What single factor is key for the Skins this year?

[marius]

I know that this questions is slightly fatuous as a good season is dependent on many factors that are all inter linked; however, I wondered what people thought was the single most important thing for us next season.

Zorn getting to grips with head coaching responsibility quickly? A healthy offensive line? Getting pressure on the quarterback? Improved secondary play?

For my money, the single most important factor that will determine the success of this team is Jason Campbell. I think that this is the season where he must really step up and cement himself as the leader of the team. He has shown tremendous potential but this is yet another offense to learn under a new leader. I feel that the Skins season will rise or fall on how he fares.

Personally, I think he is going to have a great year so am very optimistic about the season.

[HOGTIMUS PRIME]

We have a lot of question marks, but I do think JC is the biggest, perhaps it turns out to be Zorn? But I get the feeling he's going to be ok. I will go with Campbell.

[dmek25]

all teams success depends on health. so i will say its time for Campbell to step it up. no excuses. a first rounder, if he is the franchise qback, this will be the year we find out

[Hog1]

................winning.............
sorry-Joe theisman

[GoSkins!]

I going with the performance of the offensive line. If they stay healthy, protect Jason, and open up the running game like they did a couple of years ago, everything will click easier.

[hagams]

Without a doubt, health, and depth is going to be the biggest factors for us. We need to try and prevent the small nagging injuries and problems we had last year. The groins, Hammy's, and heat cramps hurt us pretty bad last year. The guys need to stay conditioned, and the trainers should be ensuring that they are stretched and hydrated. We can't prevent the big injuries.
We need to ensure we have good personell ready to step in if someone does go down also.

[Paintrain]

It begins and ends with Jason Campbell.. If he goes for 3500, 26 TD and 12 INT then we should be a playoff team. If it's more like 2900 18 TD and 16 INT then we're likely below .500.

The OL will be fine and I have no worries about the defense.

[freddyg12]

Health/depth & how well the D plays under Blache.

I really think there has to be a drop off in the D w/GW gone & some key starters up in age. Plus, very little quality depth behind them. GW got his teams to overachieve w/the exception of 06. I think Blache is in a tough spot & at this point the front office hasn't done much to improve his personel. WE'll see if they add some vet depth before camp, but at this point that's about all that's available.

Even though I expect the O to take some time, I feel really good about it. There's always the chance that this system just clicks for them right off the bat. Even if it doesn't, I feel like it will get going by mid season.

[Chief X_Phackter]

The single factor that is key for the Skins this year is how many wins they have.

[MTK]

injuries

[Schneed10]

The defense.

I think it's a given that the offense is going to be really rough, since we're in year 1 of a new system.

I think we're all waiting to find out exactly how big a loss GW was. Since Blache is keeping the system in place, we all tend to assume we'll be fine. But GW isn't referred to as a genius for nothing. If our defense stays in the top 10, we can still compete for a playoff spot. If it falls off, we'll go 5-11.

[J. Spanky]

zorn, blache and campbell are all big question marks. but i'm gonna go against the grain here and say the rookies, particularly the 2nd round picks, are the x-factor.

despite learning 2 systems since arriving here, jc has improved steadily and there's no reason to think that pattern will change. however, he had very little help from his receivers last year and the resulting domino effect of that is obviously a big part of the struggles we had.

with many of our losses last year coming with a single score difference, just one of those 3 newbies having a big year will be the difference in our record.

at the moment, my money's on kelly.

[Ade Jimoh Fan Club]

#1 factor is the QB. JC has shown flashes of being good, but so did Patrick Ramsey. If JC makes believers out of us, the Redskins will have a great season. But in order to do that, we need to think that he's going to have that last second scoring drive no problem (a la Manning) vs. "JC, please don't screw up, please, please!" I have no confidence in him as a "STAR" player yet - nor has he given anyone a reason to feel confident in him.

#2 OL. This has a direct impact on how #1 above turns out.

Coaching at the high school level and maybe college is important, because the players need to be coached what to do. At the pro level, they all know what to do and when to do it, so coaching has little to no impact on the game. Don't fool yourselves. I think Easterbrook from TMQB stated that coaching may have an impact on game if you have one of the top 3-4 or bottom 3-4 coaches. All the coaches in between are not going to really impact the outcome of the game. I was initially pissed about the Zorn hire until I read this article - but it makes sense. Now I just hope that Zorn helps JC come along -cause that is truly where he could make a difference.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Ade Jimoh Fan Club

#1 factor is the QB. JC has shown flashes of being good, but so did Patrick Ramsey. If JC makes believers out of us, the Redskins will have a great season. But in order to do that, we need to think that he's going to have that last second scoring drive no problem (a la Manning) vs. "JC, please don't screw up, please, please!" I have no confidence in him as a "STAR" player yet - nor has he given anyone a reason to feel confident in him.

#2 OL. This has a direct impact on how #1 above turns out.

Coaching at the high school level and maybe college is important, because the players need to be coached what to do. At the pro level, they all know what to do and when to do it, so coaching has little to no impact on the game. Don't fool yourselves. I think Easterbrook from TMQB stated that coaching may have an impact on game if you have one of the top 3-4 or bottom 3-4 coaches. All the coaches in between are not going to really impact the outcome of the game. I was initially pissed about the Zorn hire until I read this article - but it makes sense. Now I just hope that Zorn helps JC come along -cause that is truly where he could make a difference.

I'd have to disagree, and Easterbrook is a moron.

Coaching has a huge affect on the game. Coaches can overcomplicate schemes, they can put players out of position (Archuleta), they can clash with each other on philosophy (Saunders vs Gibbs & Bugel), they can inspire a team (Gibbs' December record), etcetera. Most of all, coaching comes into play when a new system is being put into place. When you're running a new system, how you perform in year one is all about the ability of the coach to teach and translate the playbook message onto the field.

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I'd have to disagree, and Easterbrook is a moron.

Coaching has a huge affect on the game. Coaches can overcomplicate schemes, they can put players out of position (Archuleta), they can clash with each other on philosophy (Saunders vs Gibbs & Bugel), they can inspire a team (Gibbs' December record), etcetera. Most of all, coaching comes into play when a new system is being put into place. When you're running a new system, how you perform in year one is all about the ability of the coach to teach and translate the playbook message onto the field.

I would disagree that Easterbrook is a moron, while agreeing that coaches do make a difference. Here is the link referred to for anyone who cares to parse the language. ESPN Page 2 - TMQ: SuperCoach?