denverdan Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/13/AR2005061300659.html Season Hinges on Gibbs, Ramsey By Mark Maske Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, June 13, 2005; 12:07 PM In order to believe the Washington Redskins will be better next season, it's necessary to believe two things -- that Joe Gibbs will be a far better coach than he was last season, and that Patrick Ramsey will provide the club with far better quarterbacking than it got last season. Both are possible. But neither is a given, and the Redskins have had to endure an unusually unkind offseason. Players Released • DT Jermaine Haley • T Vaughn Parker • S Dennard Wilson • WR Gari Scott • RB John Simon • TE Kori Dickerson • QB Tim Hasselbeck • RB/KR Chad Morton Free Agents Lost • LB Antonio Pierce • CB Fred Smoot Traded • WR Laveranues Coles Traded For • WR Santana Moss Free Agents Re-Signed • DT Joe Salave'a • LS Ethan Albright • FB/TE Mike Sellers • DT Cedric Killings • G/T Ray Brown • DE Ron Warner Free Agents Added • C Casey Rabach • WR David Patten • S Pierson Prioleau • LB Brian Allen • P Andy Groom • RB Brock Forsey • TE Billy Baber • WR Jimmy Farris • LB Warrick Holdman • WR Kevin Dyson Redskins' Draft • Round 1 (9th overall) Carlos Rogers, CB, Auburn • 1 (25) Jason Campbell, QB, Auburn • 4 (120) Manuel White, FB, UCLA • 5 (154) Robert McCune, LB, Louisville • 6 (183) Jared Newberry, LB, Stanford • 7 (222) Nehemiah Broughton, FB, The Citadel Normally, they are the NFL's king of the spring. That has been the time of the year when the Redskins, during the ownership tenure of Daniel Snyder, usually have done more than any other team in the league to create championship dreams, only to have them dashed when the harsh reality of the season arrives. The Redskins can only hope that they've taken the opposite approach this time around, that the season will be better for them than the offseason has been. Gibbs often looked overmatched last season in his return to the NFL, and perhaps that should have been expected after such a long layoff. But those who watched the magic that he performed in his first coaching go-around expected more, expected a seamless transition back to being the sideline virtuoso who won Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks. It didn't happen. His defensive coaching staff, full of people overqualified for their jobs who weren't relearning the way the pro game works, got the job done, but Gibbs and his contemporaries on his offensive coaching staff didn't. Right tackle Jon Jansen wasn't trying to be derogatory when he said during ESPN's draft coverage that the Redskins were running a 1992 offense last season, but it was telling. Gibbs has attempted to update his offense by hiring Bill Musgrave, who was fired as the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive coordinator, as his quarterbacks coach. But there remain questions about Gibbs's ability to operate in today's NFL, particularly when it comes to assembling the roster. In his return, Gibbs has taken on the role of roster architect, and many in the league remain unconvinced that the Hall of Fame coach has learned how to navigate the salary-cap system that he didn't have to worry about during his previous Redskins tenure. The Redskins' trade of wide receiver Laveranues Coles in March came about because Gibbs had told his players that he'd try to accommodate any player who wanted out. The problem is, that's not a promise that a coach should be making under a salary-cap system. A team can't go around trading a player two seasons after giving him a $13 million signing bonus, whether the player wants out or not. In this case, the Redskins had to overpay left tackle Chris Samuels in a contract extension, lowering his impact against next season's salary cap, to help offset the cap hit created by Coles being traded to the New York Jets for wideout Santana Moss. The Moss-for-Coles deal isn't as bad for the Redskins, cap implications aside, as some have made it out to be. Coles is a better player when both are healthy. But Coles never was the same player for the Redskins that he was before hurting his foot early in his first season with the club, and it's uncertain whether he ever will be the same player again, given that he has refused to undergo surgery for the injury. Moss might not be a true No. 1 receiver. But this version of Coles wasn't that either, so the Redskins really haven't lost much in that regard. The trade for Moss and the signing of free agent David Patten give the Redskins a new set of receivers, with Coles gone and fellow former starter Rod Gardner on his way out. It can be argued that the Redskins gained a little bit in the remaking of their wideout corps; it can be argued that they lost a little bit. The difference probably is not significant either way. Tailback Clinton Portis returns for a second season with the team in which he and the coaching staff should be more in sync with one another, and the Redskins have high hopes for their offensive line with the addition of free-agent center Casey Rabach and the return of Jansen from the torn Achilles' tendon that cost him the entire 2004 season. Tight end Chris Cooley could be poised for big things after amassing 37 catches as a rookie last season. But the offense will click only if the Redskins can find a way to get some NFL-caliber play at quarterback, something they didn't get last season. By obtaining the 25th overall pick in the draft in a trade with Denver and using it on Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell, Gibbs sent Ramsey a message that he isn't confident that Ramsey is the long-term answer at quarterback for the club. Still, Gibbs desperately needs Ramsey to be the short-term solution. The vote of no-confidence was nothing new for Ramsey, who has gotten less-than-supportive treatment virtually from the moment the Redskins selected him with the final choice of the first round of the 2002 draft. The Redskins, during a bitter set of