Redskins vs. Rams Pregame

[DarthMonk]

I know this is early but maybe we need to look forward for a change.

So let's look back ever so briefly. This is the team we gave a bunch of picks.

They are starting to gel. We are sucking hind tit. The dynamic would be really strange if Griff were starting.

I feel we dissed Colt and the locker room by not starting him after we beat Dallas. He settled down against IND after a rough start and did some good things.

I'm hoping our guys are looking forward to kickoff and come out with a little fire. RAM just played the perfect game while we would've been beaten deep by seniors in wheel chairs. This is a bad spot for the visitors and a good spot for us. After all, how does RAM get up for crappy WAS who isn't even playing RGIII???

I might go since tickets are $3.00.

What do we have to do and can/will we do it?

[SKINS#1]

We need help from the Bionic Man or a Miracle, otherwise the chances are slim and none.

[tribeofjudah]

$3 per ticket....? You kidding me. FIRE SALE

[Irn-Bru]

I am bracing myself for all the infographics FOX is going to indulge in talking about the RGIII trade. Yay.

For reference, here are the final results of that deal:

Skins got #2 pick - RGIII

Rams got:

2012:
#14 Michael Brockers, DT [starter, good]
#39 Janoris Jenkins, CB [starter, not good]
#50 Isaiah Pead, RB [suspended / cut]
#150 Rokevious Watkins, G [waived]

2013
#30 Alec Ogletree, LB [starter, good]
#92 Stedman Bailey, WR [backup]
#198* Zac Stacy, RB [backup]
* (Zac Stacy pick came from a trade that included a pick not derived from Skins picks.)

2014
#2 Greg Robinson, OT [starter]


Or, if you just look at the picks themselves and not all of the trades that came out of them:

‘12 #6 - Morris Claiborne, CB [bust]
‘12 #39 - Janoris Jenkins, CB [starter, not good]
‘13 #22 - Desmond Trufant, CB [starter, very good]
‘14 #2 - Greg Robinson, LT [starter]


---

From my perspective, the only thing that makes that trade look bad in retrospect is the fact that RGIII appears not to have worked out. If he was a decent-to-good long-term starter already, I'd have said that we pretty clearly won out on the deal. A very good quarterback is worth more than a package including a Pro Bowl starter, a solid starter, a replaceable player, and a bust. He's also worth more than a few good DLs/LBs with a forgettable lineup of "Who's that?"s.

So, say what you want about the Redskins, but at any rate it's clear that the Rams didn't really capitalize on the value they got out of the trade. But be ready to hear about it as soon as Brockers, Ogletree, or Jenkins makes a play. They'll have the flashback footage and infographic all lined up waiting for it.

[DarthMonk]

I am bracing myself for all the infographics FOX is going to indulge in talking about the RGIII trade. Yay.

For reference, here are the final results of that deal:

Skins got #2 pick - RGIII

Rams got:

2012:
#14 Michael Brockers, DT [starter, good]
#39 Janoris Jenkins, CB [starter, not good]
#50 Isaiah Pead, RB [suspended / cut]
#150 Rokevious Watkins, G [waived]

2013
#30 Alec Ogletree, LB [starter, good]
#92 Stedman Bailey, WR [backup]
#198* Zac Stacy, RB [backup]
* (Zac Stacy pick came from a trade that included a pick not derived from Skins picks.)

2014
#2 Greg Robinson, OT [starter]


Or, if you just look at the picks themselves and not all of the trades that came out of them:

‘12 #6 - Morris Claiborne, CB [bust]
‘12 #39 - Janoris Jenkins, CB [starter, not good]
‘13 #22 - Desmond Trufant, CB [starter, very good]
‘14 #2 - Greg Robinson, LT [starter]


---

From my perspective, the only thing that makes that trade look bad in retrospect is the fact that RGIII appears not to have worked out. If he was a decent-to-good long-term starter already, I'd have said that we pretty clearly won out on the deal. A very good quarterback is worth more than a package including a Pro Bowl starter, a solid starter, a replaceable player, and a bust. He's also worth more than a few good DLs/LBs with a forgettable lineup of "Who's that?"s.

So, say what you want about the Redskins, but at any rate it's clear that the Rams didn't really capitalize on the value they got out of the trade. But be ready to hear about it as soon as Brockers, Ogletree, or Jenkins makes a play. They'll have the flashback footage and infographic all lined up waiting for it.

Thanks for the work. I'm expecting as much and was wondering what they'd done on their end.

Wonder who the key figure was in their selection process.

[SkinsJock]

The Rams did not do as well from the trade as many expected ...

AND

For all those that claim 'we gave up too much' ... do you really think that the guys that decided to make that trade (Snyder & Allen) would have made good choices with those draft picks - as the Harvard Business School report pointed out in March, 2012 - 'the only way this trade makes any sense is for Robert Griffin III to become as good a QB as Tom Brady'

and anyone that thinks the guys that made that trade would have used the draft picks to help this franchise is certifiable

This franchise has not done well under Allen & Snyder - hopefully, they are not a part of the 2015 draft ....

[Deadskins]

The Rams did not do as well from the trade as many expected ...

AND

For all those that claim 'we gave up too much' ... do you really think that the guys that decided to make that trade (Snyder & Allen) would have made good choices with those draft picks - as the Harvard Business School report pointed out in March, 2012 - 'the only way this trade makes any sense is for Robert Griffin III to become as good a QB as Tom Brady'

and anyone that thinks the guys that made that trade would have used the draft picks to help this franchise is certifiable

This franchise has not done well under Allen & Snyder - hopefully, they are not a part of the 2015 draft ....

