The Defense Only Thread

Time for some of this young bucks to see action, Ionnidis and Lanier. They need to step it up.

3rd and 8 at DAL 33
(13:59 - 1st) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass short middle to D.Bryant to WAS 49 for 18 yards (D.Bruton, D.Hall)

3rd and 9 at WSH 48
(11:57 - 1st) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass deep middle to D.Bryant to WAS 31 for 17 yards (B.Breeland). Penalty on WAS-P.Smith, Defensive Offside, declined

3rd and 11 at WSH 22
(6:33 - 3rd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass deep left to D.Bryant to WAS 6 for 16 yards (B.Breeland)

3rd and 11 at WSH 24
(6:04 - 4th) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass short left to C.Beasley ran ob at WAS 12 for 12 yards (J.Norman)

The problem with the defense is the indecision of Kurt Cousins.

The problem with the defense is the indecision of Kurt Cousins.

Who is Kurt Cousins?

Is it OK if we just talk Redskins Defense in this thread? This seems to be the unit most in need of improvement and I'd like to hear from some smart people who post here about where we go from here on Defense. So, to begin with, I'm wondering about a few things:

1. A lot is made out of Will Compton being a "quarterback" on Defense. Yet, Will is a mediocre athlete, IMO. So, just how important is a "QB" on defense, anyway? Yesterday, Will got "dinged" and went out of the game for a while. S'ua Cravens came in and made a series of big plays, a couple of them tackles for loss. Shouldn't talent prevail, even at the defensive "QB" position?

2. I thought I saw some plays where Trent Murphy lined up at OLB and Preston Smith lined up inside of him with his hand in the dirt as a DE on passing downs. It seemed to work well for us. What do you think of this alignment going forward?

3. How long does it take to get a player ready to play the slot CB position? Yesterday, I saw Dashaun Phillips chasing the Dallas slot receiver a lot but not actually covering him. Their slot receiver had a field day against us. Kendall Fuller is very talented and he seems to be perfect for the slot CB role. He can cover and he is a playmaker. When is he likely to see the field?

1. Compton as hard as he plays and as hard as he studies, he still isn't a good enough athlete to be a starter. To me he's just a teams player and a backup. Nothing wrong with that but he isn't a starter. Cravens isn't a ILB on running downs, no way. He needs to be on the field more though. Put him at SS on run downs, ILB on obvious passing downs.

2. Love it. We really don't have any other choice on obvious passing downs. Trent played one of his better games. Hopefully he can keep it up. But even still, we need to add another athlete here. Kerrigan is just average to me.

3. It seems Phillips beat out Fuller for the slot corner in pre season. He was abused yesterday by the #3 wr yesterday. He's in for a long ass game against the Giants.

4. I've already mentioned Joe Barry. A change needs to be made when the season is over. He stinks like rotten seafood.

Compton can be a solid player for us, but MLBs look a lot better when the defensive linemen in front of him occupy blockers so the MLB can flow to the ball. Compton's getting washed out because the defensive line isn't always holding its ground. It did a little better yesterday.

Inadequate pass rush. And the secondary is too slow to hand off coverage in the transition areas of the zone. The handoffs are crappy.

Joe Barry sticks to his principles to a fault and doesn't adjust. After seeing yesterday's first half I would have definitely put Norman on Dez much sooner, and I would have blitzed much more. He's a f'n rookie QB, he can be rattled if you pressure him. WTF

What i would like to see:

Murphy put weight and stay at DE
Preston to become an elite edge rusher
SM to sign/draft a NT and 2 MLBs
Put Cravens as starting SS and use him like the Giants use Landon Collins
SM to sign/draft another FS to eventually replace Hall
Barry to grow balls or get fired

The problem with the defense is the indecision of Kurt Cousins.

Defense only, wise guy! You've got to fly in formation in this thread. :laughing-

Psmith has to start getting sacks

So in addition to adding Ioannidis, they also made some PS changes. Trail and Nix gone. Fanaika, Herrera, Richardson added. Scrub swapping.