Sporting News Football '08: Redskins (Magazine)

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Other than Zorn? Nothing.

But it's all about Zorn. Here's the thing, I'm a Redskin fan and traditionalist. To me, Joe Gibbs is one of the greatest coaches of all time. How do you go from him to Jim Zorn, with basically the same player personnel, without taking a step back?

If Zorn puts up a better record than Gibbs, which I admit is possible, it will pretty much turn everything I know about coaching upside down.

But if I'm a betting man, I'm with Daseal. No playoffs for us this year. I won't go so far as 4-12; but if we make 8-8 in this division with a new coach, you'd have to be pleased with Zorn's first season.

Without rehashing for the umpteenth time the Gibbs/conservative playcalling issue, he/Al didn't get the most from our talent last year. There were flickers, but the burner never was turned past medium.

Here's where I think our offense will be much improved this year. To a man, we've heard the playmakers rave about what they've seen from Zorn's offense thus far. The common themes have been aggression, putting players in positions to make plays, playing to the offensive players strengths.

Maybe I am looking thru maroon and black colored glasses, but I think we're going to see an offense unlike what we've seen in DC in YEARS. I think JC is going to have a big year & Portis having a career year. I don't expect to see a breakout WR but more balanced numbers and consistency across the board. We're not going to be a remake of the '99 Rams or anything, but if we don't consistently put up 24-28 points, I will be surprised.

As someone else said, I have some questions on defense. While I didn't share the same man love most had for Grilliams, I don't know if Blache is the answer either. Again I'll refer to the players comments this offseason about how the schemes are much simpler (which also means they are simpler to scout against, but that's a different thread) and 'let guys make plays'.

If nothing else, at the end of the year we should know what kind of players we have. Are we talented enough to compete at the upper crust of the NFL as our FO seems to think or are we a collection of names who've had occassional moderate success and cashed in?