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

I live in New York surrounded by Giant and Jet fans. So I catch a lot of slack all the time and I am always defending the skins. Well in the heat of an argument the other night I started really believing my argument. The skins in their second year under Saunders can be among the leagues best. We have the same tools as KC minus the experience qb (trust me I know thats a big deal) but hear me out. Two headed monster at running back (probably the leagues best duo going into next year), a cohesive great line, and a real solid tight end. The major difference is how much more ability we have at the wr spot. Those KC teams never had someone as explosive as Santana Moss yet they were able to make Eddie Kennison look good. JC to me is someone who is gonna keep his head in the books and really make this work. Other than the "Campbell hasn't done anything yet" argument, I am pretty sure I won the argument outright. This offense if they want to be can end up in the top 3. So my main question is: am I crazy or do you all feel the same???

Yes, I think the O will be somewhere between solid and brilliant, but what about the D, and special teams? The D just really fell apart last year, and some of those older starters on D aren't going to be any younger next year.

But as fans, it's our job to be optimistic!

Lucky for me, the argument didn't get into our D. It was jets and giants fans, the argument ended up being who has the better o going into next year. There was a ton of eli bashing which is a huge hobby of mine

I share in your optimism regarding the offense; as your thread is about the offense and NOT the defense.

Jason is smart, physically talented and tenacious. He has the ideal mind set, level-headed and the mental toughness, if you will, that will make him successful at the QB position in this league. I don't think anyone can really question the talent of our RB's, o-line or skill players, so it will be a matter of how well they absorb Saunders offense and how well Jason implements what he has learned. They really could be spectacular next season.

I refuse to be optimistic about the team as a whole anymore. I'll just have to be surprised when they start rolling.

Still, I agree with you guys about Jason Campbell. I don't know if he'll become the QB we all hope he'll be, but at least he's our guy. We drafted him, he's not a retread or on his last legs or whatever. I'm feeling optimistic on that one.

Jason is my one shimmer of bright hope in my bleak outlook.

riggofan wrote:I refuse to be optimistic about the team as a whole anymore. I'll just have to be surprised when they start rolling.

Still, I agree with you guys about Jason Campbell. I don't know if he'll become the QB we all hope he'll be, but at least he's our guy. We drafted him, he's not a retread or on his last legs or whatever. I'm feeling optimistic on that one.

I agree 100% with this sentiment. Each year I start out very optimistic only to be heartbroken. It happens time and time again. Too much.

So, along with riggofan, I'm gonna wear my heart a little closer to the vest this year. If this team starts clicking on all cylinders, then I will truly be happy.

I just won't "expect" it any more.

I, like many of you, am very very excited that the Jason Campbell era is among us.

My optimisim is pending us staying healthy. The one thing I am not optimistic about is Lloyd growing up. Hopefully we can make him a factor and all things considered I am more optimistic about this offense than I have been in a really long time. Campbell will not have the pressure to be brilliant, we should have a running identity yet be very capable of stretching the field. I am just real excited to have betts and portis back there. All of the final four teams this season had a 2 rb system and other than deuce and bush, i would take betts and portis

There's always room for optimism.

A wild free agency will wipe away all that optimism in one full swoop. The offseason before the 2005 season we kept it relatively calm and look what happened. There you have it, a redskins fan formula: calm free agency = optimism

Justice Hog wrote:

riggofan wrote:I refuse to be optimistic about the team as a whole anymore. I'll just have to be surprised when they start rolling.

Still, I agree with you guys about Jason Campbell. I don't know if he'll become the QB we all hope he'll be, but at least he's our guy. We drafted him, he's not a retread or on his last legs or whatever. I'm feeling optimistic on that one.

I agree 100% with this sentiment. Each year I start out very optimistic only to be heartbroken. It happens time and time again. Too much.

So, along with riggofan, I'm gonna wear my heart a little closer to the vest this year. If this team starts clicking on all cylinders, then I will truly be happy.

I just won't "expect" it any more.

I, like many of you, am very very excited that the Jason Campbell era is among us.

Strange, but this has got to be one of the least interested off-seasons for me in recent history. Typically, I'm veryl hyped regarding possible FA's and the draft, OTA's, etc.

As of today.... I'm checking this site about every 3rd or 4th day, or so to catch up a little.

There was so much team trumoil at the end of last season and with the high expectations I had for the playoffs, that... well... simply I was really bumbed out. I bearly watched any of the playoffs.

I'll still always wear my gear and wholeheartedly support the Skins... but with just a little left in the tank. I'll wait and see how the off-season shapes up.

Hail!!

Irn-Bru wrote:There's always room for optimism.

Just like dessert (donuts, preferably).

After every disappointing season, I always tell myself to temper my enthusiasm, so as not to be so disappointed again. It doesn't work. I can feel the optimism creeping already, and I agree, it's mostly JC's fault. Darn him all to heck.

Irn-Bru wrote:There's always room for optimism.

