Some optimism on the 'Shanaplan'

Draft a 1st round QB to start.
Get rid of Beck and Grossman.
Either draft a late round young QB to have 2 or
Look for another more accurate Vet QB.

Draft a 1st round QB to start.
Get rid of Beck and Grossman.
Either draft a late round young QB to have 2 or
Look for another more accurate Vet QB.

I think there's several vet QBs who are/will be upgrades over what we have...good idea.

Well it depends on how you look at it. QB is certainly our biggest need. And it's the most important position on any roster, in my opinion. But it's not the only position that we needed to improve upon.

So I mean yes I wish we had, for example, gotten Locker at #10 but he wasn't there so we could have traded up to ensure we get him. Or we could have said well let's go with the next best QB on our list. Or we could have done what we did and said "OK, we didn't get the QB we wanted. But we have a chance to get the LB, DT, and WR we need."

So maybe that's what they did. Maybe they said you know we like our best LB better than our second best QB so let's do that. Because next year and in future years we don't see LB (or DT or WR, etc) that we really would want. But we do see a QB. So we'll build other areas of our team in 2011 and then we'll get that QB in 2012.

Well said. And it should be noted, though it's way early -- the QB that Shanahan passed on, Blaine Gabbert, is looking awfully lost out there.

I didn't mean to imply we would have completely neglected defense GTripp but I see how it read that way...I tend to skip over points when I try writing down my thoughts.

I think Rak would have been our LDE, Carter RDE and added a DT. Of course I've assuming AH is still contributing something because the offense is built around him (re-closing can of worms now). We could have spent, say, half the total number of picks/FAs on defense had we stayed in the 4-3 and likely be better than we are today because this defense isn't going to dominate w/o a real NT.No, this is my bad. I implied, but did not write, that the reason I thought the Redskins defensed declined and then came back to 2009 ish talent levels is because the Redskins didn't add anything to it last year. Which is to say that 3-4/4-3 is a lot of window dressing, but the defense was going to get changed one way or another, and there wasn't exactly a coordinator out there similar to Greg Blache nor should we have hired him if there was.

But if you change your defensive identity and then don't add any talent to it and then you have a public spat with your highest profile player, you're destined to have a pretty disappointing year on defense. And I don't entirely believe Mike Shanahan or Jim Haslett should take the blame for the decline from 2009. We didn't have anything to build off of on that side of the ball beyond the years that Fletcher, Carter, and Orakpo had and the huge contracts to Hall and Haynesworth.

Anyway, it's moot now because Brian Orakpo is never going to be a three down defensive end in this league. He's a linebacker in any scheme on a rushing down, and then he puts his hand in the dirt on third down. Or we could keep playing what we are now, and keep getting the quarterback on the ground on early downs. I like that a lot better.

I think there's several vet QBs who are/will be upgrades over what we have...good idea.

Just curious, which veteran QB that were available this offseason or rookies (again that were available in 2010 or 2011) would have made a better long term decision than what we currently have. Please don't mistake this for me embracing Rex/Beck as anything more than a one season stopgap as both of their contracts are done at the end of the season so we have $0 invested at that position for 2012.

In answering that question, remember that if we drafted a QB at 10 we wouldn't have Kerrigan, Hankerson or Helu and would have had to give up 2012 picks to move up in the 2nd round for Dalton. One big failing IMO was not drafting a depth QB in the later rounds of either 2010 or 2011.

Not picking on you but the revisionist history of 'we should have done better' without citing specifics always strikes a nerve.

One thing bothers me and that's Mike Shanahan's ego. He said before the preseason and during the NFL lockout that he was going to stake his reputation on John Beck. But Beck lost the QB competition in training camp/preseason to Rex Grossman. Grossman actually played well the first three weeks. But by the forth game, his play began to decline. After the bye week, Grossman was benched after tossing 4 picks against the Eagles defense. Then Beck takes over after Grossman is benched and plays worse in terms of how the position should be played. He checks it down to his halfback on 3rd and 20 instead of finding a WR open down field. Then Shanahan switches back to Grossman and Rex has actually played satisfactory the last two outings against the Dolphins and Cowboys.

Where am I going this this, you ask?

Mike Shanahan won't admit that he made a mistake going with Grossman and Beck atop the depth chart at the start of preseason. So, how does he draft a QB without admitting that he was wrong from the start? Until he does that, Mike Shanahan may still delude himself into thinking that Grossman may improve and Beck is the QB of the future.

You guys are funny..

So Shanahan was suppose to come out in the first press conference this year and just say..

"Hey guys, look.. I understand we have two mediocre QB's on this football team, but I'm hoping for the best and that we can win a few games with talent around him untill we can draft our QB in 2012. Since we went for defense in this draft"

I'm sorry, but you guys act like he's suppose to come out and throw his team under the bus lol. He's the head coach, and would you want to play for a guy that basically would just say you suck or you're not good enough to play? What coach in the NFL actually says he's not confident in his team/players?

Of fcking course he would state his reputation on his QB's.. It's his freaking football team...Get a brain!!!!!! I'm so tired of reading half wit comments.

You guys are funny..

So Shanahan was suppose to come out in the first press conference this year and just say..

"Hey guys, look.. I understand we have two mediocre QB's on this football team, but I'm hoping for the best and that we can win a few games with talent around him untill we can draft our QB in 2012. Since we went for defense in this draft"

I'm sorry, but you guys act like he's suppose to come out and throw his team under the bus lol. He's the head coach, and would you want to play for a guy that basically would just say you suck or you're not good enough to play? What coach in the NFL actually says he's not confident in his team/players?

Of fcking course he would state his reputation on his QB's.. It's his freaking football team...Get a brain!!!!!! I'm so tired of reading half wit comments.

Well, if Shanahan knows whether he was wrong or not in thinking so highly of Beck, I guess he knows better now. Of course he's not going to admit that he was wrong. But with all of the pop warner level QB play this season, and the criticism that Shanahan, Beck, and Grossman has received, you would think that he would draft a QB in the 2012 draft.

You have 31 other head coaches in the NFL that would not have gone with either Beck or Grossman atop their teams depth charts. So Shanahan was either planning to lose this year in order to draft high the next off season because he knew the level of collegiate QBs was going to be there for him, or he's a moron who doesn't know quarterbacks.

Well, if Shanahan knows whether he was wrong or not in thinking so highly of Beck, I guess he knows better now. Of course he's not going to admit that he was wrong. But with all of the pop warner level QB play this season, and the criticism that Shanahan, Beck, and Grossman has received, you would think that he would draft a QB in the 2012 draft.

You have 31 other head coaches in the NFL that would not have gone with either Beck or Grossman atop their teams depth charts. So Shanahan was either planning to lose this year in order to draft high the next off season because he knew the level of collegiate QBs was going to be there for him, or he's a moron who doesn't know quarterbacks.

Hate to be cliche but actions speak louder than words. The fact that neither are signed past this season or to significant money clearly indicates they weren't viewed as anything long term. You always want to win but smart planning says win as much as you can with what you have even if they are just here as a placeholder.

Some people put way too much stock into coach speak.