Give me some feedback.. Our Offseason Plans

[indaslums]

I have been reading all the comments on the draft and the offseason that have been posted here the last few weeks. First, I would like to address how a lot of people think the Skins should draft a Wide Receiver this year. As much as I agree that we do need a strong Number 2 receiver I just do not think drafting a WR is the answer. Receivers take some time to mold in this league it might take 3 or 4 years to really polish a receiver into a weapon. Drafting receivers high is just a bit too risky. To name a few – Charles Rogers, Peter Warrick, Rod Gardner, Desmond Howard, Travis Taylor, and then Mike Williams, Troy Williamson.

Now the first few guys were truly busts and with those first round picks I believe teams could of benefited in the long run in selecting offensive lineman or defensive players. The last two guys we taken last year and still have potential. But, my reason in listing them was to prove the point that drafting a receiver in a higher spot most likely will NOT give you a lot of production in the first year or two. These skill position players take time to develop and with the emphasis on the combine now some of these higher round receivers are graded by numbers on paper rather then game playing ability. Look at some of the guys who were drafted a bit later—Terrell Owens(3rd round), Anquain Boldin(2nd round), Steve Smith(3rd round). It took them a couple years being groomed but they are some of the best in the league.

The Redskins need immediate help at the WR position so why not sign a groomed and proven veteran like Joe Jurevicius a great possession receiver with awesome hands and a great team attitude. What a perfect compliment to Santana.

As for the draft we need a true pass-rushing DE, depth at corner and depth on the offensive line. Some people are wanting a new TE and as much as I would love one it may be tough to draft a real game changing TE where we are drafting. So, I’d say the Redskins should evaluate all the talent in the draft at DE, CB, and OL. Forget about all of the other positions and really focus on filling our holes there. Reserve our 2nd round pick or the best DE available and then from then on out in the draft take the best player available at all of those spots until the draft is over. I feel then that gives us much better odds with 5 draft picks if we have 2 or 3 Dlineman(maybe one of the picks is a DT/DE combo guy) and 2 corners and an Olineman to work with. We will have an abundance of youth and speed at the positions where it really counts. This might prevent us from bringing in an older, slower, cheap veteran. One more thing to thing about if you were going to yell at me for taking 3 DE Renaldo Wynn completely fractured his arm at the end of last year and who knows how well it will heal (lets hope for the best).

Okay now I am preparing myself to be torn apart. Let’s go.

[feeshta]

While I personally agree with the logic behind you reasoning, I think I would approach the solution to the dilema a little differently.

So our needs are WR, DE, CB, and O line. I personally also believe DT depth is needed. So what would I do differently?

FA, my primary target would be WR, but I would seriously consider every other position. I think CB is a likely area we could improve efficiently through FA. Some corner who never panned out as a #1 or 2 would be a fine #3 or 4 for us, and possibly better if he fits our scheme better than his previous one. Will Allen from NY was mentioned earlier. He's a former 1st rounder, but had trouble this year. So did the rest of the NY secondary, so take it with a grain of salt. He would be good depth in my humble opinion. A guy like that is what I'd look for. Look at former cast-off Delta O'Neil in Cinci. Nuff said? O-line is another one here, as well as DT. Look for solid, but unspectacular guys. Maybe someone who was just castoff as a starter, they would be good depth, and they may have something to prove.

That may all sound pretty similar to what you said right? With the exception of DT anyway. What I would do differently would be to draft a WR as well as pick one up in FA. I think we need some insurance incase of injury, and we need to plan for the future at this position. My personal favorite for this is Michael Robinson, former Penn State QB. He should fall to late in the draft , like round 4 or 5. So my WR corps looks like this next year. Moss, Patten, FA vet of coaches choice, Robinson, Thrash. Looks better than this year's in my opinion.

So My draft strategy would look like this.

Rd. 2 Best DE available with an emphasis of situational pass rushing. I'm looking for a guy who may be a bit undersized to be an every down DE, but is a demon in the pass rush. This will be our 3rd down and long yardage DE, nothing more really. I do this in round 2, because that's where I think you have the best pickings.

Rd. 3 Interior offensive lineman. I'm looking for someone versatile, preferably with experience at both center and guard. Should still be plenty of talent in this area at this point in the draft.

Rd. 4 I take Robinson if he's there. Robinson would replace James Thrash in our offense in a role that is like a mini H-back, motion and blocking are key atributes of this role. Robinson is a smart player, who will pick this position up quickly. He could also be used out of the backfield as a 3rd down back. He's big, pysical, and runs like a RB when he has the ball.

Later rounds I'd look for O-line depth as well as an undersized DT who could play ened in our system to be a backup, and possible eventual replacement for Wynn or Daniels. Also having experience inside makes this player valuable from a depth standpoint. Greg Williams loves this tpye of player.

[indaslums]

text error.

[88Comrade2000]

Until we know what happens with the CBA- offseason plans are big question marks. Right know we know what we want to do- we'd better. Thing is if there's no deal by March 1- Skins may have cut more players-maybe even some starters and we could well be having a team will a lot of rookie free agents.

Or the Rich owners decide to sue the poor owners. Things could get real ugly. There could be a split and the rich owner leave to form their own league or maybe the poor owners will boot the rich owners.

[s0crates]

Sounds pretty good overall. I will just disagree on a couple points:

-Desmond Howard won a Super Bowl MVP award, so he was not a total bust.

-Renaldo Wynn's arm will heal fine. Broken bones usually heal a lot better than ligaments, tendons, and such.

