Here is a "hidden problem" we haven't addressed yet...

[sportscurmudgeon]

Paintrain:

I have no intention of "burying the new regime". I fundamentally believe that Bruce Allen is a big step up from Vinny Cerrato. But he will be only as good as the information that is available to him from those who work for him.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Smootsmack:

Yeah, I realize that being a curmudgeon means pointing out the turds in the punchbowl more than once in a while. But at least this time I can say it was "before the fact" and not "after the fact".

With regard to Vinny not being a "consultant" or an "advisor" to Danny Boy, I completely agree that he will not be for at least a year or so. After that, I am not sure that Vinny will not find a way to wiggle his way back into a position where he gets to nibble on Danny Boy's earlobe more than once in a while. The ONLY way that would NEVER happen would be for Vinny to get a job as the GM of another NFL team and that is just not gonna happen in the near future...

OK, I'll keep the book on Rinehart open for the moment. Will you concede that his on-field performance in the two years since they drafted him has been far less than satisfactory for a first day draft pick? Maybe he'll develop. If he does, kudos to the next OL coach...

Granted, Montgomery cost the team the minimum salary and granted that he was the best of the lot that Vinny and the scouts found to bring in. But is that REALLY the best that was available? If so, that says the NFL is likely to run out of offensive linemen in the near future. Two words here: Can't play.

I'm not bitching about drafting Thomas ahead of Jackson - - even though that sure looks like a mistake. What I think is important is the scouting input that went to the honchos in the FO that led them to think Thomas was the better player. Big Haired Aristocrat thinks it was "height". I have to think that there had to be more scouting input than that. I can hire a twelve year old to rank order players in terms of height.

The Redskins roster as listed on NFL.com says that "he" is still on the roster as of 12/30/09. Even if that is outdated, he was surely on the roster for most of the season. And - - wait for it - - he can't play either!

Other NFL teams have had OL injuries and have had better players top plug in than what is on the Skins roster now and during the season. The Eagles had ONE offensive lineman play in every game this year - - and now he is on IR (Jamaal Jackson). The Panthers had ONE offensive lineman play in the game where they dominated the Giants who was a starter in September. They lost both OTs and both OGs. Their replacements are competent; go through my list and find "competent"...

Kevin Huntly is on the roster - - not the practice squad, the roster. Who told whom he could play? Have you seen any evidence that is the case after 3 years in the NFL?

Sorry, forgot about Marty in SD. You are right; he was the head coach there after Danny Boy let him go. Mea culpa!

[sportscurmudgeon]

Dirtbag 359:

I am indeed crusty and ill-tempered.

However, I take exception to your saying that I am "usually old". I am in fact ALWAYS old...

[sportscurmudgeon]

CRedskinsRule:

First of all, I have already admitted that I made a mistake about Marty Schotenheimer not coaching in the NFL after Danny Boy fired him.

Secondly, if you buy into the Redskins hiring a "blue-chip coach" who has Super Bowl credentials", then you also have to buy into the FACT that that coach and not Bruce Allen will hire his (the coach's) staff.

Now as to Allen's staff, if he does not find out what the track record of regional scouts was with regard to players who turned out to be stars elsewhere or marginal players on the Redskins, how might he decide who to keep and who to send packing?

[sportscurmudgeon]

GusFrerotte:

If you - - or the current Skins' Staff - - wants to convince yourself/itself that the drafting in the past several years was "good" simply because a bunch of players made the roster, then you wil consign this team to mediocrity forever. Roster building is as important as coaching; wasting draft picks on players who never amount to more than a "special teams demon" or worse is a ticket to "Top Ten Picking" more years than not.

If you don't think so, go ask a Raiders fan...

[sportscurmudgeon]

jamf:

Let me tranalste your post for you:


Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain... There's nothing here to see, just move along... Bruce Allen is omniscient and will solve each and every problem that comes his way brilliantly - - just the way Joe Gibbs did.

Ooops...

[SmootSmack]

What roster are you looking at that still has Kevin Huntley on it? He's been gone for a while. Since before Zorn coached his first game

And Batiste was cut about a month ago. They kept him on the roster hoping to develop him and it didn't work out

On the one hand you say you never said you didn't like the scouting dept. and on the other you pick on roster moves (such as Huntley) that are irrelevant now (as much as they were when they signed him)

This was just a bad thread to begin with. I agree that scouting is important, I've said it myself before, but your approach was all wrong.

