A Different Take on the Redskins Personnel Strategy

[Drift Reality]

I've been participating in several of the threads in this forum pertaining to the Redskins personnel strategy in '08 and discussions on what they should do in '09 and have noticed a very negative tenor to many of the perspectives on what the Redskins have done since Gibbs left.

Much of the criticism has been leveled at the Redskins usage of their three second round picks and the commensurate lack of youth and depth along both their offensive and defensive lines.

I would like to throw out the possibility that at the beginning of the 2008 season, the Redskins made a conscientious decision that '08 would be a transitional year and their personnel approach is a reflection on this. I believe this decision was made for several reasons.

1. First, they understood that many key personnel were aging. Remember, when Gibbs first arrived they had a three-year plan in place. Consequently you saw them go out and get guys who were already in their prime. Zorn's first year would really mark the end of that window and I believe that the Redskins front office understood the limitations of their current personnel due to age.
2. Secondly, I believe they understood that Zorn would be installing a new offense that would take at least one year for this group and this quarterback to master. The one area where they lacked depth was at receiver and consequently they saw an opportunity to bolster depth in this area. Furthermore, they knew that their offense was not going to perform for a year anyway so the draft was a good way to address this area because most personnel guys will tell you that it takes several years for receivers to mature. Don't let Cerrato fool you either - teams most certainly do draft for need and I think you saw that in their '08 draft.

Based on these considerations I believe they drafted in preparation for '09 or '10, after which point in time their receivers would have matured and their offense would be in rhythm. The early success however was a surprise and it was probably both a blessing and curse because it inflated our expectations for a team that was most certainly in transition.

So what we have now is a team that is still going through a transitional phase. This coming off-season I would expect to see turnover in at least two or three key positions where veterans are replaced with either current personnel or acquisitions. I think that Springs is probably gone (unless he is willing to renegotiate) as well as Daniels and maybe even Marcus Washington.

In free agency, I would also expect them to pick-up at least defensive lineman., a linebacker, and possibly an offensive lineman as well although I do believe that they think they are strong at LT, C and RG going into '09. Along the defensive line it's hard to imagine them going for a guy like Peppers or Haynesworth (if these guys are even available) however a guy like Canty would help bolster their line and allow them to get more creative with Carter and Taylor (if Taylor returns). At linebacker a guy like Suggs could fill a huge void at outside linebacker and could also help provide a guy capable of rushing the passer.

In the draft I would expect them to look for an opportunity to acquire players along their o-line as well as defensive front seven.

All that being said, I believe they made the following mistakes in '08:

1. First, they panicked when Daniels and Buzbee went down early in camp and acquired an aging veteran in Jason Taylor in exchange for a second round pick. This was certainly a panic move that brought back bad memories of the Duckett trade and doesn't make sense in the context of a three-year plan.
2. Second, I believe they became greedy when Fred Davis (who I would guess they projected as a first rounder) became available with their second round pick. This pick just makes no sense with the personnel they currently have in place and could have been better applied to address the lack of youth and talent along the O-line and defensive front seven.

Overall however, I think they are going to be well positioned going into 2009 with younger, more athletic players along their defensive front seven and offensive line and an offense that has one year in the system (as well as two receivers who are ready to become contributors in '09).