building for a superbowl?

Shannon Sharpe is going to the Pro Bowl one day as a result of Shanny's offense so yeah, I'd say it's TE friendly..

Why does everything that has to do with OL have to be an either or scenario? Is there a rule we can't have 2 really good TE AND quality starting and backup offensive linemen?

It would be great if we could, but as things are right now, we have two really good pass catching tight ends, and serious holes along the offensive line. So given our particular situation, you have to ask yourself this: What's more important? If trading away one of those two capable tight ends meant we could get a high draft pick or a decent, potential Pro Bowler which could be used to shore up the O-line, wouldn't you do it?

I know what you are saying: Let's keep both of our tight ends AND fix the O-line. I agree. Let's do it.

My only point of contention is that it's going to be difficult to do that, and the possibility of fixing the O-line is greater if you can garner a high draft pick (2nd or 3rd round) and/or a decent veteran from another team if you can part with one of the players where you have an over-abundance of talent.

Is Shannon Sharpe an anomoly who had atypical stats for tight ends in Shanahan's offense? Or are there other players at that position that did the same thing?

It would be great if we could, but as things are right now, we have two really good pass catching tight ends, and serious holes along the offensive line. So given our particular situation, you have to ask yourself this: What's more important? If trading away one of those two capable tight ends meant we could get a high draft pick or a decent, potential Pro Bowler which could be used to shore up the O-line, wouldn't you do it?

I know what you are saying: Let's keep both of our tight ends AND fix the O-line. I agree. Let's do it.

My only point of contention is that it's going to be difficult to do that, and the possibility of fixing the O-line is greater if you can garner a high draft pick (2nd or 3rd round) and/or a decent veteran from another team if you can part with one of the players where you have an over-abundance of talent.

Is Shannon Sharpe an anomoly who had atypical stats for tight ends in Shanahan's offense? Or are there other players at that position that did the same thing?Well, I'd argue we have 2 holes on the OL, LT and RT. I fully expect us to draft Okung with the 4th overall pick. Even if we traded Cooley, we're looking at getting MAYBE a mid 2nd round pick, at best. Cooley is not worth a pick AND a player. So we draft the 6th or 7th best tackle prospect in the draft with that? Right tackles can be drafted in the 4th or 5th round and plug in during their first year. If we sign Flozell and put him at RT for a year and draft a T in the 4th or 5th, wouldn't that make us a better team if we kept Cooley than if we traded him for a 2nd round pick?

I just don't see the logic in removing young, productive, key pieces of your team for the sake of drafting a college kid and hope he develops into a young, productive, key piece of your team.

Well, I'd argue we have 2 holes on the OL, LT and RT. I fully expect us to draft Okung with the 4th overall pick. Even if we traded Cooley, we're looking at getting MAYBE a mid 2nd round pick, at best. Cooley is not worth a pick AND a player. So we draft the 6th or 7th best tackle prospect in the draft with that? Right tackles can be drafted in the 4th or 5th round and plug in during their first year. If we sign Flozell and put him at RT for a year and draft a T in the 4th or 5th, wouldn't that make us a better team if we kept Cooley than if we traded him for a 2nd round pick?

I just don't see the logic in removing young, productive, key pieces of your team for the sake of drafting a college kid and hope he develops into a young, productive, key piece of your team.

If we can find a starting RT in the 4th or 5th round, and keep Cooley in the process, then hell yes. Absolutely. The trick is being able to find such a gem that late in the draft.

Now, as to your last statement on removing a player whom you already know to be a young, productive, key piece of your team in favor of someone from the draft who is unproven -- teams take that chance all the time. The Patriots did it just last year with Richard Seymour. The Eagles just did it with McNabb. So it's not unheard of.

Cooley is probably the only player on our squad right now of any value to another team. Depth is certainly nice, but I would argue that tight end is one of those positions that isn't as vital to have superior depth when compared to say, O-line, running back, or wide receiver. Since our front line is in such hideous shape, having two really good pass catching tight ends doesn't help you if you don't have a front-five who can protect the guy who throws the ball to those tight ends. If Cooley were the only viable receiving threat we have at the position, then this wouldn't even be a discussion.

