LB situation as of April 18th and the Draft

[Riggo#44]

Again, think about the future. If Springs went down for good, would Wright or Jimoh be the kind of guy that you'd want starting? Probably not.

Both Clemons and McCune are young and talented. I feel more comfortable that they can be starter rather than Wright and Jimoh.

Jason

Case in point: When Griffin went down, and Holdman was starting - the Redskins were in a horrible stretch. Including giving up long long runs to Bell, Barber and Tomlinson - to the weeak side. Griffin comes back and Holdman gets benched - they won 6 straight.

CB is fine. Wright started for Jax last year and they were a solid D. I am comfortable with him - Jimoh-no-Ade's-in-the-game - not so much. But I am comfortable with what they have in the secondary as a whole

With that in mind - I would take LB #1, DT #1a, OL #2, CB #3

[TheLongshot]

Case in point: When Griffin went down, and Holdman was starting - the Redskins were in a horrible stretch. Including giving up long long runs to Bell, Barber and Tomlinson - to the weeak side. Griffin comes back and Holdman gets benched - they won 6 straight.

Um.. Griffin and Holdman played different positions. :doh:

Also, Holdman wasn't in the game when we played SD. :doh:

Jason

[Riggo#44]

Um.. Griffin and Holdman played different positions. :doh:

Also, Holdman wasn't in the game when we played SD. :doh:

Jason

OH my god are you serious? You mean Holdman is an LB and Griffin is a DT? Thanks for pointing out the obvious, you should apply to work at SI!

Why attempt to put some reasoning to work here: my point is our CBs got dinged up a bit - but what hurt us more was having Holdman starting at LB and Griffin not starting at DT. HENCE my point of drafting a LB #1 and a DT #1a. Should I use smaller words so you understand?

Some people on here really are dumber than a bag of hammers.

[Cskin]

I think the signing of Holdman is a simply a vet reserve move in case one of the younger boys struggle. Holdman is a vet that gets by on experience and craftiness and less on talent. He was exposed last year by overpursuing.... something I'm hoping Williams coaches out of him.

I believe one of either Clemons, McCune, or Sykes can command the weakside. Khary Campbell and Nick McNeil could play a role on special teams and as reserves.

[terpfan]

Warrick Holdman proved last year that he was no longer the player he once was.....why anyone thinks he's now going to magically get better is beyond me.

Mark Brunell? Just sayin...

I dont think we are exactly settled at OLB either, but I think CB has to be our first pick and here's why:

For one, in our defensive scheme I think it is much easier to simply plug in a OLB and be successful than it is to plug in a CB. Granted, we struggled when Holdman had to play substantial minutes, but I think we can also attribute that a lot to Griff and Big Joe missing a few games at around the same time. We suffered much more when our cornerbacks got injured.

Secondly, while we dont have a proven WLB we do have some young guys with potential, like Clemons and McCune and possibly even Jashon Sykes. At CB we dont have any young potential project type guys other than Rogers. Springs and Wright are fairly old, and Jimoh is no more than a solid special teamer and backup DB.

I was hoping we would sign a solid FA OLB and I definately didnt want Holdman back. Like someone said, I have a feeling Holdman will see a lot more minutes than I would like. But maybe he will have a bounce back year, who knows. I trust the coaching staff and dont expect them to get burned twice by the same mistake. Its quite possible they just brought him back for depth.

[GIBBS LIVES]

You guys have a short memory. When Randy Thomas went down, our running game was gone. GONE! Ray Brown was done and Raymer was Raymer..AWFUL! We need depth at the OG position. Randy Thomas isn't healthy and won't be for a while.

Forget SS, Forget LB..we need to draft an OG with the 53rd pick. Or the best OT on the board but we've got to get some depth on the Offensive line are we are going to be in trouble again.

[Riggo#44]

You guys have a short memory. When Randy Thomas went down, our running game was gone. GONE! Ray Brown was done and Raymer was Raymer..AWFUL! We need depth at the OG position. Randy Thomas isn't healthy and won't be for a while.

Forget SS, Forget LB..we need to draft an OG with the 53rd pick. Or the best OT on the board but we've got to get some depth on the Offensive line are we are going to be in trouble again.

