RealRedskins: What are the Redskins' most important remaining needs?

[CTskin]

OL- People can't keep blaming Licht for our awful run game last year, he wasn't playing. Sure, it's a small sample size, but when he and Luvao were healthy, we ran the ball very well. Another year under Callahan and I can see at least one out of Arie/Reiter/Long taking the next step. Either way, our offense was great last year even without a run game. 

 

DL- This is the reason we couldn't make it past the 1st round of the playoffs. And unfortunately, I don't see the small upgrades (Ioniddis, Reyes, Hood) we made this off-season giving us the drastic improvement that were needed. The DL is by far our number 1 problem. Kedric Golston is our starting NT... Kedric Golston.

 

RB- Our second biggest problem. We may have the worst running back corp in football. All we have are injury-prone question marks full of potential.

 

S- I'm confident this position will be a strength for us, even without Kyshon. IF Ihenacho can stay healthy, he will win the starting job again. And, it seems people are sleeping on Bruton because they think he's only a special teams guy. He only got in a few games at S because the Broncos are stacked, but when he did, he was rated very well. And, he's a punisher. Throw the addition of Su'a playing wildcard and our secondary will be A-OK.

 

ILB- I have hope for Daniels. He sounds like the exact replica of London Fletcher. Undersized, very intelligent, lays the lumber, leader. We embraced Foster & Compton, they were good stories, but they were both rated very poorly and are far from the guaranteed starters going into next year. How the H scrub Riley is still on the roster at $4M is beyond me. Would have so much rather cut him and used that money on a "lighter, improved" Knighton... or anyone who can actually contribute something positive on defense. 

[bird_1972]

big and strong and ready to play.

Could you imagine if he had a Moses esque jump? Kick ass.

I would just take a guy who has the smarts to be the field marshall of the OL and hold his ground.

 

If he could show 3/4 of what Moses could show, that would be awesome.

 

Center is clearly top of my mind this offseason so would love it if this guy emerged.

 

RB- Our second biggest problem. We may have the worst running back corp in football. All we have are injury-prone question marks full of potential...

 

ILB- I have hope for Daniels. He sounds like the exact replica of London Fletcher. Undersized, very intelligent, lays the lumber, leader. We embraced Foster & Compton, they were good stories, but they were both rated very poorly and are far from the guaranteed starters going into next year. How the H scrub Riley is still on the roster at $4M is beyond me. Would have so much rather cut him and used that money on a "lighter, improved" Knighton... or anyone who can actually contribute something positive on defense. 

 

For RB - I really hope we resign Pierre Thomas who was really good for us last season down the stretch

 

For ILB - I think Daniels will end up being more of a special teams guy. Maybe he could slide into the starting role but only due to injury.

 

Center and NT are glaring holes for us now.

[Master Blaster]

I believe some of you are overreacting to the NT position.  A position that has been repeatedly stated only sees the field 25% of the time.

 

You saw last year in the playoffs what a big space-eating NT gets you.  A hurry-up offense which essentially took Knighton out of the game, even when he was on the field. 

I know it has been said he doesn't want to do it, but Baker at NT this year makes too much sense.  Let Reyes/RJF/Paea/Murphy/Hood battle it out for the DE spots.  Ionnides, Crawford, and Golston remain wildcards.  Between those 9 they should be able to find 3 starters and 3 backups. 

With the way the NFL is going, lighter/more mobile DL is going to have better results than the space-eaters IMO.  If the NFL ever goes back to power running, the bigger guys become a little more necessary. 

Personally I am fine with a starting front five of Kerrigan, Paea, Baker, Reyes, Gallete. 

[kost203]

im curious as to how dunbar would look playing fs. he has the lean body for it too and long and athletic,

[CTskin]

I believe some of you are overreacting to the NT position.  A position that has been repeatedly stated only sees the field 25% of the time.

 

You saw last year in the playoffs what a big space-eating NT gets you.  A hurry-up offense which essentially took Knighton out of the game, even when he was on the field. 

I know it has been said he doesn't want to do it, but Baker at NT this year makes too much sense.  Let Reyes/RJF/Paea/Murphy/Hood battle it out for the DE spots.  Ionnides, Crawford, and Golston remain wildcards.  Between those 9 they should be able to find 3 starters and 3 backups. 

With the way the NFL is going, lighter/more mobile DL is going to have better results than the space-eaters IMO.  If the NFL ever goes back to power running, the bigger guys become a little more necessary. 

