The 2008 "Who needs to step up" thread

[over the mountain]

good thread and thoughts for this time of the season.

reed doughty - i dont think laron needs to "step up" as much as keep his play equal to last season so im going with reed needing to "step up" to keep those long balls that plagued our D in '06 from happening. when we relinquished the long passes it really screwed with g williams ability to run his true D scheme b/c he had to constantly compensate for those long balls. so heres hoping the secondary in general holds up well with injuries and play to allow us to bring pressure on the qb.

jason taylor - would like to see what a stud d-lineman looks like in real life since charles mann.

i agree with everyones assessments above, knowledgeable group of skins fans here.

go skins!

[Ade Jimoh Fan Club]

I think that Jason Taylor and Andre Carter are going to make the secondary look like all-Pro's by making the QB's make ill-advised passes.

I also think LaRon is going to have at least a half-dozen sacks this year with blitzing up the middle.

[SouperMeister]

The WR's must be more productive this year. They went the first half season without a TD last year. That's almost inconceivable with today's rules giving receivers a decided edge over defenders.

[hesscl34]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

The WR's must be more productive this year. They went the first half season without a TD last year. That's almost inconceivable with today's rules giving receivers a decided edge over defenders.

... yeah, and that was directly related to our QB play...

[MTK]

Originally Posted by hesscl34

... yeah, and that was directly related to our QB play...

Not necessarily. Cooley caught 8 TDs so it wasn't all on the QB.

I might be reading too far into this but I think you might have some sort of axe to grind with JC. Is it because everyone piled on your boy Brunell, and now you're revolting against the majority with your JC bashing?

[RedskinRat]

I'd have to go with 'Anyone intent on climbing a ladder or one of those step stool things'.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by hesscl34

... yeah, and that was directly related to our QB play...

I thought JC played pretty well, regardless of the fact that he was essentially a 1st year starter. His decent production is even better when you consider the oline was woefully banged up, his #1 WR was injured for much of the season, his #2 (i.e., ARE) is really a #3 WR, he didn't have a good #3 WR to speak of, and his only real/healthy receiving threat went to the Pro Bowl.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

good thread and thoughts for this time of the season.

reed doughty - i dont think laron needs to "step up" as much as keep his play equal to last season so im going with reed needing to "step up" to keep those long balls that plagued our D in '06 from happening. when we relinquished the long passes it really screwed with g williams ability to run his true D scheme b/c he had to constantly compensate for those long balls. so heres hoping the secondary in general holds up well with injuries and play to allow us to bring pressure on the qb.

jason taylor - would like to see what a stud d-lineman looks like in real life since charles mann.

i agree with everyones assessments above, knowledgeable group of skins fans here.

go skins!

My thinking on LaRon is yes he played well as a rookie last year, but he needs to continue to develop and take his game to that next level. I'd like to see him "step up" and be the unquestioned leader of the secondary.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by hesscl34

... yeah, and that was directly related to our QB play...

Not necessarily. I could remember a couple times last year in that 8 game no wide receivers touchdown streak where a wideout came close to getting into the endzone but didn't. Remember the Lions game where Randle El got tackled at the 1 yard line after that huge gain?

But I do agree the wide receivers need to step up this year, with the depth we have at wideout we should be seeing more production. I'm not expecting Kelly or Thomas to be game breakers but they are better than what we had at the position last year.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I thought JC played pretty well, regardless of the fact that he was essentially a 1st year starter. His decent production is even better when you consider the oline was woefully banged up, his #1 WR was injured for much of the season, his #2 (i.e., ARE) is really a #3 WR, he didn't have a good #3 WR to speak of, and his only real/healthy receiving threat went to the Pro Bowl.

Well those excuses are fine but we had a bench warmer come pull us out of a slump. I know, he knows the system better and with the death of ST the team came together. JC has to step up this year because if he does not its a waist if the team around him plays good.

[hesscl34]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Not necessarily. Cooley caught 8 TDs so it wasn't all on the QB.