negotiations with agent Jimmy Sexton on Ramsey's first NFL contract, contemplated trading Ramsey to the Chicago Bears before they even signed him. Former coach Steve Spurrier showed little regard for Ramsey's well-being in 2003, Ramsey's first season as an NFL starter. Gibbs arrived and promptly went out and spent a fortune to get a new starter, Mark Brunell -- who, as it turned out, simply couldn't play any more. Still, this isn't a time for self-pity by Ramsey, for he enters the 2005 season with the same chance that Drew Brees had last season in San Diego. The Chargers, remember, had made it clear entering last season that they no longer thought Brees was their franchise quarterback. They had even more hope and more money invested in their prized rookie quarterback, Philip Rivers, than the Redskins will have invested in Campbell. Brees seemingly was only keeping the seat warm for Rivers, but then Brees went out and was one of the league's most valuable players last season. The Redskins, meantime, can only hope to be as good on defense as they were last season. Defensive boss Gregg Williams coached as well as anyone in the league, but now he must compensate for the departures of cornerback Fred Smoot and middle linebacker Antonio Pierce in free agency. The Redskins got Auburn cornerback Carlos Rogers with the ninth overall choice in the draft, and signed linebacker Warrick Holdman as a free agent. Williams presumably will have back LaVar Arrington after the linebacker's injury-marred 2004 season. The question is whether Arrington will take the necessary steps to fit in. The Redskins were successful on defense last season because Williams's players trusted his system and did what they were told to do. They made sure they were where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be there. Playing with such structure and discipline never has been Arrington's forte, and he and Williams will have to try to find a way to coexist more harmoniously than Arrington and some of his previous defensive coaches did. The Redskins can only wait and see how the legal process plays itself out with safety Sean Taylor, who faces felony assault charges in Florida after he allegedly pulled a gun on two individuals he thought had stolen two all-terrain vehicles from him. It appeared when the Redskins were deliberating last year about whether to choose Taylor or his former University of Miami teammate, tight end Kellen Winslow, with the fifth overall selection in the 2004 draft that they couldn't go wrong either way. As it turned out, they couldn't have gone right. The Redskins will need quarterback Patrick Ramsey and Coach Joe Gibbs to invigorate the offense if the team is to succeed. (Toni L. Sandys - The Washington Post) Taylor showed last season that he can, indeed, be a game-changing player at a position at which few dominant players come along. But his behavior has regressed from simply immature and unprofessional to, if these allegations are true, criminal and downright menacing, and Redskins officials are left wondering if he'll straighten himself out in time to avoid squandering his immense talent. Taylor at least participated in a recent phone call with Gibbs after failing to return the coach's calls earlier in the offseason, but the Redskins will be mere spectators to the process that will determine whether Taylor spends time in prison. Only after the legal process is completed will the league consider additional penalties. When Gibbs came back, Redskins followers had every reason to believe that he could turn around the franchise as quickly as Bill Parcells had gotten the Dallas Cowboys back into the playoffs. The re-learning curve proved to be quite a bit steeper for Gibbs, but his commitment to staying and seeing the job through appears unwavering, at least at this point. Gibbs said when he returned that the task in front of him was daunting, that he realized that what he had accomplished previously no longer mattered and he would have to prove himself all over again. It sounded like typical Gibbs-speak at the time, but maybe he knew better than anyone else just how hard this would be. Around the League Kansas City reached a contract agreement over the weekend with free-agent wideout Az-Zahir Hakim. He replaces Johnnie Morton, who was released by the Chiefs after refusing to accept a pay cut. The Chiefs chose Hakim over fellow free-agent receiver Freddie Mitchell . . . . Detroit agreed to a one-year, approximately $1.6 million contract with free agent cornerback R.W. McQuarters, who was cut by Chicago and pursued by a handful of teams. The addition of McQuarters could take the Lions out of the running to sign free agent cornerback Ty Law, who could have another round of auditions for interested clubs within the next two weeks . . . . The New England Patriots received their latest Super Bowl rings Sunday at the home of owner Robert Kraft. This concludes the NFL Insider's team-by-team roundup of offseason moves. Thanks for reading, and please rejoin us when the column resumes in late July as training camps open around the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie4redskins Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 I really wish Maske went back to the Redskins beat full-time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Complete Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Good read. Can't say I disagree with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Two clear points I wish someone as good as Maske would at least mention in this discussion: 1) People who were around following the team in the first Gibbs era were NOT all expecting a "seamless transition back to being the sideline virtuoso who won Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks." In fact I'd argue that very FEW did. The statement is unsupported and reads as argumentative. 