons."
Redskins Team Report
3/19/2006
By Paul Woody
Richmond Times-Dispatch
TEAM ANALYSIS: The team's big splashes in free agency are nothing new. This year, though, there is a method to their madness. Instead of overpaying for players who are on the downside of their careers, the team has overpaid for players who should be in the prime of their careers. The problem will come in three years when decisions will have to be made regarding the careers of Adam Archuleta, Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El and perhaps such players as Jon Jansen, Chris Samuels and Clinton Portis. But for now, the team has a large corps of talented players on offense and defense, making the club a contender for the postseason for the next three seasons.
PERSONNEL ANALYSIS:Andre Carter gives the team the one thing the defense has been lacking for several years, a true pass rushing end. Carter also makes the entire front four a better, more versatile unit. No one knows better than the club how effective Carter can be against big tackles. He gave Chris Samuels some difficult moments when the team met the 49ers. Carter is quick off the edge, can dive inside if the tackle makes a wrong step or lines up in the wrong set and can be a standup pass rusher in third-down situations, a role LaVar Arrington sometimes filled the past two seasons. Carter makes the defensive tackles more effective because teams now will have to focus on Carter coming off the edge and will be unable to consistently double team Cornelius Griffin in the middle. The team now has three quality defensive ends. Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn both can move inside. Daniels is big enough to play there on running downs, while Wynn has played tackle in nickel situations. Wynn is coming back from a broken arm, and if he has any problems at all, Daniels can flip to the left side. The acquisition of Todd Collins as the backup quarterback falls in line with the Joe Gibbs' master plan on developing a quarterback. In a perfect world, Gibbs would prefer that a young quarterback not play for at least two seasons. With Collins, the club has a veteran backup who is intimately familiar with Al Saunders' game plans and strategies. If Jason Campbell plays so well this spring and pre-season that he wins the backup job, that will be fine. And while the team wants to see progress, it does not want to feel pressured into playing a quarterback before he is ready. Campbell remains the heir-apparent to Mark Brunell, but it could be 2007 before Campbell takes over, even if Brunell has to miss time in 2006.
OFFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS: While it is not a new strategy, the team now will be able to take advantage of three wide-receiver sets, and not just to put pressure on defenses with the passing game. Gibbs long has seen the advantage of spreading the field with three wideouts, then pounding the defense with the running game. Gibbs has given Saunders the weapons to spread the field with Santana Moss, Brandon Lloyd and Antwaan Randle El. Defenses will have to account for those three, will be unable to slip an extra man into the box, probably will have to defend the run with just five or six players, playing into the hands of the offensive line and Portis. Randle El also gives the team a wrinkle it has lacked, the flanker-option pass. The option has been handled by Portis the past two years, but he is not a particularly good passer. Randle El will force defenses to keep men home when he runs reverses, opening things up deep if a defensive back bites on the run play. And if that happens, Randle El has a Super Bowl touchdown pass as proof of what he can do.
