Zorn calls team "Soft"

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Westover

Well the Ravens just have a vitality we don't have right now. They're a home grown team with a lot of depth.

Maybe Coach Zorn's comments will light a fire. I know that one important part of what really lights a fire under a team is a sense that you are always in contention to have a starting job, and that if you play well enough, you'll be the starter. Your play is what determines whether and how much you play.

At the quarterback position, Jason Campbell, a good person with respectable talent, got installed as quarterback, but I think he should have lost his job permanently to Todd Collins after the way Collins played at the end of 2007. Collins earned the starting job. But the Redskins wanted to put Campbell back in as a starter at the beginning of 2008, and closed the competition from the onset.

Then, after the season, deciding they'd made a mistake, the upper management goes gangbusters to try to trade the house to get a new quarterback in the offseason, ignoring Todd Collins and a potential star in Colt Brennan on their own roster.

All of this sends a very de-motivating message to players in my view. You can play your heart out and do superb, like Todd Collins, but it doesn't effect whether you'll play. That's for upper management to make a decision about.

You can be a budding potential star like Colt Brennan, but you can find yourself on a team ready to make huge sacrifices to bring on some shiny player from afar at your position.

If you want players to play hard, one of the keys is setting up a situation where there is a direct connection between how hard and well they play and whether and how much they play.

Otherwise you get players who play soft. There already are fabulously well paid free agents at the position you're playing at. You know you don't have a chance. You know that the players you're playing with are there because they were brought here or installed here. You know that the effort isn't what is paramount.

The Baltimore Ravens are built on the draft; they aren't a handpicked team. They play with a great deal of energy and passion because they know that is what gives them the opportunity to start. Starters aren't installed - they are always challenged.

I hope Jim Zorn is able to remake this team. I like Jim Zorn and I think he has a ton to offer. But the thing is that the coach is another replaceable part. He could easily be dumped for yet another new coach (how many have we had here?). How many coaches have the Pittsburgh Steelers had since 1969? Three coaches.

OK, time to step down from my soapbox!

I don't necessarily agree with the player assessments, but boy is this an excellent post.