BigHairedAristocrat
03-27-2009, 11:30 AM
Good Morning everyone. I just caught the last 10 minutes of Walker's interview with Cerrato on ESPN980 this morning. Here are my complete recaps from the podcast:
-The #1 thing Doc Walker wanted to know had to do with a crucial detail about our front office structure: Who has final say in personnel decisions. Vinny beat around the bush and wouldnt give a straight answer. He spoke of how Snyder, Zorn and himself go into the draft with a plan, build consensus, yada yada yada... so no one really has to make a final decision on everything, because theyve already made decisions together on what to do in any given scenario... riiiiiight. I interpretted this to mean Snyder has final say. And Cerrato specifically mentioned that Snyder doesnt watch tape or review film.
- In last years draft, the Skins "Plan A" was to draft Jarod Mayo. Since he wasnt available (alot of people were surprised New England took him so high), they went to Plan B - which was to trade down with Atlanta. Apparently, the teams had had some sort of discussion prior to the draft.
-Cerrato has hold Devin Thomas, Fred Davis, and Malcom Kelly that the team is relying on the three of them to improve the offense this year. I know I shouldnt read into it too much, but the way he said it, i got the feeling he was saying, "Look, were not doing another thing to improve our offense. Its all on you so so you're going to have to step up."
-Fred Davis is ahead of everyone else - he "got his clock fixed," he was working out at the park two weeks before everyone else, and told Cerrato he's committed to being a great player.
-If Vinny had to do it again, he would absolutely trade a 2nd and a 6th for Jason Taylor. He was a perennial pro-bowler a year past being the league MVP, and we lost two DEs on the first day of camp. We were a playoff team the previous year and had a real chance to compete in 2008. More importantly to Cerrato, when Daniels went down, the air went out of the team. Daniels was a stud, a leader, and it was like all the teams hopes shattered right there. Cerrato felt he had to do something to make the team believe again. He talked to the players (Shawn Springs, Phillip Daniels, etc.) and they said “go get him.” Doc and Cerrato both felt Taylor would have been a key contributor if he had not been hurt.
The team wanted Jason Taylor back this year and the plan was for him to play 1st and 2nd down at SAM linebacker. On 3rd down, he was going to rush the passer from all over. From Cerratos perspective, they would have really been hurting capwise if they had kept Taylor, so it was very important to him that Taylor was in a position to PLAY. They felt a lot of his problems last year were a result of his not working out with Miami in the prior offseason. Snyder and Cerrato flew down to Miami to try and convince Taylor to work out here, but we all know how that turned out.
-Vinnys Cerrato Core Beliefs on bulidng a team: Young players are critical with the salary cap. We need to build through the draft with young players and add free agents here and there. The plan this year was to add one significant free agent (Haynesworth) and keep one of our own (Hall). When Dockery got cut, we pursued him, too.
Vinny looked at a lot of tape on Dockery before signing him here. Specifically, Cerrato focused on 2007 and how Dockery played against NFC-East teams. Against Dallas, Dockery had a pro-bowl performance – he completely wore down Chris Canty. Dockery didn’t play as well in ’08 as ‘07, but both years were much better than his contract year here – ’06. Everything about Dockery is better than when he left here. Cerrato was so excited about the possibility of Dockery being available that he actually called Buffalo before they cut him to try and keep them from trading him to Detroit. The second he was cut, Dockery called Cerrato personally and said, “I wanna play there. My agents going to play tough, but don’t worry, I’ll be back.”
Before resigning DeAngelo Hall, Cerrato talked to our defensive coaches and players and asked about Halls work ethic and locker room presence – the vote was unanimous, everyone wanted Hall back. London Fletcher told Cerrato he had many conversations with Hall about his past troubles and what went on in ATL and Oakland.
