Lombardi's column

[rypper11]

NFL.com news: Shanahan must reevaluate how he runs Washington

I think he makes a lot of great points.

[SirClintonPortis]

Very true. Larry Johnson did not deserve to make the team when performed against 4th stringers. However, even on this board, there was a lot of jumping from joy from that performance. However, I distinctly remember him completely whiffing on a block. It didn't matter because they guy was adequately blocked, but that shit should not fly simply because it didn't make the stat sheet. He looked slow.

The only guys they got right was a handful of guys like Jason Campbell(jettisoning him=good), Lorenzo Alexander, Laron Landry, etc.

The 2001 Broncos's payroll also broke our 2000 payroll record, so don't pretend that Shanahan has been the toast of GM'ing.

Donovan McNabb is quite literally on his last legs. Without his mobility, he is not that great of a quarterback, and he's losing it fast due to aging.

Our o-line is in shambles - by the time everyone clicks on their, like the new rookies and stuff, yeah McNabb is either sitting on IR or released.

[skinster]

So true, I've been saying this since the moment he got hired. Great coach, horrible with personel matters. We have zero talent on our team with GAPING holes on the D-line, O-line, and WR core. Trading a second and a third for McNabb was a joke; it is the same thing we've been doing for years. Trading away the future to attempt to be in mediocrity forever. Sometimes it works are we are mediocre, but mostly it doesn't and we suck. McNabb just doesn't have the talent around him to do anything. I do believe we are better with him, but our goal is to reach a superbowl, and to attempt to do anything but build a team that has potential to make it there is horrible. It is clear that we are a few years away from even hoping to get to that status. And believe me you, I will be super pissed if we as much as swap 7th round picks in order to attain a veteran that will not be around 3 years from today.

[Defensewins]

It is refreshing to read a sports writer that has enough intelligence to jump off the AH hate bandwagon and talk about something more important, like what it will take to get this team going in the right direction. It is almost like this guy has been on our sight and reading some the more productive posts.
This team is not showing any signs of continuity or small amounts of improvement. Especially the defense which is chasing it's tail. The AH distraction is gone and it is time for the normal process of grading our coaches, players and scouts.
The switch to the 3-4 was a big mistake and created more player needs and seriously reduced the over all level of play on our team. Shanahan can't un-ring that bell now. If we are going to stick to the 3-4 we will have even more player needs added to our ever growing laundry list of positions we will have to fill.
It is refreshing to have someone lay a little blame on the coaching staff and FO.
Shanahan needs to guard against coming off as an unbending inflexible little dictator like the recently fired Denver coach Josh McDaniel. Nobody is perfect and Shanahan needs to admit and man up when he is wrong.

[GTripp0012]

Bruce Allen has done a fantastic job at the job he was brought in here to do. Unfortunately, he does so with the title of GM, and he's doing about 40% of the duties of an everyday NFL GM.

[GTripp0012]

While it's clear in hindsight that this team did not have the personnel to run the 3-4, the assumption that we had the personnel to run the 4-3 is based on another assumption that Albert Haynesworth would have been both a good soldier, and a dominant player in the scheme. Perhaps, but I don't think it's any more likely than it would have been running the 3-4, but without the feud between Shanahan and Haynesworth in the offseason.

I think the assumption is that we would have put Orakpo at DE in the 4-3, but we would have had the same problem against the run then that we did this year, not enough run defenders to keep blockers off Fletcher. That changes if Haynesworth eats blockers...but, you know, that could have happened in the 3-4 as well.

We're caught in between two defensive fronts right now, and need to go one way or the other in the offseason. No riding the middle.

[skinsfan69]

I really respect Lombardi's opinion and he's 100% correct in his article. Shanahan and Allen have made some poor decisions in their first year. Gotta blow it up and start over, like Tampa Bay did....and somewhat how New England is doing with their defense.

[Defensewins]

Shanahan is a respected offensive coach. Shanahan went from being a QB to being an offensive coordinator to being a Head Coach that ran offense. Shanhan has never coached a defense and has zero experience coaching a defense.
Rather than hiring a very qualified defensive coordinator and letting him run his own defense, he took upon himself to dictate what defense his team was going to run and then hired a coach. Kind of like when Snyderatto hired Zorn to be offensive coordinator before hiring the head coach. No respected defensive coach will come into that kind of situation where he is dictated what defense he has to run.
This is a case where Shanahan got involved with something that he has little experience doing. In fact none of Shanahan's defenses in Denver were base 3-4 and the Redskins have never been a base 3-4. Most of the players on the Redskins defense have not played in 3-4 as the base defense. Not a good marriage.
I will be curious to see if Shanahan will show any flexibility going forward.
Or will it remain his way or the highway?
Snyder learned the lesson, let professionals that know what they are doing run your team.
Is Shanhan open to learning the same lesson?
Shanahan should let defensive coaches run the defense, personnel men run the FO and he should stick to running to what he knows best, running the offense.

[skinsfaninok]

He makes good points but the BIG PROBLEM is lack of talent people.. It's not hard to figure this stuff out, talent wins games and the Redskins roster isn't a winning roster. Shanny has done a decent job but give him and BA time, I HATE losing every season but if we finish 7-9 that would be a good season for us, Baby steps folks.

