Ms. Jenkins Article

BrudLee · 02-28-2004, 03:05 PM

Curmudgeon, my issues with Ms. Jenkins have more to do with the tone of her criticism and her history of Snyder-bashing.
Like every fan here, I'd love nothing more than to have a winning team full of likable superstars. However, when that doesn't happen, I understand that there will need to be talent upgrades in specifically deficient areas. I also understand that when a new coaching staff comes in with a dramatically different strategy, different players will likely come in as well.
As for Bailey, I'm beginning to think our offers were never going to be good enough. To my (admittedly limited) knowledge, Bailey and his agent never responded to the Redskins with a counter offer, they just declined the offers as presented. To me, that means there wasn't much desire to stay in Washington - if they responded with a counter, there's always the possibility that it would be accepted. It pains me that he doesn't want to be a Redskin, but since he has apparently decided he doesn't, I'm not going to blame the owner who offered him 55 million dollars to stay.
I'm frequently put in the position of defending Snyder, and though I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker, I don't mind. I honestly thought Spurrier was a great choice, and I'm sorry it didn't work out. I'm thrilled that Joe Gibbs is willing to run the team, and he doesn't seem to mind working with "Daniel". I believe he is aggressively seeking the most talented players for this team, and he has learned that young talent is crucial to long-term success.
Ms. Jenkins doesn't differentiate from the young man who bought the team and the Snyder of today. She longs for the glory days of Cooke and Beathard and RFK and Super Bowl Championships. We aren't going to have the first three, so why not get on board for the fourth?

JWsleep · 02-28-2004, 03:38 PM

While I was annoyed by her tone somewhat, it was a reasonable report. As lots of us have noted, we always "win" the offseason and stink up the regular season. And who HAVE we gotten in the later rounds? This is a legit question, especially in the salary cap era. Diamonds in the rough are worth even more today then ever before.

All that being said, I think she missed the basic change of this off season, and what it means to everything else. Gibbs is back, and he has put together a top-notch coaching staff.

One, this will really help maximize whatever talent we have on our roster: maybe we already have some late-round gems that haven't been tried and some underachievers just waiting for a fire to be lit under their assess.

Two: the real reason that NE is great is their coach. He has a system, he instills discipline, and he leads by example of hard work, discipline, and class. Guess what: so does Gibbs .

Three, as she notes, but plays down, not all the FA stuff has been a disaster (Coles, Thomas, Hall, Morton...): with Gibbs, et. al., doing the selecting, I would bet we'll do even better than last year.

So, she's not wrong about the history, but she didn't catch the real change here: There's a new (old) sherriff in town, Mr. Joe Gibbs. I believe this is all the difference in the world.

joecrisp · 02-28-2004, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWsleep

While I was annoyed by her tone somewhat, it was a reasonable report. As lots of us have noted, we always "win" the offseason and stink up the regular season. And who HAVE we gotten in the later rounds? This is a legit question, especially in the salary cap era. Diamonds in the rough are worth even more today then ever before.

All that being said, I think she missed the basic change of this off season, and what it means to everything else. Gibbs is back, and he has put together a top-notch coaching staff.

One, this will really help maximize whatever talent we have on our roster: maybe we already have some late-round gems that haven't been tried and some underachievers just waiting for a fire to be lit under their assess.

Two: the real reason that NE is great is their coach. He has a system, he instills discipline, and he leads by example of hard work, discipline, and class. Guess what: so does Gibbs .

Three, as she notes, but plays down, not all the FA stuff has been a disaster (Coles, Thomas, Hall, Morton...): with Gibbs, et. al., doing the selecting, I would bet we'll do even better than last year.

So, she's not wrong about the history, but she didn't catch the real change here: There's a new (old) sherriff in town, Mr. Joe Gibbs. I believe this is all the difference in the world.

Excellent, excellent points, Sleepy. You hit the nail right on the head.

I'll admit, when I first noticed how aggressively the Redskins have been behaving this offseason, it made me more than a little nervous for the future. But then I remembered the great news that led us into this exciting, frenetically-paced offseason, and I suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy: Joe Gibbs, Gregg Williams, Joe Bugel and Greg Blache are running the show now. The formidable coaching staff that Gibbs has assembled is the foundation of this team (much as Belichick and his staff are the driving force in New England), and should be the basis for any evaluation of the Redskins' offseason.

The fact that Jenkins practically ignored the tremendous impact this coaching staff will have on the roster, really is indicative of her anti-Snyder agenda. The fact that this team was lead by one of the most inexperienced coaching staffs in the league is the primary reason behind their mediocrity the past two seasons. Prior to that, yes, you can put much of the blame on Snyder for his irresponsible spending habits and the manner in which he handled his coaches. But the Snyder-bashing has to be put on hold for now. He brought Joe Gibbs back to DC, and he has handed Gibbs the keys to the kingdom-- giving him the freedom to exceed the coaching staff budget, and giving him final say in roster moves. Jenkins can feel free to blame the old Snyder front office for the problems of the past, but if she wants to condemn the future, she will do so at Joe Gibbs' expense-- not Snyder's.

