the years down the road

So you're writing off MM after he just saw his first action?

Still too early to write off DT and MK too if you ask me.

I agree. Although I do wish Kelly and Thomas would've shown more production at this point I know WRs take sometime to develop and with the current offensive problems maybe a little longer in this case.

Man, this is what happens when people play the franchise mode in Madden too long.

SKinster,

You make a god overview analysis of the major problem the Skins have in that there is not enough youth and the teams major contributors are getting old and eventually thie effectiveness is likely to decline - remember everyone the average NFL career is 3.4 years so those pushing over 30 are defying the odds.

First, if we don't get the best GM money can buy it won't matter how many picks you have - so Synder must take the necessary step of making this change to the front office.

Second, in your analysis you did not include undrafted free agent pickups. Yes having as many draft picks as possible is what the Skins desperately need, but if you have a great GM and Front Office they can find a couple of players every year that were not highly ranked in draft publications or by Mel Kiper to build depth and hopefully contribute sooner or later as a starter. When you look at the rosters of a lot of teams that are consistently at the top you find that some of their key players were not in the top 10 of the draft and some were undrafted.

Third, the Skins can and should start focusing more on mid-level free agents. Instead of spending their whole wad on one or two big name free agents they should focus on collecting a ton of mid level guys. More players brought in increases the chance the team will be able to sustain its competitiveness to the eventually injuries. And lets stop kidding ourselves that we or any team will get through the season withour a couple of major injuries.

Fourth, I am one of the believers that good offensive and defensive lines make the other players like QB's, WR's, RB's, LB's and DB's better. I think in the SKins case Thomas and Kelly would look a lot better if we had a line equivilent to the Hogs. Same with Portis at RB - look at how often Portis has to scratch for every yard he gains. When he was in Denver it looked so much easier for him (although his speed has declined since then but not that much). So, I think the Skins need to really focus on fortifying their offensive line first and also keep adding a Dlineman every year or so to deal with the eventually loss of Griffin and Daniels.

I agree. Although I do wish Kelly and Thomas would've shown more production at this point I know WRs take sometime to develop and with the current offensive problems maybe a little longer in this case.

Look at Veron Davis it took him about 3 years to make a difference at TE.

I think your breakdown paints a very accurate picture of the state of the team for the next three years, but if the problem is approached effectively then we could easily be a very good team in three years.
It’s been stated and restated ad naseum, we need to build through the draft, and that’s why we're in the mess we’re in. So first and for most, the team must absolutely stop trading away draft picks no matter what. We can’t accept anymore Jason Taylors or TJ Duckets. We use the draft well and in three years we’ll have a solid base for a team, with appropriate depth.
Lets not forget, a lot of the players you mentioned, a lot of the talent we have, was acquired through free agency, and those players can be replaced via free agency easier then they have been in the past because we’re approaching an uncapped year, and might be seeing the end of the salary cap altogether. I know that we’re all skeptical of building through free agency, but when done well, when used to supplement the draft, free agency is very useful.
In addition, many of the players in and around 30 (Moss, Carter, etc) do not have to be replaced immediately, so they will still be useful in three years. In five or six? No, but that gives us more than three years to replace them.
So basically, I think a strong, solidly built, deep team can be built in three years. Will it? Of course not. Not with Snyderrato.

We also need a partridge in a pear tree.

Man, that's a lot of players, although there are NFL teams that seem to have a significant number of new faces from year to year and it doesn't kill them (Patriots). They key, as others have observed, is having the management talent to find them and integrate them into the team, and that, sadly, we do not have at the moment.

It can be done a bit faster than you think. You're right in saying that within 3 years our roster will need a nearly complete overhaul. But if you build from the trenches first, you can be reasonably successful with moderate talent at the skill positions (NY Jets, Baltimore Ravens).

We need to draft offensive linemen nearly exclusively this April. If we get some strong offensive linemen the offense will suddenly look a lot better. Hopefully whatever management we have next year is smart enough to realize that.

Look at Veron Davis it took him about 3 years to make a difference at TE.

It took Vernon Davis a Mike Singletary to make a difference at TE. Singletary turned his diva attitude into team captain material in a matter of months. I'm a big fan of him as a head coach.

So you're writing off MM after he just saw his first action?

Still too early to write off DT and MK too if you ask me.

Definitely too early to write of MM. I think he'll end up being better in this league than DT and MK. I'm getting close to writing both of them off. San Fran doesn't have a great O-line, and Alex Smith isn't a good QB, and yet Crabtree has done more in his first few games than MK and DT have done in their first few years. First MK wins the starting job, then gets demoted, and neither have made any impact at any point. Both have had their work ethic questioned. I think that going into OTAs/camp next year, the WR poisition (among others) needs to be a wide open competition, and no one's job should be safe. Our WR's are an effortless, unproductive bunch.

Of course DT and MK have been disappointing, but the entire offense as a whole has been a failure under Zorn. Typically you're talking about a 3-4 year learning curve for WRs in this league. Behind QB the WR spot is the most difficult to adjust to for rookies. I know it's easy to want to cut them loose after this year but I think you've got to give them one more year.