[sportscurmudgeon]

Someone said I wanted everyone - here and at Redskins' Headquarters - to take off their burgundy glasses. Thank you for understanding. That is exactly what I want.

What is the purpose of wanting the Skins to get blown out by the Vikes in the last game and finishing 6-10? Let me say it again. I do not want any of the geniuses in Redskins Headquarters who have tried to build this team through the splashy free agent signing mechanism to get the idea that they are "close to getting it right this time" and just need to do it once more. I want them to go into their magical post-season skull-sessions with the idea that this is a work in progress and that the team has to be built to win in 2006 and not necessarily in 2005. It will be great to make the playoffs in 05, but the goal should be to get there in 06 and to win a game or so once they are there.

So that takes a plan. And a plan is not simply a linear extrapolation of the recent past. You don't do this March what you did last March just because "we've always done it that way." Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So I want the Skins' braintrust to do something different this time.

I want them to look at this team really critically and make some tough decisions about who should be back next year and who can be REASONABLY be projected to be a real contributor to a winner in 2006. That allows them to look critically at a Derrick Dockery and to decide if they think he will continue to improve because he is coachable. Or it could lead them to conclude that this is what you are going to get from him...

It gives them the opportunity to ask the same questions of players like McCants, Jacobs and Gardner. I like McCants and Jacobs for their physical skills; I think both of them are seriously flawed when you think of them as cogs on a winning football team. So, can you fix the flaws or not...?

Can Coles overcome this injury that seems to have dragged on for next to forever now? If so, he's part of the core for the future as the #1 receiver. If not, then maybe you have to find/draft a #1 WR and have Coles as the #2 guy. This is part of a planning process not a "quick-fix".

There has to be a new center next year so somebody has to go out and find one. It does not have to be someone from the All-Pro team, but it has to be an upgrade from what has been there for the last two years. OK, who has the assignment to identify that player?

There has to be some depth on the OL. If anyone mentions Man Mountain Kenyatta or Ray Brown in terms of a winning team in 2006, dismiss them from the room and do not let them back in. How good are these young OL? Maybe we should play them a lot in the last three games just to see? Or can we tell from the practice field? Can you count on Vaughn Parker getting over his injuries sufficiently to start? How about as a back-up? Can he play multiple positions effectively?

Oh, by the way, what is the deal with Chris Samuels? Is he going to renegotiate or not? If he does not, what is the plan? Do the Skins suck it up and live with that monstrous cap number or do they try to trade him or just cut him and move on? Suppose the only way to get cap room to sign Smoot and Pierce is to cut him??? What's the plan, gentleman? This is not as complicated as finding a path to peace in the Middle East, but it is something you do have to think about just a little bit...

There is ONE tight end on this team who can catch a football reliably. That is not enough. So, I understand how important it is for a Joe Gibbs tight end to be able to block, but there has to be some kind of way to upgrade the catching abilities of the tight ends without making them utterly useless as blockers. Cooley is a keeper. All the other TEs should understand that they are one bad mistake removed from a pink slip.

Obviously, you have to keep Patrick Ramsey as a QB and if Hasselbeck is still under contract and comes for the league minimum, you keep him also as the disaster QB. Now what to do with Senor Brunell? That's a tough one. If you cut him, you will take a cap hit that could be really bad. If you keep him - and pay him his roster bonus in April - then you are one big hit on Ramesy away from going through a multiple game stretch with Brunell at the helm. I'd keep Brunell next year because my vision is that next year is not the important one; 2006 is the important one. But after 2005, I think I'd have to suck up the cap hit and ditch Brunell in order to get a real back-up in place for Ramsey.

Notice, I've assumed that the coaching staff has confidence that Ramsey will develop into a serviceable starting QB. However, if they are convinced that Ramsey is nothing better than a career back-up, then they need to find a way out of the QB morass they have created for themselves and they need to find that way out creatively and quickly.

On defense, they need to re-sign Smoot and Pierce and at least a couple of the young DL players whose contracts are up. They have to look carefully at the safety position and figure out if Taylor/Ramsey/Clark/Lott is the core of a trio there that can be the last line of defense on a winning team in 06. Notice I said a "trio" because they have to think about depth and not just a starter who has some kind of flashy past credentials. I'm not convinced; I'd be looking to draft help here, but I'll defer to the braintrust if they approach this with a long-range planning focus.

Here is a simple question for them. Is John Hall still worth it as a kicker? Let's just say the results this year have been less than stellar and he is making more than the league minimum and you can find a whole lot of kickers who will play for league minimum. In addition to limited field goal productivity, his kickoffs have been kinda - - short.

The focus in 05 should not be on stars and starters; it should be on building a solid roster for 06. It would be nice to break even in 05 and maybe sneak into the playoffs, but if the cadre is in place and growing on 05 and the team is ready to make a push in 06, that will be fine with me.