Regardless of 2006 Finish....Change In Philosophy Needed

[The Sisko]

Oh, I forgot to include in my prior post that all five of McKay's picks in this year's draft made the team as well. That's 16 of 20 picks in the last 3 drafts that have made their team. I haven't checked all their F.A. aquisitions however, off the top of my head, their signing of E. Hartwell, J. Abraham, and L. Milloy has worked out much better than our signing of Holdman, Carter, and Archuletta (to compare guys at the same position). Again, those results both in the draft and F.A. sound a lot less like a crapshoot than our results in those departments. Again, it's about skill not just chance.

If you think 16 of 20 is a crapshoot then I'd love to gamble with you sometime Bubba.

[stwasm]

Well, I think, if anything, we have to start with getting a REAL general manager in here who knows how today's NFL works. As much as I love and admire the man, it seems like Coach Gibbs either is unable or unwilling to adapt to today's game. Until that changes, we're going to be mired in mediocrity at best.

[Dirk Diggler]

I hear ya. I probably disagree with the moves made by this team more often than not.

But I think the only way this team stays 10-11 win per year competitive now and into the future is to get the QB position straightened out. Look at the teams that are consistently "in it" year in and year out. What do they all have in common? Very good to great QBs. Coaches and front offices look a lot smarter when that position is nailed down. Manning, Brady, McNabb...franchise players yes...but even a Trent Green can have you in or around the post-season every year. If we get that spot worked out every thing else will be cream cheese.

[cakmoney61]

Edited: Outstanding reads bulldog, DWinzit, and BedlamVR!!! Actually great reads from most!!!:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

[cakmoney61]

The only people defending the way we currently "build" a team are people who love the Skins so much they can't bear to critize Gibbs or Danny. If any other team in the league operated this way you'd all fry them...and laugh at them.

Look, no one is saying you can't sign a free agent here or there. But what you can't do is use free agency as an excuse to ignore the draft.

When there was no cap-it worked out fine...just keep spending (if you have the money) and you'll eventually get the players, but this notion that free agency is less a gamble than the draft is a little short sighted.

For one thing, as we are now well aware with one dimenisional AA, the terrible 2000 spree...it is very possible to bust in FA and when those guys come up bad, it is worse than a draft pick not working out because you are generally paying them more...in our case usually much more!

The draft isn't a thing to be avoided....it's a thing to be exploited by finding value. Get better talent evalutors throughout the system and you'll get better results., think about guys who fit your scheme and don't try to build a team with 53 all stars on it.

NFL teams need quality depth, you can't do that without the "cheap" labor of young draft picks.

Every other team in the NFL knows this. Why don't we?

Stop trading draft picks like they mean nothing, because they are the future of our team, you can survive draft pick failures much eaiser then FA ones if you keep your set amount of picks each year.

And with younger guys, you get guys who are playing to get bigger contracts-hungry guys, guys looking to make a name for themselves, you don't get players coming in here to cash fat paychecks with the 2nd half of their careers.

We are the oldest team in NFL, we have the least amount of draft picks every year, and we have cap issues every year to work through that prevent us from signing good depth.

Something has to change...

Outstanding post!!!

I can handle trading away draft picks to get "quality" FAs. What bothers me is giving up future draft picks to get back in the same draft that we traded ourselves out of. If we are going to trade away draft picks, then bite the bullet and stay away from that year's draft!!! That way we'll have all of our draft picks for next year's draft. There seems to be an I-want-what-I-want-now philosophy regardless of the cost.

[drowland]

the crap shoot known as the draft is the way to go

the Philosophy is fine, the fans closed minded perception however :laugh:

FA is crap shoot too. I'm tired of the whole "proven player" theory. Either way, you're making projections on how a player will fit into your system. With FA the stakes are higher. If a team misses on a 3rd rd pick, it's not going to set them back that much. If you miss on a high priced FA, then you're paying for it for a number of years and it prevents you making other moves. The draft is also where you can build and develop low cost depth for your team. The Skins roster is so top heavy that they've left themselves very thin at the bottom and it shows.

[cakmoney61]

FA is crap shoot too. I'm tired of the whole "proven player" theory. Either way, you're making projections on how a player will fit into your system. With FA the stakes are higher. If a team misses on a 3rd rd pick, it's not going to set them back that much. If you miss on a high priced FA, then you're paying for it for a number of years and it prevents you making other moves. The draft is also where you can build and develop low cost depth for your team. The Skins roster is so top heavy that they've left themselves very thin at the bottom and it shows.

And without depth, if your first-string talent doesn't perform well or gets injured, you are dead in the water, because the talent pool behind them is virtually nill.

[zoony]

Great post Bulldog, I agree entirely.

Funny thing is... it seems like sometimes this IS the 'skins policy... like when we said no to AP b/c that was too much $$ allocated to that position.

But when you consider moves made at safety and WR, it just doesn't add up.

..

[illone]

The value in keeping and developing homegrown players is something that I always assumed Gibbs excelled at. His talk of core Redskins when he came back in 2004 had me believing we followed the philosophy you suggest above, bulldog. But now that the pudding has been served it doesn't taste right.

Passing on Pierce was the wrong move. He was a homegrown guy and added to the chemistry and leadership on this team. That's where I believe we really started down the wrong path. The team liked him and he should have been rewarded for playing well for us. Smoot wanted too much $$ but we could have afforded Antonio, plus he was the QB of that stout 2004 defense that we've been clammoring to get back to since then.

I'm strongly on the "keep players we grow" bandwagon, if there is such a thing. We're really hurting now as we had to search the waiver wire for a guy like Vincent who we'll be lucky to get a solid year out of this year. The guy might be a role player for us next year but we aren't building the team around him as he'll be gone in a year or two.

Another huge blunder was letting Ryan Clark go. This may have been the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. Replacing him with overpaid player in Archuleta was an even bigger mistake because Arch didn't really bring anything to the table, and actually took away from the team by upseting players like Taylor and possibly even Cooley, two guys who deserve contact extensions IMO.

If I was Sean Taylor I'd be pissed, too. Last year playing next to a guy like Clark whom he trusted and respected, now has to play teacher to Archuleta and a guy that got 10 mil who doesn't deserve it?

This team needs to shift gears, and fast, or we're going to lose guys like Cooley and Taylor to free agency and it's not going to be pretty.

[Hooper]

Couldn't agree more, Bulldog. The proof is in the redskins record since Snyder (whose heart I believe is in the right place) took over.