Do you agree with this assessment of the Skins?

[Paintrain]

This is from Mark Maske's chat on Monday in the Washington Post

Mark Maske: In the big picture, the Redskins are a far better team than they were at the end of last season. They will be better-coached. They have two quarterbacks on which they can rely. They have one of the best runners in the league. They have good wide receivers, an offensive line that will be much improved in this offensive system and, now, a tight end sufficient to make the offense work. They're still short on the defensive line, but they have good linebackers. They don't have a true No. 1 cornerback but they have two guys who are better than No. 2 cornerbacks, and you should be able to make it work that way. They have a good safety (Bowen) and a great one (Taylor), and they have a reliable kicker and a return who can change a game. That's a lot more than Bill Parcells had to work with last season when he took the Cowboys to the playoffs, and Joe Gibbs is as good or better than Parcells.

[JWsleep]

Sounds good to me. And we have Williams. Once again, we've done great in the offseason. Now let's get it going on when it counts!!!!

[cpayne5]

I've said it once, and I'll say it again.

16-0!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, I'm pumped up, let's get this thing going.

Sorry for being overly optimistic, guys.

[Gmanc711]

Exactly what I would say if I had to give a assessment of the team. The only place on the feild you can look at as a weakness is our d-line, other that that, nothin...

[skinsfanthru&thru]

that sounds right on to me except the question of gibbs being as good as or better than parcells. gibbs is far better than parcells and i could even say that even if i wasn't a skins fan by just looking at the records.

[Carnage]

Finally some love from the mainstream press!
AND this team may remain intact for 2-3 seasons.

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by Carnage

Finally some love from the mainstream press!
AND this team may remain intact for 2-3 seasons.

Yeah, Mark Maske is a respectable columnist with the WP. He's frequently on Fox5 in DC for their Sports Extra show on Sunday nights. He's not a Dan Snyder basher, he comments on the Skins in a logical way (more than we can say from others).

[MTK]

Sounds like an accurate assessment to me, the most imporant part being the better coached part.

[Scott]

the best part is that Maske was a spurrier hater and he was not liked by the spurrier administration, so obviously this guy is objective.
Spurrier used to start all of his press conferences saying "Gentlemen & Maske"

[Jamaican'Skin]

I believe that this is a fair assessment.

[SmootSmack]

I agree with this assessment. Especially the assessment that imagine what Gibbs can do with this talent considering what Parcells did last year with a much less talented team

[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.

[Cush]

I agree, somewhat. The offense will probably better. They finally have a running back, and Bugel will help the OL.

I'm still not sold on the defense. Coach Williams will help, as will Taylor, but I still see it as a question mark.

[JoeRedskin]

I agree with the assessment of the team, but I don't think Maske is "mainstream press". He's a Skins homer. He may have hated Spurrier but, if you felt like the team you loved was being screwed by the coaching, wouldn't you bash the coach too?

Bottom line- Let's see what things look like when the scores count. If (I mean when) Gibbs starts winning quickly, the mainstream press will fall in love with him all over again - You'll be surprised how many of them start trying to say "I believed all along".

[Ghost]

I agree with the assessment with the following exceptions: Smoot is young and might still emerge as a #1 CB, perhaps this season. And as for Parcells making the playoffs in similar circumstances, I'd say the NFC East was a lot weaker last season, thus diminishing his accomplishment just a bit.

On paper I believe this is the best team the Redskins have had in over a decade. We don't know exactly how the pieces are going to mesh yet but you have to like all the upgrades the team has made, especially the change of coaches. With the new players, the new systems, the new coaches, the team might struggle at first but I'm betting they finish strong. If the Skins were in another division, I'd like our odds of a wild card at least. But the old NFC East is back and it's probably going to be a dogfight ... I don't think we should underestimate any team in our division. At a minimum, the upcoming season will be competitive and fun to watch ... and there's a small but realistic chance we'll get to the Super Bowl every season from now until Gibbs retires.