2) Even Maske doesn't distinguish between the lost-looking offense from early in the 2004 season and the offense that finished the season once Ramsey got comfortable and Gibbs started getting his legs back. To fail to even mention the progress the unit made---visible both statistically AND by a simple review of a game tape or two---does Gibbs, the offensive players AND the team as a whole an injustice. Doesn't do much for discriminating fans, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyansRangers Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Originally posted by Om Two clear points I wish someone as good as Maske would at least mention in this discussion: 1) People who were around following the team in the first Gibbs era were NOT all expecting a "seamless transition back to being the sideline virtuoso who won Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks." In fact I'd argue that very FEW did. The statement is unsupported and reads as argumentative. 2) Even Maske doesn't distinguish between the lost-looking offense from early in the 2004 season and the offense that finished the season once Ramsey got comfortable and Gibbs started getting his legs back. To fail to even mention the progress the unit made---visible both statistically AND by a simple review of a game tape or two---does Gibbs, the offensive players AND the team as a whole an injustice. Doesn't do much for discriminating fans, either. I agree.. There is some perception out there that us skins fans thougth gibbs was going to win right away when the opposite was true.. He also like you said makes no mention of the progress we made last year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Good points Om. Still, I do miss Maske's Redskin coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budski Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Good article, good points by all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooper Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Great, fair article. Maske knows his stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Decent piece. However, I would also like to say that Gibbs NEVER gets enough credit for what he does with the defense. He makes it happen. He puts people in position to win. He hires the dc's. He recognizes the talent. He sets the offseason schedule. He points the team in the direction he wants. He has the final say. He sets the tone. And when asked about the defense... JG politely says "GW has done a tremendous job"... or "Petibone is great", etc. etc. Would you expect anything less from a class act like Gibbs? Of course not. But for some reason, that act of humbleness and class on the part of Gibbs has given Redskin fans as well as the media carte blanche in never giving Gibbs credit for defensive performance. I for one, would like to say that the defense we enjoyed under Petibone and the defense we enjoyed last year under GW would not have existed without Gibbs. we saw what happened to Blache, Petibone, GW and Bugel when the spotlight was shined directly on them. It wasn't pretty. I'm not saying they're not great coordinators... but it is irresponsible to take Gibbs out of the equation. I'm writing him back in. Our defensive performance last year, as well as in his first tenure here, were as much his responsibility as they were GW's and RP's... IF NOT MORESO In Gibbs I Trust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoCommiesGo Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 That was a pretty solid article except for the two points Om made I liked it. Made good points bot ways. I wish Maske would do the beat writing for the Skins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 When Gibbs came back, Redskins followers had every reason to believe that he could turn around the franchise as quickly as Bill Parcells had gotten the Dallas Cowboys back into the playoffs. Actually, "Redskins followers" had every reason NOT to believe he could do what Parcells did in his first season as Cowboys coach...it had not been 12 years out of the NFL for Parcells since leaving the Jets, but only something like 3-4 years. I think most Redskins followers were aware of the difference, and didn't compare the two men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrfriedm Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Originally posted by Om Two clear points I wish someone as good as Maske would at least mention in this discussion: 1) People who were around following the team in the first Gibbs era were NOT all expecting a "seamless transition back to being the sideline virtuoso who won Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks." In fact I'd argue that very FEW did. The statement is unsupported and reads as argumentative. 2) Even Maske doesn't distinguish between the lost-looking offense from early in the 2004 season and the offense that finished the season once Ramsey got comfortable and Gibbs started getting his legs back. To fail to even mention the progress the unit made---visible both statistically AND by a simple review of a game tape or two---does Gibbs, the offensive players AND the team as a whole an injustice. Doesn't do much for discriminating fans, either. Very good points. Even so, this is probably the best Football related news article of read in quit some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truant Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Great points OM. He drops the bomb on Ramsey by saying that we'll need 'NFL caliber QB play'. OUCH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins24 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Gibbs often looked overmatched last season in his return to the NFL :whoknows: Our defense didn't let us get or look overmatched last season. We were in just about every game. If he's talking about our offense.... Three words..... Mark Freakin' Brunell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 One of these days... it will happen again... Joe Gibbs is going to 'stubbornly' stick with a QB that the fans are begging to be benched. The QB will turn the corner, improve his play, lead us to victory, and Gibbs will be heralded as a genius. We've seen the alternative... musical QB's with SOS. Much like Reid stuck with McNabb... and Holmgren stuck with Hasselbeck. So no more about Brunell, k? