Half the Season in - Grading the Offseason Acquisitions

[Riggo-toni]

Here's something you can't often say for the Redskins - no mega free agent busts this year. A couple of minor disappointments, but the only big money that looks poorly spent was for doing what we always complain the franchise doesn't do enough of - retaining our home grown players.

DeSean Jackson - worth every penny, despite his inability to block in the run game. The best deep threat not named Calvin Johnson.

Andre Roberts - solid value for the money - between our 3 WRs and our 2 pass catching TEs we have the best receiving group in the NFL. Yup, I said it. And we finally have a returner again.

Shawn Lavao - meh, should never be a starter.

Edit: Didn't realize we'd given him a 5m SB. I realize he sucks bit thought he had comeon the cheap. Bad value.

Hopefully he's relegated to backup duty next year. Not a very good pickup.

Hatcher -this was the one I was most worried about -first good year comes in a contract year after as a 4-3 DE. Still, he's playing well, though not spectacularly.

Orakpo - no, he was never gonna be worth a franchise tender, but it seemed it was worth the one year cap hit to see what he could do. Didn't work out, not by a long shot, but I can't be too upset by this one since I thought it was a solid move at the time. Made much more sense then the insane new contract Arrington got years ago just because he was a fan and Dan fave.

Tress Way - Wow! How often do you say Wow when it comes to a punter.

Colt McCoy - do you think Jerrah is wondering npw if he signed the wrong busted ex-Browns QB?

Ryan Clark -anytime time sign a guy for vet min and he's starting, you can't call it a bad value.

Tracy Porter - a desperate signing for depth who turned into this year's Michael Barrow. A bust, but not sure how much we laid out for him.

Draft:

Jury is still out on our top 3 picks, but Trent Murphy looked pretty good last night. Not saying he's better than Orakpo, but I think he fits the 3-4 scheme better. (My money is on Orakpo going to a 4-3 team next year and getting 10 or 11 sacks.) We got our best pass rush of the year against one of the supposedly best OLs in the NFL with Murphy in and Orakpo out.

I had hoped Spencer Long would have cracked the starting lineup by now. Hopefully both our OL picks will be starters by next year. If one of them makes it, that's a solid draft. If both spend year 2 riding the pine, the draft class will be seen as disappointing. If both become solid starters, give Bruce Campbell or AJ Smith a nice bonus. Still too early to call here.

Breeland looks like one of the great steals of the draft, and I've been thinking that even prior to last night. Tough as nails physical. Ryan Grant was also a great pick - if we weren't so deep at WR, he'd look much better.

[Burgold]

Porter... Our biggest bust. Badly rated and can't even get on the field w a depleted secondary bc he can't shake preseason injuries.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Um...Hatcher? Clark? McCoy?

[Rufus T Firefly]

Wow. Them is some rose colored glasses.

 

Orakpo- 11 mil for 0.5 sacks, Lauvao has been nothing short of terrible, Roberts is having a bad year dropping balls all over the place and Tracy Porter has been a big nothing.

 

It's a mixed bag, at best.

[Burgold]

It's amazing how good the world looks after a win, Rufus.

[Rufus T Firefly]

It's amazing how good the world looks after a win, Rufus.

True

[rebornempowered]

Wow. Them is some rose colored glasses.

 

Orakpo- 11 mil for 0.5 sacks, 

 

Better 11 million for one year than what he probably wanted for a long term contract.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Better 11 million for one year than what he probably wanted for a long term contract.

Yeah, I can't give credit for a good move because there were other dumber possibilities they passed on.

[emor09]

I see why the Cardinals let Andre Roberts walk. He's had some key drops (and a fumble) during the 4-game losing skid. 

 

DeSean has been everything I dreamed of and more. Every time we throw to him, something good happens. 

 

Outside of the Jacksonville game, I've been disappointed with Hatcher. 

[dballer]

Wow. Them is some rose colored glasses.

Orakpo- 11 mil for 0.5 sacks, Lauvao has been nothing short of terrible, Roberts is having a bad year dropping balls all over the place and Tracy Porter has been a big nothing.

