How They Were Built

[monk81]

Some people expected immediate results from Joe Gibbs.......let's stroll down memory lane to see how the Redskins became a Super Bowl Champion, course there was no salary cap...all the Redskins had to do was get Jack Kent Cooke to sign the paychecks.

1980---the year before the Redskins took over the Redskins record was:
6-10 (3rd in NFC East)....DEJAVU........the Redskins drafted a first round pick WR Art Monk and picked up free agents C Jeff Bostic and TE Rick Walker.......

1981--the team started out 0-5 Redskins were 8-8 (4th in the NFC East)
drafted: G Mark May (1), G Russ Grimm (3), DE Dexter Manley (5), LB Larry Kubin (6), WR Charlie Brown (8), DT Darryl Grant (9), TE Clint Didier (12)...
and grabbed FREE AGENTS-LB Peter Cronan, WR Alvin Garrett, RB Nick Giaquinto, T Joe Jacoby, S Curtis Jordan, LB Mel Kaufman, WR-KR Virgil Seay, RB Otis Wonsley, and traded with Baltimore to pickup running back Joe Washington............

1982 SUPER BOWL XVII Champion with a 12-1 record--we drafted CB Vernon Dean (2), DE Todd Libenstein (4), TE Mike Williams (5) S Ken Coffey (9), QB Bobby Holly (11) FREE AGENTS-LB Stuart Anderson, P Jeff Hayes, S Greg Williams and traded with New England to pick up DE Tony McGee...............

1983 NFC Champion with a 16-2 record lost to the Raiders in the Super Bowl--drafted (CB-KR) Darrell Green (1), DE Charles Mann(3), QB Babe Laufenberg (6).......who became a Cryboy QB and today is still a commentator for the Dallas Cowboys............FREE AGENTS-CB Brian Carpenter, RB REggie Evans, G Ken Huff, G Bruce Kimball, WR Mark McGrath, G-t Roy Simmons..........and in a trade with Pittsburgh picked up CB A. Washington..........


So it took Joe a little time to assemble his "Redskin kinda guys"...........course we had a better GM and there was no salary cap.....some of these free agents I've never heard off so they were either role players or were released. .And the Darrell Green pick must've turned a few heads.The point of this, especially younger Skins fans........
KEEP THE FAITH

[That Guy]

they had 3 very solid first round picks that stuck around... one of which stayed with the team for 20 years... i think the longest now is 5 years or so...

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Oh, I've got plenty of faith. Any type of animosity from me comes from losing my favorite players. I get upset at the annual turnover of the roster.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

Oh, I've got plenty of faith. Any type of animosity from me comes from losing my favorite players. I get upset at the annual turnover of the roster.

That's all part of the game in the salary cap era. It's best to get used to it. I tend to look at the coaches more as my favorites, because they're the guys that have the most stability around here.

[sportscurmudgeon]

monk81:

You are absolutely correct; patience is needed.

I will disagree with you on one point. You said that the Skins of the early 80s had "a better GM". That's not exactly true since at the moment we do not have a GM. We have an owner who is playing GM and his butt-boy who helps "break down things talent-wise".

Bobby Beathard in a drunken stupor knew more about football than the Danny/Vinny tandem ever will. And that is a BIG hurdle to overcome...

[That Guy]

the problem is finding players for your system... that doesn't work well when the system only lasts one year at a time... I think on defence williams has done a good job at being his own GM... he brought in about 40,000 players during camp and kept the guys he thought could do the job... ryan clark as an example, played very well in the system (well after the first couple games) despite being minimum wage, #5-6 on the depth chart and almost getting cut the first week of training camp...

