Hooskins Presents the "Who Needs to Step Up" Poll

I think last year the coaches did the best they could with what little they had, especially on defense. But then again you have to place the blame on them for not building quality depth especially in the secondary.

On offense the adjustment to Saunders' offense and infamous 700-page playbook was an issue, and I think there may have been some behind the scenes philosophical differences between Gibbs and Saunders that appeared to have been ironed out by season's end.

I think last year the coaches did the best they could with what little they had, especially on defense. But then again you have to place the blame on them for not building quality depth especially in the secondary.

On offense the adjustment to Saunders' offense and infamous 700-page playbook was an issue, and I think there may have been some behind the scenes philosophical differences between Gibbs and Saunders that appeared to have been ironed out by season's end.

The 700 page playbook is the most obvious example of what I'm talking about. There is no way all that "stuff" helped put the O in a position to be successful. I agree that some of the problems with that tome had been ironed out by the end of the season.

As for the D, I dont think anyone knew better than the coaches what the strengths and weaknesses were. IMO they did not develop schemes to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.

On D I think it was tough to do anything with guys like Rumph and Wright playing corner, and the disaster that was AA at safety. GW obviously dumbed things down scheme-wise and wasn't as aggressive as he wanted and needed to be.

I voted Rogers, however, I think they all need to step up. I went with Rogers because he was the 9th overall pick (a pick I didn't like at the time) and he hasn't shown me any reason to believe he'll be a #1 corner. I think he's a lot better than people think, but he's not THAT good. He should be a shut down corner if he's gonna go 9.

What he said....

IMO they did not develop schemes to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.

You just summed up numerous posts by yours truly in one post.

As for the D, I dont think anyone knew better than the coaches what the strengths and weaknesses were. IMO they did not develop schemes to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.Well, very possibly a good point, but what is your evidence for this? Just a hunch? An assumption?

Can you give an example of something that you/another NFL coach would have done differently in the same situation?

My vote is Andre Carter. Would be a MAJOR benefit to have him playing like he ended last year right from the start. Think he has the ability to produce a double digit sack year for us, anything less is a failure in my eyes.

Well, very possibly a good point, but what is your evidence for this? Just a hunch? An assumption?

Can you give an example of something that you/another NFL coach would have done differently in the same situation?

Mostly a hypothesis based on observations. To me it seemed like players looked lost and out of position. I guess all I can say (not being a coach) is that I would have tried to simplify the schemes to maximize the chance for players to be in position and not look lost. That said, I cant imagine that the D coaches didnt try to do the same.

Its easy to coach great talent but what really makes a great coach, IMO, is to take average talent & make it play great. These coaches need to make the average talent the Redskins have (both O & D) and make it play great.

I voted other because I think Griffin and Springs are the leaders of this defense and when they go down the whole D goes down. So I feel both of their levels of play have to improve to the type of play we saw in 05. I think the rest of the D will follow when these two step it up.


We have a Winner!!!

I voted Rogers, but as I read about it and thought about who we really need to step up, it became clear to me that if Griffin and Springs have bounce back years, our defense is going to be excellent. Griffin can single handedly turn our d-line from below average to average if he plays well. That's a huge jump that would affect all facets of our defense. Similarly, if Springs plays well, Carlos Rogers' play becomes a secondary concern; no pun intended. We have other players who will take his spot if he under performs. I guess if Rogers becomes as good as Springs was, he makes Springs' play less important. Ultimately, we need either one of them to play at a #1 corner level. Springs has that pedigree, so he is the more likely candidate.

IMO the three main reasons our defense slipped so badly last year are simple:

-We had no #1 corner.

-We had no one who commanded double teams on the d-line.

-Our nickleback play was horrendous.

Griffin and Springs can solve problems 1, 2 and 3.

Springs has to be it. Rogers has over half the vote, but if Springs is healthy (and as good as in years past), Smoot can step up if Rogers is having trouble. That wouldn't be too much of a drop-off. I can think of at least one good defensive game (New Orleans) from last year, and that was one of the few with a healthy Springs in the lineup.

Someone said we don't have many weapons on defense that we didn't have last year. I would say a healthy Springs is the key to this defense, and we didn't have that last year.