Daseal
02-10-2005, 02:22 AM
Okay, it's late and I can't sleep, so I figure I'd share with you my goals for the offseason so you can think I'm crazy!
Resignings
First we'll go with the resignings. Our number one priority should be Fred Smoot. I'm a fan of Pierce, and I certainly want to retain him if at all possible. However, we have a very capable backup in Barrow, and even LeMarr Marshall could probably play MLB. Smoot on the other hand is an emotional leader who's improved every year. Should we give Smoot the money he wants, certainly not. We need to deal him down, but in my mind the #1 priority is Smoot.
That said Pierce is a close #2. He played great ball, but he also played in a scheme that would help him look good. Not to take anything away from him, he was a great signal caller and seeing him moving D-linemen pre-snap, etc made me giggle like a little school girl!
We have two other big priorities. Restructuring Samuels and Wynn. This will free up a lot of cash and I think both parties may be willing to. The WP rumored that Brunell may too, but I'm not holding my breath.
Resign:
Lott - great in coverage, good safety especially for all the nickle/dime packages we like to run, helps free up Taylor/Bowen/Springs to blitz.
Killings - Sign him to a league minimum. He made a few plays in either pre-season or early season that looks like enough to keep him around as a body. Don't give him much.
Clemons - Give him a moderate contract. Since we know he'll be a special teamer and stuck behind some other great LBs he could come in and play DE or something. With his combination of size and speed he could be very dangerous. I could see us losing him to another team, unfortunately.
Evans - Like Killings. He played a small role, although slightly larger than Killings. Keep him around, let's see what Blache can do with him!
Albright - You rarely hear his name called. For a longsnapper, that's VERY important!
Salave'a - KEEP HIM! He played great football and I really feel our DT position is very strong if we can keep Griffen on one side and a constant rotation of Salave'a and Noble on the other. I thought they played well taking turns!
Marshall - A guy that could start for a lot of teams. I like him a lot, and hope someone doesn't poach him. He's probably more fundamentally sound than Arrington, but a completely different player. As I said, I think he can play all 3 positions. Sign him to a reasonable contract!
Dennis - He made a few mistakes, but I think he could be good. Worth another 1 year contract. Could be a pretty good player!
Brown - For his age played amazing at tackle. Keep him around as a backup and a mentor. Doubt he'll ask for much dough.
Royal - Liked him since last year. Good hands, good speed, just needs to work on his blocking some. Another player that could potentially be poached from us. We'll see how that goes.
Warner - Again showed flashes. We'll take any prospect we can take along the D-line. Give him another 1 yearer.
Hasselbeck - Good backup. Nothing more. Don't give him a ton of cash, but enough for him to sit there and look pretty on the bench. Every now and again make Brunell bring him a cup of gatorade or something.
Franz - Played some really good ball. I like how our safeties are looking. If Bowen can blitz like he did the first week (not that well all the time) but somewhat consistantly, leave him around. Otherwise, he's too much of a liability in coverage.
Drop:
Kozlowski - Not impressive at all, in my mind. Getting old, dump him. Not even worth vet min.
Lemons - Played well enough, unfortunately he's at a position we're loaded at. His roster spot better used elsewhere.
Doering - Not opposed to a bare minimum deal, but I also think his spot could be better utilized.
Chandler - He kicked well and should be #1 on our to call list, but hall is much better when healthy.
Simon - Nothing special. Backup running back, special teams player. Spot better suited for a younger UDFA type.
Sellers - He'll get a personal foul on the way out of the park. He made some big plays, but too many stupid mistakes. As a fullback he's not so great. Let him walk.
Cartwright - I hate to say it cause I love the little guy. I'll never forget asking Cpayne who the midget wearing #40 was at training camp! He's simply not built for this offense. I hope he finds a home elsewhere, I'll always root for him!
Free Agency
Most of you have tuned out by now, or just forwarded to this part. Free Agency is the time when you love to be a Redskins fan. It's like Christmas in March. All sorts of new toys to speculate about, this year will be different.
*In my utopia we'd deal Gardner if we could get a 3rd for him, otherwise keep him around.
*Justin Hartwig should be the #1 guy we have Redskin 1 in the air after on midnight. He's a beast of a center, the Titans probably don't have the cash to retain him, but he will be highly sought after. Center is the piece of our offense most critical in becoming stable. We need a guy we can plug into that whole and get started immediatly. Rookies not only take longer for you to draft, they aren't as experienced.
*Look at the WRs, but no one in the draft or in free agency sparks my fancy. Moss would be nice, but not worth what we'd have to give up. Burress I feel will be a peerless Price in an offense where he'll be asked to step it up. BMW is too slow and has a tendency to get lazy and fat, Williamson may be our best bet, Edwards will be gone. Clayton may be a good pick later in the draft.