It's a mixed bag, at best.

Id say the Desean acquisition outweighs all the poor performers combined. He singlehandedly makes the offense dangerous. The OP was being generous putting Calvin ahead of him as a deep threat id say it wasn't close.

[Warhead36]

Jackson: A+

 

Everyone else(in terms of Free Agents): C- at best

 

Reg. the draft, Breeland looks like a keeper. The rest? Jury remains out.

[ZRagone]

Wow. Them is some rose colored glasses.

 

Orakpo- 11 mil for 0.5 sacks, Lauvao has been nothing short of terrible, Roberts is having a bad year dropping balls all over the place and Tracy Porter has been a big nothing.

 

It's a mixed bag, at best.

 

See, I disagree here. I've seen it said a bunch by people, and I think this is the case of recency.

 

3 weeks ago Roberts was being jocked significantly on this forum. It's amazing how quick an entire season can be rewritten.

 

I remember the love fest for him after the Jacksonville game. That was the one which had him catching and running on a beautiful long pass, managing nearly 20 yards on a rushing play, and picking up two big 3rd down conversions for us in the 2nd half.

 

I remember it was similar in the eagles game, with him picking up two big 3rd down conversions again and many people starting to view him as "clutch" 3rd down target. Over all he had 4 first downs in that game, with each catch moving the sticks.

 

Then the Seahawks game. Once again coming up big on 3rd down, with three catches to move the sticks. And the touchdown.

 

He had some bad drops in the Arizona and the Tennessee game, but he's had some pretty good games as a #3 WR this year too. At a time where we were badly missing Reed we had Roberts coming up big on 3rd down repeatedly.

 

Through 8 games our #3 WR (in an offense that makes heavy use of the TE) has 23 receptions, 2 TDs, abd 248 yards. Not great stats but not bad in the least. And I think his impact on 3rd downs early in the season are a big thing that doesn't show up in the stat line.

 

He hasn't lit the world on fire, and undoubtably he's not had his best games the past few weeks, but I think its unfair to him and unrealistic to ignore his solid performance earlier in the season.

[Rufus T Firefly]

See, I disagree here. I've seen it said a bunch by people, and I think this is the case of recency.

 

3 weeks ago Roberts was being jocked significantly on this forum. It's amazing how quick an entire season can be rewritten.

 

I remember the love fest for him after the Jacksonville game. That was the one which had him catching and running on a beautiful long pass, managing nearly 20 yards on a rushing play, and picking up two big 3rd down conversions for us in the 2nd half.

 

I remember it was similar in the eagles game, with him picking up two big 3rd down conversions again and many people starting to view him as "clutch" 3rd down target. Over all he had 4 first downs in that game, with each catch moving the sticks.

 

Then the Seahawks game. Once again coming up big on 3rd down, with three catches to move the sticks. And the touchdown.

 

He had some bad drops in the Arizona and the Tennessee game, but he's had some pretty good games as a #3 WR this year too. At a time where we were badly missing Reed we had Roberts coming up big on 3rd down repeatedly.

 

Through 8 games our #3 WR (in an offense that makes heavy use of the TE) has 23 receptions, 2 TDs, abd 248 yards. Not great stats but not bad in the least. And I think his impact on 3rd downs early in the season are a big thing that doesn't show up in the stat line.

 

He hasn't lit the world on fire, and undoubtably he's not had his best games the past few weeks, but I think its unfair to him and unrealistic to ignore his solid performance earlier in the season.

Earlier in the season included that terrible going out of bounds play in the Houston game which killed a chance at a big drive.

 

The season is half over. Roberts is on pace for 496 yards, which is less than Leonard Hankerson and Josh Morgan have produced in recent years. That is less than what we expected when we signed him. And yes, he's had some big drops. He;s been Ok on punt returns and bad on KO returns. Overall, he's been a letdown.

[kost203]

can we cut sean lavou at the end of the season? and if so what will be the cap price we eat.  he has not been good at all, another reach oline in freeagency. chester and lavou are the weak link... djack well ... wow! speed!!! and to think we could have and should have drafted him with vinny running the circus at the time.