Never knew Cerrato is somewhat responsible for us getting Stubby - Cerrato was in SF when Stubby was starting to “blow up” so they were trying get rid of him and trade him somewhere. Their play was to get picks to trade up in the draft to the 22nd spot with Jacksonville to draft Reynaldo Wynn. Funny how things work out. Anyway, Cerrato was very familiar with Stubby and knew he only wanted to get paid. Cerrato was obviously cautious with Haynesworth. What impressed Cerrato about Haynesworth is that he really wants to be remembered as one of the best DTs to play the game. He doesn’t just want to get paid. Cerrato tried to get Reggie White the offseason when he ended up going to Green Bay because he knew how White could change an entire defense. He sees those same things in Haynesworth. He firmly believes Haynesworth presence will change our entire defense and make everyone better. A lot of FA defensive ends are calling Cerrato because they want to play next to Haynesworth. (I cant stop thinking that Jason Taylors an idiot.)
-Orakpo won’t be there at 13.
-Andre Smith would be a “definite candidate” if he fell to 13. Cerrato talked about a lot of the mistakes Smith has made to make his draft stock and even said “I don’t know who advised him to run without his shirt on” (lol). Cerrato said what teams do at this point is they stop focusing so much on the combine and go back and look at tape, because the “tape don’t lie.” Smith is a very, very talented player and Cerrato doesn’t think Smith will be there at 13, either.
-Player Evaluation Process: The scouts come back in at the end of march and they, the coaches, and Cerrato meet regularly up until the draft. When they meet, Cerrato tells them, “you need to say what you want to say now.” He doesn’t want them leaving and talking to other staff and changing their mind. He wants them making their recommendations on the work they’ve done themselves.
The scouts make a “Tell a Story Tape” for each player the skins are considering selecting in the draft. Its not a highlight tape – it’s a tape of about 40 plays designed to show what the player’s strengths and weaknesses are. Then, they watch 3 full games of the player in action. Scott Campbell runs the projector. Cerrato takes notes. After they watch the tape, Scott will go ahead and ask everyone’s opinion on the player. Then they write one report on the player and give him an official “Redskins Grade.” Then, they move on to the next player and do the same thing. They look at all players of the same position in the same session because it makes it easier for them to compare.
-Why did the skins take Devin Thomas over Eddie Royal? The skins liked Eddie Royal alot last year. However, they already had Santana Moss and ARE and they didn’t want another little guy. In the WCO, there are a lot of slants and we needed a big guy.
-Chad Rinehart only worked out with the scout team last year and ran the other teams plays. Doc asked Cerrato why Rinehart didn’t practice at LG with the team on Wednesdays, since Kendall always sat out. Cerrato explained the teams rationale this way – they only dress 7 OL on game days. Fabini was versatile and able to play G and T. It was important to get him reps. Geisinger had to practice and dress because he was the only backup who could play center. While it would have been nice to get Rinehart more practice, hes a rookie. Rookies cant be expected to learn all 5 positions and they cant “waste” the reps on a guy who can only play one position… so Fabini got the practice reps over Rinehart. Rinehart improved dramatically in the past few weeks because he finally got to practice with the first team.
Stephon Heyer is RT. He will not play LT. Heyer needs to work on strength and fundamentals in the offseason. He is essentially unbeatable when he bends his knees and positions his hands correctly, but he keeps wanting to stand tall. Heyer is working hard on this. Cerrato essentially said that if he improves enough, the RT job is his.
Special Teams: We’re not drafting another punter. We’ll look to free agency and bring some other guys in and have competitions for both kicking spots. As a whole the other ST positions are all great. Rock was solid as a KR.
We need to improve at PR and there will be competition at that spot. That’s why we went after Dorsey from the CFL. Santana Moss LOVES returning punts and the plan is for him to do that atleast 1-2 times per game. (I imagine the new rules passed this week to protect return guys from injury had a lot to do with this decision.)
3rd Running Back: We got Alridge because hes a great 3rd down back. After he was cut by Denver, Cerrato called them and they told him to get Alridge because he was the fastest guy they’d ever seen (he got hurt so they IRed him). He (and Dorsey) are going to compete with Rock for the 3rd RB spot. They are explosive “Sproeles-type guys” and that’s what the team needs now.
Further FA moves: The sign on the door at Redskins park says, “Veteran Minimum Only.”