Except that it would have ostensibly been Shanahan making those picks.

[DarthMonk]

I forget the timing but, given the cap penalty, we may have had trouble signing the extra early picks. Just sayin'.

Too bad Shanny put the gun to his head in the 2nd half of the Seattle playoff game knowing the chamber had a bullet in it. Things might have evolved much differently ... but I'm getting off topic.

What is RAM bread-and-butter on offense? Better yet, what is ours?

[SkinsJock]

The Rams did not do as well from the trade as many expected ...
For all those that claim 'we gave up too much' ... do you really think that the guys that decided to make that trade (Snyder & Allen) would have made good choices with those draft picks - as the Harvard Business School report pointed out in March, 2012 - 'the only way this trade makes any sense is for Robert Griffin III to become as good a QB as Tom Brady'
and anyone that thinks the guys that made that trade would have used the draft picks to help this franchise is certifiable
This franchise has not done well under Allen & Snyder - hopefully, they are not a part of the 2015 draft ....

Except that it would have ostensibly been Shanahan making those picks.

OK - fair enough - I'll grant that the picks might have been Mike's but the decision to make the trade was not his - that was made by Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder - Mike did not want to give up all those draft picks

however - to your point - if we'd had the picks, Mike's influence might have resulted in some better player choices

I still don't want Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder involved with the 2015 draft

Dan Snyder is still hurting the franchise and that's a big worry

[riggofan]

Good stuff Irn-Bru. The downside of those picks IMO is less about the Rams getting some huge haul and more about those additional first round picks we could have made. A safety, d-line, o-line, CB, etc; I don't think there's much question we'd be in better shape with those picks now.

Obviously, every pick is a gamble, but a first rounder or a high second rounder is LESS of a gamble.

and anyone that thinks the guys that made that trade would have used the draft picks to help this franchise is certifiable

You're just completely talking out of your backside at this point. Shanny's first two picks before RGIII were Trent Williams and Ryan Kerrigan. Probably our two BEST players on this team. How about Jordan Reed? Not to mention the later round guys he drafted. Roy Helu, Keenan Robinson, Niles Paul, ALFRED FREAKING MORRIS. Shanahan picked 13 players in the top four rounds of the draft while he was here, and all 13 of them are still on the team.

Shanny's drafts weren't perfect by any stretch, and he missed on some guys just like other teams have. But compare those drafts to the players drafted under Cerrato and he looks like a genius. Or at least he would if he hadn't been involved in the RGIII trade.

So yeah I don't think you have to be certifiable to believe we could have gotten some decent, needed players with the picks we gave the Rams. It is what it is though.

[riggofan]

Except that it would have ostensibly been Shanahan making those picks.

THANK YOU.

[Irn-Bru]

Yeah, Shanny drafted pretty well here. There were multiple instances where he picked the best player available and caught flak for it but was proved right in the long run.

[riggofan]

Yeah, Shanny drafted pretty well here. There were multiple instances where he picked the best player available and caught flak for it but was proved right in the long run.

You know the 2014 draft with Gruden could prove to be a decent draft as well. Five of those eight guys made the team. Murphy looks like he is going to be decent. Breeland has been better than you could really hope for a rookie. Kind of depends on how Moses and Spencer Long pan out I guess.

Just a hunch, but I'd guess that not having Vinny involved these past five drafts has made a huge difference.

Hopefully they'll draft well again next year and do a little better in free agency. We've been begging the team for years to build through the draft, and this is how its done. Somebody needs to tell Snyder that there are no shortcuts.

[SkinsJock]

Yeah, Shanny drafted pretty well here. There were multiple instances where he picked the best player available and caught flak for it but was proved right in the long run.

I agree FFA - while there were a lot of things that Mike did badly here, he knows what it takes and he brought in some players that can still help this franchise going forward - unfortunately, Snyder and Allen did not make things easy for him

we're better off for going thru the Shanahan years but we still need Snyder to see the light and stop interfering

The Rams have a good HC and will always be in the mix - it must be very disappointing to not have done better with the picks though

[DarthMonk]

ESPN’s Bill Polian, a former NFL general manager, recently ranked the top six talent evaluators in the league and Ted Thompson of the Packers is among them.

"When discussing the qualities associated with the league's best talent evaluators, you might think it starts with an ability to identify potential in draft prospects," Polian wrote. "On the contrary, what separates the best from the rest is an ability to first understand your own franchise."

Polian’s list, in the order he has it: Ozzie Newsome, Ravens; Thomas Dimitroff, Falcons; Ted Thompson, Packers (left); Jerry Reese, Giants; Trent Baalke, 49ers and Kevin Colbert, Steelers.

"The Packers have a simple model: Build from within," Polian wrote. "Green Bay places an enormous emphasis on the draft (and signing undrafted free agents), and Thompson really does a great job identifying big-time playmakers: Clay Matthews, B.J. Raji, A.J. Hawk, Sam Shields and Randall Cobb are just a few examples. And, of course, he pulled the trigger to select Aaron Rodgers in the 2005 draft despite having Brett Favre under center.

"I also like that Ted is impervious to the noise around him - and that is true of all the guys on this list," Polian wrote. "Whether it's coming from the media, fans or even voices within an organization, there is no shortage of critics in this line of work. Ted presses the mute button on all of that and goes about his business, following his blueprint and accumulating wins. The Super Bowl ring is evidence that he's got the right plan in front of him. That they won a title with 14 players on the IR speaks to his ability to bring in depth players who can make an impact."