Would it make you feel better if the subject of the trade were Fred Davis instead of Cooley?

we will be much better off under shanahan next year. look at the saints last year good offense lucky but still average defense great coaching=super bowl

I'd love to know how you work that one out. :smashfrea

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It's not far fetched.
Desean having all of those 50+ yard catches either by making guys miss or just getting ridiculously wide open is attributed more to him than McNabb. McNabb might shake a safety off with his eyes, but Desean made a lot of opportunities for himself.

I have a question for everyone on this site, "What direction do you think we are headed in? Do you think we will have the pieces to win the super bowl in the next few years?'
My personal answer to that question is no way in hell. I feel like we are building our team to compete for the playoffs, not the superbowl. We simply have too many holes, and more will develop as our already old team gets even older. We do not have enough ammo to fill those holes in the next few years with our limited amount of draft picks. I guess this whole thread is really a reaction to the McNabb trade. I feel that you should only trade the number 35 overall pick and a third rounder for a 34 year old veteran when that 34 year old veteran will be the missing piece to your superbowl run. I do not believe we are close to a superbowl run, and trading away such keys to our future is ludicrous in my mind. Will McNabb significantly improve our team over the next few years? Yes without a doubt. But we simply do not have the pieces to make a run for the superbowl in the near future, and I feel like trading away future young talent is also trading away the chances of a superbowl for an even longer time. As excited as I am to see our teams improvement next year, I still strongly disapprove of our mentality of trading away the potential for future greatness to remain in mediocrity in the present.

And on a separate note, the eagles I feel made a brilliant move by trading within the division. Their key players are all young, Kolb, Jackson, Maclin, Celic, McCoy. I feel like they are looking toward the future in that trade because they know the trade will cripple us in the long run, while their young talent has time to develop, and they will bring in even more young talent. I do not feel like the Eagles care as much as this season as they do the a few seasons down the road. They know they do not currently have the pieces to truly make a superbowl run, and are trying to assemble the pieces to make one in the future. (I know I will hear alot of disagreement on this thought)

Last thing I wanted to say. In my mind, Shanahan is a great coach, but is TERRIBLE at assembling a roster. His best seasons were teams that he inherited. I feel like he historically has made numerous terrible trades (i.e. jarvis moss), has done a very poor job drafting future talent, and has done a poor job of signing the right free agents (and giving them alot of money, i.e Daniel Grahm). The talent that was on the Broncos team when McDaniels inherited it is a joke in my mind (specifically the defense). There were so many great holes on that team that in my mind they could have possibly had the worst talent in the NFL.

Sorry if I rambled a bit, but I've had to get these things off my chest, please share your thoughts on what I said.

I dont think building a team to compete and get to the playoffs is a bad thing because if a team can get to the playoffs then anything can happen. Look at AZ 2years ago, they were supposed to lose every game they played in the playoffs yet came within 1 drive of winning it all. They got in the tourney and went on a run. If the Skins can get into the playoffs, anything can happen after that.

Desean having all of those 50+ yard catches either by making guys miss or just getting ridiculously wide open is attributed more to him than McNabb. McNabb might shake a safety off with his eyes, but Desean made a lot of opportunities for himself.

True, but McNabb did do a good job of ball placement which helped as well. Clearly it takes two to tango, and two players on the same page to connect on those type passes. Everyone knows I am not trying to hijack this and turn it into another JC thread, but I remember last pre-season when JC had Kelly(i think) and JC underthrew him and JC said I didn't know Kelly had that speed in him. I think McNabb will connect on those type passes with more frequency than JC. I hope so at least.

McNabb struggles to sustain long drives, but his M.O. his whole career has been the big play.

I don't really see a big play player on our offense, but I will at least entertain the idea that one exists and was obscured by a lack of offensive creativity.

Maybe McNabb won't "struggle" so much with a more balanced running game than he received in Philly