*Look at prospective blocking TEs. I want a guy who's an extention of the offensive line, but has really strong hands. Good for picking up a few yards, but not exactly the breakaway threat a Winslow/Gonzolaz is. He'd be more to sneak underneath. A guy who can release well and make the easy catch for those crucial 3rd downs. This position could be filled through the draft. Guy coming out of USC, not Byrd, could do the trick. Good 7th round pickup.
*Look for the Marcus Washington type players. Carefully comb the rosters of cap strapped teams, and look for hidden gems and rising stars. Take some chances, but keep the contracts relatively low. Never know what you'll find!
The Draft
This is a really hard area to address before the combine and before free agency/resignings. I'm going on the assumption we keep Smoot, Pierce, but trade Gardner. Round one I trade down between picks 11 and 15 for a 2nd round pick. I then look at the picks available. If BMW or Williamson still on the board, take a serious look, depending on any recent developments try to trade down again and grab one of them there, draft one, or sell the whole 1st rounder and wait till next year (what I'm favoring to an extent.)
Package our newly acquired 2nd pick and our 3rd round pick to move up and grab David Pollack - if he slips farther than I think, package another pick than the 3rd. Either way, I think he'll go early in the 2nd round. If not, take the most talent at DE with that pick.
The rest of the draft, get a TE I mentioned before if we don't get one in free agency, and the rest get projects. Get a guy with nothing but speed, try to teach him to catch a ball, maybe some DBs, DL, etc.
I know it's vague, but I have very little information to work with.
Other Changes!
We're almost done!!
*Hold on to Blache, don't let another team steal him. I think he's really done wonders with our D line and our defense as a whole. Williams is great, but so are his helpeers!
*Joe Gibbs - please stop handcuffing our offense. When you have a great defense like ours, a turnover won't kill you. Not scoring will. I understand the first year, but it's time to open that playbook past the preseason pages now. Let's see what you have and prove people wrong who say you've lost it. You certainly didn't have it last year, but that doesn't mean it's not still somewhere.
*Joe Bugel - I expected more of you, but thanks to Jansens injury you get a pass. This line was supposedly built for runblocking and thus far it hasn't done that great of a job. I feel safer passing!
*It's time for continuity. We're close. We're really close. We just need to put some more points up, not even a lot. 3 TDs a game take us to the playoffs.
*Thanks for the hard work. Losing is a lot harder than winning. The coaches and the players went to the last minute and it was great for us fans not to see them give up against Minnesota.
What do you guys think of my rant? Any ideas? Suggestions?
Resignings
First we'll go with the resignings. Our number one priority should be Fred Smoot. I'm a fan of Pierce, and I certainly want to retain him if at all possible. However, we have a very capable backup in Barrow, and even LeMarr Marshall could probably play MLB. Smoot on the other hand is an emotional leader who's improved every year. Should we give Smoot the money he wants, certainly not. We need to deal him down, but in my mind the #1 priority is Smoot.
That said Pierce is a close #2. He played great ball, but he also played in a scheme that would help him look good. Not to take anything away from him, he was a great signal caller and seeing him moving D-linemen pre-snap, etc made me giggle like a little school girl!
We have two other big priorities. Restructuring Samuels and Wynn. This will free up a lot of cash and I think both parties may be willing to. The WP rumored that Brunell may too, but I'm not holding my breath.
Resign:
Lott - great in coverage, good safety especially for all the nickle/dime packages we like to run, helps free up Taylor/Bowen/Springs to blitz.
Killings - Sign him to a league minimum. He made a few plays in either pre-season or early season that looks like enough to keep him around as a body. Don't give him much.
Clemons - Give him a moderate contract. Since we know he'll be a special teamer and stuck behind some other great LBs he could come in and play DE or something. With his combination of size and speed he could be very dangerous. I could see us losing him to another team, unfortunately.
Evans - Like Killings. He played a small role, although slightly larger than Killings. Keep him around, let's see what Blache can do with him!
Albright - You rarely hear his name called. For a longsnapper, that's VERY important!
Salave'a - KEEP HIM! He played great football and I really feel our DT position is very strong if we can keep Griffen on one side and a constant rotation of Salave'a and Noble on the other. I thought they played well taking turns!
Marshall - A guy that could start for a lot of teams. I like him a lot, and hope someone doesn't poach him. He's probably more fundamentally sound than Arrington, but a completely different player. As I said, I think he can play all 3 positions. Sign him to a reasonable contract!
Dennis - He made a few mistakes, but I think he could be good. Worth another 1 year contract. Could be a pretty good player!
Brown - For his age played amazing at tackle. Keep him around as a backup and a mentor. Doubt he'll ask for much dough.
Royal - Liked him since last year. Good hands, good speed, just needs to work on his blocking some. Another player that could potentially be poached from us. We'll see how that goes.
