Where Do You Place the Blame for our Personnel Woes? (Reference to Sally Jenkin's Latest)

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Regardless of who's been in charge of personnel decisions during Snyders ownership of the team, a couple of things have remained more or less the same:
1. draft picks are traded away for high priced veterans;
2. huge multi-year contracts to a handful of players;
3. #2 has eliminated the ability of the team to carry anything resembling depth at most positions, meaning we are always one or two injurys away from total disaster
4. Quarterback position instability
5. A general neglect of the offensive line
6. The complete and utter inability to find and develop #2-#5 wide receivers

Now, I've gone on record here a number of times as putting most of the blame/credit on:

-Snyder for personnel decisions prior to Joe Gibbs return
-Joe Gibbs for the moves the team made during his tenure here
-Vinny Cerrato for personnel decisions made after Gibbs left.

However, a couple of quotes from Sally Jenkins latest, most truthful, least "hateful" article she's ever written have made me change my mind. Do they change yours?

washingtonpost.com

It's fascinating, if painful, to look back to the day in 2008 when Snyder elevated Cerrato to the title of executive vice president of football operations. "The appointment formalizes the structure the team has operated under in recent years," Snyder said then.

Outgoing coach Joe Gibbs issued a statement of congratulations. "Today's Washington Redskins roster is a testament to Vinny and the personnel department," Gibbs said.

There you have it.

It seem's Vinny's had more control this entire time than I realized. I'm done making excuses for him. Hopefully Snyder is too.

[Trample the Elderly]

What's popping BHA? I don't know or care enough anymore. All I know is that I'm going Black Bass fishing at the end of the month. All fingers point back to Al Snyderato IMO. We looked like we were getting back on track at the end of Gibbs 2.0, but it just went to shit again after he left.

[MTK]

For me it boils down to a lack of a focused, long-term plan for building the team. The team always seems to be in "win now" mode when they're clearly not even close. It's all about knowing who you are, where you want to go, and how you intend on getting there.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

For me it boils down to a lack of a focused, long-term plan for building the team. The team always seems to be in "win now" mode when they're clearly not even close. It's all about knowing who you are, where you want to go, and how you intend on getting there.

Exactly. We've been in a "one player away" mindset for years now. No vision, no plan, and IGNORING THE DAMN LINE OF SCRIMMAGE!

Dan and Vinny seem to equate big names and talent with winning. Nope. Not how it works fellas.

[BrunellMVP?]

why is gibbs 2.0 consider a success? I don't see it at all- yes we limped into the playoffs but in terms of "righting the ship" (he did the best he could) but i think his value has been glamorized.

As for the blame- it starts and ends with Danny. He makes the decisions himself or hires the guys that make them (vinny). He's way overbearing and way too involved. The blame is his alone- and until he realizes that, we are screwed.

[irish]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

For me it boils down to a lack of a focused, long-term plan for building the team. The team always seems to be in "win now" mode when they're clearly not even close. It's all about knowing who you are, where you want to go, and how you intend on getting there.

I agree that the organization does not seem to have a focused long term plan/philosophy for creating and maintaining a winning franchise. It seems that they plug in available free agents without regard to how they fit into the big picture. Winning organizations use one or two free agents to put them over the top not to revamp the roster each off season. Winning organizations use the draft to develop depth and create home grown talent ready to step in when a player goes down or want a big free agent contract, not for trading away to sign over-aged over-priced free agents.

I am sure the Skins know where they want to go but its obvious the mgmt doesnt have a clue how to get there. Its not rocket science to look at how the consistently successful franchises build their teams and frankly I am shocked DS has been such a slow learner. I think DS has continued to take the approach he has because its never got bad enough to force him to change. Its pretty bad now, maybe he will change.

[Defensewins]

They blame goes to Vinny and Snyder.
1) they can not hire a good coaching staff and do not understand how to do it properly, hire HC first then the assistants..duh.
2) they are not good enough in player personnel decisions to build a sturdy franchise
3) they can not get over their fascination in making a splash in FA. Snyderatto loves to sign the big name FA to big contracts, leaving little money left to fill out the bottom of the roster with quality depth.
A small amount of blame does go to Gibbs, but he turned the franchise around and got us back to respectability and the playoffs. He leaves and Snyderatto has us back in the shitter. Not a coincidence.

[firstdown]

BHA this is just rehashing the same stuff again and again and please don't take this as a knock on your thread. All we can hope for right now is that things have hit such a low that DS see's the issues and starts the first day after the season to correct the problems.

