Atlanta Skins Fan Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 OK, I'm exaggerating. But I don't like the tone of this Washington Post sentence: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41119-2002Aug3.html The Redskins believe that, with Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen at the tackle spots, they only need capable, not dominant, players at guard. Would someone explain why we shouldn't try to get the best guards available? Guards and centers are probably paid less than any position on the field. It doesn't break the bank to get good ones. Paging Kim Helton.... Anyone home? Still waiting for Ray Brown. Also, found this interesting (same article): The NFL granted the Redskins' request for a roster exemption to keep Japanese wide receiver Akihito Amaya further into training camp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panel Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 I'm really pulling for Akihito Amaya to make the team, I don't know what about him I like so much, but I want him on the team. I'm glad to see he is being givin a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murilo Bustamante Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 I hope that was a joke, or a source who doesn't know what he is talking about. My hope is that this year we finish well so that we have a draft pick late in the first round. This is prime-picking season for BIG MEAN GUARDS!!!!! At #19 in the draft, you're not going to get top impact players at most positions, but you will at OG. We have Samuels and Jansen. Imagine we re-sign Jansen. I think Jones is going to stick, and at 355 pounds, that's great. Then, you draft a 330 pound rookie guard to man the other end. You are talking about an offensive line that will make pancakes out of the rest of the league. An OG would be a terrific investment for this team at this time. You put Stephen Davis behind a line that can beat you up on either side, and on top of that an offense that will beat you through the air, and there will be no stopping the Redskins. On top of all that, OGs are affordable. I hope we are not aiming for guard as a cost-cutting position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyJ Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Originally posted by Murilo Bustamante I hope we are not aiming for guard as a cost-cutting position. When you have high-priced talent in some places, you have to skimp in others. Samuels, and hopefully Jansen, will already be making premium OL $. Those $ have to come at the expense of another position. You can't have top-priced talent across the line. What position would you choose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Skins Fan Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 Originally posted by SonnyJ You can't have top-priced talent across the line. What position would you choose? Bruce Smith is due to be paid $3.5M this year. I'd cut him or work a reduced-salary deal that still gives him a chance to get his sack record. In any case, we seem to have nearly $4M free under the cap, prior to the Ramsey signing. One or two good guards can easily be fit in this space, even leaving room for injury insurance. I'm now a big believer in Wuerffel and am willing to believe our WRs can get it done. I lack any confidence in Kim Helton and our interior OL, and this seems a problem that is easily and affordably fixed. Not doing this could be a huge mistake and destroy what looks like a special year for the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyJ Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Originally posted by Atlanta Skins Fan Bruce Smith is due to be paid $3.5M this year. I'd cut him or work a reduced-salary deal that still gives him a chance to get his sack record. In any case, we seem to have nearly $4M free under the cap, prior to the Ramsey signing. One or two good guards can easily be fit in this space, even leaving room for injury insurance. I'm now a big believer in Wuerffel and am willing to believe our WRs can get it done. I lack any confidence in Kim Helton and our interior OL, and this seems a problem that is easily and affordably fixed. Not doing this could be a huge mistake and destroy what looks like a special year for the team. I'm not saying the team shouldn't get additional guard help if in fact it is necessary. I'm objecting to spending a lot of money to fill the position long-term when the team will have (hopefully) two tackles taking a sizable slice of the salary cap pie. You can't tie up that much money on the OL. I agree with the team's stated intention of finding capable (i.e., cheap yet competent), but not dominant (expensive) guards. Are you willing to spend huge $ in perpetuity for a guard, when you are already throwing huge $ at Samuels and Jansen? I don't see how you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeSkin Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 There aren't any top-flight guards left. Ray Brown is old and way past his prime, and his skills would more than likely starting eroding halfway through the season. Then we'd have to stick in a kid who's been sitting on the bench for half the season. I'm not saying we shouldn't sign Ray Brown, but the fact is, there are NO high quality guards still on the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Skins Fan Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 Originally posted by SonnyJ Are you willing to spend huge $ in perpetuity for a guard, when you are already throwing huge $ at Samuels and Jansen? I don't see how you can. We're not arguing the same set of facts. My impression is that guards like Ray Brown can be had for around $1M year in a one-year contract. I might be off slightly, but we're certainly not talking a huge, multi-year contract with a big signing bonus. Good guards are just happy to get something over the minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyJ Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Originally posted by Atlanta Skins Fan We're not arguing the same set of facts. My impression is that guards like Ray Brown can be had for around $1M year in a one-year contract. I might be off slightly, but we're certainly not talking a huge, multi-year contract with a big signing bonus. Good guards are just happy to get something over the minimum. My original response was to MB. He seemed to be arguing for not skimping on the guard position. The response was also a tacit note of approval of the Skins criteria for guard acquisition (capable, not dominant). Apparently, you share it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W&M Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 In the grand scheme of things, I just don't see how we have any choice but to "Skimp" at guard. If you consider we have three "day 1" draft picks each year, over 5 years, that's 15 day 1 picks. If 75% of these Day 1 picks turn into starters (which is by far an unrealistically high estimate), then you have managed to staff 10 of your 22 playing positions. That's not even half. Because of the cap, we can only count on free agency to fill in a handful of free agents each year on a consisten basis. Thus, teams have no choice but to strike gold in day 2 of the draft. Quite simply, you have to find your salary cap bargains in order to survive ... particuarly if you want to avoid the onslaught of salary cap hell. And in my mind (and every other team's mind) the positions most easily filled on Day 2 of the draft are: guard, center, full-back, safety, and line-backer. At this point, we have to hope that Rod Jones will eventually catch on. The fact that he was a pretty good tackle, indicates that he shouldn't have any problem becomign a good, if not very good, guard. Far worse athletes (who couldn't hack it at tackle) of made the transition quite well. When it comes to Rod, we just have to give it time and hope it pans out. If it works, that would leave us with one hole in O-Line, at Left Guard ... hopefully one will emerge from Loverne, Vickers, Sulfstead, Tucker. But if not, hopefully the waiver wire will prove kind ... or perhaps, as the cut deadline draws near ... Mendes should start offering a few teams a 4th round pick for a guard. I have to imagine that several teams are fielding instense battles between veteran and younger guards ... and perhaps a 4th rounder will entice the teams to end the competition early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Sack Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Amaya looked as if he might be pretty damn quick if he were able to fool the defense and get going. Apparently, Double S sees something we don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 So it would have been asking alot to draft Gurode at 32 have him in camp and playing guard/ center Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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