Vinny covering his ass

I wonder if he anticipates fans and coaches avoiding the Skins like the plague?

He should stick to racquetball, cause he has no clue on how to run a ball club. He's the equivalent of Spurrier/Zorn as a coach, CLUELESS!!!!!!!

Pretty hard hitting. Here's a damning statement(i like orakpo):


Does that mean Oher wasn't worth it and that they couldn't trade back like cleveland did?

again I like orakpo, but there was a top quality OL available.



Come on now. you can't blame Cerrato for not trading down. It wasnt his fault. Remember, he ran up to the podium to turn in the orakpo pick within seconds of being on the clock, so he didn't have the opportunity to wait and see if someone made an offer to trade up to 13...

Actually, if memory serves me, Cerrato spent the better part of the offseason and the days approaching the draft trying to trade away our 1st rounder for Jay Cutler or Mark Sanchez. Then, on draft day as our pick approached, Cerrato tried to trade up to 12 to select Orakpo. Fortunately for us, Denver told Cerrato they weren't selecting Orakpo. So drafting O-line was never part of the plan to begin with. Cerrato is full of crap and can't be fired soon enough. If he's not fired or demoted by/in the offseason, i simply cant remain a skins fan anymore... Just like i won't do business with a company thats dishonest or poorly run, i can't continue to support a franchse thats run by imbecilels and has proven, for over a decade, that it only cares about money.

Just for you hommie.

Cerrato: Roster was capable of reaching playoffs
Vinny Cerrato, Washington's executive vice president of football operations, addressed a variety of topics concerning the team's disappointing 2-5 start while briefly speaking with reporters this afternoon at Redskins Park.

When asked if he felt he provided Coach Jim Zorn with a roster capable of reaching the postseason, Cerrato said, "Yes." When asked to repeat that, Cerrato replied, "yes," again.

Cerrato described the first seven weeks of the season as "frustrating" and "disappointing," saying this "is not where we expected to be." Cerrato is in charge of planning and implementing every aspect of the team's football strategy the last two seasons and that includes assembling an offensive line that one longtime NFL executive on another team recently described as one of the worst in the league.

In an internal offseason evaluation of the roster, the Redskins determined the offensive line was the team's weakest unit because of age and injury concerns and was responsible, in large part, for the 2-6 second-half collapse of 2008. Washington brought back guard Derrick Dockery to replace left guard Pete Kendall and made a push to sign Seattle Seahawks tackle Ray Willis.

More, however, needed to be done for a team with playoff aspirations, especially considering that left tackle Chris Samuels and right guard Randy Thomas were coming off multiple surgeries. Many in the organization expected Samuels and Thomas to miss some, if not all, of the season.

Thomas's season ended in Week 2 because of triceps injury and Samuels suffered a severe neck injury in Week 5. "We got to address and get some depth," running back Clinton Portis said of the offensive line. "We went into the season, and we didn't address that issue and it came back to haunt us."

The Redskins tried, Cerrato said.

"We added Dockery, we added Mike Williams and we attempted to," Cerrato said. "In the draft there was nobody at 13 worthy of it. Are you having the results you want to be? No, we don't want to have sacks. If it was Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas in there, would it be better? Absolutely. If you lose a Pro Bowler, it's definitely going to drop off. I guess where we're standing right now, to have more depth would be great."

As for no one being worthy to be selected with the Redskins' No. 13 overall pick in the 2009 draft, that's a matter of opinion. The Baltimore Ravens have had a much better track record than the Redskins at drafting and developing offensive linemen, and they selected tackle Michael Oher with the 23rd overall pick. Oher has started six games, moving from right tackle to the left side to replace the injured Jared Gaither.

In fairness to Cerrato, there probably aren't many Pro Bowl-caliber tackles in backup roles around the league, which Cerrato quickly pointed out. "Look around the league. Nobody has a Pro Bowler to back up a Pro Bowl," he said. "When you lose some quality people, there is a drop-off. I'm not making excuses. We have to do better."

But the Redskins, as a practice, do not draft offensive linemen. It's a philosophy thing, and that's their choice, but the best teams in the league constantly replenish their offensive lines, the league executive said.

"With Randy, we anticipated not going 16 games," Cerrato said. "We anticipated that part."