[Trample the Elderly]

Originally Posted by BrunellMVP?

why is gibbs 2.0 consider a success? I don't see it at all- yes we limped into the playoffs but in terms of "righting the ship" (he did the best he could) but i think his value has been glamorized.

As for the blame- it starts and ends with Danny. He makes the decisions himself or hires the guys that make them (vinny). He's way overbearing and way too involved. The blame is his alone- and until he realizes that, we are screwed.

Sweeping the Cowboys and Eagles, beating the Giants, and beating Tampa Bay in the play-offs (AKA Pay Back). Compared to where we are at now and where we were before, I'll take it. No, it wasn't the best but it was going in the right direction. That's all I'm saying.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Trample the Elderly

Sweeping the Cowboys and Eagles, beating the Giants, and beating Tampa Bay in the play-offs (AKA Pay Back). Compared to where we are at now and where we were before, I'll take it. No, it wasn't the best but it was going in the right direction. That's all I'm saying.

Amen.
We went from 5-11 under Spurrier/Snyder and Vinny in 2003 and being the laughing stock of football on the field.
One year later in 2005, Gibbs leads us to 10-6 and the playoffs. That is a short time to turnaround a franchise that was in bad shape.
Gibbs left after the 2007 season of 9-7 and another playoff season, only to one year later under Snyder/Cerratto and Zorn have us 2-4 and we are the laughing stock of the NFL again.
Gibbs made us respectable on the field again. That is all I ask.

[Longtimefan]

Sally's latest colum is just another in the long list of which she continues to state the obvious. Even the staunchest homer would be hard pressed to disagree. Nothing new, nothing we haven't been saying here for the longest time, maybe just in different terms.

It's worth noting though that the noise is getting louder, let's hope the message gets through to it's intended target.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Regarding the teams plan/philosophy of plugging in free agents - if I owned the Skins and was a businessman first and fan 2nd, i'd do the same thing - fans keep buying the jerseys of every new free agent we acquire. last year, I was appauled at how many Jason Taylor Jerseys were out there... the guy was going to be here 1-2 years TOPS. Why on earth would people buy his jersey?

Maybe if we, as fans, signed a "petition" promising to buy the jersey of the next first round offensive linemen the Redskins drafted, Snyderatto would listen. I've bought Cooley, Portis, and Sean Taylor Jerseys for myself and my father, but going forward, i'm only buying jerseys of players we draft. Its the only thing - other than not attending games- I think we fans can do that would make a difference.

[SFREDSKIN]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

Amen.
We went from 5-11 under Spurrier/Snyder and Vinny in 2003 and being the laughing stock of football on the field.
One year later in 2005, Gibbs leads us to 10-6 and the playoffs. That is a short time to turnaround a franchise that was in bad shape.
Gibbs left after the 2007 season of 9-7 and another playoff season, only to one year later under Snyder/Cerratto and Zorn have us 2-4 and we are the laughing stock of the NFL again.
Gibbs made us respectable on the field again. That is all I ask.

I'm sick and tired of people bitching about Gibbs II. He came in and did what he could with what he had, he inherited a mess and wanted a quick turn around (I'm sure at Danny's request) which led to some questionable moves. Redskins fans as usual "very impatient" wanted to see quick results and that's the end result. People can't deny that Gibbs II was still the most successful period of the Snyder years.

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by SFREDSKIN

I'm sick and tired of people bitching about Gibbs II. He came in and did what he could with what he had, he inherited a mess and wanted a quick turn around (I'm sure at Danny's request) which led to some questionable moves. Redskins fans as usual "very impatient" wanted to see quick results and that's the end result. People can't deny that Gibbs II was still the most successful period of the Snyder years.

There's no denying that. Every coach that comes here people expect a quick turnaround, even from the one we have now, and he's never been a coach before. Check out the coach that follows Zorn.......It's going to be the exact same thing.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

Regarding the teams plan/philosophy of plugging in free agents - if I owned the Skins and was a businessman first and fan 2nd, i'd do the same thing - fans keep buying the jerseys of every new free agent we acquire. last year, I was appauled at how many Jason Taylor Jerseys were out there... the guy was going to be here 1-2 years TOPS. Why on earth would people buy his jersey?

Maybe if we, as fans, signed a "petition" promising to buy the jersey of the next first round offensive linemen the Redskins drafted, Snyderatto would listen. I've bought Cooley, Portis, and Sean Taylor Jerseys for myself and my father, but going forward, i'm only buying jerseys of players we draft. Its the only thing - other than not attending games- I think we fans can do that would make a difference.

Mr. Snyder - A football franchise first goal should always be field a good team and win a super bowl, not sell jersey's. If you have a good team, the jersey will sell themselves.