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Originally Posted by That Guy
I don't know how you can say griffin is moderately successful or daniels isn't good or that carter isn't a big signing. useless we draft 4 DL guys and bring in mathis and peppers you just won't be happy, right? I mean really, what do you expect?
getting a very average starting LB is fine with you as long as we can draft a DL guy that'll have ZERO chance to start (instead of a starting LB)... weird.
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I said Griffin's career has had a magical rebirth; for the better I might add. The knock on him when the Skins signed him was that he had one good rookie year then had fallen off in subsequent seasons with the Giants. To me, he was a moderate success when we signed him, but has turned out better than anyone could have expected and has been the anchor of the line. I also believe we struck gold with Joe Salave'a.
Until the second Cowboy game, Philip Daniels was a joke, -- he and Renaldo Wynn up to that point had combined for something like one sack. Then along with the rest of the team, Daniels really picked it up for the 5 game winning streak that got us into the playoffs. While it's a big signing in terms of numbers, we have no idea of the impact Andre Carter will have on the team. I wouldn't necessarily call him a premier defensive end, though I admit our cap space and the overall availability of any other good D-ends limited much of what we could do. In that instance, Gibbs and Co. probably did the best they could.
I've never been a fan of Renaldo Wynn. Most people defend him because he's a good run-stopper. As a pass rusher though, and that's primarily where he's played in Washington, well ... let's just say he hasn't been much of a threat to sack the quarterback. The Brandon Noble fiasco was more bad luck than anything else, but I never looked at his acquisition as anything more than depth. Factor in guys like Killings, Boschetti, Evans, and others, and you've got second stringers at best who can rotate in to give the starters a breather. But there’s little doubt that they are no threat to the first string for a starting job.
Let's not forget also, that there was a stretch last season when the defense had a bit of a problem stopping the run. When Griffin and then Salave'a went down to injury, it could have spelled serious trouble. Thankfully, the injuries weren't long term, and their replacements held their own.
I have said over and over that I understand you cannot overreach for one particular position, and you have to select the best player available to you in the draft. I’ll make no excuses about it – I’d give anything to see the Redskins do just what the Cowboys did last year when they used their two 1st round picks on Marcus Spears and Demarcus Ware. Then, in the 4th round, I firmly believe we goofed when we took Manuel White while Chris Canty was still on the board. I’ve always believed that a great defensive line works wonders for whatever linebackers and secondary you have. Perhaps I’m being too optimistic, but I have faith in guys like Chris Clemons and Lemar Marshall to be adequate at the very least, if not, a legitimate force at linebacker. Then there’s project guys like Robert McCune.
Maybe I am too hard on the team for not addressing the defensive line the way I want them to. And I’ll certainly yield to your draft expertise. I don’t have nearly the time to devote to researching it. If there’s not a defensive lineman worth taking with our spot in the draft, then so be it. If there’s clearly a better linebacker waiting there, then let’s take him. My only bone of contention is that with another injury or two like what we saw with Griffin or Salave'a, we might not be as lucky the next time around. Just once, I'd like to see a high draft pick used on a D-lineman. If we did that, it would be the first time since Bobby Wilson in 1991. Since then, we've relied on journeymen and cast-offs from other teams. That's what bothers me.