[ZRagone]

Earlier in the season included that terrible going out of bounds play in the Houston game which killed a chance at a big drive.

 

The season is half over. Roberts is on pace for 496 yards, which is less than Leonard Hankerson and Josh Morgan have produced in recent years. That is less than what we expected when we signed him. And yes, he's had some big drops. He;s been Ok on punt returns and bad on KO returns. Overall, he's been a letdown.

 

So less than our #2 recievers in previous years. Well yes, I expect our #3 WR to produce less than our previous #2 WR's.

 

I don't think he's been great, but I just don't see him as a "let down" either. I expected him to be a pretty solid slot guy whose a mix of short possession throws and perhaps a longer surprise one here or there, which by and large he's been. The drops have been unfortunate, but to me their badness is somewhat offset by his continual clutch work on 3rd downs earlier in the season.

 

He's doing about what I expected for our #3 WR, especially given our problems at QB.

 

I just think it's funny how much of a significant change the attitude to him has been, where earlier in the year there were many on the forum seemingly giving him a huge thumbs up and now all of a sudden a bunch of folks acting like he's a bum.

 

He's just been solid. Not a great pickup, but not a bad one by any stretch. He's done his job. Would I like him to EXCEL at his job? Absolutely. But I don't think, by and large, he's failed at it.

[RhodeIsland Ave]

DJax - A

Roberts - C. Improved the return game but he doesn't fight for contested balls and has come down with a case of the dropsies

Lavvaro - D. Sucks. Would have been nice if he was a backup, but they acquired him to be a starter. I don't know who failed more on this one, Lavvaro or the FO.

Orakpo - F. Based on the 11mil price tag...he turned in a bust of a season.

Hatcher - B/C - Started out great, but played has slipped of late, prob due to the hamstring issue. 

Clark - D. For all the crap we gave Rambo about taking bad angles, missing tackles, etc - Clark is doing the same. Maybe he is a calming voice to the young corners - and that's great and all - but we needed an on the field producer. Sadly, we acquired Clark 8 yrs too late.

 

Not gonna grade the draft picks as they need time to be coached up.

[Rufus T Firefly]

So less than our #2 recievers in previous years. Well yes, I expect our #3 WR to produce less than our previous #2 WR's.

 

We had FOUR WRs who got more than 500 yards in 2012. And Roberts was signed to improve on those guys, which he hasn't. He's 5th on the team in yards, and needed Reed to get hurt to be that high. This while being 3rd in targets.. Roy Helu has more receiving yards on just over half the targets.

 

None of this adds up to a good signing.

[SweetAlfred]

Look what a win can do, so much positives.

[Rufus T Firefly]

DJax - A

Roberts - C. Improved the return game but he doesn't fight for contested balls and has come down with a case of the dropsies

Lavvaro - D. Sucks. Would have been nice if he was a backup, but they acquired him to be a starter. I don't know who failed more on this one, Lavvaro or the FO.

Orakpo - F. Based on the 11mil price tag...he turned in a bust of a season.

Hatcher - B/C - Started out great, but played has slipped of late, prob due to the hamstring issue. 

Clark - D. For all the crap we gave Rambo about taking bad angles, missing tackles, etc - Clark is doing the same. Maybe he is a calming voice to the young corners - and that's great and all - but we needed an on the field producer. Sadly, we acquired Clark 8 yrs too late.

 

Not gonna grade the draft picks as they need time to be coached up.

All fair. I don't bother grading Clark because he's just a minimum salary guy. Porter is an F, though. 

[DC9]

Um...Hatcher? Clark? McCoy?

 

Yep. 

 

Best:

 

DJax

Hatch

Tress

Roberts - what he does on teams is taken for granted.  He's also been a solid target and a good route runner.

