Wyvern

It's one game and a wake-up call. I went into this game, feeling it could be a toss-up, because we didn't know how well both teams would come out playing. And if Washington lost, I figured it would motivate the team to play better on Thursday. That said -- the injury to Fitzpatrick was really the worst possible outcome from my perspective. I feel the defense will pick up their game soon enough, but Fitz's absence will prevent Washington's offense from gelling into being able to play more instinctually. Hopefully Heinicke will handle things until Fitz returns, but then it's a new learning curve when Ryan resumes as QB -1.

This biggest thing for me, is that there are reasons for Washington fans to have hope for this season. While this season's schedule is tough, it looks like Washington will be competitive against the strong teams, and capable of taking "care of business" versus teams with lower power ratings. The Chargers are a strong team, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them make the playoffs this season. That said, Washington will be a real challenge for them. Consequently, I feel both teams will benefit from playing this game and it will further hone their competitive edge going forward. I've really enjoyed all the off-season moves of Washington, and it made the preseason hype more enjoyable and even more believable. Because there are true grounds for HOPE, amidst all the hype. ...And this team IS getting better with each season under Rivera.

Thanks. I deleted "reps" from my earlier post. Considering the coaches' stated desire for position flexibilty, I felt we might see more looks and plays involving Brown (rather than simply spelling for McLaurin), while Samuels is out. My sense is the coaches might want to look to Brown on occasion for that speed Samuels was going to bring to the offense.

The way I look at it, Samuels' absence means that Brown is getting a great developmental opportunity in his rookie year. He could get more looks, and more opportunities for seasoning in the NFL style of game. Assuming he has star WR potential inside him, he's going to have the chance to accelerate its emergence. It's been my experience that one generally gets a realistic assessment of an NFL's receiver's true ceiling by around year 3. This opportunity might might allow the Washington coaches a chance to really find out about Brown more quickly while it also allow Brown to "show his stuff" at the same pace afforded to 1st-round draft-picks

....How about the "Beard Brigade"?

Actually, I think Cam may turn out to be a pleasant surprise, and I suspect Sims' role might benefit if Samuels absence turns out to be long-term IMHO, the bigger downside from a long-term Samuels absence might be on the running game -- they might need to bring in someone like Isaiah Wright as support for Gibson, unless Patterson shows he's some strong receiving skills. (That also depends on how speedy of a runner McKissic can be on reverses.)

Agreed. Keeping Barber available would have been preferable ... but Williams fits the bill -- as well as can be expected for this point in time -- and he has some familiarity with with the Washington offense. Frankly, I thought more Washington players were going to be 'poached' after the September cuts, and was somewhat relieved by the actual results. I get why Montez went to Detroit, where there might be more opportunity. And losing Barber came about because the Raiders really needed another RB. But at least Washington retained most of their high-potential players.

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I think the Jets might want to pick up Milne since he was a favorite receiver of the Jets new QB.

That was really strange for the site to be down for such a long time. Perhaps the Mods will post something on what happened?

Goodbye to a truly classy player. I still remember that clip, just after Washington lost in the 2020 playoff round versus the Bucs, where it caught Kerrigan lingering on the field, taking one last look around Fedex. I think he knew inside, that it would be the last time he'd be wearing Burgundy and Gold. I also liked how Kerrigan never took the cheap shot, rather he just give it his all.... in playing honest, straight up football. Hopefully, he's allowed to conduct himself the same way going forward, even though he's now with the Eagles. (I was hoping he'd wind up with the Packers or the Colts, if he couldn't stay in Washington.)

Actually Jamin Davis was very high on my list, and seemed a better fit than JOK (Especially with Landon coming back.). It might have been slightly early, but Davis wouldn't have been around for Washington's 2nd round pick. So a mix of need and BPA, leaning toward need. I liked most of the clips I saw of Jamin in action.

