What's your BIGGEST worry?

[MRMADD]

As I see it, the Skins are a pretty talented bunch. Washington, Griffin, Taylor, Moss, Portis, Samuels, Jansen, Cooley -- I don't think there's any team that wouldn't snap up that group. But they do have weaknesses.

1. I think, first and foremost, Brunell has to be a concern. He's pretty old, and, despite his resurgence last year, the hits he's taken over the years have to add up to some serious injury risk. While any QB is always one good hit away from the training room, Brunell is especially vulnerable.

2. Then there's the offensive line. You've got Thomas coming back from serious injury, and Jansen just had surgery. Raybach has that mangled leg. Dockery may be healthy, but he's still the weakest link. To top it off, there is just no depth at all along the line.

3. Next there's the linebacking corps. Washington is great, but it's a steep decline after that. Everyone has penciled in an undersized rookie 2nd round pick as a starter -- that's not a good sign.

4. The defensive secondary is also very, very thin. The starters, Springs, Taylor, Archuleta, and Rogers are pretty damn good, but there's not much behind them.

I think the receiving corps obviously looks strong, the running backs have experienced depth, TEs look good, and even the DL, a perennial problem, has improved with the addition of Carter. The kicking game doesn't bother me that much, even though the punter is unsettled.

So which one of the four areas do you regard as the Skins biggest worry?

[LiveStrongSkins]

Well for one nothing on defense is a worry to me. Williams has proved time and time again that no matter who he fields on Sunday, we will be in the game. The addition of Andre Carter should mask any problems we have with the secondary. My main concern would be punter and field goal kicker. We need a guy who can go in and get us an automatic 3 when we need it. Also, we need to stop relying so much on the defense to stop a team on a short field. We need a guy who can punt the ball and give the opposing team a longer field.

[arenasisgod]

injuries. especially to money Mark. The bug didn't bite really until the end of last season. Hopefully they can keep their body parts in working order

[jwpanic]

o-line, if they're hurt then brunell is hurt. if brunell is hurt, we can't utilize our recievers. no recievers means opposing defenses will be able to stuff the run. it all comes back to the o-line. defense is set.

[HailYeah]

Overall thinness, or lack of depth especially at O-line and corner. I'm not too worried about Brunell. We are loaded everywhere else, IMO.

[Guest santana4prez]

The offensive line because of the way it hurt as last season. The Skins have a damn good starting line but the backups are question marks. I hope Bugel has a few cards under his sleeve. The CB position is also a worry because of injuries. I like Ade Jimoh and he has played better every year but can he play well as a starter or Kenny Wright if the Skins have an injury.

[Oldskool]

Six words for you:

Mark Brunell out

Jason Campbell starting

[BigRay]

I think my biggest worry is healthy if these guys can stay healthy and secondly, I have to say chemistry how the new guys blend in the old guys.

[Loyal2Washington]

While I have faith in Brunell to lead the O, in reality we are either to old or to young at QB. If he can stay healthy and preserve his arm over the year MB should be fine, JC has no experience and is a huge gamble the moment he steps on the field.

:dallasuck :gaintsuck :eaglesuck

[UMDterpsfan01]

I still have no confidence in our kicking or punting game

[GrimReefa]

Mark Brunell, plain and simple. Each of the last two years, he suffered a leg injury at the hands of the Giants, and in each of the last two years, that is precisely the moment our offense stopped working.

As great as Santana Moss was last year, part of me can't help thinking that 2004 would have been a lot more like 2005 if Brunell's injury had occured later that season and, conversely, that 2005 would have been a lot more like 2004 had Brunell's injury occured earlier that season.

I have faith in Gibbs ability to pick a QB, I don't believe that a second-year player taking over the reins after sitting out year one would necessarily lead to disaster (Tom Brady, anyone?) but the fact is I DO doubt Mark Brunell's ability to stay healthy for the entirety of a football season (he is 0 for his last 3; however you want to cut it, those aren't good odds), and Jason Campbell IS an unknown quantity (or should I say quality?) at the most important position on the field.

[Gregpeck99]

The Skins have serious weaknesses that the homers on this Board seem to be in denial over. The QB situation is a shamble ... Brunell's trend over the last few games proves he is washed up ... yet the homers think everything is fine and dandy .... NOT! We need a strong armed, mobile, athletic young QB with poise (read Campbell) and the sooner we paly him ... the sooner this problem disolves. We do not have aTE who can BLOCK and CATCH and is fast enough to stretch the field. The OL does not have a credible b/u tackle ... if Samuels or Jansen goes down ...gulp!!!! The offense still does not look like on paper it will average more than 22-24 points agame ... needed to gain homefield advantage in the playoffs. The defense also has issues ... no backup at corner, no real BIG and Fast linebacker on the weakside and unproven safeties. Taylor is a fabulous athlete ... but still needs more discipline ... he gave up some big plays in coverage ... but fans do not want to focus on it. The cure is a more aggressive offense that moves the chains and scores points. We have Saunders that will help ... but without a talented game-changing QB ... the Skins will be looking up at the greatly strengthened competition in their division. I'm only being realistic ... HTTR.

[ddub52]

im not worried about brunell that much anymore. al saunders will find a way to keep him protected. He will have more people to throw to, and hopefully our oline will have improved since last season

[Duke]

Cornelius Griffin to me. When he's out, people seem to run down our throat, just like last year. O-Line is the next concern.

[flexxskins]

Mark Brunell, plain and simple. Each of the last two years, he suffered a leg injury at the hands of the Giants, and in each of the last two years, that is precisely the moment our offense stopped working.