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Zoony's making some great points in this thread. Gibbs is the head coach. Doesn't he get the blame for everything that goes wrong? If so, give the man some credit for what goes right. Our defense was amazing. That's not new for a Gibbs-coached team. Gregg Williams never turned a defense around this fast before. Maybe, just maybe, Gibbs had something to do with that. Williams has also said he's not leaving, and he so far hasn't. Again, maybe Gibbs has something to do with that. Also, I'll take three or four hand-wringing weeks of Mark Brunell over the Matthews/Weurfull/Ramsey nonsense we lived with for a few years. At least you know that when Gibbs settles on a QB, he's patient enough to let that QB take some lumps without panicking. We've spent over a decade in panic mode regarding our QBs. I'm glad we've got a coach that understands the need for patience at that spot. This is probably why Gibbs drafted Campbell. Gibbs knows he's going to be patient with Ramsey. He knows he's not going to start shuffling his QBs. The media doesn't know that, so they read into this pick and assume it means Ramsey's on a short leash. I'm not sure that's what it means at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Master Jay Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 I would rather be kings of the regular season and playoffs then the Spring. We always were supposedly doing the right thing in the off season. Now we dont know what we're doing I think we'll be fine and the Playoffs will be something we see in Jan 06. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotgunner Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 That Brunell signing will haunt us for years.:puke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 I do disagree with a couple things in addition. Maske gives the impression that we need a QB that can do a lot, but that doesn't nessicarily needs to be true. All that is needed, with a running game, is a guy who can manage the game at that position. If Ramsey can do that much, he will be successful. He's shown some signs of that late in the season, and he knows, for at least this year, it is his job to lose. I also think Maske is getting into the overreaction everyone is doing with Taylor. Sure, what he's been doing isn't smart, but I have a feeling this will blow over, and we will find things aren't nearly as bad as we thought they were. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins24 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Originally posted by zoony One of these days... it will happen again... Joe Gibbs is going to 'stubbornly' stick with a QB that the fans are begging to be benched. The QB will turn the corner, improve his play, lead us to victory, and Gibbs will be heralded as a genius. We've seen the alternative... musical QB's with SOS. Much like Reid stuck with McNabb... and Holmgren stuck with Hasselbeck. So no more about Brunell, k? If this is in reference to my post, I wasn't questioning Gibbs decision to stick with Brunell. I was talking about Maske's comments that Gibbs looked over matched. There's no doubt that Brunell had alot to do with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr1 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 I think what was missing last year was 'the big play.' Either the receivers were running poor routes, the OL was breaking down, or the quarterback play never allowed for the one or two plays that would give the Skins breathing room. If the defense plays at 70% efficiency of last year (though I think they could be better than last year's D), and we get some long pass plays at unexpected times, we could be hard to stop. (The running game is not a problem.) Most of the time last year it wasn't poor play calling, but just a failure to execute when we had a shot downfield. Gibbs v1.0 was usually, build up a sufficient lead on a big play, eat up the clock with the run...and count on the D to get the ball back quickly, if you give it up. I don't think Gibbs' v2.0 is abandoning that plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
authentic Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 exept for the points that OM pointed out where missed.. Maske really called it the way it was i enjoyed the article, good read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Happy Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Once again the media brings up the tired old non-existent QB "controversy." What part of - Gibbs likes to keep 2 starting caliber QBs on the roster - is so hard to understand? After watching Brunell last season, how could anybody be happy with him as the backup? Looking at the FA QB options, I would have been flabbergasted if we didn't draft a QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 when opposing teams sneak up to stop the run... bombs away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking Deadman Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 "the defense we enjoyed last year under GW would not have existed without Gibbs." -from zoony. Exactly-- Who brought in GW (who in turn brought in Lindsay, Blache etc....leading to player pick ups like Griffin, Daniels, Washington, Springs and even Taylor)? Gibbs helped get the defence by picking the right people for the job....anybody remember last year the quest for coaches Gibbs made. and Gibbs' desire to get the best staff on both O but especially D. Also....where is the FO credit for trading Bailey for Portis??? Portis had a Great year for a struggling O, we didn't need Bailey with Springs/Smoot/Harris/Wilds, but we needed a good RB. How about some credit for Gibbs, Snyder and Cerrato for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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