Marching Orders... Interesting Points

[Defensewins]

In today's article in the Post
In Offseason, Redskins Could Follow Example of Ravens, Falcons and Dolphins - washingtonpost.com

there were some interesting points:

"Several NFL executives -- speaking on condition of anonymity because the league would reprimand them for offering their opinions about another team -- and Redskins sources said they believe Washington must build through the draft, focusing on the offensive and defensive lines. They say the Redskins should emphasize the sort of youth movement followed by top teams in the salary cap era.

"They always try to patch it together for one more run, but that's easier than making a real change," one NFC executive said. "At some point, everyone starts over. But most teams want to go young, go through the draft. They resist that."............

Washington must stop restructuring the contracts of high-priced veterans, other executives and team sources said. Instead of trying to keep the team together for a long postseason run that has not occurred under team owner Daniel Snyder, Washington must cut ties with players when their salary cap numbers rise and their productivity decreases. ......
Years of splurges on skill-position players have left the Redskins in an annual salary cap bind, and most of the highest-paid players would be too cap-prohibitive to trade or cut. So the ability to retool at wide receiver or running back is limited."

My point isn't to piss off the pro-Snyderatto fans and the folks that are tired of all the senseless Snyderatto bashing. I am not trying to beat a dead horse here. Just trying to highlight what other teams are saying about us and talk about a different approaches to our player personnel plans.

[Trample the Elderly]

I think that Danny will catch on and hire a new GM if we don't get better. Perhaps sooner, perhaps later, but I think it's coming. You know he has to read some of the things that are said about his team.

[The Goat]

Well in defense of the current roster and '09 season I believe we can start to seriously build through the draft, focusing on trench talent, w/o cutting a huge swath of vets out from under the franchise. Guys like JT, Springs and sadly Marcus who cost an arm and a leg but contribute sporadically can be booted at huge cost and replaced w/ great young talent (in the case of Hall) or for value players who will fill in nicely. Hell, we can even part w/ a guy or two via trade this year to get another high pick and get the youth movement in full swing. Also would say this article, while dead-on about the weakness of the o-line, is a little preemptive in that Thomas/Kelly/Davis could be offensive monsters for us (the article sort of implies we aren't doing much of anything to invest in youth.) The whole article has just one paragraph about those three players.

[Dirtbag59]

How dare the Ravens draft Offensive Lineman. Don't they know you need Receivers to win in this league. pffffft. You know the Ravens could learn a thing or two from the way Vinny Cerrato does things.

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

How dare the Ravens draft Offensive Lineman. Don't they know you need Receivers to win in this league. pffffft. You know the Ravens could learn a thing or two from the way Vinny Cerrato does things.

Thought that you were off the ledge?

[44Deezel]

B-Mitch actually said something during tonight's recap show on 980 Sports that I have been saying for a while. I'm not usually a big fan of his, but he said something to the extent of:

When the Skins had dominant O and D lines back in the day - the Hogs and guys like Mann, Butz, Manley, etc on the D-line, it didn't matter who they put behind those lines. It seemed like every QB and RB did well (Theismann, Williams, Schroeder, Rypien, Riggs, Rogers, Byner, Sanders, Ervins) and little receivers like the Smurfs got the job done.

I think it's one of the single most impressive accomplishments that Gibbs won 3 Super Bowls with 3 different QBs. Noll only won with Bradshaw, Shannihan only won with Elway, Walsh only won with Montana and watch how many Belichik wins without Brady.

It was Gibbs, but it was also the Skins organization and their commitment to building from the lines out. Good line play makes everyone else look better.

Conversely, you can have (as Mitchell said) Darrell Green on one side, Deion Sanders on the other (in their prime) and Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu as your safeties, but if you can't pressue the opposing QB, even they will get picked apart.

I like playmakers as much as the next guy, but I can get behind a model like the Titans have. If not for some uncharacteristic turnovers, they would have been playing in the AFC championship last week. We had as good as or better talent at the skill positions.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

Thought that you were off the ledge?

My desire to defect has passed. However my confidence in the front office is still non-existent. Either way the article really is scary. I mean Cerrato and friends provided the post with 5 pages of stuff they didn't have to make up. Thats of course assuming that the reports about stuff like the maturity of Thomas and Davis were true. And the idea that Vinny could trade more future picks for picks this year terrifies me.

[44Deezel]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

How dare the Ravens draft Offensive Lineman. Don't they know you need Receivers to win in this league. pffffft. You know the Ravens could learn a thing or two from the way Vinny Cerrato does things.