While I still have worries about the D, at least the O should be able to hit the top 10 without too much trouble, barring injuries or bad luck. Campbell has already said he's going to put in the effort this offseason to develop timing, etc., with our receivers, and we saw what the running game did toward the end of last season. I fully expect the offense to be great this year, and hopefully that will inspire the defense to step it up a notch or two. In today's NFL, teams can and do go from the pretenders to contenders (and back) virtually overnight.

joebagadonuts wrote:...I always tell myself to temper my enthusiasm, so as not to be so disappointed again. It doesn't work. I can feel the optimism creeping already, and I agree, it's mostly JC's fault. Darn him all to heck.

Well, we are NOW officially undefeated, so, heck yeah the optimism is warranted.

Mursilis wrote:In today's NFL, teams can and do go from the pretenders to contenders (and back) virtually overnight.

I have to admit that this is one of my main reasons for staying optimistic. Of course, that does mean admitting that we were pretenders last year.

I hope Jason Campbell never checks this site or his head won't be able to fit into FedEx

Houligan26 wrote:I hope Jason Campbell never checks this site or his head won't be able to fit into FedEx

Me too. I prefer he study the playbook instead of spending time on a message board....

not that there's anything wrong with that.

SO. CAL. SKIN DUDE wrote:

Justice Hog wrote:

riggofan wrote:I refuse to be optimistic about the team as a whole anymore. I'll just have to be surprised when they start rolling.

Still, I agree with you guys about Jason Campbell. I don't know if he'll become the QB we all hope he'll be, but at least he's our guy. We drafted him, he's not a retread or on his last legs or whatever. I'm feeling optimistic on that one.

I agree 100% with this sentiment. Each year I start out very optimistic only to be heartbroken. It happens time and time again. Too much.

So, along with riggofan, I'm gonna wear my heart a little closer to the vest this year. If this team starts clicking on all cylinders, then I will truly be happy.

I just won't "expect" it any more.

I, like many of you, am very very excited that the Jason Campbell era is among us.

Strange, but this has got to be one of the least interested off-seasons for me in recent history. Typically, I'm veryl hyped regarding possible FA's and the draft, OTA's, etc.

As of today.... I'm checking this site about every 3rd or 4th day, or so to catch up a little.

There was so much team trumoil at the end of last season and with the high expectations I had for the playoffs, that... well... simply I was really bumbed out. I bearly watched any of the playoffs.

I'll still always wear my gear and wholeheartedly support the Skins... but with just a little left in the tank. I'll wait and see how the off-season shapes up.

Hail!!

i'm with these guys ^^^^

i usually get so excited about all the offseason moves or have this great optimism about how we're going to somehow be so great the next year, whether it be new players or a new coach or a 2nd year in a coach's system when yeah, it'll really take off!...

i just don't have the energy (or much reason) to hold that hope anymore. i don't expect anything. i don't expect us to be good, though i don't expect us to suck as badly as we did this year either (would be hard to, as long as MB04 is out of the picture). all i hope is that this year we actually present an honest attempt at a football team, which we did NOT this year with MB04 at the helm. i can handle us being an average or mediocre team as long as we're actually making an honest, realistic effort to win, instead of some horribly bizarre quixotic quest to validate MB04's clearly vanquished ability.

i do think the offense may end up being surprisingly good next year. the defense? that seems the question to me. were our players all just too banged up all year? will they recover to true form this year? will we fill the other holes?

who knows.
it's going to be hard for all of us to get too excited about any new free agents though, at least until we really see them performing well for a while.

therefore, this offseason is going to be super-blah.

Irn-Bru wrote:

Mursilis wrote:In today's NFL, teams can and do go from the pretenders to contenders (and back) virtually overnight.

I have to admit that this is one of my main reasons for staying optimistic. Of course, that does mean admitting that we were pretenders last year.

True. Didn't the Pat's go 5-11 in 2001, the year before they won their 1st Super Bowl?

When Tampa Bay beat the Raiders in the Super Bowl, both teams failed to even make the playoffs the next season.

I am cautiously optimitistic but then that should be clarified with the known fact that I am a recognized "homer". The reason my normally unbridled optimism is "reined in" this off season is due to having my lofty expectations dashed last year.

I really thought our D would be as good if not better than the previous year and the offense, I figured, would be turned over to Campbell as soon as he showed Saunders and Gibbs he was ready.

We all saw firsthand that the D looked and played a lot worse than they were capable of and the offense when it was finally turned over to Campbell looked good on the running plays (the line blocking in the latter part of the season was really getting in sync) but Cambell's decision making, pocket presence and throwing motion have all got to be upgraded big time for him to be the very good QB we were expecting.

Campbell is looking good but not as good as I was hoping for after hearing so many good things about him. He has the arm strength but I was expecting a little better decision making and that release has got to be improved. I am looking forward to seeing what improvements he has made after saying he was going "to do whatever it takes" to be better next year. We expect and deserve a big time QB.

