ESPN Insider: Chat with Gary Horton 5/31

[roulette]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=11849

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Nate (Philly): Gary, if David Patten gets released by the Redskins after June 1st can you see him going back to New England and filling a #2 or #3 WR position?

Gary Horton: It would certainly fit the Patriots style in terms of bringing veterans back at a reduced salary. He knows the offense. They have a need at WR. He's not Givens, who I think they'll really miss. But he can be a contributor.

...

Steve (Jacksonville, FL): How do you see the ultra-tough NFC East shaking out? It seems like every team addressed it's weakness this offseason.

Gary Horton: Actually, I think the NFC East may be the toughest division in the NFL in 2006. Ironically, I've been watching that division on film and I'm really impressed with the Giants upgrading their defense and Washington bringing in a lot of new players. Dallas has improved their personnel and Philly had a good draft. This is going to be a very physical division where the teams beat up on each other. They'll go into the playoffs battle tested, though they may not have the best of records. I like the Giants to come out on top, but with maybe only a 10-6 record.

...

Kevin (Manassas): If you look at what Al Saunders did in KC with the offense, and especially Larry Johnson, do you see Portis having a monster year? Teams can't stack up against the run, because the Skins have too many weapons.

Gary Horton: I think one of the best acquisitions was Washington getting Saunders. They're basic offensive package is likely to be 3 WRs and one back. That will allow them to spread the field and it really opens things up for Portis and gives him better run lanes and his line better angles. I think that offensive set will give him huge opportunities to post a 1,500-yard rushing year.

[Santana_Fan]

I will be soooooo pissed if he gets released

[@DCGoldPants]

any interesting said about the other NFCE teams?

[roulette]

Just this:

Geoff (Pensacola): Hey Gary, does anyone outside of the Philly Organization actually believe that Brown is a legit number one WR?

Gary Horton: That's a good question. I think that probably the consensus of people that study the Eagles feel that they have a lot of complementary receivers but they really don't have a No. 1 guy. In an offense that throws the ball a ton, you wish you had that difference maker.

John (NYC): What did you think of the Cowboys draft this year?

Gary Horton: I loved the fact that they continue to rebuild a young and improved defense. They keep getting players that add to their 3-4 scheme. I think they're going to be a great pass rush group in 2006. It's the kind of defense that Bill Parcells loves.

[Fred Jones]

I will be soooooo pissed if he gets released

I am not a CBA expert, but I remember reading that teams can cut players early, but take a cap hit like it was a June 1 cut according to the new CBA. That allows teams to cut players well before June 1, but take the cap penulty like it was a June 1 cut. This also allows the player more opportunity to get on with another team. Because of this I think we would have cut Patten by now if that was the intent of the coaching staff. I think he will be given the same opportunity as every other WR to make the final roster.

[SkinsGuy]

Patten WON'T be cut.

[ouvan59]

Kevin (Manassas):[/b] If you look at what Al Saunders did in KC with the offense, and especially Larry Johnson, do you see Portis having a monster year? Teams can't stack up against the run, because the Skins have too many weapons.

Gary Horton: I think one of the best acquisitions was Washington getting Saunders. They're basic offensive package is likely to be 3 WRs and one back. That will allow them to spread the field and it really opens things up for Portis and gives him better run lanes and his line better angles. I think that offensive set will give him huge opportunities to post a 1,500-yard rushing year.

Welll that wouldn't be much of an upgrade then would it.

[DWinzit]

Patten WON'T be cut.

Horton was correct though, it would be NE-like to pick him back up if cut. Over the years situations like that fell into their lap many times. Luck is often on the side of champs. This year it is our turn.

[e16bball]

Gary Horton: I think one of the best acquisitions was Washington getting Saunders. They're basic offensive package is likely to be 3 WRs and one back. That will allow them to spread the field and it really opens things up for Portis and gives him better run lanes and his line better angles. I think that offensive set will give him huge opportunities to post a 1,500-yard rushing year.

Hmm, so with our O-Coordinator being "one of the best acquisitions" of the offseason, a new chance to "spread the field" and "open things up," as well as "better run lanes" and "better angles" for the line, Portis will perform exactly as he did last season? Come on big guy, go out on a limb. Predict an 1800 yard season, you know you want to :cool:

EDIT: Sorry, ouvan, didn't see your similar post.

