Somebody please try to convince me that the FO has a plan.

[redsk1]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

The only draft pick we're really missing from this years draft that is the result of a questionable move is the 2nd for Taylor. If Taylor had performed as most expected he would have, he would have been well worth the pick.

We lost our 4th rounder because we traded for Kendall 2 years ago - trading a 4th round pick, two years in advance, for a consistent starter and a guy who was the 2nd best lineman on the team for 2 years was a solid move.

Trading our 7th round pick for James last year was an extremely good move as well. getting a young former first round DE for a 7th round pick was a low risk/high reward move that just didnt work out. ,most of the time, guys drafted in the 5th-7th rounds dont make active rosters and fairly often, they dont even make practice squads.

You criticize the FO and say they dont have a plan because we only have 4 picks this year - well we had 10 picks last year. Save Philly, thats more than any of the teams you mention have this year. Having draft picks doesnt mean anything - its how a team uses them. We did an excellent job in the draft last year (we didnt need starters, we needed backups, special teamers, and future starters). Morocco Brown is by all appearances extremely adept at finding "hidden gems" in the lower rounds and in undrafted players - look at how many of our undrafted practice squad players were signed to other teams active rosters last year for proof. I'm confident we'll select good players this year too.

One final thing - overall, theres little difference in talent in players drafted in the 4th round and guys who are undrafted free agents anyways. We have 2 picks in rounds 1-3 and theres a very good chance we can trade down and turn that into 3 or 4 picks. What we do in those rounds will have the most significant impact on the team in 2009. Round 4-undrafted free agents is usually just practice squad/training camp material, so our only having picks in the 5th and 6th rounds shouldnt hurt us much at all.

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.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

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.

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.