[rypper11]

Originally Posted by skinsfaninok

He makes good points but the BIG PROBLEM is lack of talent people.. It's not hard to figure this stuff out, talent wins games and the Redskins roster isn't a winning roster. Shanny has done a decent job but give him and BA time, I HATE losing every season but if we finish 7-9 that would be a good season for us, Baby steps folks.

On that note, I think it's fair to note that there are 19 players on the roster now with 1 year or less experience. And a lot of them are getting playing time. The one thing I wish that Allen and/or Shanny would have done this past off-season is tell the fans give us 2-3 years.

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by rypper11

On that note, I think it's fair to note that there are 19 players on the roster now with 1 year or less experience. And a lot of them are getting playing time. The one thing I wish that Allen and/or Shanny would have done this past off-season is tell the fans give us 2-3 years.

That may have been a hard sell when you consider all the damage that was done to the fan base last year. Ticket and merchandise sales took a tumble, in an effort to repair some of the damage, selling the team as a retool as opposed to a rebuild would serve better towards getting fans back in the stands.

The writer extracted the words of his article from my mouth. The truths he recite is/has been common knowledge to just about everyone who closely follows the Redskins. As a result, I'm not totally committed to blindly following the resume of Shanahan and Allen. They both have to prove their worth HERE, never-mind what they did someplace else. I am however, willing to give him time because that's what he's going to need.

[SirClintonPortis]

Originally Posted by Longtimefan

That may have been a hard sell when you consider all the damage that was done to the fan base last year. Ticket and merchandise sales took a tumble, in an effort to repair some of the damage, selling the team as a retool as opposed to a rebuild would serve better towards getting fans back in the stands.

The writer extracted the words of his article from my mouth. The truths he recite is/has been common knowledge to just about everyone who closely follows the Redskins. As a result, I'm not totally committed to blindly following the resume of Shanahan and Allen. They both have to prove their worth HERE, never-mind what they did someplace else. I am however, willing to give him time because that's what he's going to need.

Shanahan may manipulate the public opinion in a lot of ways, but he and Bruce believe in "the future is now" because their actions this offseason are totally consistent with it. Why bother with Ma'ake Kemo as the default starter unless Kemo already "won" the position battle on paper. Offensive line was addressed adequately...on paper...by Hicks, Mike Williams, and Rabach the Cap'n. RB was more than addressed..on paper... by having Willie and Larry be the expected backups to CP. Haynesworth was going to be a superstar NT next to Kemo...on paper. Kareem Moore was adequate to be a FS...on paper. This team did look pretty damn fine on paper this offseason.

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by SirClintonPortis

Shanahan may manipulate the public opinion in a lot of ways, but he and Bruce believe in "the future is now" because their actions this offseason are totally consistent with it. Why bother with Ma'ake Kemo as the default starter unless Kemo already "won" the position battle on paper. Offensive line was addressed adequately...on paper...by Hicks, Mike Williams, and Rabach the Cap'n. RB was more than addressed..on paper... by having Willie and Larry be the expected backups to CP. Haynesworth was going to be a superstar NT next to Kemo...on paper. Kareem Moore was adequate to be a FS...on paper. This team did look pretty damn fine on paper this offseason.

I feel ya!! CP....but there's just one little problem, paper can't play...... the future is always now when a coach is hired and feels pressure to win football games immediately.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

I really respect Lombardi's opinion and he's 100% correct in his article. Shanahan and Allen have made some poor decisions in their first year. Gotta blow it up and start over, like Tampa Bay did....and somewhat how New England is doing with their defense.

The HUGE difference between the way Tampa did business in terms of rebuilding and the Skins is that Tampa accumulated draft picks and used them proficiently such that there are 15 rookies on their squad.


The Skins have traded off draft picks so that they don't have very many.


And from last year's draft, they got Trent Williams as a solid contributor and ...

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

Shanahan is a respected offensive coach. Shanahan went from being a QB to being an offensive coordinator to being a Head Coach that ran offense. Shanhan has never coached a defense and has zero experience coaching a defense.
Rather than hiring a very qualified defensive coordinator and letting him run his own defense, he took upon himself to dictate what defense his team was going to run and then hired a coach. Kind of like when Snyderatto hired Zorn to be offensive coordinator before hiring the head coach. No respected defensive coach will come into that kind of situation where he is dictated what defense he has to run.
This is a case where Shanahan got involved with something that he has little experience doing. In fact none of Shanahan's defenses in Denver were base 3-4 and the Redskins have never been a base 3-4. Most of the players on the Redskins defense have not played in 3-4 as the base defense. Not a good marriage.
I will be curious to see if Shanahan will show any flexibility going forward.
Or will it remain his way or the highway?
Snyder learned the lesson, let professionals that know what they are doing run your team.
Is Shanhan open to learning the same lesson?
Shanahan should let defensive coaches run the defense, personnel men run the FO and he should stick to running to what he knows best, running the offense.

I truly wish that I was as certain as you are that "Snyder learned the lesson".

True, Shanahan needs to let defensive coaches run the defense' that is not Shanahan's strangth. The problem here is that Haslett is a "defensive guy: and has been knonw as such for all of his NFL tenure.