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Ok, thats it. If you want to listen yourself, you can find the podcasts here:
ESPN 980 - Home of the Redskins (http://www.espn980.com/audiovault/)
-The #1 thing Doc Walker wanted to know had to do with a crucial detail about our front office structure: Who has final say in personnel decisions. Vinny beat around the bush and wouldnt give a straight answer. He spoke of how Snyder, Zorn and himself go into the draft with a plan, build consensus, yada yada yada... so no one really has to make a final decision on everything, because theyve already made decisions together on what to do in any given scenario... riiiiiight. I interpretted this to mean Snyder has final say. And Cerrato specifically mentioned that Snyder doesnt watch tape or review film.
- In last years draft, the Skins "Plan A" was to draft Jarod Mayo. Since he wasnt available (alot of people were surprised New England took him so high), they went to Plan B - which was to trade down with Atlanta. Apparently, the teams had had some sort of discussion prior to the draft.
-Cerrato has hold Devin Thomas, Fred Davis, and Malcom Kelly that the team is relying on the three of them to improve the offense this year. I know I shouldnt read into it too much, but the way he said it, i got the feeling he was saying, "Look, were not doing another thing to improve our offense. Its all on you so so you're going to have to step up."
-Fred Davis is ahead of everyone else - he "got his clock fixed," he was working out at the park two weeks before everyone else, and told Cerrato he's committed to being a great player.
-If Vinny had to do it again, he would absolutely trade a 2nd and a 6th for Jason Taylor. He was a perennial pro-bowler a year past being the league MVP, and we lost two DEs on the first day of camp. We were a playoff team the previous year and had a real chance to compete in 2008. More importantly to Cerrato, when Daniels went down, the air went out of the team. Daniels was a stud, a leader, and it was like all the teams hopes shattered right there. Cerrato felt he had to do something to make the team believe again. He talked to the players (Shawn Springs, Phillip Daniels, etc.) and they said “go get him.” Doc and Cerrato both felt Taylor would have been a key contributor if he had not been hurt.
The team wanted Jason Taylor back this year and the plan was for him to play 1st and 2nd down at SAM linebacker. On 3rd down, he was going to rush the passer from all over. From Cerratos perspective, they would have really been hurting capwise if they had kept Taylor, so it was very important to him that Taylor was in a position to PLAY. They felt a lot of his problems last year were a result of his not working out with Miami in the prior offseason. Snyder and Cerrato flew down to Miami to try and convince Taylor to work out here, but we all know how that turned out.
-Vinnys Cerrato Core Beliefs on bulidng a team: Young players are critical with the salary cap. We need to build through the draft with young players and add free agents here and there. The plan this year was to add one significant free agent (Haynesworth) and keep one of our own (Hall). When Dockery got cut, we pursued him, too.
Vinny looked at a lot of tape on Dockery before signing him here. Specifically, Cerrato focused on 2007 and how Dockery played against NFC-East teams. Against Dallas, Dockery had a pro-bowl performance – he completely wore down Chris Canty. Dockery didn’t play as well in ’08 as ‘07, but both years were much better than his contract year here – ’06. Everything about Dockery is better than when he left here. Cerrato was so excited about the possibility of Dockery being available that he actually called Buffalo before they cut him to try and keep them from trading him to Detroit. The second he was cut, Dockery called Cerrato personally and said, “I wanna play there. My agents going to play tough, but don’t worry, I’ll be back.”
Before resigning DeAngelo Hall, Cerrato talked to our defensive coaches and players and asked about Halls work ethic and locker room presence – the vote was unanimous, everyone wanted Hall back. London Fletcher told Cerrato he had many conversations with Hall about his past troubles and what went on in ATL and Oakland.
