Which issue is the biggest concern for the Skins in 2009?
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:43 pm
I just noticed I'm at 999 posts, so i thought for #1000 I would try to start a good "big picture" topic to cover a whole gamut of issues. 
1. The front office, who we recognize predominately as Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, minus a real NFL GM, has had a very checkered past. I don't need to recap the whole history, but suffice it to say, they have provided a roller coaster ride of free agent signings, trades, drafts, coaches and approaches. (that rhymes
)
It seems every couple of years, despite any real indication of improvement or movement forward, Snyder re-invents himself (or tries to) as a "behind the scenes" owner or a "hands-on" owner or a "spend-thrifty" owner or a "pro-draft" owner. But in my opinion, except for some of the Gibbs II tenure, Snyder has been the same old "spend first, ask questions later" owner that he was when he first bought the franchise from the Cook family. Yes, he's gotten marginally better at his spending, but every time you think he's grown wiser and might be realizing that none of the best NFL franchises operate with such disdain for draft picks, he goes out and makes a move that is just a total head-scratcher. There is still no GM on staff and he still seems to occasionally make moves that lack common football sense.
2. Zorn and the coaching staff got off to a nice start last year despite some serious obstacles. No one in football predicted they would be 6-2 mid-season and begrudging accolades were coming from all corners of the football world. Then the cookie began to crumble and we the fans are still debating about why and who to blame. I bet Zorn is too. Blache did a solid job and he is one of my favorite coaches. A true throwback, IMO. Buges might be losing his touch a little, but then again, how much is he to blame for the lack of depth and youth? I often wonder, if our kicking and punting games are a huge question mark every year, why is our special teams coach still employed? even though he begged for a 6th round pick to be used on a punter we later cut?
3. You have some inexperience at the QB position and just enough mediocrity to make it real hard to pull the trigger for or against Jason Campbell. He has class, is big and strong and fairly mobile. He seems to have all the tools you look for, big arm, accuracy is developing especially on deep outs. He is hard to bring down and took a nice step forward last year as a team leader. But, he holds the ball too long at times. He doesn't always show nice touch on some passes although Zorn has him improving that. He gets antsy and shows indecision. While some of that can be blamed on the OL, no great QB ever gets to make every play without pressure (except maybe Troy Aikman, did he ever make a play with someone in his face?)
4. Then you have a 5 offensive lineman that might have been the best 5 in the NFL, in 2003! No, I hate to bash these guys too much. I mean, they have a mostly thankless job and they work their butts off. But as a franchise we are in a predicament at OL. We have some solid starting lineman, but everyone is 30 and older and several have routinely been injured. It is doubtful there is a rookie (at #13) who could walk right into camp and take a starting job easily, but we need to add youth and depth.
5. WR's are a major concern. Do you trade Moss or ARE to try to get a bigger bodied, softer handed Wr in here? Oh yeah, we can't because they both have back-loaded contracts that would force us to take a big cap hit to move them anywhere. Neither is young, niether is #1 WR material. Moss is a nice player who can break a game open with a big play. But the clock is ticking on his speed and unless we can provide a solid #1 WR so Moss can be a true #2, he probably will struggle with consistency as he's matched up with #1 CB's every week. Thomas and Kelly didn't show the maturity or work ethic to make a contribution last season. We all hope they have grown up, can come to camp in superior condition, avoid injuries, study the playbook and AT LEAST become viable #3 and #4 Wr's this year. If either one truly focused their whole off-season to becoming better, that player might become the next #1 WR for the Washington Redskins. So we'll see how they show up in July.
6. Defense did it's job in 2008. They didn't get many sacks or INT's but they did stop opposing offenses. It is becoming a Blache trademark - Defenses that do all the little things, tackle well, stop the run, force offenses to put together long mistake free drives, swarm to the ball. This year, the addition of Haynesworth should be interesting. There are still holes at LDE and SOLB. Even if we fill those with the likes of Blades and Daniels, we will probably be a top5 defense again.
So, all that said, do you think there is one issue that trumps all others? Is it pointless to look for a new QB if we keep the same front office or coaching staff? Would it be pointless to bring an NFL GM to D.C. if Vinny and Snyder stayed? Do you you think all we need is an improved offensive line or receiving corps to make a deep run into the playoffs?
Vince Lombardi said, "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."
So maybe the question for the Redskins is, what is the plan to inspire commitment from every single player on the roster? and if there are any players who cannot be so inspired, what will be done about them?