I think that a combination of factors will make this defense much better this year. (Actually any improvement will be huge!) I expect that Williams learned a lot from his "experience" last season and this guy is too good a defensive co-ordinator to have another bad season - he will have himself and his players firing on all cylinders this season.

So in a nutshell I am hoping that the offense this year can benefit from what I expect will be a really good offensive line with 2 very good RBs and a QB who is going "to do whatever it takes" to take that next step to being a very good QB. That will be a lot bigger hurdle IMO than getting our defense back to playing the way Williams expects.

While I'll come across as a hopeless optimist, I think we have the ability with a few Free Agent signings and a good 1st round pick to be back in the playoffs next year. To expect the Super Bowl is a bit much but playoffs are a reasonable reach...

On Offense (A lot has been said, just a few other things):

1) We need to sign Dockery.

2) We need to either re-sign Wade or find a b-up tackle.

3) We need to determine if Nemo or White can be our blocking/power back or find a free agent.

4) We have a super TE in ey, we need to determine who else we'll have at TE, e.g., Kozlowoski, Yoder, etc.. We do need a good blocking TE and maybe another pass catching TE.

5) I'd like (but we could live without) a tall WR for the redzone.

6) We need to cut Brunnel and find a young QB that can grow (a Trent Green-- that we don't let slip away years from now)

The only one of these 6 things that will cost us anything substantial is #1) Dockery. The other 5 are cheaper signings or big savings (#6).

On Defense:

1) Sign a veteran DT -- one that either gets cut for cap reasons or is a free agent -- to replace Salavea. We need a big DT that is tough at the point of attack, to stop up the middle, take pressure off our linebackers and free up Griffin to do his thing. Maybe FA Sands from Oakland or Kris Jenkins from Carolina, if they cut him.

2) Draft the best strong side DEnd available at #6 in the first round. If we can trade down a few spots and get a 2nd or 3rd rounder -- fine. Don't go too far down the board, the quality drops and Wms won't play him his first year... This must be a strong side DE, not a weak side -- Carter can't play strong side.

3) Sign a CB that can start opposite Rogers -- maybe Smoot. It doesn't have to be Clements, he's gonna ask for way too much money...get a guy that another team cuts because of cap reasons. There will be someone.

4) Move Springs to Safety. Springs is the 3rd CB in the nickel and Prioleau comes in to replace Springs as the 2nd safety

5) Try to get AA to accept 1-2 mil in a roster bonus in March and let him go.

6) If Marshall isn't fully recovered, sign MLB Fletcher from the Bills...please don't overpay him -- he's 32 for God's sake!

7) CUT HOLDMAN

fredp45 wrote:While I'll come across as a hopeless optimist, I think we have the ability with a few Free Agent signings and a good 1st round pick to be back in the playoffs next year. To expect the Super Bowl is a bit much but playoffs are a reasonable reach...

On Offense (A lot has been said, just a few other things):

1) We need to sign Dockery.

2) We need to either re-sign Wade or find a b-up tackle.

3) We need to determine if Nemo or White can be our blocking/power back or find a free agent.

4) We have a super TE in ey, we need to determine who else we'll have at TE, e.g., Kozlowoski, Yoder, etc.. We do need a good blocking TE and maybe another pass catching TE.

5) I'd like (but we could live without) a tall WR for the redzone.

6) We need to cut Brunnel and find a young QB that can grow (a Trent Green-- that we don't let slip away years from now)

The only one of these 6 things that will cost us anything substantial is #1) Dockery. The other 5 are cheaper signings or big savings (#6).

On Defense:

1) Sign a veteran DT -- one that either gets cut for cap reasons or is a free agent -- to replace Salavea. We need a big DT that is tough at the point of attack, to stop up the middle, take pressure off our linebackers and free up Griffin to do his thing. Maybe FA Sands from Oakland or Kris Jenkins from Carolina, if they cut him.

2) Draft the best strong side DEnd available at #6 in the first round. If we can trade down a few spots and get a 2nd or 3rd rounder -- fine. Don't go too far down the board, the quality drops and Wms won't play him his first year... This must be a strong side DE, not a weak side -- Carter can't play strong side.

3) Sign a CB that can start opposite Rogers -- maybe Smoot. It doesn't have to be Clements, he's gonna ask for way too much money...get a guy that another team cuts because of cap reasons. There will be someone.

4) Move Springs to Safety. Springs is the 3rd CB in the nickel and Prioleau comes in to replace Springs as the 2nd safety

5) Try to get AA to accept 1-2 mil in a roster bonus in March and let him go.

6) If Marshall isn't fully recovered, sign MLB Fletcher from the Bills...please don't overpay him -- he's 32 for God's sake!

7) CUT HOLDMAN

fredp45,

I like your assessment. It almost seems too simple, but it makes sense, so I'm sure none of your recommendations will happen. I hope so though! I hope our front office can somehow learn from past mistakes and build with team chemistry and locker room cohesion in mind.