Cerrato expressed satisfaction with the team's new play-caller, offensive consultant Sherman Lewis. The Redskins lost their third straight game and produced only 17 points (the Eagles had a 27-7 lead in the first half), "but I thought Sherm provided a spark and I think the offense did some good things. And I think Fred [Davis] and Devin [Thomas] got a chance to do some things offensively. So I think coming and having to face the third-ranked defense that blitzes all the time, I thought he did a good job with the amount of time that he had. I thought he did an excellent job."

Everything, and everyone, in the organization must be evaluated after the season -- Cerrato included, he said. "I got to look at myself, we got to look at everybody and we got to just go out now and you know what you got to do -- you got to get to better day to day, week to week," he said. "And that's what it's about, it's about improving each game. It's one game at a time, one day at a time."

Perhaps you're wondering if Cerrato expects to return in his current position next season. "I feel like my job's on the line all the time," he said. "It's not something that I really worry about. My job is to get us going, to fill these holes when guys get hurt. Things take care of themselves after the season. I don't worry about those things."

thanks for the link...what stood out to me (well several things stood out, but one of the bigger ones) was when he said Sherm Lewis did and "excellent job". Sure, for a guy that was calling bingo, he did exceptionally well...but for an actually play caller in the NFL, he didn't exactly call the greatest of games. It was more or less the same.
Cerrato feels like his job is on the line...well damn it, it should be!!! If these people aren't let go this season, might as well let them all go next year...Cerrato, Zorn, Campbell, Obama..throw em all out. (oops...how did Obama get in there) ;)

Come on now. you can't blame Cerrato for not trading down. It wasnt his fault. Remember, he ran up to the podium to turn in the orakpo pick within seconds of being on the clock, so he didn't have the opportunity to wait and see if someone made an offer to trade up to 13...

Actually, if memory serves me, Cerrato spent the better part of the offseason and the days approaching the draft trying to trade away our 1st rounder for Jay Cutler or Mark Sanchez. Then, on draft day as our pick approached, Cerrato tried to trade up to 12 to select Orakpo. Fortunately for us, Denver told Cerrato they weren't selecting Orakpo. So drafting O-line was never part of the plan to begin with. Cerrato is full of crap and can't be fired soon enough. If he's not fired or demoted by/in the offseason, i simply cant remain a skins fan anymore... Just like i won't do business with a company thats dishonest or poorly run, i can't continue to support a franchse thats run by imbecilels and has proven, for over a decade, that it only cares about money.
If we traded away our first round pick for Sanchez then what would we have used to pick him?

thanks for the link...what stood out to me (well several things stood out, but one of the bigger ones) was when he said Sherm Lewis did and "excellent job". Sure, for a guy that was calling bingo, he did exceptionally well...but for an actually play caller in the NFL, he didn't exactly call the greatest of games. It was more or less the same.
Cerrato feels like his job is on the line...well damn it, it should be!!! If these people aren't let go this season, might as well let them all go next year...Cerrato, Zorn, Campbell, Obama..throw em all out. (oops...how did Obama get in there) ;)

Sorry, Sherm gets high marks. We looked, from a scheme perspective, like an NFL team. The last few weeks we looked like a college team, and a bad one at that. Some on here will say coach/playcalling doesn't matter it is the execution. And they are right once the clock is ticking. But when you are practicing and know that you have an imbecile for a coach, players will lose focus, they won't work at plays because they know when the clock is ticking that play has 0 percent chance at being used. Devin/FD/Rock, or if we had had Alridge, all have to feel they have a shot now. Maybe CP or the "Stars" won't change their attitude, but the young studs may. Maybe once everyone knows Sherm's tricks they will stop him too, but right now, the playcalling and the attitude it looked to bring is a whole lot better then one week ago.

Geez, Vinny blows a lot of smoke, but he's not even good at that.

Just like Aristocrat said, Vinny nearly broke his neck trying to trade our first rounder for a QB -- he clearly wasn't concerned with drafting OL. He's a liar, plain and simple.

Also, if he expected Thomas to go down then why didn't he get a competent backup? This guy is one of the stupidest people I've ever heard speak, but what really pisses me off is that he thinks we're all just as stupid.

The guy who's supposed to be in charge of ALL football operations is a complete and total failure at everything he's responsible for. And, Dan Snyder is even worse for continuing to employ him. I really feel bad for our players and coaches. What a freaking quagmire.

