Quote:
Originally Posted by redsk1
My example was this years draft but the FO has had a long experience of not using the draft to build a team. I bet you if I researched who has had the most picks in the last 5 years we would find the consistently good teams.
I'm not saying that just b/c you have alot of picks automatically means you are going to be successful. I'm just saying our history of not using the draft has produced what? Mediocre football. Holes, gaps, and aging players.
Hey, i'm not saying you should ever trade draft picks. It makes sense sometimes. However we've been less than frugal over DS's tenure w/ the draft.
Yes, we had 10 picks last year. That was great, but again if i do the research we probably have had the fewest picks in the NFL over the last 5-10 years.
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Last year marked a new beginning for our team. Looking at the past 5 years is not an accurate picture to look at a team unless the front office structure and philosophy has remained the same for that time period. Before last year, the prior 4 years were spent in an effort to build a team that could "win now." We traded draft picks and mortgaged the future becuase Joe Gibbs had a limited window to work with to reach the superbowl. Gibbs failed.
After Gibbs retired, the plan had to change. Because of all the moves we made during Gibbs tenure, we were left with a pretty big hole to dig our way out of: Lots of old, declining players with cap figures making them uncuttable and a lack of draft picks. Its going to take time to dig out of that hole and start building for long-term sucess.
Last year we had all our starting players coming back, so we cut our older depth players, and replaced them with younger depth players in the draft. As it stands right now, we had 10 draft picks last year and we have 4 this year. So our two-year average for draft picks is currently sitting at 7. Theres a very good chance we trade down for more picks, so that average can be pushed up further.
This offseason, we've already cut every major older veteran that could be cut and replaced them with younger, promising players. We declined to resign a 30year old average Defensive lineman and weve declined to replace Washington by signing a mediocre talent to a long-term contract. We have a need at right tackle, but we declined to sign mediocre-talented RTs. This franchise is being smart and not committing money to unproven, average players. The only three major needs the team has right now on offense and defense are RT, RDE and SLB. We still have the draft and we have the 13th overall pick. That means we will fill one of those vacancies with a star player immediately or trade down and fill two or three of those vacancies with guys who can be solid players. By all accounts, Kareem Moore, Chris Horton, Devin Thomas, Malcom Kelly, and especially Fred Davis, and maybe even Rob Jackson will contribute significantly on offense and defense this year. Tryon is getting really good at special teams. Brennan should suprlant Collins as #2 QB in the next year or two.
Next year will be uncapped so we'll be able to cut older guys like Randy Thomas and hopefully guys like Rinehart will be ready by then. If not, we've got 6 picks already and we should get a Comp pick for Evans. If Daniels and Washington sign with other teams, we may get comp picks for them as well. If we're not one of the top 8 teams in the NFL in 2009, we'll also be able to sign as many FAs as we want without having to worry about the cap.
I am generally a very skeptical person, but everything this franchise is doing shows me its moving in the right direction. This franchise dug itself into a hole that got even worse when Joe Gibbs was here. We "went all in" for Gibbs and the gamble failed. its going to take time to dig ourselves out of it. We just need to show some patience.