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

As of 12/06/2009 the Redskins defense is ranked 9th in the league in defensive sacks.
Much improved from previous seasons. Considering this defense usually just rushes 4 and plays mostly coverage. 9th in the league is not too shabby.
The team total for defensive sacks so far is 27. Last year we had 24 total defensive sacks we have already passed that total and have 5 games more to play. I have to think the addition of Haynesworth has a large part to do with the improvement.
I also want to give kudos to Andre Carter who I have bashed in the past. I will never bash Carter again. Lets not forget the fabulous rookie Orakpo. Carter has registered 9 sacks so far and is on pace to register double digits in sacks this year. Orakpo has seven sacks and is on pace for double digits in sacks as well.
Not too bad considering where this defense was a year ago.

So yes the season has been a tough one. At least we can build upon a good defense.
I actually would like to see another linebacker added to the mix. Brandon Spikes would be a nice addition. I know the offensive line needs fixing first but an athletic Inside or Outside linebacker would be a nice addition to this defense.

Another positive is the way Fred Davis is coming around. I really think we have a gem in Fred Davis.
Devin Thomas has also showed some heart out there.
Ladell Betts can still run the ball when healthy.
Haynesworth is worth every penny in my mind. Just look at the improvement in defensive sacks.

Feel free to point out any positives I may have missed.

Ladell Betts is almost certainly gone, so that's not much of a positive. Also, today the Redskins will get absolutely shellacked by the Saints... so there's not much there either...

I'd say on the most important link, the O-line, Levi Jones is a keeper and Mike Williams could be a dominant guard next year. If we could pick up an elite OT, a better-than-Rabach center, and a proven OT for the bench we could be in good shape. Haven't seen any Skin's guard run block like Mike Williams since Tre Johnston.


Also Justin Tryon shows up on gametape and really stays glued to his man.

Doughty is ranked something like 2nd in the league in plays made for times thrown at as Strong Safety

Jerry Gray may stay

The running game has been resurrected by hungry players and it's on tape to review in the offseason. Surely there will be a new RB next year

Higher draft picks really are a big deal. Maybe we lose out and get Okung

The season's not over yet!

It would be nice to see us steal one from a division rival. Maybe pull off an upset against a much better team.

Most positives are little more than consolation prizes at this point, but it's still worth watching.

The positives I expect from this season haven't occurred yet, but in my mind, we'll have had a winning season if next year our GM (in place of cerratto, whatever his title actually is), our HC, and our QB are all new.

Skinsfan55 wrote:Ladell Betts is almost certainly gone, so that's not much of a positive. Also, today the Redskins will get absolutely shellacked by the Saints... so there's not much there either...

There were some questions but I guess we now know for sure that you know very little about the NFL game

Irn-Bru wrote:The season's not over yet!

It would be nice to see us steal one from a division rival. Maybe pull off an upset against a much better team.

Most positives are little more than consolation prizes at this point, but it's still worth watching.

well put FFA

Positives for me are. The deeper into the depth chart we dig. The better we play.

I think the DL has become a strength rather than weakness.

The OL has had so much adversity but is actually gelling and improving. Couple of players brought in will make us competative.

We do need a new RB tho. Portis has slowed. Betts is likely done with that injury at his age.

I think Tryon has been good too.

Folks we have had a nightmare season. Injuries. Every single decision going against us. Every bouncing ball.

One day the Karma will come back onside and we will win games we should have lost.

SkinsJock wrote:

Skinsfan55 wrote:Ladell Betts is almost certainly gone, so that's not much of a positive. Also, today the Redskins will get absolutely shellacked by the Saints... so there's not much there either...

There were some questions but I guess we now know for sure that you know very little about the NFL game

Cmon man, I think a lot of people thoght that way, including myself.

Devin Thomas is my positive.

I'm pretty sure we are the best 3-9 team in the entire league, 99.9% sure of it. That's a huge positive.

ATX_Skins wrote:

SkinsJock wrote:

Skinsfan55 wrote:Ladell Betts is almost certainly gone, so that's not much of a positive. Also, today the Redskins will get absolutely shellacked by the Saints.

There were some questions but I guess we now know for sure that you know very little about the NFL game

Cmon man, I think a lot of people thought that way, including myself.

We are a bad team and the Saints are a very good team but I did not think that we would "get absolutely shellacked by the Saints"
Look, I admit I did not think it would be close but we had the #1 pass defense coming into the game and they looked like they were not going to have all of their starters available on defense - I thought his opinion gave an indication of how little he knows about what can happen "on any given Sunday" - all he needed to do was say that it looked like OR there was a good chance, but no, he wanted to make an "absolute" prediction and it came back to bite him

he didn't just think it could happen - he wanted to put it out there AND in a thread about 'positives' - he said it

^^ Fair enough

Skinsfan55 wrote:Also, today the Redskins will get absolutely shellacked by the Saints... so there's not much there either...

Good call, methinks you have a future in weather forecasting

Fios wrote:

Skinsfan55 wrote:Also, today the Redskins will get absolutely shellacked by the Saints... so there's not much there either...

Good call, methinks you have a future in weather forecasting

LOL! long time no see Mr. Sippy cup.

I agree with a lot said.. we need to keep JOnes at left and Draft the top OT in the draft... we can put the rookie om the right for two or three years and then swicth him to left when Jones is getting older. Reading about these rokies, I realize most of them played right tackle first for a couple of years so it wont be new to them. OUr backups will be Heyer, Samuels if he can play, Reinhart and the Rookie Williams... Sonds good uh?

