Grading Bruce Allen

So, I have heard from many Redskin faithful how BA has done such a great job in the draft, I believe he has done some good things but one area that has not been addressed is in the secondary, this has and is going to be a problem for a some time to come, how do we fix this for next year?

So, I have heard from many Redskin faithful how BA has done such a great job in the draft, I believe he has done some good things but one area that has not been addressed is in the secondary, this has and is going to be a problem for a some time to come, how do we fix this for next year?

With another 18 million in penalty next year..this may be a two year process. Cornerbacks are hard to find and the good ones come with a high price tag.

When you consider the mind-boggling mess he inherited and the restrictions he's worked under, I'd say Allen has done an incredible job for us.

It would be easier to evaluate him if I knew what he did other than pick the uniform colors. It's obvious that Shanny is making the final call on all personnel moves so why blame Allen for the secondary problems?

He has a pretty high hit right on his free agent aquisitions. Bowen, Carriker, Coefield look strong. Morgan and Garcon are incomplete, but both clearly have flashed talent. His eye for o-line talent seems iffy, but that could also be because Shanny demands a certain type of player. Then again, Morris is having a heck of a season in the run game so Polumbus, Litchensteiger, and Chester can't be doing that badly. His first picks have all done pretty well and we seem to find an undrafted guy or two that always contributes.

Mid round choices like Riley and Young seem to be pretty good as were Helu, Royster, and Morris. I kind of belivieve Shanahan when he said that injury and suspension killed their plans at safety. I'm sure the 18 million being sprung on them the day before free agency didn't help either. That blindsided them and really did a number to their plans.

So, overall I think he's doing well. Heck, if everyone's biggest complaint is about a fourth rounder... well, that speaks volumes.

I can think of 36 million excuses for Bruce Allen not being able to address weaknesses on our roster.

I like what Allen has done. This team has had some really good drafts since he took over, and I think public relations have improved on his watch too.

We could have had that kid from LSU that the boys moved up for but instead we gave away the farm for RG111. Now dont get me wrong I think RG111 is awesome but the price was too high for us. If we could have got him with our #1 then fine but 3 1s and a 2 are too high a price to pay. RG111 is fun to watch but without a defence we will still be a 500. team.

As a fan base we need to be patient with this team. We are heading in the right direction. And I guarantee you that if the team has a chance to trade 3 1st round picks and a second for RG3, they will do it in a heartbeat. Just ask yourself this question, how far will a great CB/defense take you without a capable QB? Just enjoy what we are experiencing with our new found elite QB. In the next few years, we will be free of the salary cap shackle and have the ability to pickup free agent defensive backs and continue to improve the talent on this team through the draft. Please stop with the knee jerk reaction. Rome wasn't built in one day!!!!

We could have had that kid from LSU that the boys moved up for but instead we gave away the farm for RG111. Now dont get me wrong I think RG111 is awesome but the price was too high for us. If we could have got him with our #1 then fine but 3 1s and a 2 are too high a price to pay. RG111 is fun to watch but without a defence we will still be a 500. team.

And without a franchise QB, we'd be a perpetual SUB .500 team. We've had solid defensive units and sub par QBs for pretty much the last decade, and the results speak for themselves. This FO did what they had to do to. I applaud Bruce, Shanahan and even Snyder...this team is clearly headed in the right direction.

With all the things a GM is responsible for behind closed doors, it's hard to grade one. In short, I can say it's an incomplete set of starters and a lack of depth. Needs more time to come to a boil. Unfortunately, the nature of the game is that millions are always watching the pot.

He does a good job

Can't really complain about the draft picks that he's selected, Helu and Royster did excel when they had the chance,when they weren't afflicted by injury

So, I have heard from many Redskin faithful how BA has done such a great job in the draft, I believe he has done some good things but one area that has not been addressed is in the secondary, this has and is going to be a problem for a some time to come, how do we fix this for next year?