As great as Santana Moss was last year, part of me can't help thinking that 2004 would have been a lot more like 2005 if Brunell's injury had occured later that season and, conversely, that 2005 would have been a lot more like 2004 had Brunell's injury occured earlier that season.

I have faith in Gibbs ability to pick a QB, I don't believe that a second-year player taking over the reins after sitting out year one would necessarily lead to disaster (Tom Brady, anyone?) but the fact is I DO doubt Mark Brunell's ability to stay healthy for the entirety of a football season (he is 0 for his last 3; however you want to cut it, those aren't good odds), and Jason Campbell IS an unknown quantity (or should I say quality?) at the most important position on the field.

That was well said. I guess Brunells' age and health is always going to be a concern. I, myself have always thought that Brunells' long ball is kind of suspect. I think that alot of people would agree that in 2005, Santana Moss had to adjust to alot of long passes that weren't thrown that great by Mr.Brunell. Who knows, maybe it was by design, because a few of them went for TDs.

However, it just seems to me that Brunells' knowledge of the game and position create success. Therefore, I am pretty comfortable with him being our starting QB in 06.

BTW, I agree with MRMADD and his assessment of why he thinks the o-line is the biggest concern.

[MRMADD]

Quarterback is the most important position on the field, so it doesn't surprise me that it's the top worry, but our QB position isn't that bad. We've got an experienced starter who, while he was horrendous in '04, rallied in '05 and was truly a leader for the team. His backup is a first-round pick who's had a solid year learning from the best.

I can think of lots of team with far worse situations than that.

[Joey T]

The Oline is my biggest concern. Will Randy be fully recovered?

Will Dockery continue to improve?

Can Molaniro(sp) be a capable backup if Jansen or Samuels have to sit a while? God forbid they should suffer serious injury.

Who is the backup guard? Is he capable?

Buges has not yet worked his magic on this unit.

If the oline can protect Brunell, the Skins should have a great offense this year.

[BlueEyes15]

the biggest worry for me is the quarterback position...what else is new? It could easily be a bad year or great year...it's up to Brunell.

[BleedBNG]

That was too easy

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Number one is the health of Brunell. A healthy Brunell should lead to 11 wins. An injured Brunell probably means no better than 8-8.

The o-line still concerns me some. Beat up, maybe starting to age a bit, and no depth.

Overall depth is number three.

The Skins' skilled positions are as talented as anyone. The coaching is top notch. The o-line, when healthy, is fine. Injuries affect every team, but this team seems particularly vulnerable.

[smalczak]

Number one is the health of Brunell. A healthy Brunell should lead to 11 wins. An injured Brunell probably means no better than 8-8.

And unfortunately we all know that unless Brunell is physically in two pieces, he will still play regardless of how much the injury reduces his peformance. IMO, if he was such a 'team player' and a 'leader' that many people claim, he would know enough to sit himself down when his performance drops off (due to injury or otherwise).

THAT is my primary concern...that he comes out playing well, gets hurt and performance drops, but continues to play anyways because he wont come out and Gibbs wont pull him.

We've seen variations of that exact thing the last two years. Do people really think that cant happen again?

[CurseReversed]

The QB position is not in shambles, but it is definitely top notch either. I am not too worried about qb though, I am worried about o-line depth because that is what directly effects the qb play. As in if campbell does have to play, if he has a healthy, solid oline in front of him he will probably do well. Backup tackle is our only really weak spot IMO, an injury there could really hurt us. What I do know is that our coaching staff is the best, and preparing this team for the superbowl. They are not the type to overlook any aspect or leave any stone unturned, that is why it's really not that homerish to like our chances to get homefield advantage in the playoffs. I suspect that if a solid tackle backup doesnt emerge in the next few months on our own team, that we will find a way to get one. Matter of fact I bet we have more then a few guys working on it right now. I think at almost every other position on this team we have semi-solid, and more importantly, well coached depth. More-so then any other team in the NFC east.

[RIDETHEWALRUS]

Our secondary is still pretty solid. Kenny Wright was a full time starter and Ade Jimoh has progressed by leaps and bounds since coming here and I expect that to continue. I do believe we need some more depth at Safety, but I think we have a servicable bunch with Pierson still here.

Our O-line is what I voted for, but it is only because of how vital that unit is to our success. Our starters are all above average or extremely good. Dockery has improved each year he has been here and I suspect he will end up being our best O-line player in the next 2-3 years. We did pick up those two guys in FA, neither of which seemed special, and we still have Jim Molinaro with 2 years of Buges teaching him how to play the game. That being said, if we have bad luck with injuries we could be in a very bad way.

[dpass]

I think the biggest worry would have to be QB. Eventhough I think that if brunell goes down campbell will be ready. Joe Gibbs is smart. He would not have traded ramsey if he didn't think campbell would be ready. All the other positions we should be all right. We will develope depth doing training camp. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL.

[Guest santana4prez]

Quarterback is the most important position on the field, so it doesn't surprise me that it's the top worry, but our QB position isn't that bad. We've got an experienced starter who, while he was horrendous in '04, rallied in '05 and was truly a leader for the team. His backup is a first-round pick who's had a solid year learning from the best.

I can think of lots of team with far worse situations than that.

Yeah I agree with you post Mr Madd. As long as Brunell stays healthy this position is not a worry at all. If Brunell goes down at least Campbell gets his experience in and can take over this team. With the weapons we have on offense I think the loss of Brunell wouldnt be as bad as it would be if Campbell was QBing last years team with only 1 WR and 1 TE. The offensive line is a bigger worry because of the depth and the risk of Brunell getting hurt if a lineman goes down due to injury.