I might be reading too far into this but I think you might have some sort of axe to grind with JC. Is it because everyone piled on your boy Brunell, and now you're revolting against the majority with your JC bashing?

JC has a habit of throwing the short ball.. often, to his TE. He is not good at checking down field and throwing down field (at least not last year). That is what I saw with my own eyes last year and it has NOTHING to do with any axe to grind. I just get very sick of waiting for him to prove himself and most of you always blaming everything around him, but him. I don't consider my opinion of why the WR didn’t perform last year JC "bashing" at all.. it's just an opinion that I've formed by watching games, an opinion that most of you don't agree with. However, I’ve also said in other threads that I’m hoping Zorn will improve his game and he’ll finally step up this year. I'll be the first one to sing his praises if he gets it done on the field.

None of my comments are based on emotions, or my like for Brunell, and none of them should be construed as “bashing”. Don't take my opinion about JC so personally. Just take it for what it is - I want the Skins to win, period.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

Good post and good thread. I like your list, but I'll add a few more guys.

#1. Rogers. Carlos Rogers struggled in 2005 and 2006, but started to really develop in 2007. I realize that he's coming off a major injury, but he needs to show us by the middle of the season that he was worthy of being selected 9th overall in the 2005 draft.

#2. Anthony Montgomery. Montgomery was just a 5th round draft pick, so it's hard to complain about his production. However, with so many people talking about his amazing abilities, it's about time that his ability starts translating into solid production. He looked decent enough in 2007, but he didn't look like the potential Pro Bowler than people think he can be.

Just about agree w/this 100%. can't think of 2 guys that haven't reached their potential like those 2.

I disagree w/Matty's top 3 in the sense that I expect those guys to play well again. Sure, Santana had some bad games (GB) but he came on once healthy last year & made big plays.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

Just about agree w/this 100%. can't think of 2 guys that haven't reached their potential like those 2.

I disagree w/Matty's top 3 in the sense that I expect those guys to play well again. Sure, Santana had some bad games (GB) but he came on once healthy last year & made big plays.

Moss hasn't put together a quality season since 2005 now.

Landry is a 2nd year guy, he needs to continue to improve.

Portis is a gamer don't get me wrong, but he's got room to take things to another level.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by hesscl34

JC has a habit of throwing the short ball.. often, to his TE. He is not good at checking down field and throwing down field (at least not last year). That is what I saw with my own eyes last year and it has NOTHING to do with any axe to grind. I just get very sick of waiting for him to prove himself and most of you always blaming everything around him, but him. I don't consider my opinion of why the WR didn’t perform last year JC "bashing" at all.. it's just an opinion that I've formed by watching games, an opinion that most of you don't agree with. However, I’ve also said in other threads that I’m hoping Zorn will improve his game and he’ll finally step up this year. I'll be the first one to sing his praises if he gets it done on the field.

None of my comments are based on emotions, or my like for Brunell, and none of them should be construed as “bashing”. Don't take my opinion about JC so personally. Just take it for what it is - I want the Skins to win, period.

Just calling it like I see it, that's all. If I'm wrong fine.

You just don't seem to have much patience with JC at all. I'm not absolving him of all blame by any means and I don't think anyone here is, he certainly needs to play well this year and as I started this thread with he's at the top of my list for guys that need to step up. But given the circumstances I think he deserves until the end of this year before anyone can definitively say if he's a franchise type of QB or if we should be looking elsewhere.

[hesscl34]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Just calling it like I see it, that's all. If I'm wrong fine.

You just don't seem to have much patience with JC at all. I'm not absolving him of all blame by any means and I don't think anyone here is, he certainly needs to play well this year and as I started this thread with he's at the top of my list for guys that need to step up. But given the circumstances I think he deserves until the end of this year before anyone can definitively say if he's a franchise type of QB or if we should be looking elsewhere.

Calling it like you see it? .... no, you are reading into it.

It's ok that you want to defend him because you have so much faith in him, but it's also ok for me to doubt him based on his previous performances.