We know Shanahan covets good corners--just look at him trading away a once in a lifetime back for Bailey. Portis could have gone on to run for 14,000 yards under Shanahan's system, but he knew how important a top corner was. I think it's just a money and supply issue, like some have said.

He inherited a potential Pro Bowl safety in LaRon Landry, and a potential Pro Bowl CB in Carlos Rogers. LaRon, about 90% of people here agreed it was time to move on. It just wasn't working out. He was always hurt. And despite people crying "we should have kept Carlos", he wasn't going to resign here. He wanted Revis money, and nobody in the league was going to give it to him. He expected it from us most of all. He signed with SanFran at the vet min for a year. He could've gotten that here, but he was all pissy over what has happened here for his entire career. Can't blame him, but the damage was done by Cerrato and company, not Bruce Allen.

So two big hits were players from the previous regime that probably both wanted to get out. It was part of the culture change.

The only move I haven't liked was the McNabb trade. And I can't really fault them for trying to make something happen. Everybody makes mistakes, but Allen has done a good job minimizing them in my mind.

All Allen does is negotiate contracts, manage the cap, and handle the bureaucracy. Shanny runs the draft and makes personnel decisions. BA is GM in name only; his role is essentially the same as Cerrato under Gibbs. The question that should be asked is how does one grade Shanny's roster building thus far.

All Allen does is negotiate contracts, manage the cap, and handle the bureaucracy. Shanny runs the draft and makes personnel decisions. BA is GM in name only; his role is essentially the same as Cerrato under Gibbs. The question that should be asked is how does one grade Shanny's roster building thus far.

This.

If you want to have a thread on grading Bruce Allen, you need to discuss how he has handled the cap, contracts signed, etc. Bruce doesn't pick the players or make decisions on trades.

All Allen does is negotiate contracts, manage the cap, and handle the bureaucracy. Shanny runs the draft and makes personnel decisions. BA is GM in name only; his role is essentially the same as Cerrato under Gibbs. The question that should be asked is how does one grade Shanny's roster building thus far.

Shanahan said that he would come here *only* if Allen were the GM.

I do the casework for all of my cases, but my supervisor (and ultimately up the chain, but let's just say it's my supervisor to make it analogous) has the final say. I do maybe 90% of the work, but I do zero unless she approves it.

Just because Shanahan has the final say doesn't mean that he does all of the work to get to that final say. If that were true, then we wouldn't need a GM. I'm not saying that it's 90%, but it's way more than for which you guys are giving credit.

An A+ would be insulting for Allen. I honestly can't believe the difference. My man cave is an absolute mess. I could work on it for hours and not notice a difference, but once I have that system in place, and I stick to it, it will be pristine. It takes a long time to fix a team.

Here's a question: Has a team ever been in such disarray, over two decades, as ours? That's not just hiring bad players or bad coaches; those are simple fixes. The big one is changing a culture of losing that is a literal fifth of a century old. It's going to be a while, but once it gets going, we'll have our six-pack of Lombardis within 10-15 years.

Shanahan said that he would come here *only* if Allen were the GM.

I do the casework for all of my cases, but my supervisor (and ultimately up the chain, but let's just say it's my supervisor to make it analogous) has the final say. I do maybe 90% of the work, but I do zero unless she approves it.

Just because Shanahan has the final say doesn't mean that he does all of the work to get to that final say. If that were true, then we wouldn't need a GM.

Allen picks no players.

Allen makes no moves without Shannys approval.

He needs a GM because he needs a capologist.

I like what Bruce and Shanny are doing here. The results aren't necessarily what I want, but I think the team is on the right track. We may be like 6-10 this year, but I truly believe next year we'll start seeing huge improvements (like a 10-6 record or even 11-5).

Allen picks no players.

Allen makes no moves without Shannys approval.

He needs a GM because he needs a capologist.

I don't think that you read my post.