Sheriff Gonna Getcha · 02-28-2004, 06:52 PM

In the past 3 drafts we've gotten:

3rd rounder G Derrick Dockery (looks like he's gonna be quite good)
3rd rounder CB Rashad Bauman (looks like a very solid nickel back)
5th rounder TE Robert Royal (if he could stay healthy he'd be decent)
7th rounder FB Rock Cartwright (I love this guy, and not just b/c he's Rock)
5th rounder Darnerien McCants (pretty good #3 wideout)

In the 3 drafts previous to Casserly's departure we got:
4th rounder Shawn Barber (excellent outside linebacker)
7th rounder David Terrell (good on special teams)

I don't think we had any more luck with Casserly doing the drafting than Vinny and Danny in rounds 3-7 and Vinny and Danny have done a MUCH better job in drafting in the first 2 rounds than Casserly EVER did (see Desmond Howard and Heath Shuler vs. Patrick Ramsey and LaVar Arrington).

That said, she's dead on in her analysis of how our team is unstable, gets too many stars without much blue-collar depth (like the Pats), and that we've been a horribly managed franchise over the past 4-5 years.

However, the Pats are beginning to face cap woes and many of their players are quite old (i.e. both lines and the LBs) so I'll wait to see how the Pats will look in 2 years.

She's half right and half wrong.

02-28-2004, 03:05 PM	#1
BrudLee Playmaker Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE Posts: 3,494	Curmudgeon, my issues with Ms. Jenkins have more to do with the tone of her criticism and her history of Snyder-bashing. Like every fan here, I'd love nothing more than to have a winning team full of likable superstars. However, when that doesn't happen, I understand that there will need to be talent upgrades in specifically deficient areas. I also understand that when a new coaching staff comes in with a dramatically different strategy, different players will likely come in as well. As for Bailey, I'm beginning to think our offers were never going to be good enough. To my (admittedly limited) knowledge, Bailey and his agent never responded to the Redskins with a counter offer, they just declined the offers as presented. To me, that means there wasn't much desire to stay in Washington - if they responded with a counter, there's always the possibility that it would be accepted. It pains me that he doesn't want to be a Redskin, but since he has apparently decided he doesn't, I'm not going to blame the owner who offered him 55 million dollars to stay. I'm frequently put in the position of defending Snyder, and though I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker, I don't mind. I honestly thought Spurrier was a great choice, and I'm sorry it didn't work out. I'm thrilled that Joe Gibbs is willing to run the team, and he doesn't seem to mind working with "Daniel". I believe he is aggressively seeking the most talented players for this team, and he has learned that young talent is crucial to long-term success. Ms. Jenkins doesn't differentiate from the young man who bought the team and the Snyder of today. She longs for the glory days of Cooke and Beathard and RFK and Super Bowl Championships. We aren't going to have the first three, so why not get on board for the fourth? __________________ There's nowhere to go but up. Or down. I guess we could stay where we are, too.

02-28-2004, 03:38 PM	#2
JWsleep Propane and propane accessories Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Houston, TX Age: 56 Posts: 4,719	While I was annoyed by her tone somewhat, it was a reasonable report. As lots of us have noted, we always "win" the offseason and stink up the regular season. And who HAVE we gotten in the later rounds? This is a legit question, especially in the salary cap era. Diamonds in the rough are worth even more today then ever before. All that being said, I think she missed the basic change of this off season, and what it means to everything else. Gibbs is back, and he has put together a top-notch coaching staff. One, this will really help maximize whatever talent we have on our roster: maybe we already have some late-round gems that haven't been tried and some underachievers just waiting for a fire to be lit under their assess. Two: the real reason that NE is great is their coach. He has a system, he instills discipline, and he leads by example of hard work, discipline, and class. Guess what: so does Gibbs . Three, as she notes, but plays down, not all the FA stuff has been a disaster (Coles, Thomas, Hall, Morton...): with Gibbs, et. al., doing the selecting, I would bet we'll do even better than last year. So, she's not wrong about the history, but she didn't catch the real change here: There's a new (old) sherriff in town, Mr. Joe Gibbs. I believe this is all the difference in the world. __________________ Hail from Houston!

02-28-2004, 06:52 PM	#4
Sheriff Gonna Getcha Franchise Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Age: 46 Posts: 8,317	In the past 3 drafts we've gotten: 3rd rounder G Derrick Dockery (looks like he's gonna be quite good) 3rd rounder CB Rashad Bauman (looks like a very solid nickel back) 5th rounder TE Robert Royal (if he could stay healthy he'd be decent) 7th rounder FB Rock Cartwright (I love this guy, and not just b/c he's Rock) 5th rounder Darnerien McCants (pretty good #3 wideout) In the 3 drafts previous to Casserly's departure we got: 4th rounder Shawn Barber (excellent outside linebacker) 7th rounder David Terrell (good on special teams) I don't think we had any more luck with Casserly doing the drafting than Vinny and Danny in rounds 3-7 and Vinny and Danny have done a MUCH better job in drafting in the first 2 rounds than Casserly EVER did (see Desmond Howard and Heath Shuler vs. Patrick Ramsey and LaVar Arrington). That said, she's dead on in her analysis of how our team is unstable, gets too many stars without much blue-collar depth (like the Pats), and that we've been a horribly managed franchise over the past 4-5 years. However, the Pats are beginning to face cap woes and many of their players are quite old (i.e. both lines and the LBs) so I'll wait to see how the Pats will look in 2 years. She's half right and half wrong.

Ms. Jenkins Article

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