I think williams success is because his system has remained the same and he's very aware of what type of players he needs to make it work... titans, bills, redskins... and even even drafted an injured RB for the bills and got blasted for the pick... apparently the kid can play pretty well though as i'm sure you've heard...

gibbs on the other hand hasn't had a working system in 12 years and only has vinny/danny (who have never had a working system) to guide him... so instead of going for players that fill their needs to make the offense go, they're looking for the most talented players and then hoping that they'll all work out... (brunell, portis, coles... portis is a great back, but gibbs/bugel have been reluctant to give him the offense he needs to be more productive and someone like dillion could have been a better pick if he wanted a counter-trey type runner... coles has been good, but not getting the surgery and his latest fit make his mental shape look a little iffy)

In Gibbs I, he saw his system didn't work so he adjusted to his players and kept getting new players to fit within that offense... in Gibb II he still seems to think BB is giving him players to fit into his 1982 offense... its time for a re-adjustment...

[monk81]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

monk81:

You are absolutely correct; patience is needed.

I will disagree with you on one point. You said that the Skins of the early 80s had "a better GM". That's not exactly true since at the moment we do not have a GM. We have an owner who is playing GM and his butt-boy who helps "break down things talent-wise".

Bobby Beathard in a drunken stupor knew more about football than the Danny/Vinny tandem ever will. And that is a BIG hurdle to overcome...

I stand corrected..............

[monk81]

After Bobby......Cass didn't do too bad either:

Casserly famously started with the Redskins in 1977 as an unpaid intern under Hall of Fame coach George Allen. Washington hired Casserly as a scout the next season and during his early years was a scout, he unearthed free agents Joe Jacoby and Jeff Bostic, who were original members of the famed “Hogs” offensive line and key components of Washington’s first two Super Bowl teams. Jacoby was selected to four Pro Bowls and Bostic made one trip to Honolulu. The Redskins elevated Casserly to assistant general manager in 1982 and the club went on to capture its first Super Bowl. That year, Casserly also re-instituted the club’s intern program, which has produced more than 20 league executives over his years in Washington and Houston.

In 1987, Casserly faced perhaps the biggest challenge of his Redskins career when NFL players went on strike. League owners decided on replacement players, sending personnel men scrambling to fill roster spots. With about a week to assemble a full complement of replacement players, Casserly put together a team that won all three of its games before the strike ended, including a Monday Night win against a Dallas team that featured a number of its star players. That experience was the subject of the Warner Bros. feature film, “The Replacements,” starring Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman.

When he was elevated to GM in 1989, Casserly sustained the Redskins’ history of uncovering high-quality players in the later rounds of the draft. He used a fifth-round pick in 1990 to select Southwest Louisiana quarterback Brian Mitchell. Washington then converted Mitchell to a running back/kick returner, where he later joined Jim Brown as the only players in NFL history to lead the league in combined net yards four times. In 1996, Casserly plucked Auburn running back Stephen Davis in the fourth round. Davis paced the NFC in rushing in 1999 with 1,450 yards.

And during the 1999 off-season, Casserly made moves that immediately benefited the Redskins. First, he traded three draft choices to Minnesota for signal-caller Brad Johnson. The eight-year veteran responded with a Pro Bowl season in 1999, throwing for 4,005 yards and 24 TDs. (Johnson led the Bucs to a championship last season, meaning Casserly traded for both Super Bowl XXXVII quarterbacks – he traded for current Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon in 1992.)

Casserly then fired the shot heard ‘round the league on draft day, acquiring all of the New Orleans Saints’ 1999 selections, plus their first and third-round picks in 2000. To do so, Casserly simply swapped the Redskins’ fifth selection in the first round for New Orleans’ 12th choice. He still managed to obtain the player that Washington wanted, ultimately selecting future Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey with the seventh pick in the first round. In part for those efforts, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly and USA Today named Casserly their Executive of the Year.

[monk81]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

That's all part of the game in the salary cap era. It's best to get used to it. I tend to look at the coaches more as my favorites, because they're the guys that have the most stability around here.

Your right about of the lack of stability......maybe football should be played like that old Jetson's cartoon........where the coaches programmed ROBOT players........and hey they kept tradition....they ran the old statue of liberty play.............