Question: Is there any free agent linebacker out there that the Washington talent acquisition team actually wanted to sign? Scheme-fixes aside, linebackers seem like an important component of any defense, and it seems no improvements have been made to an area of last season's defense that seemed the most exploitable by opponents. Perhaps Washington's FO feels the return of Landon Collins will resolve last season's LB vulnerabilities? Or does Washington think it will find all its LB solutions in the draft? I ask, because it seems like Washington has done almost nothing to bolster its linebacking group, and now most of the well-regarded FA LBs have been signed by other teams.

I still think if Washington wants Mond, they'd have to draft him in the second round (and maybe even trade up a little). Mills and Newman might still be available in the 3rd, but here again, some teams may be trying to misdirect other teams by portraying themselves as being very QB hungry this draft.

The more I see of Trask, the more it seems to me that drafting him would be a mistake. I think his stats benefited by the skills of his supporting cast, and I'm really not that impressed with his accuracy. His lack of mobility would be a big drawback for what Washington can provide for pocket protection. And his line plunges may not look so good vs. NFL-sized D-linemen. I'm still checking out Mills, but his performance seems to vary a lot, even within the same game. His UCLA game gets the most exposure, but that's just one game. Still checking though.

I'm surprised this thread has been so quiet lately, especially with some of the smokescreen coming out about Washington still being open to drafting a QB to groom. It gets me thinking who they'd go after, and in what round ... Especially since doing that'd means Heinicke or Allen would be on the bubble. I'd be curious what people think would be the possibilities, if that is indeed what Washington is planning. Here's my offering: Round 1: Too expensive to trade up for Lawrence,Wilson, Fields, or Lance. I think it unlikely Jones slides to 19, so Washington goes BPA (Maybe with slight weighting to athletes At LT, LB, or FS) in the first round. Maybe they even trade down slightly to get extra picks for leverage to trade up in 2nd round. (If Jones is available at 19, he's probably good value to take, especially since more likely to be ready to work into live NFL game time near the end of his rookie year.) Round 2: [if smokescreen was true] If Mond is still available in early round 2, and WFT actually wants to draft a QB, that's when Washington trades up for him. The WFT plan would be to sit Mond for most of his rookie year, and train him up (especially on reading NFL defenses more effectively.) Then work him into life game time during his years 2,3,& 4 and see if he's worth keeping by his 5th year. Please understand how this represents a major shift from my original 'Pre-Fitz signing' view that WFT might only take a possible flyer on Newman in late round 3. At the time, I saw that as a 2-3 year project, but now I'm not even keen on that, because I'm not certain how well Newman would actually fit in Washington 's play-scheme. With Newman it would likely take a few years to find out, and it's possible in two years WFT might only have a high-potential/unknown to hope he their answer as its starting QB. Whereas Mond already seems a closer fit to what Washington is running, and seems to keep improving his skills with each year. Mond just seems a safer bet, and is already adequately talented for the role. I'd stay away from Trask, Mills, etc....because I don't see them as an appreciable upgrade over Henicke/Allen... Even they were available to be picked up in rounds 4 through 6, at best they'd be just backup level. After the "Big-4" and Jones,.... only Mond seems like someone worth dumping Heinicke or Allen for. (I'll grant that Newman has more raw potentential, but does not seem he'd be a good scheme fit -- even if he developed his NFL gamee: he seems more like a fit for the long passing style that the Bengals, 70's Raiders, and the early Bruce Arians teams tend to favor.) ...So what are your thoughts on this possible scenario where Washington drafts a QB when Fitz, Heinicke, and Allen are already signed up for 2021 season?

Double post, while editing

I'm hoping Washington presses hard to sign Wright, the middle Linebacker from Seattle. Considering his age, even a short-term contract would work. Cleveland snapped up.the Indy LB (Walker) who was my other choice. Not too many other decent options out there for a FA linebacker, who could shore up on of the few weaknesses of Washington's defence. Speaking of FA Linebackers, what's up with Reuben Foster? Does Washington intend to retain him?

A decent QB signing. A savvy vet, and considering his 48 out of 50 Wonderlic score -- should be able to quickly pick up and master the Washington offense playbook...And run it well enough for Rivera/Turner.

