Why Doesn't "Gibbs' Football" Work for the Redskins?

A couple of things here-
Gibbs brought in Saunders to implement a system. He wouldn't have done that if he was satisfied his old school style would hold up nowadays. The TE is a huge part of a Saunders offense. And Cooley has been phenomenal. Just as Gonzalez was phenomenal when Saunders was in KC. I agree that Gibbs likes the TE to be a blocker, but Don Warren and Clint Didier caught their share of passes too. Cooley is a mismatch weapon on offense, and should be used as such. Gibbs drafted him to be his signature "h-back," and he's worked out as far as production is concerned, even though the h-back isn't around now. Now that the line is dinged we may need to use more two TE sets, with Cooley as a passing option and Yoder staying in to help block.

I disagree that Sellers can't block Strahan types. At 285lbs he is as big or bigger than most DE's in the league.

And despite the two injuries on the O-line, we are pretty healthy. We need to come out and pound this Lions squad.

I think you misunderstood me. I didn't say he couldn't block him, I just said with 5 yards of strahan running at him...well, no one really will win that battle. Strahan will run over anyone when he has that much speed up. A stationary Sellers vs a full speed Strahan is not good...Sellers won't be in a situation where he's on the line to block him from scratch.
Sellers also is not the greatest of pass blockers. He's good, but not as good as he could be...he is more beneficial in the run game.

I do agree with most of what you said. I know we need to free up Cooley, but I'd rather have protection. So while I do agree with you, I disagree about your comments with Didier and Warren. Wasn't Warren named an honorary Hog? Anywho...Didier never had more than 41 catches and only had 2 other seasons of 30 or more in his career. Warren never had more than 31 catches. Cooley has had a 71 catch season and a 57 catch season. I say all that to show that both Didier and Warren were blockers first receivers 2nd.

BTW
Cooley - 171 catches in 3.25 seasons.
Didier - 141 catches in 8 season.
Warren - 244 catches in 14 seasons.

BTW
Cooley - 171 catches in 3.25 seasons.
Didier - 141 catches in 8 season.
Warren - 244 catches in 14 seasons.

All I said was they caught their share of passes. You have to play to your strengths. Gibbs drafted Cooley before Saunders was even on our radar. He's been our most consistent weapon in the passing game. I know traditional "Gibbs" football has a block 1st TE, but he brought in Saunders for a reason, and the TE plays a very prominent role in his offense.

All I said was they caught their share of passes. You have to play to your strengths. Gibbs drafted Cooley before Saunders was even on our radar. He's been our most consistent weapon in the passing game. I know traditional "Gibbs" football has a block 1st TE, but he brought in Saunders for a reason, and the TE plays a very prominent role in his offense.

I do 100% agree with you there.
I will say this though...remember the Spurrier era here? The send everyone out to catch and skrew blocking era? I guess I am just more hesitant to put Cooley out to catch when our O line is hurting. I know we need him to catch and open up the offense, but we need blocking too.

I do 100% agree with you there.
I will say this though...remember the Spurrier era here? The send everyone out to catch and skrew blocking era? I guess I am just more hesitant to put Cooley out to catch when our O line is hurting. I know we need him to catch and open up the offense, but we need blocking too.

With Moss gimpy we need all the help we can get in the passing game. Cooley is too good to be relegated to blocking. We gotta score more!!!

With Moss gimpy we need all the help we can get in the passing game. Cooley is too good to be relegated to blocking. We gotta score more!!!

We won't score more without blocking. The O line is the most important "overall" position on the field IMO. It all starts there.

I like the idea of two TE sets though. Let Yoder block...he can't really catch well. LOL.

Indy, NE, and GB all have HoF quarterbacks. Dallas is an exception, but when you have a rookie QB, and are leading by multiple scores, common wisdom is to run clock. Otherwise, you might end up committing turnovers and giving the other team a chance to win. Imagine if we came out passing in the 2nd half, and JC threw a pick for TD. Whoops, now our lead is only 1 TD. What's better -- going 3 and out, or that?


No guts no glory, leave it all out on the field, let em play, he aint going to get good if you keep holding him back. All of those and then some come to mind. Either he learns to be a stellar QB very quickly or we find out that he is not sooner. Bottom line you have to give him a chance. I think he earned that opportunity in the offseason. Now he needs to take his lumps and learn on game day. I would rather we lose the game by trying to win it, than lose the game trying nurse a mediocre lead.

Back in the day when Joe ver.1 was beating up the NFL, we simply had a COMPLETE team at every position, with an emphasis put on the O-line. Our O-line was hands down, the best in the league. Nobody blocked better for the running game, and nobody pass protected better. Come the 4th quarter, other teams simply tapped-out from the pounding. Also, we were winning games by big scores, and doing so with no trickery. It wasn't fancy, just basic football played with heart, and a team that believed in what it was doing. This team has alot to prove from last year's disappointment, I'm willing to let them do it. Us as fans need to support them, but it is time to start playing like a team that has had the same Hall of Fame coach now for 4 years. This coach is a winner, and he has the Super Bowls to prove it, but that is long history. I'll just close by saying this, "Redskins, stop talking about doing something, and start doing something."

Back in the day when Joe ver.1 was beating up the NFL, we simply had a COMPLETE team at every position, with an emphasis put on the O-line. Our O-line was hands down, the best in the league. Nobody blocked better for the running game, and nobody pass protected better. Come the 4th quarter, other teams simply tapped-out from the pounding. Also, we were winning games by big scores, and doing so with no trickery. It wasn't fancy, just basic football played with heart, and a team that believed in what it was doing. This team has alot to prove from last year's disappointment, I'm willing to let them do it. Us as fans need to support them, but it is time to start playing like a team that has had the same Hall of Fame coach now for 4 years. This coach is a winner, and he has the Super Bowls to prove it, but that is long history. I'll just close by saying this, "Redskins, stop talking about doing something, and start doing something."

You bring the point up about the blocking. A while back I said here that if I had to start a team from scratch and I could have anyone I wanted, I would pick the best LT, RT, 2 guards, and Center in the league all first, then pick from there. You can have anyone play RB and just about anyone play QB if you have the best pass protection and run blocking money can buy. Gibbs knows this as well...Just look at Rypien, he was one of the worst QBs the Skins have ever had to start, but his protection was amazing and he had a couple good years here. I guarentee if Jason Campbell had that line, he would throw for 4000 yards.
The loss of Jansen and Thomas are hurting more than anyone wants to admit.

I think you misunderstood me. I didn't say he couldn't block him, I just said with 5 yards of strahan running at him...well, no one really will win that battle. Strahan will run over anyone when he has that much speed up. A stationary Sellers vs a full speed Strahan is not good...Sellers won't be in a situation where he's on the line to block him from scratch.
Sellers also is not the greatest of pass blockers. He's good, but not as good as he could be...he is more beneficial in the run game.

I do agree with most of what you said. I know we need to free up Cooley, but I'd rather have protection. So while I do agree with you, I disagree about your comments with Didier and Warren. Wasn't Warren named an honorary Hog? Anywho...Didier never had more than 41 catches and only had 2 other seasons of 30 or more in his career. Warren never had more than 31 catches. Cooley has had a 71 catch season and a 57 catch season. I say all that to show that both Didier and Warren were blockers first receivers 2nd.Some important distinctions in the blocking roles of Didier and Warren: Warren was a classic blocking tight end, almost always lined up on the line of scrimmage next to the OT. Didier was the H-back in a single running back offense. He might be lined up wide on passing plays and he was often put in motion, especially on running plays. I think of the H-back in Gibbs offense as more of a pass receiving fullback than a blocking TE, especially on passing downs.