The link to the WP Article isnt the complete interview. The reporters were absolutely BRUTAL to Cerrato. You can tell they were deliberately trying to make him feel stupid. Here are my favorite parts -


Q: Are you surprised by the lack of production by the back-ups on the offensive line?

VC: Are you talking about all the sacks and stuff?

Q: Yeah, I'm talking about everything.

VC: Such as?

Q: Such pass poor pass protection. Many players today have said that you didn't address the line. You knew it was a problem and you didn't address it. People around the league are saying it's one of the worst lines in the league. All that.

VC: Who is people around the league?

Q: People on other teams. Commentators on TV. They say you haven't addressed the line.

VC: We tried to address the line. We added [Derrick] Dockery. We added Mike Williams. We attempted to, and when we were in the draft, there was nobody at No. 13 worthy of it. Are you having the results you wanted to? No, we don't want to have sacks. So if it was Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas in there, would it be better? Absolutely. If you lose a Pro Bowler, it's definitely going to drop off. I guess where we're standing right now, to have more depth would be great.

Q: Is it too early to say that the line is going to be the team's main target in the offseason?

VC: It's too early to tell.

Q: Did you think that the depth was acceptable going into the season.

VC: Yeah...

--------

Q: Do you feel you gave Jim a roster that could get to the playoffs?

VC: Yes.

Q: You do feel that way?

VC: Yes.

--------

Q: Why did you wait until last Friday to say that Jim is going to be the head coach for the rest of the season?

VC: Like I said last night with Sal Paolantonio, we anticipated winning the Kansas City game at home and being 3-3. That's what I meant. So I think that after that game and we're changing the play-caller and we sat down and got our gameplan together and that's why it was on Friday.

Q: It took you the whole week to get your gameplan together and decide to stick with Jim for the rest of the season?

VC: Yeah. We sat down and talked about it. We were doing the play-caller thing. I mean, so yeah.

If we traded away our first round pick for Sanchez then what would we have used to pick him?

To acquire Sanchez, we would have trade away our first round pick (in addition to other picks and/or players) to receive a higher 1st round pick. Then, we would have used that pick to select Sanchez. Is there anything else you would like me to explain to you? Perhaps why the sky is blue or where babies or cowboy fans come from?

Sorry, Sherm gets high marks. We looked, from a scheme perspective, like an NFL team. The last few weeks we looked like a college team, and a bad one at that. Some on here will say coach/playcalling doesn't matter it is the execution. And they are right once the clock is ticking. But when you are practicing and know that you have an imbecile for a coach, players will lose focus, they won't work at plays because they know when the clock is ticking that play has 0 percent chance at being used. Devin/FD/Rock, or if we had had Alridge, all have to feel they have a shot now. Maybe CP or the "Stars" won't change their attitude, but the young studs may. Maybe once everyone knows Sherm's tricks they will stop him too, but right now, the playcalling and the attitude it looked to bring is a whole lot better then one week ago.

Well, it seems that there is a thread about this already, so I will just say that I do not agree. Even Jim Rome just blasted Lewis for his play calling that wasn't much different from the past. I could get more into it, but I won't. If you think Sherm did well enough to retain his rights after the season, (not that you're saying that, just saying) then go for it. Is he better than Zorn? Shit, I'd give Lewis the head coach job right now...thats how much I think Zorn sucks.

Geez, Vinny blows a lot of smoke, but he's not even good at that.

Just like Aristocrat said, Vinny nearly broke his neck trying to trade our first rounder for a QB -- he clearly wasn't concerned with drafting OL. He's a liar, plain and simple.

Also, if he expected Thomas to go down then why didn't he get a competent backup? This guy is one of the stupidest people I've ever heard speak, but what really pisses me off is that he thinks we're all just as stupid.

The guy who's supposed to be in charge of ALL football operations is a complete and total failure at everything he's responsible for. And, Dan Snyder is even worse for continuing to employ him. I really feel bad for our players and coaches. What a freaking quagmire.

Pretty much sums it up. Everytime I hear him talk I cringe. The guys on NFL Countdown were hammering him. However, in Vinny's defense some of the problems have to be laid on Gibbs. Vinny sucks at his job and there is no denying that. I was done with him after the Jason Taylor trade, but Gibbs made some shitty moves that are hurting the team today.