 

Meh:

 

Clark... he's hot and cold, but we've not been beaten deep as often

Davis

McCoy - so far so good, if he's willing to play backup to RG3 he will get a lot of chances.  Hopefully he performs like he has

 

Bad:

 

Luavoa... this mother ****er

[Airyx]

Clark - D. For all the crap we gave Rambo about taking bad angles, missing tackles, etc - Clark is doing the same. Maybe he is a calming voice to the young corners - and that's great and all - but we needed an on the field producer. Sadly, we acquired Clark 8 yrs too late.

 

 

If you only watch Clark on TV, I can see how you would say this. However, if you download the All-22, or go to the games in person, you'll see that he is playing VERY well. He sees the play, and flys to the ball (with a perfect angles) every single down. It is Clark that is making the  two young corners able to play better than that actually are.

 

You can't judge an entire season of excellent play by one mistake.

[ZRagone]

We had FOUR WRs who got more than 500 yards in 2012. And Roberts was signed to improve on those guys, which he hasn't. He's 5th on the team in yards, and needed Reed to get hurt to be that high. This while being 3rd in targets.. Roy Helu has more receiving yards on just over half the targets.

 

None of this adds up to a good signing.

 

True. We had four WR's who got more than 500 yards in 2012...largely thanks to the ball being spread around massively.

 

Through the first 8 games DeSean Jackson alone has more yards than any single WR had for us through the entire season in 2012. He's 19 targets away from having as many targets as our top WR in that category, Morgan, had in 2012.

 

Pierre already has as many targets half way through the year as our 4th most targetted WR in 2012 and only 11 off his season total. He's also already approaching 500 yards for the season at 443.

 

This offense is also using the TE significantly differently.

 

Niles's 37 targets this year already is one off from the high for TE's in 2012, with 38 to Paulson. As a total, our TE's through 8 games have been targetted only 11 times less than they were for the entire 2012 season. Niles already has nearly 100 yards more than the leading TE from 2012.

 

I don't think it's a great comparison point. And Roberts has flashed to me the ability to make a big needed catch, such as the third down catches early in the season, FAR more than Morgan did who consistently came up short of the stick. To me, that is an improvement over Morgan.

 

If you've been negative on him all season long then I disagree, but I can respect the consistency. It just seems that over all, the general sentiment seemed to shift MASSIVELY from "great signing" to "bust signing" in the span of a couple of weeks, both of which I think are exaggerated positions. I think he's been a pretty solid signing thus far for what he's asked to do in this offense mixed with his special teams contribution

 

[DiscoBob]

Clark - D. For all the crap we gave Rambo about taking bad angles, missing tackles, etc - Clark is doing the same. Maybe he is a calming voice to the young corners - and that's great and all - but we needed an on the field producer. Sadly, we acquired Clark 8 yrs too late.

 

He hasn't been a game changer or anything, but you've got selective memory regarding Rambo (and our other safeties) over the past two years.  Clark has been MUCH better.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Thread title is grade.  So I'll grade:

 

DeSean Jackson: A McCoy: "He's SOOOO Fast."

Hatcher: B Gets good push, but no help, and the hammy injury hurt him.

Andre Roberts: C Started stronger than he's finished

Clark: C- gets folks lined up, but not as good as he used to be.  Good having him back though.  

Shawn Lavao: D Better options available

Porter: F.  Mostly because he's costing money and not playing.  

Orakpo: F- Cost the team a lot of cap space, and got nothing in return. 

Tress Way: A

All three ILB signees: D.  Injured, ineffective, and gone.  

 

 

Breeland looks like the steel of this draft class.  Incompletes on Moses and Long.  Murphy had a pretty good game in his one start.

We had FOUR WRs who got more than 500 yards in 2012. And Roberts was signed to improve on those guys, which he hasn't. He's 5th on the team in yards, and needed Reed to get hurt to be that high. This while being 3rd in targets.. Roy Helu has more receiving yards on just over half the targets.

 

None of this adds up to a good signing.

Here's my slight counter to that:

 

He's in a tough spot, because the running game is struggling, they've gone to more 2 WR, TE, FB, RB looks, and that is limiting his opportunities.  When he's on the field, whenever DJax gets single coverage, the ball is going that way. 