1. The front office, who we recognize predominately as Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, minus a real NFL GM, has had a very checkered past. I don't need to recap the whole history, but suffice it to say, they have provided a roller coaster ride of free agent signings, trades, drafts, coaches and approaches. (that rhymes
)
It seems every couple of years, despite any real indication of improvement or movement forward, Snyder re-invents himself (or tries to) as a "behind the scenes" owner or a "hands-on" owner or a "spend-thrifty" owner or a "pro-draft" owner. But in my opinion, except for some of the Gibbs II tenure, Snyder has been the same old "spend first, ask questions later" owner that he was when he first bought the franchise from the Cook family. Yes, he's gotten marginally better at his spending, but every time you think he's grown wiser and might be realizing that none of the best NFL franchises operate with such disdain for draft picks, he goes out and makes a move that is just a total head-scratcher. There is still no GM on staff and he still seems to occasionally make moves that lack common football sense.
2. Zorn and the coaching staff got off to a nice start last year despite some serious obstacles. No one in football predicted they would be 6-2 mid-season and begrudging accolades were coming from all corners of the football world. Then the cookie began to crumble and we the fans are still debating about why and who to blame. I bet Zorn is too. Blache did a solid job and he is one of my favorite coaches. A true throwback, IMO. Buges might be losing his touch a little, but then again, how much is he to blame for the lack of depth and youth? I often wonder, if our kicking and punting games are a huge question mark every year, why is our special teams coach still employed? even though he begged for a 6th round pick to be used on a punter we later cut?
3. You have some inexperience at the QB position and just enough mediocrity to make it real hard to pull the trigger for or against Jason Campbell. He has class, is big and strong and fairly mobile. He seems to have all the tools you look for, big arm, accuracy is developing especially on deep outs. He is hard to bring down and took a nice step forward last year as a team leader. But, he holds the ball too long at times. He doesn't always show nice touch on some passes although Zorn has him improving that. He gets antsy and shows indecision. While some of that can be blamed on the OL, no great QB ever gets to make every play without pressure (except maybe Troy Aikman, did he ever make a play with someone in his face?
)
4. Then you have a 5 offensive lineman that might have been the best 5 in the NFL, in 2003!
No, I hate to bash these guys too much. I mean, they have a mostly thankless job and they work their butts off. But as a franchise we are in a predicament at OL. We have some solid starting lineman, but everyone is 30 and older and several have routinely been injured. It is doubtful there is a rookie (at #13) who could walk right into camp and take a starting job easily, but we need to add youth and depth.
5. WR's are a major concern. Do you trade Moss or ARE to try to get a bigger bodied, softer handed Wr in here? Oh yeah, we can't because they both have back-loaded contracts that would force us to take a big cap hit to move them anywhere. Neither is young, niether is #1 WR material. Moss is a nice player who can break a game open with a big play. But the clock is ticking on his speed and unless we can provide a solid #1 WR so Moss can be a true #2, he probably will struggle with consistency as he's matched up with #1 CB's every week. Thomas and Kelly didn't show the maturity or work ethic to make a contribution last season. We all hope they have grown up, can come to camp in superior condition, avoid injuries, study the playbook and AT LEAST become viable #3 and #4 Wr's this year. If either one truly focused their whole off-season to becoming better, that player might become the next #1 WR for the Washington Redskins. So we'll see how they show up in July.
6. Defense did it's job in 2008. They didn't get many sacks or INT's but they did stop opposing offenses. It is becoming a Blache trademark - Defenses that do all the little things, tackle well, stop the run, force offenses to put together long mistake free drives, swarm to the ball. This year, the addition of Haynesworth should be interesting. There are still holes at LDE and SOLB. Even if we fill those with the likes of Blades and Daniels, we will probably be a top5 defense again.
So, all that said, do you think there is one issue that trumps all others? Is it pointless to look for a new QB if we keep the same front office or coaching staff? Would it be pointless to bring an NFL GM to D.C. if Vinny and Snyder stayed? Do you you think all we need is an improved offensive line or receiving corps to make a deep run into the playoffs?
Vince Lombardi said, "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."
So maybe the question for the Redskins is, what is the plan to inspire commitment from every single player on the roster? and if there are any players who cannot be so inspired, what will be done about them?
There aren't any votes for coaching staff that I can see.
ey being moved around all over the field, in the slot, bunch formations, motions and shifts etc. We have to create mismatches and we have to force the defense to think about something other than crowding the box against Portis. If I don't see that, then I will definitely move Zorn up to the top of the list of blame.
a Homo or a McNubb.
