Marching Orders... Interesting Points

Don't worry gents we are on pace to beat all 32 teams lineman on offense and defense... TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY LINE!

I've been waiting for this thread all day.

I thought this was a big article to talk about. They spoke of this a lot today on "The Lockeroom" with Kevin Sheehan.

This article brings up a lot of what we talk about on this forum. We're pretty insightful bunch here.

Yeah, I listened to that segment myself.

What bugs me is this:
The model for success in the NFL is glaringly obvious. Teams that do well consistently build through the draft, and pretty much always focus on building the lines. Year in and year out the Eagles have shitty WRs, yet for a decade they go farther than we do. Andy Reid drafts on the line of scrimmage. Need or not, he stockpiles lineman. The Phins, Flacons, and Ravens do the same. So what the hell is wrong with Cerrato? How are can he repeatedly be so stupid? I understand if once or twice he tried to move picks for vets and screwed up, or once or twice he drafted nothing but skill positions and screwed up... But he does it EVERY DAMN YEAR!! Why? Why not buck his trend for once and follow the normal model of success in the league?? It's maddening and arrogant. We have a stupid front office, plain and simple.

Don't worry gents we are on pace to beat all 32 teams lineman on offense and defense... TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY LINE!

LMAO. Oh man that got me going.

This was a good article, and I do get the sense that the front office will notice this. I can't believe that I'm doing this, but I'm going to come out and say something positive about the Redskins FO. I think that their mistakes in the past are being dragged around by the media and the fans, yet when you stop to look at what has happened, I think they are slowly improving.

Snyder learned to let go a bit under Gibbs, and I think he grew up a bit during this period. He wants to win badly, but unfortunately he believes this can be done right away if you throw a lot of money at the situation. Snyder wanted to bring Jim Fassel this past offseason, and the fan base exploded. The old Snyder would not have cared and hired Fassel, the new Snyder hired Jim Zorn. Zorn did OK, he still has a lot to learn, but did not fail as many first year coaches typically do.

The Front Office had a quiet offseason last year and did not go into their usual shopping spree. The only big acquisition was Jason Taylor, which unfortunately did not work out due to injuries...but this wasn't a Archuleta or Brandon Lloyd signing (players with questionable abilities) Taylor had come off a huge year (not a contract year) when his team sucked and went 1-15.

While some pundits and fans were calling for the Skins to bolster its d-line last offseson, another big concern that the Redskins had was getting another target for Campbell and someone that would take the heat from Santana Moss. While the Redskins flirted with the possibility of getting Chad Johnson or Anquan Boldin, they decided to "build through the draft". The jury is still out on the rookies, but they did not turn to their old ways of trading picks away.

In regards to the offensive line, I think this may have become a lesser priority next to getting a WR and a defensive lineman. Two seasons ago, many of us thought that the problem with our o-line was that they could never be in the field together as they got hurt a lot. I was one of the fans that called for a complimentary receiver/big possession receiver, and thought of this as the cure for our offensive problems. Now I believe that I, along with any fan/sports pundit, was wrong in thinking that a WR was a bigger need. I think many of us and the front office disregarded the fact that the o-line was getting older and of course that materialized in the problems the team had in the second half of the season.

Our front office has a lot to learn, but they have improved. Snyder has shown patience this year, and kept Zorn (the old Snyder would have booted him and Shanahan would have been hired). With only four picks, the need to inject youth into the team, improve the offense, and take our defense to the next level, this offseason will be a real test for the front office and the owner.

LMAO. Oh man that got me going.
Better to laugh than cry brother.. Hopefully we are not the only ones that see our lineman as a joke...

How dare the Ravens draft Offensive Lineman. Don't they know you need Receivers to win in this league. pffffft. You know the Ravens could learn a thing or two from the way Vinny Cerrato does things.

Let's look at the Cardinals. Two pro bowl receivers. Unlike the Ravens, they're in the super bowl. How about the other team, the Steelers. Another team with two very good receivers in Ward and Holmes.

In order to win in this league you need a balanced team. Personally, if I were building a team I'd go for a high octane offense paired with ball hawking/opportunistic defense. Make em' throw and turn em' over.

But really, the Steelers offensive line isn't that great. Baltimore seems to often choose best available talent. They didn't particularly need Suggs when he came out, but he fell to them so they hopped on him.

Everything said, I'm ready to bust this team apart and start from scratch. However, as the article mentions, the salaries we have won't allow for that to happen in a timely manner. Make each pick count, stay away from D line for now, too risky.

Let's look at the Cardinals. Two pro bowl receivers. Unlike the Ravens, they're in the super bowl. How about the other team, the Steelers. Another team with two very good receivers in Ward and Holmes.

In order to win in this league you need a balanced team. Personally, if I were building a team I'd go for a high octane offense paired with ball hawking/opportunistic defense. Make em' throw and turn em' over.