Personally I am fine with a starting front five of Kerrigan, Paea, Baker, Reyes, Gallete. 

 

I've heard a few times now that Swaggy P pretty much refuses to play NT. Combine that with the fact that he had a breakout year at DT and I see no reason why we'd rock the boat there. 

 

I'm not necessarily for a "space-eating NT," but I certainly am for a talented NT/DL who can stop the run. We all know what happened in the Packers game, but our run defense was a sieve all year long. Is there a chance that Paea and Reyes regain their form from two years ago, sure. We were just about dead last vs the run last year and I don't see any off-season upgrades that offer much of a reason for optimism in this department. Maybe I'm just a glass-half-empty kind of guy? 

[bird_1972]

 

I'm not necessarily for a "space-eating NT," but I certainly am for a talented NT/DL who can stop the run. We all know what happened in the Packers game, but our run defense was a sieve all year long. Is there a chance that Paea and Reyes regain their form from two years ago, sure. We were just about dead last vs the run last year and I don't see any off-season upgrades that offer much of a reason for optimism in this department. Maybe I'm just a glass-half-empty kind of guy? 

 

Well .... any chance a NT might become available post-June 1 cuts?

[skinny21]

 

im curious as to how dunbar would look playing fs. he has the lean body for it too and long and athletic,

That's an interesting idea.  I'm sure he'd need a lot of work there (zone coverage was an issue for him last year), but he'd be an interesting addition back there.  Personally, I'd wait to see how this year goes, but I'd certainly have the possibility on the table.

I've heard a few times now that Swaggy P pretty much refuses to play NT. Combine that with the fact that he had a breakout year at DT and I see no reason why we'd rock the boat there. 

 

I'm not necessarily for a "space-eating NT," but I certainly am for a talented NT/DL who can stop the run. We all know what happened in the Packers game, but our run defense was a sieve all year long. Is there a chance that Paea and Reyes regain their form from two years ago, sure. We were just about dead last vs the run last year and I don't see any off-season upgrades that offer much of a reason for optimism in this department. Maybe I'm just a glass-half-empty kind of guy? 

 

Pretty sure everyone knows this by now, but keep in mind that 1 gapping 3-4 Dline's are definitely more susceptible vs the run.  With the way the league's going now though, I prefer we take our chances and focus on stopping the pass.

 

Also keep in mind that Hatcher rated terribly against the run.  I have a hunch whoever replaces him will be a pretty big upgrade on that front, but we'll miss Hatcher's pass rushing to some extent.  I say "some extent" because I think our OLBs will pick up some of the slack, and a better secondary will help too.

 

Ironically (if I'm right), even if Baker stays at DE, I think he'll likely find himself doubled more often than last year as he's clearly our best lineman.  

 

 

 

 

Bottom line for me - we might not improve much, if at all, on the Dline, but I see enough intriguing elements/additions elsewhere to give me some bit of optimism for performance improvement vs the run.  We gave up over 7 ypc on runs to the outside (and over 4 between the tackles).  I think our perimeter D should be better by virtue of Hall's experience, Ihenacho returning, Cravens' addition, and Norman's (and hopefully Fuller's) solid tackling - a clear upgrade over Blackmon, Goldson and Robinson/Johnson.

 

I'm not expecting a huge jump for the D, I think it's a case where lots of little things - the above personnel changes, it being the second year in Barry's scheme, etc. - can add up to modest improvements.  

 

 

On a related note... I wonder if Hood will feel a bit rejuvenated in this scheme.  He seems excited to return to a 1 gap scheme (like he ran in college), and getting dumped from Jacksonville ought to have lit a bit of a fire in him.  Of course, he has to make the team first, lol.

[TheGreek1973]

Personally I am not worried about our RB position because there are going to be plenty of FA RBs after cuts in he summer if our 3 don't show much during camp.  However I still think we need to pickup one DL veteran than can compete.  S and C also I am comfortable with what we have now, at least I am comfortable we are going to get a decent starter from what is on the roster right now. 

 

The issue in DL, C, S and RB will be if we start having injuries, all these positions are very thin right now

[Twelfth man]

CT Skin,

 

I agree with a lot of what you said but not sure we will improve rushing attack with OL we have; I hope so but I don't know. 

 

Also, from your post on Safety

 

"S- ... And, it seems people are sleeping on Bruton because they think he's only a special teams guy. He only got in a few games at S because the Broncos are stacked, but when he did, he was rated very well."