No! Everyone knows you win these days by having a really good feature back who can carry the ball over 300 times. The team with the highest paid running back usually wins the Super Bowl. Just look at this year's playoff teams. None of them had a second back who got a lot of carries or caught a lot of passes. That's just a formula for disaster.

[MiraclesHappen07]

Hmmm well i hope this serves as an blueprint to dan and cerrato that the way to win is building both lines up. They say they want us to be dominate like we were before, and that time we had strong line play!!! How can they not see that and understand that this is the redskins!! building up strong lines!! Gosh!! i hope they learn, i really do.

[Skinny Tee]

I've been waiting for this thread all day.

I thought this was a big article to talk about. They spoke of this a lot today on "The Lockeroom" with Kevin Sheehan.

This article brings up a lot of what we talk about on this forum. We're pretty insightful bunch here.

[Redskin Jim]

Don't worry gents we are on pace to beat all 32 teams lineman on offense and defense... TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY LINE!

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Skinny Tee

I've been waiting for this thread all day.

I thought this was a big article to talk about. They spoke of this a lot today on "The Lockeroom" with Kevin Sheehan.

This article brings up a lot of what we talk about on this forum. We're pretty insightful bunch here.

Yeah, I listened to that segment myself.

What bugs me is this:
The model for success in the NFL is glaringly obvious. Teams that do well consistently build through the draft, and pretty much always focus on building the lines. Year in and year out the Eagles have shitty WRs, yet for a decade they go farther than we do. Andy Reid drafts on the line of scrimmage. Need or not, he stockpiles lineman. The Phins, Flacons, and Ravens do the same. So what the hell is wrong with Cerrato? How are can he repeatedly be so stupid? I understand if once or twice he tried to move picks for vets and screwed up, or once or twice he drafted nothing but skill positions and screwed up... But he does it EVERY DAMN YEAR!! Why? Why not buck his trend for once and follow the normal model of success in the league?? It's maddening and arrogant. We have a stupid front office, plain and simple.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by Redskin Jim

Don't worry gents we are on pace to beat all 32 teams lineman on offense and defense... TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY LINE!

LMAO. Oh man that got me going.

[Ruhskins]

This was a good article, and I do get the sense that the front office will notice this. I can't believe that I'm doing this, but I'm going to come out and say something positive about the Redskins FO. I think that their mistakes in the past are being dragged around by the media and the fans, yet when you stop to look at what has happened, I think they are slowly improving.

Snyder learned to let go a bit under Gibbs, and I think he grew up a bit during this period. He wants to win badly, but unfortunately he believes this can be done right away if you throw a lot of money at the situation. Snyder wanted to bring Jim Fassel this past offseason, and the fan base exploded. The old Snyder would not have cared and hired Fassel, the new Snyder hired Jim Zorn. Zorn did OK, he still has a lot to learn, but did not fail as many first year coaches typically do.

The Front Office had a quiet offseason last year and did not go into their usual shopping spree. The only big acquisition was Jason Taylor, which unfortunately did not work out due to injuries...but this wasn't a Archuleta or Brandon Lloyd signing (players with questionable abilities) Taylor had come off a huge year (not a contract year) when his team sucked and went 1-15.

While some pundits and fans were calling for the Skins to bolster its d-line last offseson, another big concern that the Redskins had was getting another target for Campbell and someone that would take the heat from Santana Moss. While the Redskins flirted with the possibility of getting Chad Johnson or Anquan Boldin, they decided to "build through the draft". The jury is still out on the rookies, but they did not turn to their old ways of trading picks away.

In regards to the offensive line, I think this may have become a lesser priority next to getting a WR and a defensive lineman. Two seasons ago, many of us thought that the problem with our o-line was that they could never be in the field together as they got hurt a lot. I was one of the fans that called for a complimentary receiver/big possession receiver, and thought of this as the cure for our offensive problems. Now I believe that I, along with any fan/sports pundit, was wrong in thinking that a WR was a bigger need. I think many of us and the front office disregarded the fact that the o-line was getting older and of course that materialized in the problems the team had in the second half of the season.

Our front office has a lot to learn, but they have improved. Snyder has shown patience this year, and kept Zorn (the old Snyder would have booted him and Shanahan would have been hired). With only four picks, the need to inject youth into the team, improve the offense, and take our defense to the next level, this offseason will be a real test for the front office and the owner.

[Redskin Jim]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

LMAO. Oh man that got me going.

Better to laugh than cry brother.. Hopefully we are not the only ones that see our lineman as a joke...