But really, the Steelers offensive line isn't that great. Baltimore seems to often choose best available talent. They didn't particularly need Suggs when he came out, but he fell to them so they hopped on him.

Everything said, I'm ready to bust this team apart and start from scratch. However, as the article mentions, the salaries we have won't allow for that to happen in a timely manner. Make each pick count, stay away from D line for now, too risky.

Very good point. Arizona had a good offense, but would not have survived the playoffs without their defense stepping up.

The problem with last year's draft was not that we chose receivers, but that they ended up sucking. Last time I checked, the NFC representative in the Superbowl was built around dynamic WR's and superior secondary play. I mean, the Cardinals aren't elite in either trench. The Colts are a team that has won a recent Superbowl - unlike those mentioned in this article - who place a tremendous premium on selecting offensive skill position players early and often, while neglecting their defensive line. And they've done aight. As Mel Kiper said in defending us last year post-draft, as some questioned our decision to draft three receivers, you can't do it all in one year. A polite way of saying that, on a team as old and hole-filled as ours, a team whose reserves had been depleted of youth from years of mortaging draft picks, it was going to take a few 10 pick stock-ups to get us back to where we need to be.

So yeah, we should draft linemen, and linebackers, and every other position too. But let's not pretend that Vinny's draft choices from last year are the reason we are where we are now. That goes back years, to Gibbs and Spurrier and before even.

Let's look at the Cardinals. Two pro bowl receivers. Unlike the Ravens, they're in the super bowl. How about the other team, the Steelers. Another team with two very good receivers in Ward and Holmes.

In order to win in this league you need a balanced team. Personally, if I were building a team I'd go for a high octane offense paired with ball hawking/opportunistic defense. Make em' throw and turn em' over.

But really, the Steelers offensive line isn't that great. Baltimore seems to often choose best available talent. They didn't particularly need Suggs when he came out, but he fell to them so they hopped on him.

Everything said, I'm ready to bust this team apart and start from scratch. However, as the article mentions, the salaries we have won't allow for that to happen in a timely manner. Make each pick count, stay away from D line for now, too risky.

You forgot to mention that the Cardinals have beneiftted from top class O-Line play during the last three weeks. Wisenhunt has gone out of his way to give credit to the O-Line during the playoff run.

Also keep in mind that out of the previous 14 Super Bowl winners only one team had a reciever with 1,200+ yards, and that was the Colts who ironically had my two most important offenisve cogs in an elite QB and a top notch O-Line.

Which brings me to the Steelers. Well you're right they don't have a great offensive line, instead they have a top notch Quarterback that is capable of running the offense. However the main reason the Steelers are in the Super Bowl is because of their defense which despite being ranked only 2 or 3 spots ahead of us is in a class of it's own. They actually remind me of the Raven's from 2001, just with a better Quarterback. So if we can get a defense that is capable of truly dominating a game then by all means we can pass up taking O-Lineman.

You're right though, balance is very important, and right now as a team we have a huge inbalance as it relates to our offensive line, in part because we've used so many draft picks on Recievers since the turn of the century. I also agree that going D-Line early in the draft right now is a little risky but if the Big 4 are gone and BJ Rali falls in our laps then I'll be more then happy to make him a Redskin.

Also I feel that if we can come away with two new starters in this draft (ie a new Guard and RT) then our offense will be exponentially better then it was last year (of course due in part to Campbells experience with the offense), and as it relates to leaving our defense alone, well from what I've seen with the exception of 2003 and 2006 our defense has managed to find a way to get the job done. Then again these things seem to happen in three's so I guess that settles it. In 2009 our defense will suck because of the number "3".

I think it's also important to look at how successful teams don't necessarily have one workhorse running back who gets run into the ground all year long. Take a look at the teams who have recently had deep playoff runs...

-- Giants in 2007, leading rusher was Brandon Jacobs with 1009 yards

-- Arizona this year, leading rushers were Hightower and Edge -- combined for just 913 yards

-- Pittsburgh this year, Willie Parker gains just 791 yards

Also, check out the stats over at NFL.com for the running backs (http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?season=2008&seasonType=REG&d-447263-o=2&conference=null&tabSeq=0&statisticCategory=RUSHING&d-447263-p=1&d-447263-s=RUSHING_ATTEMPTS&d-447263-n=1) who had the most carries. Look at how many of those teams made it to the playoffs. You have to go down to the guy who had the 12th most carries (Chris Johnson of Tennessee) to find out who had the deepest playoff run. At #17, 18, and 19 it was Brian Westbrook, LaRon McClain of the Ravens, and Brandon Jacobs. With the exception of Adrian Peterson of Minnesota, no playoff team had any running back have more than 292 carries for the season.

So I think this shows that we have placed too great a priority (and spent way too much money) on the "Superman" theory of running backs. You know, just hand the ball off to one guy and he will singlehandedly carry your team to the promised land. All that does is burn him out of gas, and it makes your offense dependent on the health of one guy.