 

However, Bruton ranked 60th among NFL safeties by one rating system:

 

https://twitter.com/pff/status/674756973930356736

[Twelfth man]

I believe some of you are overreacting to the NT position.  A position that has been repeatedly stated only sees the field 25% of the time.

What is the lineup that will have success in stopping the run and the no-huddle offense?

[CTskin]

 

CT Skin,

 

I agree with a lot of what you said but not sure we will improve rushing attack with OL we have; I hope so but I don't know. 

 

Also, from your post on Safety

 

"S- ... And, it seems people are sleeping on Bruton because they think he's only a special teams guy. He only got in a few games at S because the Broncos are stacked, but when he did, he was rated very well."

 

However, Bruton ranked 60th among NFL safeties by one rating system:

 

https://twitter.com/pff/status/674756973930356736

 

 

Interesting ranking for Bruton. There's a decent chance I got my optimistic outlook from Broncos fans who were patting us on the back for this pickup. I couldn't see the list you included, if you have a minute can you tell us the rankings for the Skins and NFCE rivals' safeties? 

 

I didn't mean to sound like I expect our OL to be much improved in terms of the run game. But as long as we still have Callahan waving his magic wand, I expect at least one of the three young bucks will take the Moses step.

[Koolblue13]

What is the lineup that will have success in stopping the run and the no-huddle offense?

Baker, RJF/Paea, Smith

Compton, Cravens, Gillette, Kerrigan

Duke, Hall, Bash, Norman.

Swap a few around I guess. Murphy and Smith, Cravens and Riley/Foster

[justice98]

They took 4th and 7th round Interior OL in the draft just last year--if they believe in those players and Callahan making similar picks would have made no sense this year, those guys have to have a chance to develop. So even though I agree its a weak area of the team I'm not concerned with the process for addressing it at all.

By that rationale, you'd never draft anybody for fear of infringing on the development of the previous year's picks. Are we drafting BPA or not?

[Twelfth man]

Interesting ranking for Bruton. There's a decent chance I got my optimistic outlook from Broncos fans who were patting us on the back for this pickup. I couldn't see the list you included, if you have a minute can you tell us the rankings for the Skins and NFCE rivals' safeties? 

 

I didn't mean to sound like I expect our OL to be much improved in terms of the run game. But as long as we still have Callahan waving his magic wand, I expect at least one of the three young bucks will take the Moses step.

I'll do the Redskins for now (if you are interested in a specific player, let me know):

 

D.Hall - 46th

K. Jarrett - 54th

D. Goldson - 85th (2nd to last)

T. Robinson - 86th (last)

 

We need more than a slight step up; we need dramatic improvement in rushing attack to win / advance in the playoffs.

[justice98]

I believe some of you are overreacting to the NT position.  A position that has been repeatedly stated only sees the field 25% of the time.

 

There's a reason for that. The fanbase had it beaten into their heads for 6 years that NT was critical to our survival in the 3-4, and we were screwed if we didn't have a good one. Without it, we would never be all that good on defense. Now people are being sold that it's not that big a deal. It's a tough course correction.

[johnboy99]

There's a reason for that. The fanbase had it beaten into their heads for 6 years that NT was critical to our survival in the 3-4, and we were screwed if we didn't have a good one. Without it, we would never be all that good on defense. Now people are being sold that it's not that big a deal. It's a tough course correction.

Excellent point

In my hheader are a 3-4 bit people keep telling me we live in the 4-3 in the majority

I realise in the modern game there is much more flexibility/adjustment, but do we need an NT

I'm just totally confused - and so is most of this fan base if you noticed the clamour for a guy like billings

[Master Blaster]

Excellent point

In my hheader are a 3-4 bit people keep telling me we live in the 4-3 in the majority

I realise in the modern game there is much more flexibility/adjustment, but do we need an NT

I'm just totally confused - and so is most of this fan base if you noticed the clamour for a guy like billings

Play calling can overcome the lack of a stud NT.

I still am confused by the signing of Knighton last year.

It was said the Redskins would go one-gap, which Knighton isn't know. For.

[TSO]

By that rationale, you'd never draft anybody for fear of infringing on the development of the previous year's picks. Are we drafting BPA or not?

I didn't take his post that way at all, myself.

Which is why I added on to his point there.