Pablo wrote:I agree with a lot said.. we need to keep JOnes at left and Draft the top OT in the draft... we can put the rookie om the right for two or three years and then swicth him to left when Jones is getting older. Reading about these rokies, I realize most of them played right tackle first for a couple of years so it wont be new to them. OUr backups will be Heyer, Samuels if he can play, Reinhart and the Rookie Williams... Sonds good uh?

We have great shot at getting Okung and almost none of getting Samuels back and healthy for any length of time. You have left out Mike Williams at guard. Front five could be:

Okung, Dockery, 2nd round center (the best in the draft), Mike Williams, and Jones. In my opinion, we could find backups amoung FAs rather than settling for Rhino and Heyer. With the above front seven we could be contending for the playoffs.

crazyhorse1 wrote:

Pablo wrote:I agree with a lot said.. we need to keep JOnes at left and Draft the top OT in the draft... we can put the rookie om the right for two or three years and then swicth him to left when Jones is getting older. Reading about these rokies, I realize most of them played right tackle first for a couple of years so it wont be new to them. OUr backups will be Heyer, Samuels if he can play, Reinhart and the Rookie Williams... Sonds good uh?

We have great shot at getting Okung and almost none of getting Samuels back and healthy for any length of time. You have left out Mike Williams at guard. Front five could be:

Okung, Dockery, 2nd round center (the best in the draft), Mike Williams, and Jones. In my opinion, we could find backups amoung FAs rather than settling for Rhino and Heyer. With the above front seven we could be contending for the playoffs.

We agree. We are 1 player (LT) away from having a solid OL... We are 2 players away from having a very good OL. I grow increasingly convinced that Mike Williams is the answer at RG... and may even regain enough polish to make an argument to be the RT, but by continuing to use Jones, we can be in decent shape. Center would be nice, but I'm not of the belief that it's critical to the development of the line for next season... definitely for the following season, though.

People will wail about lack of depth. The reality is, OL depth is the NFL equivalent of the holy grail. There are only so many starter quality OL in the world. Very few OUTSTANDING OL. Divide those among 32 teams, and somebody is playing backups as starters... just how it is.

Countertrey wrote:People will wail about lack of depth. The reality is, OL depth is the NFL equivalent of the holy grail.

And what is the equivalent of NEGLECTING your OL starters, let alone search for depth in it for over nearly a decade?

The Anti-Christ?

We are not one or two OLs away from winning. Not by a long shot. The current line is still one of the worst in the NFL and we have no depth. You guys see a couple of hard fought games and forget the fundamentals. You should know better to take into account the kinds of DL that we play against in the NFC East.

One of the positives that I've seen from this team is no matter how bad it's gotten, or they've gotten for that matter, they've gone out there and fought. They don't get blown out like other teams that seem to just be going through the motions. This team, even though they are lacking talent in several positions, plays with everything they've got.

Ummm... its almost over

and then the speculating begins.

Redskin in Canada wrote:

Countertrey wrote:People will wail about lack of depth. The reality is, OL depth is the NFL equivalent of the holy grail.

And what is the equivalent of NEGLECTING your OL starters, let alone search for depth in it for over nearly a decade?

The Anti-Christ?

We are not one or two OLs away from winning. Not by a long shot. The current line is still one of the worst in the NFL and we have no depth. You guys see a couple of hard fought games and forget the fundamentals. You should know better to take into account the kinds of DL that we play against in the NFC East.

It would be nice if you would read the post as a whole, and NOT dice it into tiny segments, devoid of context.

1 1 blue chip LT turns this OL into a decent line:
Okung-Dockery-Raybach-M Williams-Levi Jones. It requires that Williams continues to find his mojo, but I think he's well on the way. That, sir, is a decent OL, which should be effective for at least a year. Are you telling me that you wouldn't like that line? If we are fortunate enough to find Raybach's replacement, so much the better. There is not likely to be a miracle that lands a young starter at RT... Jones will do. If Samuels and Thomas are, by some miracle, able to come back, what fantastic backups would they be?

2 It would be an OL that has no solid depth (unless Samuels and Thomas were able to return to good health).

3 Very few teams have backups that are starter quality. The expansion of the league has most effected quality in this area. There just aren't enough really good OL to go around. We will be fortunate to find one really good G/T backup, and possibly, a CG backup. Heyer is pretty typical of the quality that most teams have backing up their starters.

2 and 3 are, whether you like it or not, are facts.

I do not have an expectation that this turns the team into a winner. However, the above OL, remaining intact, would provide a superior framework for play development than the one that we have had for much of this year. We have not been blown out. A few more points each game changes the outcome in many of them.

What I did suggest is that we can get the result of a solid starting OL with only 1 addition. Adding a better Center improves the line further. I do believe that this provides us a very solid OL, capable of providing good run support, and solid pass pro. I did say that some would wail about the lack of depth. Apparently, that is also true.

Regarding that, the reality is, almost ALL teams have issues with that, as there are just not enough good linemen. Many teams (such as the Redskins for much of this year) have not fielded a full team of OL starters. You do not have to dig too deeply to find that I have voiced concern/complaint about the Redskins failure to address, not only OL, but DL (prior to this year) for a while. Raging against that lunacy does not put OL starters in the pipeline in 2010.

Nowhere in my post do I propose that this ends the hunt for players OR the dream of a Vinnie free front office.