-I think depth at O-line is more important than D-line. The offense has really struggled when starting offensive linemen (Thomas and Jansen) have been hurt. I agree with you that both are priorities, but I would put offensive line first.

[hamptonskinsfan]

i would tend to agree also except the whole part of getting a cast off DT. didnt we learn a couple years ago by trying to go with a bunch of undersized, underachieving lard butts i.e. lionel Dalton. i say try to reinforce the middle also in free agency or the draft in this area and not with an undersized guy. put some mass in there to stuff the run and hopefully CGriffin will be able to team up with them and put some pressure comming up the gut as well as the outside. dont get me wrong i think we need to take the 2nd rounder and get a quick versatile DE that would make some contributions. As far as WR and CB i dont think this should be addressed though the Draft. like it was stated, it takes too long to mold these guys. Oline depth should also be addressed though the draft. let Buges mold some young kid into a real Dirtbag.

[aussieskin]

with the safteys the skins have, wouldnt that turn a no 4 CB into a 3 a 3 into a 2 and a 2 into a one?

[MoDaddy]

I have been reading all the comments on the draft and the offseason that have been posted here the last few weeks. First, I would like to address how a lot of people think the Skins should draft a Wide Receiver this year. As much as I agree that we do need a strong Number 2 receiver I just do not think drafting a WR is the answer. Receivers take some time to mold in this league it might take 3 or 4 years to really polish a receiver into a weapon. Drafting receivers high is just a bit too risky. To name a few – Charles Rogers, Peter Warrick, Rod Gardner, Desmond Howard, Travis Taylor, and then Mike Williams, Troy Williamson.

Now the first few guys were truly busts and with those first round picks I believe teams could of benefited in the long run in selecting offensive lineman or defensive players. The last two guys we taken last year and still have potential. But, my reason in listing them was to prove the point that drafting a receiver in a higher spot most likely will NOT give you a lot of production in the first year or two. These skill position players take time to develop and with the emphasis on the combine now some of these higher round receivers are graded by numbers on paper rather then game playing ability. Look at some of the guys who were drafted a bit later—Terrell Owens(3rd round), Anquain Boldin(2nd round), Steve Smith(3rd round). It took them a couple years being groomed but they are some of the best in the league.

The Redskins need immediate help at the WR position so why not sign a groomed and proven veteran like Joe Jurevicius a great possession receiver with awesome hands and a great team attitude. What a perfect compliment to Santana.

As for the draft we need a true pass-rushing DE, depth at corner and depth on the offensive line. Some people are wanting a new TE and as much as I would love one it may be tough to draft a real game changing TE where we are drafting. So, I’d say the Redskins should evaluate all the talent in the draft at DE, CB, and OL. Forget about all of the other positions and really focus on filling our holes there. Reserve our 2nd round pick or the best DE available and then from then on out in the draft take the best player available at all of those spots until the draft is over. I feel then that gives us much better odds with 5 draft picks if we have 2 or 3 Dlineman(maybe one of the picks is a DT/DE combo guy) and 2 corners and an Olineman to work with. We will have an abundance of youth and speed at the positions where it really counts. This might prevent us from bringing in an older, slower, cheap veteran. One more thing to thing about if you were going to yell at me for taking 3 DE Renaldo Wynn completely fractured his arm at the end of last year and who knows how well it will heal (lets hope for the best).

Okay now I am preparing myself to be torn apart. Let’s go.

Charles Rogers and Peter Warrick were not busts in the way that the others were...these guys, especially PW, were drafted onto poor, underachieveing offenses.

But the point is that ANY receiver takes a couple of seasons to fully develop into steady producers -- the 3rd year is usually the mark -- it's just the nature of the position. Therein lies the "risk."

So I agree that we shouldn't be focused on a WR early, unless we just can't land one through FA, which I don't see happening -- I think many a receiver will be interested in the Skins this year.

I also agree that it will be a good idea to take the best defensive player available with the second pick. While our immediate need is a speedy DE, I don't care what position it is. The impact of a single elite player on defense is more profound than on offense where so many pieces are required to allow the impact of single players to be felt.

I do hope and expect that it will be a DE/LB tweener rather than a DE/DT player -- we need the speed and pass rushing ability more than the girth and stop-the-run type of player.

However, if we find the DE through FA I hope we take one of the TEs with the second round (or a shutdown CB) pick...the case for pure pass-catching TE in our league and on our team is strong. There are plenty available and Chris Cooley needs to be able to continue to perfect the H Back position.

I just think Gibbs and Saunders are much more fond of relying on a TEs for possession receiveing than they are WRs. And this will make Cooley all the more dangerous.

[feeshta]

I agree with you Socrates, O-line depth is more important than D-line, it's just that there is a disparity in where quality talent at each position is available in the draft. That's why you draft the DE higher than o-line help.

Hampton, as far as a cast of DT, let me clarify a little bit. I'd be looking for people for depth, not a new starter. Griffin and Salavea are our guys in the middle without question. But we need better depth behind them. I'd look for two types of DT. One would be maybe someone who failed as a nose in a 3-4, a widebody to clog things up. Just someone who at a minimum can be trusted to maintain at the point of attack and let others do their job. The other would be the undersized DT, someone physically similar to Daniels and Wynn, who could play either tackle or end depending on the situation. This would be a developemental pick primarily.

As far as not drafting a WR because they take too long to develop, that's BS. You want value out of the draft you can't go in expecting instant contributors at all positions and in all rounds. Some of the picks have to be developmental picks, and since it takes a few years to groom a WR, that's where I'd take my developmental guy.

[indaslums]

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