More so than having hurting Holdman starting at LB again?

Depth is an issue at a lot of positions. They need depth everywhere except QB, RB, and WR, and maybe CB. I would prefer to fill depth w/ the June 1st cuts. While they are overrated in general, some good holes can be filled there.

:dallasuck

[Thirtyfive2seven]

You guys have a short memory. When Randy Thomas went down, our running game was gone. GONE! Ray Brown was done and Raymer was Raymer..AWFUL! We need depth at the OG position. Randy Thomas isn't healthy and won't be for a while.

Forget SS, Forget LB..we need to draft an OG with the 53rd pick. Or the best OT on the board but we've got to get some depth on the Offensive line are we are going to be in trouble again.

I disagree, the OL can be added in later rounds. Get another impact player on Defense first.

I don't disagree with the fact that our running game went downhill after Randy Thomas went down, however it's safe to say that it was an offensive problem as a whole and not simply the loss of ONE player. Agree?

[Oldskool]

You guys have a short memory. When Randy Thomas went down, our running game was gone. GONE! Ray Brown was done and Raymer was Raymer..AWFUL! We need depth at the OG position. Randy Thomas isn't healthy and won't be for a while.

Forget SS, Forget LB..we need to draft an OG with the 53rd pick. Or the best OT on the board but we've got to get some depth on the Offensive line are we are going to be in trouble again.

Remember this is why we picked up Mike Pucillo in FA. He can play at all 3 line positions and was a starter in Buffalo when Travis Henry was tearing up the league.

[hanster]

Andre Carter can be used at LB if needed also so I beleive we have enough there.

[Darth Tater]

Unfortunately, I think Holdman is going to be the every down WLB. I think Williams is going to use Clemons on 3rd/passing downs only. I hope I am wrong. I think #53 is going to be used on the best available player, whether O-line, CB, LB, or D-line. I am more interested in us getting a kicker who we can count on for up to 45 yard FG and kickoffs inside the 10!

I suspect that we won't use a WILL very much. If our offense performs as we hope, we'll be in 40 Nickels and light 43 packages so much that I think the true WILLs will be on the field less than 25% of the time. Of course, a 40 Nickel can be used against the run (it was, after all, the form from which the 46 came).

As to kickers, we already have one we can count on as much as anybody can be counted on these days to do that.

[Gregpeck99]

Most of you are obsessing over defensive depth. I say protect Brunell ... move the chains conssitently and this will take the pressure off the Dee even with the mediocre LBs and CBs we have in abundance. This suggests that the OL be the chief priority addressed in the Draft and elswhere. We should trade up to grab a Guard/T like Max Jean-Gillis or a center like Mangold.

[Darth Tater]

For the record, I agree that DB is top priority at this point.

I would still like to see the following players picked up either during the draft or following June 1:

1) OL depth

2) DT depth

3) TE

4) safety

Given that body-wise, we need at least 1 more safety, period, I'd say that is a pretty high priority. Body-wise, all the other positions you mentioned are filled. Now, I'm not saying we couldn't improve the other 3, but at safety, we NEED a body.

[Darth Tater]

Corner and LB are still the biggest concerns but I think we need to look at FS/SS as well.

There is no depth behind Sean Taylor (Curry Burns?!) and Archuleta has missed 8 games in the last 5 years due to injuries.

Safety is the BIGGEST concern because we don't even have enough bodies.

8 OL, 5 WR, 3 TE, 3 QB, 2FB, 3RB and 1 at either TE or WR (25)

5 CB, 5 S, 7 LB, 8 DL (25)

1 LS, 1 K, 1 P (3)

[GIBBS LIVES]

Remember what happened when we tried to address the O-line in the June 1st cuts last year?? We ended up with a smoke out Ray Brown. Other teams are not releasing their quality O-linman anymore. Teams have gotten smarter.

You can get LB, SS from the June 1st cuts. But you can't get quality O-lineman anymore from the cuts on June 1st.

Also..when Griffin went down on the D-line, we were awful and went thru our worse defensive period of the season. You could easily argue that they need to take a legitimate DT also.

