Analyzing Mike Shanahan at the Midway Point

I can easily see this team finish 6-10 & w/a lot of drama along the way. Overall though, I think Shanny has taken a big picture view of things & made decisions for the best of the organization long-term. That's something we haven't seen too much of here.

Like Casserly said, he let everyone know who's in charge, that had to be done. Combined w/Allen's fiscal conservatism, there really is change underway. Still, my fear of Shanny is that he thinks too much like Danny. In his time in denver, he was willing to make big deals & go after big name guys. We've already seen this regime trade some valuable draft picks to try to 'win now.' When does "now" arrive?

Shanny gets a B so far IMO. I do think he will build a legit contender

This is indeed a good read and a thorough breakdown. The fact is that a team coming off a 4-win season and which has posted only one double-digit win total in ten years needs a ground-up personnel makeover. You can't expect that every move in a necessary overhaul is going to be a good one--understanding that it's necessary to begin with is a good start. This is still very much a work in progress, and, as Casserly indicated, there are more fits and starts to come, and I agree with the overall assessment that Shanahan deserves a thumbs-up so far.

Ex-NFL QB Jake Plummer is playing a new sport these days - Shutdown Corner - NFL* - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Ex-NFL-QB-Jake-Plummer-is-playing-a-new-sport-th?urn=nfl-282499)

This is what Jake Plummer had to say about Shanahan:

The grind of playing for an uber-perfectionist like Shanahan wore on Plummer during his time in the Rockies.

"I had a coach that, regardless of how well I thought I was playing or how well the majority of fans across the country thought I was playing, it was never good enough for him," Plummer said, not bitter but very matter-of-fact. "And that kind of gets frustrating."

"It just seemed like every game I could have completed these four more passes or these five more shots here and it would have been perfect. And that just wasn't my personality... But Shanahan wanted perfection and he wore a lot of us down there."

Plummer didn't sound surprised by the current circus unfolding in Washington, D.C., between Shanahan and Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb(notes).

"I think Shanahan is still searching for John Elway," Plummer said. "Somehow, someway, he thinks there's going to be another guy like John Elway."

"He coached a team to almost perfection (with Elway) so he wanted that again, he wanted that every time we went out there. It's just not realistic."

MS is the leader any leader who wants less then perfection is wasting their time.

When I worked for Marriott in the Revenue office our director was just like MS always want the best and demand it. I never slacked in fear of her wrath, guess what though the year I worked for her I had my highest quarterly bonus and won a bunch of awards.

I just looked for other places for praise like my immediate manager or my co-workers I just knew she never be happy and that was her game to get the most out of you.

I think Shanahan has made some adjustments to the offensive line, but that's not enough. He was supposed to upgrade the offensive line so the QB would have a decent chance to throw a pass without getting tramped on by every defensive line we face. Why is the offensive line just about the same as it was last year? Why don't we have capable backups on the line? And last, why don't we put somebody in for Casey Rabach, who can't block anybody?

Also, we had a better defense last year. With last year's defense, we could have been maybe 6-2 at this point, with wins over Houston and Detroit. If you throw in a win over the Rams, we could have been 7-1, with McNabb's best games yet to come. The defense was overwhelmed by the Colts and Manning, so we just lost that game regardless of how well we could have played.

Personally, I would have claimed Moss on waivers, but Moss probably wouldn't have liked to play for Shanahan.

So I give Shanahan a C-, and I think I'm being generous there. I think he deserves a D because he didn't do anything to upgrade the O-line. He thought he did, but bringing in different bodies, two of whom were reserves on other teams, just isn't enough to make a good O-line.

^^ Upgrading the o-line is what LaVar & Dukes are discussing on 106.7 the fan at this very moment.

While I don't always agree with LaVar, a moment ago he took the words out of my mouth that I've been saying for years. Do what's needed to fix this line.

Upgrading the line in 1 year after years of neglect is unrealistic to say the least, especially when you consider the crop of free agents was very small this year due to the end of the cba. At least he got a LT w/his first pick & got some other o linemen later in the draft.

I'm expecting some kind of shakeup after the bye. I think Dock will be back at LG & maybe Rabach will be replaced. The latter is more a hunch. Also occured to me that we could see Hicks at RT before it's over!

I give the Coach a THUMBS UP as well.
I hope they enjoy a well deserved week off..........

Upgrading the line in 1 year after years of neglect is unrealistic to say the least, especially when you consider the crop of free agents was very small this year due to the end of the cba. At least he got a LT w/his first pick & got some other o linemen later in the draft.

I'm expecting some kind of shakeup after the bye. I think Dock will be back at LG & maybe Rabach will be replaced. The latter is more a hunch. Also occured to me that we could see Hicks at RT before it's over!

I really don't care how long it takes, it's what has to be done if you want to see this team be successful. Prolong it and you'll continue to see your QB [regardless of who it is] trying to throw passes from his ass.

^^ Upgrading the o-line is what LaVar & Dukes are discussing on 106.7 the fan at this very moment.

While I don't always agree with LaVar, a moment ago he took the words out of my mouth that I've been saying for years. Do what's needed to fix this line.

I love their show. Lavar has been spot on about alot of things going on the Skins that he never gets credit for. Some of the things that Shanny is known to do, Lavar already pointed out months ago but some of us ripped him for it. Looks like he knows what he's talking about now though.