[MRMADD]

Gary Horton: [/b]I think one of the best acquisitions was Washington getting Saunders. They're basic offensive package is likely to be 3 WRs and one back. That will allow them to spread the field and it really opens things up for Portis and gives him better run lanes and his line better angles. I think that offensive set will give him huge opportunities to post a 1,500-yard rushing year.

Hmmm... 3 WR and Portis as the basic set? If you assume that Cooley is in there, and both he and Portis aren't the best blockers, that leaves just the front 5 to protect the QB. Gibbs always places a premium on protecting the QB. It'll be interesting to see how much influence Saunders has here. Spreading the field like that sounds good, but you need to prove you can complete the quick pass to keep teams from attacking your QB relentlessly.

[hkHog]

Hmmm... 3 WR and Portis as the basic set? If you assume that Cooley is in there, and both he and Portis aren't the best blockers, that leaves just the front 5 to protect the QB. Gibbs always places a premium on protecting the QB. It'll be interesting to see how much influence Saunders has here. Spreading the field like that sounds good, but you need to prove you can complete the quick pass to keep teams from attacking your QB relentlessly.

Cooley isn't the best blocker but Portis may be the best blocking RB in the NFL.

Also, I would say that Tony Gonzalez is not a great blocker either and Larry Johnson doesn't even try to block and was actually ripped apart by the KC press because of it. Even Michael Irvin specifically refused to name him as a "playmaker" one week even though he rushed for 150+ and 3TDs or something like that because he whiffed on a block that led to a Trent Green fumble and lost KC the game. Also, I think we will use more double TE sets than many people think because that was something we were very successful with last year.

[MRMADD]

Portis was knocked out of last weekend's game after throwing himself in front of tackle Damione Lewis, a 6-foot-2, 301-pounder who, like Portis, attended Miami. Portis caught the wrong end of the contact in his cutback block -- "I'm throwing 210 [pounds] and [he's] 300, so you know it's going to be tough" -- then, after "clearing the cobwebs," he re-entered the game one series later. A week earlier, Portis delivered a massive blow to San Diego linebacker Steve Foley (6-4, 265 pounds), catching him on a pass rush and flipping him head over heels to the grass.

"He's a mean dude," Joe Bugel, assistant head coach-offense, said of Portis. "He'll attack you. You don't have to worry about him holding the flank and blocking for our receivers. I'll tell you what, he's the best without the football we've had. When he doesn't have the ball, he's a raving maniac, and you don't see that too much in the NFL."

Portis has the will to do it, but he's too small to be taking on those guys regularly -- the Skins just can't afford to have Portis tangling with 300 pounders too often.

[roulette]

Agreed with MRMADD. He's one of the best, but you never want your star RB to be a constant blocker trying to stop a rushing LB. Running backs take enough of a beating on the 30 carries they actually have the ball to wear them down the rest of the game as well.

[Kurd Cudins]

Hmmm... 3 WR and Portis as the basic set? If you assume that Cooley is in there, and both he and Portis aren't the best blockers, that leaves just the front 5 to protect the QB. Gibbs always places a premium on protecting the QB. It'll be interesting to see how much influence Saunders has here. Spreading the field like that sounds good, but you need to prove you can complete the quick pass to keep teams from attacking your QB relentlessly.

What? Portis is one of the best blocking RB in the league behind only Edge, IMO. Cooley is not the best blocking TE, but he is still a good blocker. If the blocking scheme isn't working they can go to a 2 TE set with Fauria, who is an excellent blocker. :2cents:

[bubba9497]

I think that offensive set will give him huge opportunities to post a 1,500-yard rushing year

you mean like last year? :doh:

[SkinsGuy]

Horton was correct though, it would be NE-like to pick him back up if cut. Over the years situations like that fell into their lap many times. Luck is often on the side of champs. This year it is our turn.

I agree the Pats probably would pick Patten back up if the Redskins were to cut him, but they won't get the chance.

The only way Patten would get cut would be if he has been making a real stink behind the scenes about the Redskins signing Lloyd and ARE, and wants out. We haven't heard anything like that.