 

Garcon, Reed, DJax are the obvious top 3 targets, and Helu is the escape valve.

 

That leaves Roberts as "that other guy."  I don't think he's been the primary receiver on just about any play.  In the one game where DJax missed time, he stepped up and contributed.

 

I like what he's doing on ST, for the most part.  

 

So, I give him a "C."

 

If the coaches would spread out the defense and run the ball with draws and traps, he'd get more opportunities, and he'd probably be more productive.  

[NIKKI8]

Here's something you can't often say for the Redskins - no free agent busts this year.  A couple of minor disappointments, but the only big money that looks poorly spent was for doing what we always complain the franchise doesn't do enough of - retaining our home grown players.

 

DeSean Jackson - worth every penny, despite his inability to block in the run game. The best deep threat not named Calvin Johnson.

 

Andre Roberts - solid value for the money - between our 3 WRs and our 2 pass catching TEs we have the best receiving group in the NFL.  Yup, I said it.

 

Shawn Lavao - meh, should never be a starter, but like our other FA OL signing (the subsequently cut McGlynn), he came cheap.  Hopefully he's relegated to backup duty next year.  Not a very good pickup, but an ok value for the almost no money.

 

Orakpo - no, he was never gonna be worth a franchise tender, but it seemed it was worth the one year cap hit to see what he could do.  Didn't work out, not by a long shot, but I can't be too upset by this one since I thought it was a solid move at the time.  Made much more sense then the insane new contract Arrington got years ago just because he was a fan and Dan fave.

 

Tress Way - Wow! How often do you say Wow when it comes to a punter.

 

Draft:

Jury is still out on our top 3 picks, but Trent Murphy looked pretty good last night.  Not saying he's better than Orakpo, but I think he fits the 3-4 scheme better.  (My money is on Orakpo going to a 4-3 team next year and getting 10 or 11 sacks.) We got our best pass rush of the year against one of the supposedly best OLs in the NFL with Murphy in and Orakpo out.  

I had hoped Spencer Long would have cracked the starting lineup by now.  Hopefully both our OL picks will be starters by next year. If one of them makes it, that's a solid draft.  If both spend year 2 riding the pine, the draft class will be seen as disappointing. If both become solid starters, give Bruce Campbell or AJ Smith a nice bonus.  Still too early to call here. 

Breeland looks like one of the great steals of the draft, and I've been thinking that even prior to last night.  Tough as nails physical.  Ryan Grant was also a great pick - if we weren't so deep at WR, he'd look much better. 

          Good thread! I'm not sure that I would say Lauvao was signed for cheap. 4yr 17m with 5 million guaranteed. I understand that it isn't a monster contact but it is way to much for him. I guess if he is cut this off season it won't be a big cap hit though.

            I'm a tiny bit disappointed in Roberts so far. He has dropped some easy catches so far and I guess I just expected more big plays from him but it has only been 8 games and 3 different quarterbacks so it's too soon to judge him yet.

           I was concerned when they gave 32 year old Jason Hatcher such a big contract and his play so far hasn't eased my concern.at all. Four year 27.5 million with 10.5 guaranteed was a bit much.

           Ryan Clark hasn't been perfect but I am more than happy with him considering what we have had to watch at safety for the last seven or eight years. He has played well, provided a ton of veteran leadership and I think he has been a good influence on Merriweather also.

            Tracey Porter was an awful signing.he has been one of the most fragile cornerbacks in the NFL over the past few years and for 3 million a year they could have signed a better player.

             Colt McCoy was a very good signing. I feel pretty good about him being Griffin's back-up. They would not have won the last to games with Cousins as the starter over McCoy.    

              As others have said DeSean Jackson has been worth every penny. I knew about his speed but I never knew how good his hands are, he has made some GREAT catches so far. I like that he plays with a chip on his shoulder, the Redskins have had many players over the years with a chip on their shoulder but the difference is Jackson can back it up with his play. I pray that the RGIII of 2012 comes back because if we get a QB that can throw deep Jackson is going to put up monster numbers. .