Mattyk72 Presents the "Redskin Most Likely to Bounce Back in '07" Poll

[AlvinWalton'sNeckBrace]

Originally Posted by BrudLee

My feeling is that if Archuleta can work his way onto the field, he's the Favorite for Comeback Player of the Year. The pants-crappingly bad 2006 season left the bar that low.

haha...that's pretty dang funny. I know I almost crapped mine a couple times

[wolfeskins]

taylor should have been one of the choices. he needs to return to form.

[skinsfan_nn]

I giving ARCH the nod on this one. Use the kid to his strengths, he might just pan out?

[sportscurmudgeon]

As usual, I'm in the distinct minority. I think that Marshall will have the biggest "comeback" next year because I think he'll be playing where he should have been playing all along - - at OLB.

On Wall Street, they talk about the "dead cat bounce". By that they mean that even the most horribly run company which is on the brink of being broken up by a bankruptcy court can have its stock "bounce" after a huge fall - - it bounces like a dead cat bounces. That is what you might see from Lloyd next year. He's about as useful as a dead cat.

I know this is a REALLY old-time reference, but JD Salinger's book Franny and Zoey has an assertion that a dead cat is the single most valuable thing in the entire universe - - because no one has ever been able to put a price on one. Whatever. Brandon Lloyd is as valuable as a dead cat.

If the Skins use Arcuhletta on defense at strong safety the way they tried to use him this year, don't expect much of a difference. Albert Einstein - not a stupid man - said that the real definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Use Archuletta as the strong safety and give him "coverage responsibilities" with Sean Taylor as his "running buddy" back there and you will see lots of opposing receivers catching lots of long passes over the middle. I don't believe those two guys can play safety at the same time and do it effectively.

I can't pick Rogers because he just wasn't nearly as butt-ugly awful last year as the others on this list. In fact, he was merely average last year.

Here is what every Redskins fan has to hope for: The Skins best comeback player next year is NOT Mark Brunell. If that is the case it means that Campbell was hurt - - or even worse Campbell showed that he couldn't cut it. In either case, that would be VERY BAD news for Skins' fans.

[JDALY27]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Not to crap all over your parade, but football outsiders does keep statistical rankings of teams defending certain positions in the passing game.

Our ranks vs:

#1 receiver: 19
#2 receiver: 30
"other" receiver: 20
TE: 28
Running backs: 32

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Football analysis and NFL stats for the Moneyball era - Authors of Pro Football Prospectus 2006 and 2005

Considering we were the 32nd ranked passing D, we actually defend No. 1 receivers pretty well. These numbers support the case that LINEBACKERS and SAFETIES are where our trouble spot is, not the corners. That #2 receiver number is also pretty disturbing, but considering either Rogers or Springs was defending the #1 most of the time, those two guys are pretty much getting it done, even on the 32 ranked pass D.

Very good point! I agree with you. Our LB's and safties were horrible last year. ST can't be a one man gang back there. We're about to loose Springs b/c he's too expensive and knows another team will pay him via free agency. I'm hoping that Rogers or AA are both much improved.

[hail_2_da_skins]

This is a no-brainer. Carlos Rogers has the best chance at being the Comeback Player of the Year. On that short list, he is the only player that is guarenteed to start and he is the only player that consistently was in a position to make plays. Sometimes he could not finish the play. I think he is capable of being a solid corner, maybe not a Pro Bowler, but definitely a quality contributer. The poor Redskin coverage had a lot to do with no pressure on the quarterback. The secondary will look a lot better when the front seven is getting after the quarterback consistently.

My evaluation of the remainder of the list:

1) Adam Archuletta is a bust. He fissed out in St. Louis and was a lousy acquisition. In my book, he has very little value.

2) Marshall is really an outside linebacker. Hopefully the Skins can sign London Fletcher and upgrade the middle linebacker position. Marshall will have to compete with McIntosh for outside linebacker. Anyone would be an upgrade over Holdman.

3) Brandon Lloyd is a head-case. He has TO tendencies. Gibbs is not going to put with it. He will either get with the program or find himself looking for another job. The young man has a lot of talent and I hope he gets his act together. The Skins have the potential to be a very high powered offensive. A very strong running game with Portis and Betts. A good vertical game if Jason Campbell progresses. A good receiving corps with Moss, Randle El, Lloyd and Cooley.

[Redskins_P]

I'm giving it to Rogers. Hopefully last year he just had a sophmore slump. I think he'll get his shit together and finally start producing for us. He has all the potential....thats for sure.

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

Originally Posted by skinsfan_nn

I giving ARCH the nod on this one. Use the kid to his strengths, he might just pan out?

amen to that just keep him as close to the line as possible and dont put him in single coverage on an island and he can return to his pro bowl form

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by EARTHQUAKE2689

amen to that just keep him as close to the line as possible and dont put him in single coverage on an island and he can return to his pro bowl form

Greg Williams asks Lemar Marshall to single cover wide receivers. What does he do with a safety who can't run with Jason Whitten? People want to make him a LB but that's a whole other ball of wax. He'll make Holdman look like Butkus. The simple fact is that we bought a bill of goods when we signed A.A. We're stuck with him for cap reasons so we have to put on a happy face. The best scenario would be if somehow our defense played at a very high level next year, we could insert A.A. in various situations where he can't do us much harm (3rd and 60) and then we could lie to ourselves and each other about how he's really stepped it up a notch.

I wouldn't let him play deep cover 2 or 3 even on 3rd and 60, though.

[JGisLordOfTheRings]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

Greg Williams asks Lemar Marshall to single cover wide receivers. What does he do with a safety who can't run with Jason Whitten? People want to make him a LB but that's a whole other ball of wax. He'll make Holdman look like Butkus. The simple fact is that we bought a bill of goods when we signed A.A. We're stuck with him for cap reasons so we have to put on a happy face. The best scenario would be if somehow our defense played at a very high level next year, we could insert A.A. in various situations where he can't do us much harm (3rd and 60) and then we could lie to ourselves and each other about how he's really stepped it up a notch.

I wouldn't let him play deep cover 2 or 3 even on 3rd and 60, though.

I dont care if there was NO ONE on the bench and both of the gatorade boys were injured, AA should never be expected to cover anything besides his own shadow this year.

[Master4Caster]

I went with Lemar Marshall because I expect him to move to outside linebacker (Fletcher in the middle) which is thought to be his natural position. He gets the double benefit of comparisons to his '06 performance AND comparisons to Derrick Holdman.

I look for improvement from Carlos Rogers this season, extending his performance from late last season.

I see Lloyd as a faster Rod Gardner - with worse hands. Maybe we should call him Quarter-Quarter.

[EXoffender]

Archuleta better bouncs back. Lloyd doesn't really have a rep for putting up big numbers, so he's not expected to do much more.