[KLHJ2]

I just read every single post and I have absolutely no idea what I was going to say.

HTTR!

That should satisfy those who want to see a meaningful post.

[sportscurmudgeon]

The Goat:

Bruce Allen's reputation has been made on roster building. So - - the question here is how much of that did HE do personally and independently of his scouts. If he is dependent on top-shelf scouting input to get the results he achieved elsewhere, then I have some worries about how "top-shelf" the scouts are here on whom he will depend...

[KLHJ2]

I thought that there were rumors that Shanny was building his staff somewhere at a Dunkin Doughnuts in Denver. Word has it that GW Bush is his scouting Czar.

[sportscurmudgeon]

dmek25:

They have done lots of things right. They have done more things wrongly than rightly; but they have gotten lots of things right. Want a couple of examples off the top of my head?

1. Drafting Brian Orakpo and realizing that he was coachable enough to allow them to change his position from college to the NFL without making him a less effective player.

2. Signing Andre Carter as a free agent.

3. Signing London Fletcher as a free agent.

4. Signing Shawn Springs as a free agent.

5. Signing Randy Thomas as a free agent.

6. Drafting Chirs Cooley.

7. Finding diamonds in the rough such as Kedrick Golston to fill in when injuries demanded that they play lots of minutes.

8. [Pending] Drafting Jeremy Jarmon with a 3rd round pick. If he were in this year's normal draft, he would go in Round 1 - - of Round 2 at the very least.


Don't ask for my list of things they did wrong. I might not have the time to type that list out...

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

The Goat:

Bruce Allen's reputation has been made on roster building. So - - the question here is how much of that did HE do personally and independently of his scouts. If he is dependent on top-shelf scouting input to get the results he achieved elsewhere, then I have some worries about how "top-shelf" the scouts are here on whom he will depend...

Is it your take that Allen will not be allowed to assemble a scouting staff of his liking? What good what it do Snyder to bring in a professional football man but then continue to lean on subpar scouts (and not those of Allen)?

[diehardskin2982]

I have to wholeheartedly disagree with you curmudgeon. There are many cases in the NFL of teams that where bad one year, a few changes later become competitive. The Bengals, Dolphins, Falcons, and the list goes on from there. Remember the Saints where bottom barrel until they signed Drew Brees and hired Payton.
I feel we have a good scouting department. Eric Schafer is known as a genius around the league. He is why we have not fallen into the contract hell that the media have expected us to fall into. Morocco Brown is a very talented evaluator. Don Warren has been with the Redskins both as a legendary player and as a scout. Most of the scouts are relatively new, young and talented. The only guy I would let go is Scott Campbell. Although he has 23 years in front office experience, he was Vinny’s guy and should be let go. Louis Riddick should be brought back to replace Campbell in my opinion. He was a scapegoat for Cerrato’s failures, and Vinny feared someone better than him being on this staff. If they make that minor change Allen will have a strong department backing him. Also there needs to be communication by the pro scouts to players and coaches on both sides pointing out weaknesses of our opponents. Riddick did this for William’s defense, I think it gave them an advantage on game day.
You can not hit a homerun every time in the draft. We pick talented players but we don’t give them game experience to play and develop into stars. Hopefully the new coaching staff will make it a priority to let our youth play. Play the talent vs. playing the marketable name. We didn’t pick Jackson because he is just like Moss. We haven’t made it a priority to draft lineman since 2003 when we drafted Dockery. This is by my belief a direct strategy of Vinny he know skill players, not lineman. When Gibbs came back he put together a good line, but he had a tendency to get veterans rather than youth. That is why we are in the mess we’re in now. Age broke us down. No one expected Samuels to go down, or any of the other injuries for that matter. All this change will give us great results for years to come.

[sportscurmudgeon]

SmootSmack:

Try this link which I find at 2037 EST on 12/30/09:


Washington Redskins Roster | NFL at CBSSports.com


The roster is alphabetical and you will find Batiste and Huntley on it.

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

SmootSmack:

Try this link which I find at 2037 EST on 12/30/09:


Washington Redskins Roster | NFL at CBSSports.com


The roster is alphabetical and you will find Batiste and Huntley on it.

From the Redskins official website, Team - Washington Redskins

Both players do not appear. CBS Sportsline team pages are outdated.