Report: skins say they will pick a qb with the 4th pick..

Whats perplexing is Kyle Shanahan stated in one of his interviews that he is satisfied with the OL product we have now. Said he has no problem with the OL as it is right now and believes we would be competative... as is. When asked who he would use at LT he stated Heyer was the LT today (meaning Sun.). He basically said most people think with the zone blocking scheme teams need smaller faster OL and he stated thats a fabrication. He stated they prefer big guys who are fast or can move in space relatively well.

So my question is.... is there any possible way between Buges and Zorns scheme is the reason the OL did not do so well and the new coach's have seen this and are happy with our talent?

On how he feels about the offensive line:

“I'm real excited about our offensive line. They talk about that that's been a weakness and stuff, but I don't see it on tape and I don't see it on the field. We've got some real good players. I think we've got some big guys who aren't just big guys who stand still. We got some big guys who can move.



“We've just got to get them in shape and get them used to running the zone scheme, and running and cutting and I think we've got a good chance there.”



On if he sees a difference in the team compared to on tape:

“No. It's not different. It's tough when you watch tape of an old staff; you don't want to watch too much, because you're not watching scheme. You don't know what they're asking players to do, so you're not really evaluating that. You're trying to watch the individual. When you watch the individual, you do see talent. You see size and you also see speed. And as a coach, that's all you can ask for.



“Now we want to get them on the field and see. We know they're talented. Can they do what we're asking them to do? Each day they got better, and hopefully by training camp they'll continue to grow.”



On the zone blocking scheme:

“All 32 teams use the zone blocking scheme. I just think the difference in the commitment to it. We're going to commit to it. We're not going to do much else. We're committed to running the zone, getting guys moving, and I really think it's just what you emphasize.”



On what makes a good offensive lineman:

“Everyone thinks you want them small and quick. Well, we want them fast. They have to be able to run. We want a big guy, too. Not all big guys can run; if you can get a big guy who can run, then you've got Pro Bowl type players. It's just hard to find those guys, but when you have them you couldn't look for anything else.”



On if he is confident in the left tackles on the roster:

“Oh yeah.”



On if he is confident in the left tackles on the roster as of today:

“You better feel confident going into the draft with every position you have, because I've been around enough -- not too long, but around enough -- to realize that if you're dependent on getting a player in the draft, you're going to be pretty disappointed because it rarely works out that way.



“You get your team, you've got to be good to go through free agency and what you see out here, and then everything in the draft is just a bonus.”



On who is the starting left tackle:

“I think it was [Stephon] Heyer today.”



On if he feels confident with the current offensive line:

“I definitely do. I think we can compete definitely with what we have. Whatever the position is, you always want to get guys who are better, but no doubt, we can compete with our team out there.”

Mike Shanahan on the OL and Draft picks.....

On the characteristics he’s looking for when evaluating the offensive line:

“Good offensive lineman. We’re looking for a balance. You want guys that can obviously do the job in the running game, and they have the ability to pass protect as well. These guys have been working extremely hard for the last month and I was impressed with a lot of our offensive linemen the last couple days.”





On if Denver Broncos left tackle Ryan Clady is his standard for draft offensive linemen:

“Everybody would love a Ryan Clady. They don’t happen very often. In fact I’ve been fortunate enough to be around a couple guys, Gary Zimmerman and Ryan Clady, and at the same time you win a lot of football games you don’t usually get a guy like that unless you’re very fortunate. We’re going to always try to get the best players that we could possibly get, and hopefully we can add to our football team.”



On his draft philosophy with regards to trading picks:

“I think if you look at my past, I love draft choices, so this is a little bit unusual for me going in without a third or a sixth rounder, and making the decision to acquire someone like Donovan [McNabb]. In the past I haven’t done that very many times. Every once in a while you’ll throw a draft choice here or there, which you feel gives your football team a chance to get better, but at the same time you know those draft choices are very important and I guarantee you we won’t give them away very quickly unless we think it’s the best thing for the football team.”

What Tampa does at 3 is going to be critical. If they take Berry we're kind of screwed, but if they take McCoy and Berry is there for us at 4 there are at least a couple of teams who may be willing to talk with us to jump KC to get Berry

I take it youre presuming that Detroit would take Suh at #2. The way I see it, their top 2 needs are OT and DT. Even if we don't intend to trade Haynesworth to Detroit, we should atleast make them think that we will, so that they take Okung at 2. In turn, that would force Tampa Bay to take Suh. ensuring that Clausen, Berry, and McCoy were all available at 4. Since we've been putting out the word that we may take a QB, teams who had singled out any of those players would be interested in trading up to get th em. It would essentially be "the perfect storm" for the Redskins to trade down, since we'd have A LOT of teams calling us to trade.

I still think if Clausen is there at 4, and we don't get a good offer to trade down, we should take him. We'd have cornered the market on QBs with Clausen, McNabb and Campbell and could then trade Clausen or McNabb to the highest bidder (probably Oakland or Buffalo) with the loser getting Campbell at a premium price.

Hm I dont know why they dont think Oline is an issue..

I would be pretty upset if we got a QB. Not because I dont think the QBs are talented but because we have committed quite a bit to the QB position with McNabb. Would be a huge misuse of draft picks IMO to waste a first and 2 second round picks(for McNabb) on the QB position.

I think they feel that way because they look at the guy that they replaced. He wasn't a good QB and the line played ok, not great, but ok. John Thompson asked Donovan how he could play behind this line and how he would deal with the type of pressure that #17 saw and he said that he could get the ball out quicker. Pick up on blitzes, change protections, so many things that can be done besides sitting there and blaming the O-Line later. This line isnt the Hogs, but I don't think you can know how good an O line is with a sub-par QB playing behind it. I don't think Heyer is all that good but I don't get paid to do what they do.

Redskins are putting out the word that they're taking a quarterback | ProFootballTalk.com (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/18/redskins-are-putting-out-the-word-that-theyre-taking-a-quarterback/)

PFT.com? PFFFFT!

I do remember Buges strongly taking up for the Right side of the line last preseason. His quote was something like (paraphrase) "don't ask me about the right side, those guys are fine! Ask me about a left tackle if Chris goes down" He of course was right that we needed a plan in the offseason for when Chris did go down, and who knows, if Chris had stayed in longer maybe the rest of the line would gel. But it points to the fact that we need a solid LT, AND a competent backup.

The worst kept secret in the league is: The Redskins desperately need a Left Tackle.
It certainly doesn't help your bargaining position when everyone else knows it.
ShanAllen and Co. can spin it any way they want, but they are not fooling anybody.

No team is going to buy that they will draft any position other than LT. I think there is less than a 1% chance any team gives up draft picks to make a trade with them to move into the top 5.

How soon we all forget how srubadub our line was last year. It wasn't the scheme guys. They aren't good. Oh it may be possible to fool yourself into thinking they can be good somehow but last year they old guys looked old and the young guys looked average at best. It's always in the nature of a coach to think that he has the juice to "coach-up" a naturally talented player. Joe Bugel is perhaps one of the top 5 O-line coaches in the history of the game and he couldn't get a guy like Heyer to perform adequately. We're in trouble if they really think we can start #74 at LT and not get our QB killed. Better keep JC just in case I guess.

I won't be surprised to see the Shanahans milk better production out of the OL this year, that said I'm 110% positive they are aware of the need to upgrade the talent at tackle, especially LT.