Do you agree with this assessment of the Skins?

[sportscurmudgeon]

Do I agree with the assessment? For the most part, yes.

I'm not ready yet to call Sean Taylor a "great" safety. He hasn't even put on pads yet in the NFL. Might that wait until he's played about 10 games before we rush into that description? I would agree that Sean Taylor brings some outstanding credentials to the defensive backfield from a premiere college football program. But, I'll wait on "great" for just a while if I may.

They have an offensive line that damned well better be improved or their two reliable QBs and their premiere running back are going to underachieve. and they better improve by a lot - particularly on pass blocking.

The defensive line got better in the offseason just by getting rid of a few of the gassers that were on the DL last year. If they put a pair of cigar store Indians in at DT this year, they would not be much worse. They signed two "second-tier" free agents to play there but that is a big emprovement over what was there last year. Is it good enough? We'll know about December 1st.

Oh, by the way, Mark Maske is not a columnist; he is a beat reporter. There is a BIG difference. And I don't know that he becomes more knowledgeable or more objective or more insightful just because he says something nice about the team he is coverning or the owner of that team. Having said that, I think Mark Maske is knowledgable about the NFL and is not one of the local press toadies who is in the Skins' hip pocket.