Warner - Again showed flashes. We'll take any prospect we can take along the D-line. Give him another 1 yearer.
Hasselbeck - Good backup. Nothing more. Don't give him a ton of cash, but enough for him to sit there and look pretty on the bench. Every now and again make Brunell bring him a cup of gatorade or something.
Franz - Played some really good ball. I like how our safeties are looking. If Bowen can blitz like he did the first week (not that well all the time) but somewhat consistantly, leave him around. Otherwise, he's too much of a liability in coverage.
Drop:
Kozlowski - Not impressive at all, in my mind. Getting old, dump him. Not even worth vet min.
Lemons - Played well enough, unfortunately he's at a position we're loaded at. His roster spot better used elsewhere.
Doering - Not opposed to a bare minimum deal, but I also think his spot could be better utilized.
Chandler - He kicked well and should be #1 on our to call list, but hall is much better when healthy.
Simon - Nothing special. Backup running back, special teams player. Spot better suited for a younger UDFA type.
Sellers - He'll get a personal foul on the way out of the park. He made some big plays, but too many stupid mistakes. As a fullback he's not so great. Let him walk.
Cartwright - I hate to say it cause I love the little guy. I'll never forget asking Cpayne who the midget wearing #40 was at training camp! He's simply not built for this offense. I hope he finds a home elsewhere, I'll always root for him!
Free Agency
Most of you have tuned out by now, or just forwarded to this part. Free Agency is the time when you love to be a Redskins fan. It's like Christmas in March. All sorts of new toys to speculate about, this year will be different.
*In my utopia we'd deal Gardner if we could get a 3rd for him, otherwise keep him around.
*Justin Hartwig should be the #1 guy we have Redskin 1 in the air after on midnight. He's a beast of a center, the Titans probably don't have the cash to retain him, but he will be highly sought after. Center is the piece of our offense most critical in becoming stable. We need a guy we can plug into that whole and get started immediatly. Rookies not only take longer for you to draft, they aren't as experienced.
*Look at the WRs, but no one in the draft or in free agency sparks my fancy. Moss would be nice, but not worth what we'd have to give up. Burress I feel will be a peerless Price in an offense where he'll be asked to step it up. BMW is too slow and has a tendency to get lazy and fat, Williamson may be our best bet, Edwards will be gone. Clayton may be a good pick later in the draft.
*Look at prospective blocking TEs. I want a guy who's an extention of the offensive line, but has really strong hands. Good for picking up a few yards, but not exactly the breakaway threat a Winslow/Gonzolaz is. He'd be more to sneak underneath. A guy who can release well and make the easy catch for those crucial 3rd downs. This position could be filled through the draft. Guy coming out of USC, not Byrd, could do the trick. Good 7th round pickup.
*Look for the Marcus Washington type players. Carefully comb the rosters of cap strapped teams, and look for hidden gems and rising stars. Take some chances, but keep the contracts relatively low. Never know what you'll find!
The Draft
This is a really hard area to address before the combine and before free agency/resignings. I'm going on the assumption we keep Smoot, Pierce, but trade Gardner. Round one I trade down between picks 11 and 15 for a 2nd round pick. I then look at the picks available. If BMW or Williamson still on the board, take a serious look, depending on any recent developments try to trade down again and grab one of them there, draft one, or sell the whole 1st rounder and wait till next year (what I'm favoring to an extent.)
Package our newly acquired 2nd pick and our 3rd round pick to move up and grab David Pollack - if he slips farther than I think, package another pick than the 3rd. Either way, I think he'll go early in the 2nd round. If not, take the most talent at DE with that pick.
The rest of the draft, get a TE I mentioned before if we don't get one in free agency, and the rest get projects. Get a guy with nothing but speed, try to teach him to catch a ball, maybe some DBs, DL, etc.
I know it's vague, but I have very little information to work with.
Other Changes!
We're almost done!!
*Hold on to Blache, don't let another team steal him. I think he's really done wonders with our D line and our defense as a whole. Williams is great, but so are his helpeers!
*Joe Gibbs - please stop handcuffing our offense. When you have a great defense like ours, a turnover won't kill you. Not scoring will. I understand the first year, but it's time to open that playbook past the preseason pages now. Let's see what you have and prove people wrong who say you've lost it. You certainly didn't have it last year, but that doesn't mean it's not still somewhere.
*Joe Bugel - I expected more of you, but thanks to Jansens injury you get a pass. This line was supposedly built for runblocking and thus far it hasn't done that great of a job. I feel safer passing!
*It's time for continuity. We're close. We're really close. We just need to put some more points up, not even a lot. 3 TDs a game take us to the playoffs.
*Thanks for the hard work. Losing is a lot harder than winning. The coaches and the players went to the last minute and it was great for us fans not to see them give up against Minnesota.
What do you guys think of my rant? Any ideas? Suggestions?