So I seriously doubt that.

[daNattyFatty]

I will be soooooo pissed if he gets released

if moss, randle el and lloyd are looking good in camp, patten will be released. he doesn't play special teams (like james thrash does, and is a stud for us there) and costs too much money to be a 4th wideout.

this is exactly what happened when brunell was signed. he didn't get the huge contract just to be a back up; and like i just stated, $1 million is pretty pricey for a #4 wide receiver. you're certainly not going to have your other two younger, higher paid receivers not on the field.

so basically, one of the top 3 WRs will either have to get hurt or just totally suck for us to keep patten.

[G-Prime]

you mean like last year? :doh:

No he meant like the 2 years he had with Denver.. Those were good years.. People aren't allowed to have good years with the skins no matter what ;p

[roulette]

There isn't a big upside to cutting him though. And Gibbs learns from mistakes. Last year, he lost his #2 and #3 wide outs. It particularly effected us because we ran mostly 2 WR sets. Our #4 and #5 WRs just couldn't get pressure off of Moss. He realized that he needed more depth. This year, we're going to do a lot of 3 WR sets. So the #4 guy becomes a lot more important. Patton is a step up from Thrash as a WR.

We kept 4 WRs on last year. I imagine we'll hold onto 5 this year, possibly a 6th. Moss, Lloyd, ARE, Patton, Thrash.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Welll that wouldn't be much of an upgrade then would it.

It might be if he's doing it with less attempts. I think you'll see his receiving yards increase and I think we're hoping to be less reliant on him this season. Therefore, if he rushes for 1500 yards on 50 or so less carries and has an additional 400-500 receiving yards, I think I'd consider it an upgrade.

[Chris Worthy]

Portis has the will to do it, but he's too small to be taking on those guys regularly -- the Skins just can't afford to have Portis tangling with 300 pounders too often.

CP has only picked up the LB coming in, unless he is getting help from one of the lineman like a chip-block. He has never taken on a lineman one-on-one.

[bcl05]

1500 yds from 290 carries is very different then 1500 from 390. Much more explosive.

[Destino]

1500 yds from 290 carries is very different then 1500 from 390. Much more explosive.

I'm glad somebody said it. If the base offense is a 3 WR set, then the assumption is a lot more passing. Thus breaking 1500 again would mean doing so with less carries.

[Warhead36]

Hmmm... 3 WR and Portis as the basic set? If you assume that Cooley is in there, and both he and Portis aren't the best blockers, that leaves just the front 5 to protect the QB. Gibbs always places a premium on protecting the QB. It'll be interesting to see how much influence Saunders has here. Spreading the field like that sounds good, but you need to prove you can complete the quick pass to keep teams from attacking your QB relentlessly.

Cooley's blocking improved last year and Portis is the best blitz pickup RB in the NFL.

I'd like our chances with those 7 blocking, though I could see us subbing Sellers or Fauria in for Cooley on obvious 3rd and longs.

But with Moss, Lloyd, Randle El, Cooley, and Portis, we would be a terror to defend on those 2nd and 5 type downs, where you could run any play.

[MRMADD]

Cooley's blocking improved last year and Portis is the best blitz pickup RB in the NFL.

I'd like our chances with those 7 blocking, though I could see us subbing Sellers or Fauria in for Cooley on obvious 3rd and longs.

But with Moss, Lloyd, Randle El, Cooley, and Portis, we would be a terror to defend on those 2nd and 5 type downs, where you could run any play.

The question is not "can Portis block?" The question is "do you want Portis blocking?" If you line up 3 WRs most of the time, you run the risk of having an unblocked defender that the RB has to pick up. Sure, that's part of Portis' job, and he's good at it, but I think that his smallish frame doesn't need the additional wear-and-tear of being a primary blocking option back there. I'd rather have him healthy in January.

And you can't sub in a FB, because that signals to the defense that it's all pass.

My issue is not running 3 WR sets. That will happen. I just don't know that it'll be the primary offense given the limitations of Mark Brunell at his age. You can't afford to let him get hit too many times, and you can't afford to let Portis take those monster hits either. I'm guessing that pass protection will remain a priority.