If he just needed a capologist, then he'd get a nerd (which we've already had or we would be in "Cap Hell") and a good lawyer (which he already has). There would be zero reason to specifically say that he wanted Bruce Allen.

You honestly think that, between being a head coach, a father, a husband, a grandfather, and everything else, he does it all on his own? He goes to every single college game, scouts every single player, without any assistance? Of course you don't. There are scouts. There are supervisors who are in charge of the scouts. And so on. They are ultimately the responsibility of Allen, and Shanahan has a big part in deciding what to do and what to look for in a player. He gives the final say. He doesn't do it all on his own.

Allen plays a massive role, and to think that he's just a capologist and contract negotiator is unrealistic.

Shanny wanted Allen because they were friends from Oakland...where Allen took marching orders from Al Davis. He may do more work than Shan-o as far as collecting and compiling film, notes,etc., but he is not picking any players. For that we should be grateful, since the one time he did have free reign in TB, his record was so awful Cerrato looks good by comparison.

All Allen does is negotiate contracts, manage the cap, and handle the bureaucracy. Shanny runs the draft and makes personnel decisions. BA is GM in name only; his role is essentially the same as Cerrato under Gibbs. The question that should be asked is how does one grade Shanny's roster building thus far.

When it comes to building a roster, Bruce Allen was powerless working for Al Davis at Oakland, powerless working with John Gruden at Tampa Bay and he's powerless working with Shanahan. Mike would not have come here if he didn't have full control of the roster.

Tampa Bay hired him to clean up their Cap situation. He had done a very good job of handling that for Al Davis the year that Davis went strong into free agency. He's a bean-counter.

Bruce Allen is not doing a great job in the draft, because Bruce Allen is not in charge of the draft.

This is a dumb discussion.

---------- Post added October-8th-2012 at 09:40 AM ----------

Allen plays a massive role, and to think that he's just a capologist and contract negotiator is unrealistic.

True. But at the end of the day, he is a voice. This roster is Shanahan's.

Shanny wanted Allen because they were friends from Oakland...where Allen took marching orders from Al Davis. He may do more work than Shan-o as far as collecting and compiling film, notes,etc., but he is not picking any players. For that we should be grateful, since the one time he did have free reign in TB, his record was so awful Cerrato looks good by comparison.

He picked him because they were friends? Shanahan hasn't shown you that he's competitive as hell as friendships don't matter on the field? He's friends with Fischer whose dirty ass team was trying to hurt his players. Friendships don't matter between the guns.

And you don't think that collecting and compiling film, notes, and the plethora of things that you summed up in "etc." is a ton of work that contributes to the players? That he doesn't have an opinion that his heavily weighted?

He's shown that he can't be in charge, but you don't get the opportunity to be in charge unless you've shown talent to do so.

Or are a quarterbacks coach for the Seahawks.

When you consider the mind-boggling mess he inherited and the restrictions he's worked under, I'd say Allen has done an incredible job for us.

THIS! I think he's been nothing short of fantastic. This team was in a black hole before he came in.

That's my position also.

When it comes to building a roster, Bruce Allen was powerless working for Al Davis at Oakland, powerless working with John Gruden at Tampa Bay and he's powerless working with Shanahan. Mike would not have come here if he didn't have full control of the roster.

Tampa Bay hired him to clean up their Cap situation. He had done a very good job of handling that for Al Davis the year that Davis went strong into free agency. He's a bean-counter.

The vice president is powerless in policy creation. So he doesn't have a major influence? The secretary of state is nothing? No way in hell. Even Hitler listened to his generals and advisers, and he had a little bit more power in his situation than Shanahan.

To think that Shanahan is doing this is illogical.

---------- Post added October-8th-2012 at 10:56 AM ----------

True. But at the end of the day' date=' he is a voice. This roster is Shanahan's.[/quote']

I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm disagreeing with the idea that he has no part in it and is just a bean counter.