I've been drawn in, hoping Washington lands a few new talented players. But I'm also hoping Washington doesn't fall back into old pattern of grossly overpaying for some flashy free-agent signing, just to allow Snyder his new marketing tool to lure back fans. I've seen that happen before with the costly acquisitions of Collins, Haynesworth, Norman, Smith, and McNabb and even drafting RG3. Sometimes it's just bringing in a new "marquee-namen head Coach (Gruden, Shanahan, etc). So, I anticipate with concern, hat Washington will likely do another over-spend on either a free-agent wide receiver, or a costly free agent QB. Frankly, Washington is still at least a year away from the "Future is Now" -- So it just needs to stay the course and keep building patiently through the draft and through patching in reasonably priced free agents, while retaining select top-tier talent who are showing that they contribute to the emerging "competitor/winning team" mindset that Rivera and Del Rio have worked so hard to culivate. The front office should start deciding ,by a player's third year, whether to keep that player long term with contract extensions, and whether they need to be traded for some other high-potential players of positional need, or just traded for draft capital,.... before that 3rd-year player winds up leaving Washington as a free agent. (For examp!e, decisions need to be made about Payne and Settle, before it's too late... and the FO winds up with another Scherff-like dilemma.). Also the FO needs to be prepared to trade aging starters, before they lose all their trade value. I hope Washington's front office stays the course, and keeps improving the team's foundation of quality players, and adopts the tactic of replenishing their roster with young, reasonably priced talent to replace those that which got traded before they hit their second, more costly, contract. Once the foundation is solid enough, t-h-e-n, take the plunge on a 'difference-maker' at QB plus WR or RB -- especially since the cap will likely be raised and thus allowing Washington to spend more heavily in order to boost its chances for a playoff berth.

I still think Newman is an intriguing prospect for a 4-5 round selection, unless the coaches are thinking that Montez is that "someone special with high potential".

Cooley....I wasn't criticizing your statement. More just keeping it real about Smith who's a nice guy and a great story, but.... I think in 2018, Smith played with a very conservative style, and while that was appropriate for talent he had At his disposal, it was still very frustrating to watch.

Also, it's a stretch to say that Alex Smith was the key factor for Washington's 11 wins when Smith was playing. There were times when Smith turned in some poor performances but the Washington still prevailed -- due to the defense, to the ground game, or due to the opponents' miscues.

Whether Haskins ever finds a fit with the right team, and realizes his full potential, is a story that is still unfolding. But the book on him in Washington is closed. I wish him well but I also wished him farewell, and let's move on. Due to a combination of factors, Haskins just didn't fit with Washington's future. Releasing Haskins was probably the best thing that could have been done -- it gave him a chance to start over fresh, perhaps with a team where Dwayne's strongest features might fit better with the team and playbook. IMHO, he needs to sit and learn the pro game (on and off the field) and this is still possible because he has youth on his side. Some QBs take up to 4-5 years to be ready to compete effectively at the pro-level, and it looks like that's the case with Haskins. What he does with his window of opportunity, will depend a great deal on how quickly he learns/matures/improves. To be clear, I had hoped Washington wouldn't draft Haskins. Once they did, I hoped he'd not start for for a few years, and instead be brought along slowly. And once he was thrust into starting, the more I saw of him, the more I didn't feel he'd ever be the 'franchise QB' Washington was looking for. IT got to the point where I felt that giving him the starting QB snaps might even derail his other teammates' development into the new offensive system ( as well as the coaches' ability to assess the young players.). And his off-field issues didn't help either. I think this new coaching staff CAN develop a QB, given the right mix of factors (rookie's talent mix, maturity, fit with the system, work-ethic, ability to learn, etc), PLUS a reasonable amount of time to coach the player up. So if Washington doesn't land either a top-tier FA QB or one of the top 4-5 QBs in the draft, they need to consider Allen, Heinicke, and drafting someone like Jamie Newman in the 4th as a project QB to develop along slowly. (I'm not sold on Montez)

It's more about having someone who is adequate but also available. I'm not certain Washington can rely on getting 10 games out of Smith/Allen/Heinicke combined.