Bram's Blog (Offense and Defense)

[81+83+84=Posse]

Covering The Redskins

My gut tells me that Gregg and Joe had a lot to do with the way this team played.. Overall, I don't look at this roster and see mismatches. Certainly with health, this team can be competitive and considering the Giants won the Super Bowl, special, but they need to show desire to win. Basically, it won't come easy and that's where the coaches come in.. It's been an assumption by most that Greg Blache taking over means a carryover from the Williams era where 3 of his four seasons, the team ranked in the league's top 10. I don't know for certain that will be the case. Will the team feel as if they made a mistake letting Williams walk when all is said and done?

[Daseal]

I agree, I dont trust Blache without Williams around.

[hooskins]

Great post by Bram, I suggest you all read that not just the excerpt posted in the thread. Basically he is saying we have needs in the Dline and CB but we probably will be able to address one of those. We do have heart going for us, but injuries and lack of leadership(without Gibbs and Williams) are things we have to worry about.

[MTK]

Blache has been around the block a few times, I'm not worried about him running the D at all.

[chrisl4064]

Im not going to worry about our D unless we start taking injuries like last year. I was hoping one of the coaches they would replace this year would be the strength and conditioning coach, but i guess they did away with everyone but. I think through the draft we will be ok on the o-line this year. WR is still a big question mark for me. Are we going to adress this need or not?

[Beemnseven]

The biggest worry for me on defense is the secondary. I'm not ready to count on Reed Doughty, there's a big question mark as to how Rogers responds after shredding his knee, and the guys we have after Fred Smoot all make me nervous for our pass defense.

[hagams]

Originally Posted by hooskins

Great post by Bram, I suggest you all read that not just the excerpt posted in the thread. Basically he is saying we have needs in the Dline and CB but we probably will be able to address one of those. We do have heart going for us, but injuries and lack of leadership(without Gibbs and Williams) are things we have to worry about.

Injuries yes, but I don't think we'll have to worry about leadership as much. We have a lot of talented vets, and leaders on the team. There's not too many skill positions that don't have a player that can step up and lead the offense or d-fense on and off the field. Fletcher, Portis, Moss, Collins, Smoot or Springs are all players that will keep the peace and focus on the team. If we had gotten Ocho, then we'd have a problem on our hands. I'm thankful we don't have any big "diva's" on the team.

[skinsfan69]

I kind of think we're a team in transition. We've got age all over the place. DE,LB,O-line and our #1 corner. I hope we get a pass rusher this year. We need someone on the front 7 that can cause some havoc. No pass rush= no pass defense and that's why I hope we pass on a corner.

[Skinny Tee]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

I kind of think we're a team in transition. We've got age all over the place. DE,LB,O-line and our #1 corner. I hope we get a pass rusher this year. We need someone on the front 7 that can cause some havoc. No pass rush= no pass defense and that's why I hope we pass on a corner.

I agree.

I think we need 2-3 drafts of nine selections or more under our belt before we can come out of this transition phase as a dominant team.

I'd like to believe that we can continue where we left off last year but too many variables have been altered to have that be the case.

I'm a proponent for DE, CB and OL aplenty in this draft.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by hagams

Injuries yes, but I don't think we'll have to worry about leadership as much. We have a lot of talented vets, and leaders on the team. There's not too many skill positions that don't have a player that can step up and lead the offense or d-fense on and off the field. Fletcher, Portis, Moss, Collins, Smoot or Springs are all players that will keep the peace and focus on the team. If we had gotten Ocho, then we'd have a problem on our hands. I'm thankful we don't have any big "diva's" on the team.

While I agree w/you that there are some good team leaders, things can still fall apart fast if there's a problem in the coaching ranks. That's what happened in 06 and that's what happened in 03 when spurrier lost control of the team & they tanked the 2nd half of the season.

Zorn will have to set the tone and establish himself as the boss, which he's never done on this scale. Bram is right, the changes in coaching are the biggest questions about the team.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by Skinny Tee

I agree.

I think we need 2-3 drafts of nine selections or more under our belt before we can come out of this transition phase as a dominant team.

I'd like to believe that we can continue where we left off last year but too many variables have been altered to have that be the case.

I'm a proponent for DE, CB and OL aplenty in this draft.

I agree. I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see us carrying over that momentum from last year. I think the team was playing on pure emotion. Now reality has set in and we've got a new coach with a new offense and there is going to be growing pains. I also think at some point we're going to feel the loss (on the field) of #21.

[saden1]

I'm more worried about Zorn than Blache, at least his play book isn't completely new and he knows the player.