Age a factor going into 2009

IMO, the Redskins are not looking too good going into next season and will need some young guys to step up.
OL-Pete Kendall is a FA and we prolly won't resign him because he will be 36...and on that note all our other starting OL will be 33/32 next season. Im not too optimistic that this group will preform well next season. As their age goes up, their skill and durability have seemed to go down.
DT-Im not sold on these guys to begin with, but on top of that, Griffin, our best DT, has been noticably getting worse year after year and will be 33 next season. Montgomery and Golston are both FAs this season...I wonder who will still be here in 09
DE-Do I really need to voice my concerns about this group? Our 9 million dollar man Jason Taylor is going to be 35, but at 34 he looked like my grandpa out there...Carter isnt producing. Our run stuffer and interior pass rusher Phillip Daniels is going to be 36 and coming off season ending surgery. We dont have any depth here.
WR-This group was very disapointing this past year to begin with. Santana Moss and Randle El will be 30, which I know normally isn't something to get worked up about. But they are both small quick speedsters, and will greatly suffer if they lose a step.
LB-Fletcher will be 34, I know he has defeyed his age up untill now, but who knows when it will catch up with him. Washington will be 32, injuries have already started to get him in recent years, Im doubtful that he will be able to produce like he used to.

The question is, how will the Redskins compensate for all these old guys? The traditional way is to use our draft picks, but since we traded all thoes away in past years, we don't have any young talent to fall back on. I know that age won't be too much of a factor for all the guys I listed. But the list is long and I feel like alot of guys will hit a wall that will negatively impact the team. And even if its not a significant decrease in skill or durability, 10 small decreases ends up to be a large impact. On the OL I feel like we will have to rely on Heyer and Reinhart...Im not confident in either, especially not Reinhart. On the DL I feel like we are obligated to resign both Golston and Montgomery and hope they both step up, which isnt very likely, but still possible. As far as WR's go, I feel like we need to pray that Thomas and Kelly pan out, and hope that this season was due to injuries. We have only one first day draft pick going into next year, so we can't rely on the draft to save us. Im just very pessamistic heading into next year. I feel like we werent good this year, and it will only get worse due to most of our key players being old.

Age is a huge factor on the OLINE and at LB.

start drafting guys that you expect to play. not lineman like Rinehart

heard coach zorn speak on whether age would be a factor in the offseason discussion and evaluation of the O line. interviewer asked if they need to take 2 steps back to take a step forward. zorn said that guys like kendall and rabach really spent alot of the offseason learning the blocking and teaching the younger players and that he does not want to replace those guys with people who it would take 2-3 years to learn to be dedicated to studying and be prepared. and that in that regard, if they did bring in new guys, the 2 steps back would be waiting 2-3 years until they learn how to prepare like a professionals. i remember reading about how rogers said this year was the first time he really studied tape and prepared and it really paid off. so maybe it does take a few years to have a veteran approach to the game.

not my opinion or thought, just thought what zorn said was relevant to this thread topic. maybe he has this impression from the lack of "preparedness" the rookies showed this year?

go skins!!

great, great thread...thank you for pointing this out, age will be a huge issue going into next season. IMO, the Skins might have gone 10-6/11-5 if the average age of the starters was two, maybe three years younger. Given that the young guys still have to learn the system and Snyder's impatience, I don't know that Zorn will be given a fair shake and enough time to install the system in DC

it should be addressed and you made a great point and it concerns me as well along with the guys who are injury prone...we need more youth....

great post..

We can get younger in a hurry with the release of just a few guys.

But it's not critical to get young just for the sake of getting younger. Fletcher for example is still a very capable starter and doesn't need to be replaced.

"Sounds like people are looking for an escape goat."

we have to start drafting guys we think can play in the furture but dont need now. when drafting us the first rounder on a guy that can come in and play right away this year that would be a dt. use the 2nd and 3rd round on players that can play if called upon this year that would be a guard in the third round(everyone remember dockery). and 4th-7th those are players that have potential. we have been sending our draft picks to other teams for so long thats why we have this age probably now. look at NE they use all their draft picks and then some. they keep the guys that can play and get rid of the ones they dont need. look at theyre lines i'm sure 90% of there lines are people they drafted and if you have good lines then you can build around it.

I'll be interested in seeing what the lines look like next year.