[Gusthecat]

You guys have a short memory. When Randy Thomas went down, our running game was gone. GONE! Ray Brown was done and Raymer was Raymer..AWFUL! We need depth at the OG position. Randy Thomas isn't healthy and won't be for a while.

Forget SS, Forget LB..we need to draft an OG with the 53rd pick. Or the best OT on the board but we've got to get some depth on the Offensive line are we are going to be in trouble again.

I think you are right. I also think that is what they are going to do. As I recall offensive line is kind of important to Gibbs, it did hurt to loose Thomas and it would be nice to have a some backup for a line that isn't old, but its not young either.

[sabadahabada]

Unfortunately, I think Holdman is going to be the every down WLB. I think Williams is going to use Clemons on 3rd/passing downs only. I hope I am wrong.

yea i don't think that is likely considering that Holdman's major problem was against the run so no way in hell would they use him on running downs again if anything clemons will be the every down guy and holdman might get the passing down duties.:2cents:

[Chris Worthy]

Greg Williams will use whatever LB in certain situations. Just like the last two years. Each of em bring something to the table. Besides Marcus and Lemar being there on everydown, someone will really have to shine in camp to be the WLB starter. It will be WLB by commitee. Besides in Greg's mind there is no starter

[Sailskipper]

I hope Holdman isnt declared the starter. We might as well only put 10 defenders on the feild. He is completely worthless when it comes to stoping the run.

[TheLongshot]

Remember what happened when we tried to address the O-line in the June 1st cuts last year?? We ended up with a smoke out Ray Brown. Other teams are not releasing their quality O-linman anymore. Teams have gotten smarter.

More like two years ago, and that was after Jansen went down in training camp. At that point, you are lucky if you can find anyone who is serviceable.

Jason

[atloldskin]

Signing Holdman is good news and adds depth.

Assuming no trades, we draft the best person with our picks. I really hope that Leonard Pope, TE from UGA, is somehow still on the board. If not, I look to take Jackson or McIntosh, both LBs, with our second pick, or a solid DE like Tapp. Then I draft CB and OL depth and a TE like Jeff King in the 6th round if available and assuming that we did not get Pope.

[LT Smash]

I dont get why you skins fans are so obssesed with geting a 3rd CB. Springs has at least 2 years left. If I was you I'd be looking more at DT/DE. Daniles is decent but geting kinda old, and Griffen could use a A big fat run stuffing DT next to him. You O-line also kinda thin.

because GW uses a bunch of corners in his system. plus, theyre supposed to play physical, so injuries can be a major problem, as they have been at points the last couple years. i do think we should also look for a DT/DE also though, cuz those guys would play much better if they had a lot of rest.

where and when would we play leonard pope? well have enough trouble as it is trying to get all the recievers, backs, and other tight ends in on O as it is.

[SKiNz Jus 2 sick]

Well you could say that about DE too. If Daniles or Carter gets hurt. Then you basicly have nothing behind them. I rather have D-line/Pass Rush depth then CB depth.

i was just about to say this

the better of a pass rush you have the easier it is for the 2ndary so in the draft we can just draft the best pass rusher available so if springs or rogers go down we still have wright, Jimoh who is going into the preseason battling for that nickle spot and we still have paterson who didnt play that bad last year and he even had 1 int last year

we have more of a need at LB then corner unless taylor goes to jail

[tml6157]

the LB situation looks brighter with Holdman resigned. Everyone is bashing him but im gonna stick up for him. I liked him when he came here and i agree he was disappointing last season but we would not have brought him back if he was that terrible. Remember Antonio Pierce and Lemar Marshall were both in the system at least 3 or more years before they broke out. Holdman was good during his Cleveland days so he has talent. Just let him develop.

[SKiNz Jus 2 sick]

the LB situation looks brighter with Holdman resigned. Everyone is bashing him but im gonna stick up for him. I liked him when he came here and i agree he was disappointing last season but we would not have brought him back if he was that terrible. Remember Antonio Pierce and Lemar Marshall were both in the system at least 3 or more years before they broke out. Holdman was good during his Cleveland days so he has talent. Just let him develop.

um you do know this is gregg williams's 3rd year with the redskins right?

so Marshall has been in it 2 years and Pierce was only in it for 1 year