Never knew Cerrato is somewhat responsible for us getting Stubby - Cerrato was in SF when Stubby was starting to “blow up” so they were trying get rid of him and trade him somewhere. Their play was to get picks to trade up in the draft to the 22nd spot with Jacksonville to draft Reynaldo Wynn. Funny how things work out. Anyway, Cerrato was very familiar with Stubby and knew he only wanted to get paid. Cerrato was obviously cautious with Haynesworth. What impressed Cerrato about Haynesworth is that he really wants to be remembered as one of the best DTs to play the game. He doesn’t just want to get paid. Cerrato tried to get Reggie White the offseason when he ended up going to Green Bay because he knew how White could change an entire defense. He sees those same things in Haynesworth. He firmly believes Haynesworth presence will change our entire defense and make everyone better. A lot of FA defensive ends are calling Cerrato because they want to play next to Haynesworth. (I cant stop thinking that Jason Taylors an idiot.)
-Orakpo won’t be there at 13.
-Andre Smith would be a “definite candidate” if he fell to 13. Cerrato talked about a lot of the mistakes Smith has made to make his draft stock and even said “I don’t know who advised him to run without his shirt on” (lol). Cerrato said what teams do at this point is they stop focusing so much on the combine and go back and look at tape, because the “tape don’t lie.” Smith is a very, very talented player and Cerrato doesn’t think Smith will be there at 13, either.
-Player Evaluation Process: The scouts come back in at the end of march and they, the coaches, and Cerrato meet regularly up until the draft. When they meet, Cerrato tells them, “you need to say what you want to say now.” He doesn’t want them leaving and talking to other staff and changing their mind. He wants them making their recommendations on the work they’ve done themselves.
The scouts make a “Tell a Story Tape” for each player the skins are considering selecting in the draft. Its not a highlight tape – it’s a tape of about 40 plays designed to show what the player’s strengths and weaknesses are. Then, they watch 3 full games of the player in action. Scott Campbell runs the projector. Cerrato takes notes. After they watch the tape, Scott will go ahead and ask everyone’s opinion on the player. Then they write one report on the player and give him an official “Redskins Grade.” Then, they move on to the next player and do the same thing. They look at all players of the same position in the same session because it makes it easier for them to compare.
-Why did the skins take Devin Thomas over Eddie Royal? The skins liked Eddie Royal alot last year. However, they already had Santana Moss and ARE and they didn’t want another little guy. In the WCO, there are a lot of slants and we needed a big guy.
-Chad Rinehart only worked out with the scout team last year and ran the other teams plays. Doc asked Cerrato why Rinehart didn’t practice at LG with the team on Wednesdays, since Kendall always sat out. Cerrato explained the teams rationale this way – they only dress 7 OL on game days. Fabini was versatile and able to play G and T. It was important to get him reps. Geisinger had to practice and dress because he was the only backup who could play center. While it would have been nice to get Rinehart more practice, hes a rookie. Rookies cant be expected to learn all 5 positions and they cant “waste” the reps on a guy who can only play one position… so Fabini got the practice reps over Rinehart. Rinehart improved dramatically in the past few weeks because he finally got to practice with the first team.
Stephon Heyer is RT. He will not play LT. Heyer needs to work on strength and fundamentals in the offseason. He is essentially unbeatable when he bends his knees and positions his hands correctly, but he keeps wanting to stand tall. Heyer is working hard on this. Cerrato essentially said that if he improves enough, the RT job is his.
Special Teams: We’re not drafting another punter. We’ll look to free agency and bring some other guys in and have competitions for both kicking spots. As a whole the other ST positions are all great. Rock was solid as a KR.
We need to improve at PR and there will be competition at that spot. That’s why we went after Dorsey from the CFL. Santana Moss LOVES returning punts and the plan is for him to do that atleast 1-2 times per game. (I imagine the new rules passed this week to protect return guys from injury had a lot to do with this decision.)
3rd Running Back: We got Alridge because hes a great 3rd down back. After he was cut by Denver, Cerrato called them and they told him to get Alridge because he was the fastest guy they’d ever seen (he got hurt so they IRed him). He (and Dorsey) are going to compete with Rock for the 3rd RB spot. They are explosive “Sproeles-type guys” and that’s what the team needs now.
Further FA moves: The sign on the door at Redskins park says, “Veteran Minimum Only.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, thats it. If you want to listen yourself, you can find the podcasts here:
ESPN 980 - Home of the Redskins (http://www.espn980.com/audiovault/)