Hooskins Presents the "Who Needs to Step Up" Poll

It's Hooskins poll, so you'll have to ask him. But I believe essentially it's who needs to step forward (perhaps that's a better term here) and perform at a higher level than last year in order for us to be successful.

Can we, for example, afford another season of drops by Rogers so long as Rocky McIntosh plays like LaVar circa 2002?

I think that is exactly what I mean.

The Eagles also do a wonderful job with their personel year after year. And Reid is the league's top coach right now IMO. But if you kept their personel and made Marty Mornignweg the coach there, I don't think you'd see a noticible dropoff in their team play.

Coaching can provide a strategic (and unpredictable) advantage in the short term, but in the long run, I just feel that the talent on the field has to carry the team.

I feel just the opposite. I think the talent, in many cases, is close at this level. Closer than we think. The way rosters turn over in the NFL now a days, the only constant is the coaching staff and continuity of thought.

We agree that Reid is one of the top coaches in the NFL, but I disagree that any old Joe Schmo can't get the same results with the same team. This guy takes J. Trotter, who by some accounts, is a system linebacker. Yet he somehow manages to be in the discussion as one of the better linebackers in the NFC.

The fact of the matter is, one would really have a hard time quantifying good coaching. Other than wins and losses, it's hard to really 'see' it over the course of a game. Sure, if it's third and one, and your team has rushed for over two hundred yards during the game, and the coach decides to thow a bomb to the end zone, that probably was a questionable call there.

I think it shows up in areas like lack of penalties, exececution of time clock, tackles made/missed, passes caught/dropped and maybe a few other areas. It's more mental. I believe players excute to the extent of their preparedness and confidence in the overall strategy. That's why you can fight your guts out every game and still lose week after week. At this level true professionals have the mental edge over the opponent.

I happen to think Gregg Williams is a wonderful coach but this is his year to step up.

Carlos Rogers
Because our LB group is stronger and deeper than last year:

1) Marcus Washington
2) London Fletcher
3) Rocky McIntosh
4) Lemar Marshall
5) Khary Campbell
6) Dallas Sartz
7) H.B. Blades

to name a few, if McIntosh fails we have good backups that will do well.
But the key to William's defense is CB. They have to be good at man coverage and support the run for Williams' defense to have the flexability to do all the blitzing he likes to do.
Carlos filling the role of legit #1 or #2 CB is critical to our success next year. Smoot is no longer a legit #1 or #2 CB, he is a great #3 and that is about it. He proved that in his years at Minnesota. If we counted on Smoot to start we are in trouble like last year when Rogers and Springs missed time due to injuries and our backups had problems.
Carlos Rogers and Springs missed alot of time due to injury last year and it cuased alot of problems/off year for our defense. I look for both of them to rebound and have good years.

Rogers will be fine, he's very young and has shown a ton of promise. To me, Todd Wade will be the 2nd most critical factor to success on the offensive side of the ball. Him being so tall scares me a bit for a guard and if we can't run the ball well to help a young QB out, we're in trouble.

other. the entire defense( including greg williams) we were down right brutal on d last season

For the record, I think we have some helluva talent on defense. Pound for pound, I'll take our unit against any other team in the NFC, save the Bears maybe.

I think C. Rogers can and will develop into a very good cornerback. Cornerback is such an isolated position that if you're not doing too well, it really makes it look like you suck. And conversely, if you're catching a lot of interceptions people tend to equate that with a Pro-Bowl caliber corner.

If Rogers grabs half, yes half, those interceptions last season, we're not even having this conversation about what a bum he is.

I'm buying that. I think Carlos had a really bad year, but so did the rest of the D. I read a good while back that he was going to work with Darrell Green & Deion in the off-season, that should pay huge dividends.

I look for him to come out and play as we thought he would last season, really well. Also, I think if he were to have any problems the depth we have is great. And Smoot can still be a #2 in this league, he's back were he belongs.

I feel just the opposite. I think the talent, in many cases, is close at this level. Closer than we think. The way rosters turn over in the NFL now a days, the only constant is the coaching staff and continuity of thought.

We agree that Reid is one of the top coaches in the NFL, but I disagree that any old Joe Schmo can't get the same results with the same team. This guy takes J. Trotter, who by some accounts, is a system linebacker. Yet he somehow manages to be in the discussion as one of the better linebackers in the NFC.

The fact of the matter is, one would really have a hard time quantifying good coaching. Other than wins and losses, it's hard to really 'see' it over the course of a game. Sure, if it's third and one, and your team has rushed for over two hundred yards during the game, and the coach decides to thow a bomb to the end zone, that probably was a questionable call there.

I think it shows up in areas like lack of penalties, exececution of time clock, tackles made/missed, passes caught/dropped and maybe a few other areas. It's more mental. I believe players excute to the extent of their preparedness and confidence in the overall strategy. That's why you can fight your guts out every game and still lose week after week. At this level true professionals have the mental edge over the opponent.

I happen to think Gregg Williams is a wonderful coach but this is his year to step up.

I'm with you, 12th. Gregg Williams really made me pause and think about that big contract extension he got. Maybe he started to believe his press and that's what did him in last year. Whatever it was, the entire D was atrocious with absolutely diddley squat in the turnover department, no run support, shoddy tackling and poor coverage. To me, that reflects upon the scheme and coaching, especially when you have players like Marcus, ST, Cornelius etc.
So my vote is for the entire defensive staff and players.

Im going to vote other. I think we had problems on both sides of the ball last season. The D can't win games alone, and the O needs to score at least say 21 points to consistently win games. Since I can't vote JC (I think we only go as far as he can take us by performance) Ill say the D-line. We need to create pressure which in turn will lead to turnovers and 3 and outs.

On a side note, heres me and Rocky:
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/6517/wynncarshow029gg8.jpg
And Golston...
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/5088/wynncarshow041mj1.jpg
(pics from Renaldo Wynn's car show at redskins park)

Rogers is the only guy on that list who has underperformed relative to expectations. Moreover, in my opinion he digressed in his second year after a promising rookie campaign. This is a make or break year for him, and with the depth we now have at that position, I would go so far as to say it's a make or break first month of the season.

I voted Rogers because if he were to play at a higher level it would have a greater impact than any other player. It would be worth 5 to 10 overall defensive ranking spots by itself. I assume that by stepping up he would also learn to catch. Second choice: Golston.