It's not about disregarding BPA; or thinking we've spent enough so therefore no need for more; or being against it had we picked Oline in the draft. It's simply about acknowledging that we've spent a considerable amount on the position already, so it shouldn't be an issue that we just so happened not to take one this draft.

Essentially, it's a bit over the top to be angry or overly worried it wasn't addressed considering just how much "addressing" has already been done. We don't have unlimited resources, obviously.

For me, it's exactly the BPA philosophy for why I'm NOT worried. I'm assuming there wasn't an Olineman at the top of our board at any point, so we simply didn't take one. I believe if Ryan Kelly was there we might have, for instance. But he wasn't.

So, going with the assumption of BPA never being Oline, it's easy to get over it knowing how much we've already spent on the position and it's okay it fell that way. Id rather it be that position than most others since it really hasn't been ignored recently.

At this point, if we can't get a pretty solid starting lineup out of this group, we'd have to look at scouting and/or coaching as the root of the problem - not the failure of actually addressing it.

[skinny21]

TSO, I'll add to your point that Scot has mentioned he will factor need in more with the later picks, so he could have still drafted an olineman late, but chose to address other needs instead.

Now who knows whether not picking Oline later on this past draft was due to 1) they felt more comfortable about the current group than they did at other positions, or 2) whether it was one of the bigger needs in their minds, but the value didn't happen to match up.

[Tsailand]

O-line has been a major concern for the entire Snyder era.

[kost203]

Sorry, but if im scott im gonna go with d hall at safety for now until someone steps up. maybe dunbar? why, well age of course and history of nagging injuries. As many know when you get older things tend to break down, either be it a house, your body or anything. forward thinking is where im going here.

 

For n/t well the greek kid from nj should do well. just gotta get him into football strength and speed. maybe a year or so to get his feet wet ala preston as an example.  Overall, I like what scott is doing.  Building youth, and competition. He understands its not about now, but to have the vision and use forward thinking.

[Koolblue13]

O-line has been a major concern for the entire Snyder era.

Samuels, Raybach, Thomas, Jansen and whoever was an incredible line for a few years, but Randy got old, Jansen got hurt and Casey should have retired.

[Aireskoi]

I don't believe we have any glaring holes on this team anymore, that is to say that so important that it would prevent us from competing with anyone in the NFL.

 

We have so many critical pieces in place now:

 

QB - Cousins making a name for himself 

LT - Williams - Top 3 at least

CB - Norman is elite

OLB - Kerrigan / Smith / Galette

 

Those are the critical pieces IMO for a football team to win consistently.

 

I know how important NT is to the 'Pittsburgh 3-4', but everyone complaining about NT has to go look at Wade Phillips' NT's in the past.  Jay Ratliff was not 350lbs. and did not 1 gap.  Wade did not want Knighton on his team last year, he could have had him for what we paid.  We tried Knighton for a year because he was so cheap and available, but not an exact fit.  He didn't get into the backfield enough.

 

Think Ratliff guys and gals, he was an end that Wade moved inside to be a disruptive force in the middle so Ware could get his sacks with no pocket for a QB to step up into.  That's the type of guy we want, and maybe Matt Ioannidis can do that for us.  

 

Edit - I'm mentioning Wade Phillips because we're supposed to be running his style of 3-4 rather than the Pittsburgh style that Haslett allegedly knew how to run.

[skinny21]

Found a couple interesting articles on Phillips' scheme. Both have a lot of good nuggets and make things a bit clearer in terms of what we're building/shooting for. Really interesting to see how our personnel additions/changes fit with this philosophy. Have fun.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2011/1/4/1913068/thats-so-crazy-it-just-might-work-examining-wade-phillips-3-4-scheme

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/firstandgoal151015/the-magic-wade-phillips-continues-denver-broncos-nfl

[Master Blaster]

Found a couple interesting articles on Phillips' scheme. Both have a lot of good nuggets and make things a bit clearer in terms of what we're building/shooting for. Really interesting to see how our personnel additions/changes fit with this philosophy. Have fun.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2011/1/4/1913068/thats-so-crazy-it-just-might-work-examining-wade-phillips-3-4-scheme

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/firstandgoal151015/the-magic-wade-phillips-continues-denver-broncos-nfl

 

 

The biggest change I am looking for on Defense this year is sending 5 rushers like Phillip's likes to do.  I understand last year with talent/injury issues in the secondary it was tough to trust that they would get the job done, but with the upgrades back there and some health, I want to see more heat coming after the QB.