Washington Redskins 2007...success or failure?

[stp240]

First of all Joe Jackson Gibbs is the coach darn it!

The Joe Gibbs' all mighty Redskins of 05 have been forgotten by most.

With all the controversy surrounding the relationships between coaches and players, can this team right themselvs in 07?

Reasons to be optimistic about 2007

O-line: This group really came on STRONG at the end of the 06 season. I expect them to stay together and perform at a very high level in 07. All of us have just imagined Clinton Portis running through those 10ft wide running lanes.

RB: Every successful team in 06 had a 2 RB attack, now...we have ours. Both of them are THREATS to run the football effectivly

WR: Talent Talent Talent...Ability is not the question here. We lacked production in 06 but certianly not potential. All of our WR's are a THREAT to a defense. As i thought at the begining of 06, i still believe our receiving core is one of the more talented groups in the league.

QB: Jason Campbell can make all the throws. Potential is there, speed, arm strength, height, weight. Most of all, i like to see our young qb making good decisions for the most part. At Auburn and this year he managed the game very well. Thats exactly what any offense needs. Oh yeah...say goodbye to that 8th man in the box! We have a THREAT at qb now.

Chris Cooley and Mike Sellers are two great character guys who i would like to see alot more of in 07. In 05 theyre production in the red zone was unmatched. Both are huge THREATS to a defense...no more settling for the FG! Most time we got to the red zone in 05 we passed to Cooley and it worked! If not we hit Sellers! Campbell to Cooley sounds great too!

So in every aspect of our offense we are a THREAT to score. Gibbs knows how to win and he will make this relationship with Al Saunders work! As an opposing defensive coordinator in 07, i would hate to game plan against the Washington Redskins Offense.

And for the Defense...

What has changed from 05 to 06? truthfully not much! Of course the production was not there. But for a team to go from top 10 to last is not a case of "Oh these players all suck now." I saw plenty of evidence this year that this defense was just not inspired to play hard. Every great defense plays with an attitude! That just simply was not there in 06. As far as im concerned every position has players capable of playing at a high level. I say that because i expect Holdman to be gone and Rocky should fit in as a play maker. LB coach Dale Lindsay has recently been released so maybe, just maybe the team can give their full effort on Defense.

Our defensive scheme was not the best this year. GW earned his rep (defensive genius) somewhere along his career, now its time to show us why! This is when we need the Gregg Williams of old!

I plan to see a great defensive player drafted in 07, preferably someone to help the front 7 and who can fit in right away.

This is why i am optomistic about 2007 :logo:

So if you agree or dissagree tell me your opinion and why?

[Morneblade]

Well, I think the Offence is in good shape. I dont think WR is as solid as you seem to think it is. I really like Moss, and I like Randle El as a 3rd, but I think Lloyd is highly overated by some. As far as complete groups go, I take:

Colts

Saints

Panthers

Cowboys

Bengals

Rams

Over ours. Im not including TE here, just wide-outs. Basically for the fact that we dont have a real #2 guy.

I think 2-3 players in D really turn it around, especially of a couple more guys can stay healthy. But we also need depth there as well, so it's going to take more than that to realistically make the unit alot better.

[stp240]

true...so that puts us at #7? haha

I will take ARE as a #2 any day because of the skills he has once the ball is in his hands and the threat that he is. BL is very talented, i think theres much more to come from him. I dont expect everyone to agree our WR core is one of the best because of their lack of production. But if you if you combine Moss, ARE and Cooley, Betts, Portis and even Sellers, they can all attribute to a very successful passing attack.

[Morneblade]

true...so that puts us at #7? haha

I will take ARE as a #2 any day because of the skills he has once the ball is in his hands and the threat that he is. BL is very talented, i think theres much more to come from him. I dont expect everyone to agree our WR core is one of the best because of their lack of production. But if you if you combine Moss, ARE and Cooley, Betts, Portis and even Sellers, they can all attribute to a very successful passing attack.

Well, that was just teams I know a bit about. To be honest there are several teams that might have some real good groups I'm clueless on. And I dont know if I see ARE as a real good #2 guy. He might turn into one, but I havent seen it yet, although he didnt get much of a chance to show anything. Really not sold on Lloyd though. If his attutide was like ARE or Moss, I think he would be a real good player. He has talent. I just think he has a lousy attitude, and I dont except it to change much.

But Cooley and Betts are real threats, and I really like Sellers in the Red zone.

[clathel]

Our OL is old and getting older....we need to draft OL now while the OL is still barely decent...It was nice to see that the OL could play for a few games but I dont think they can keep it up all year. We dont need to get another CB but Harper from the Colts would be a great backup. Clements would want to start but would probably be a very expensive backup until Springs retires or moves on, so he wont come here. DE needs to be addressed big time but would not have if we had just gotten Abraham last season. We need to find 2 good FA DE's to start. Patten, Thrash and Lloyd might be gone if Espy blossoms and we get another through the draft and Cooley may be used as a WR more often.

[stp240]

Drafting and O lineman is out of the question this year.

As far as the D-line, from what i know...this is the tightest group on the team, so getting rid of any of them in my mind is a mistake. Drafting an athletic D lineman could help...and that would be ok, but i met and really believe in Phillip Daniels. When the D line is let free to rush the passer they do great! when they try their stunts, they end up playing patty cake with the O line.

Corner back is not a big need in my opinion, all of them have the athletic ability. They were really at a disadvantage this year in that whenever a WR is one on one, he will have the advantage. Plus the coaches made our corners play 10 yards off! When our D line did not get a pass rush...its kind of like an open shot in basketball...the qb should be able to make the accurate pass to beat the cb. Not to mention the safeties were too worried about helping the front 7 in run support.

[Buck812]

On Offense I think we are in pretty good shape except for WR. Take Moss out of the line up and this group falls way below average. Even with Moss teams find a way of taking him out of games so we really need help at on the other side of him.

On Defense Im just concerned that we have gotten a little long in the tooth. DL is getting older, our best LB in Washington seemed to have slipped a little and our best CB is getting up there too. I thought MLB was a position that needed to be addressed when Pierce left and Im still thinking the same not to mention WSLB. This Defense has a tough road to hold.

[Johnny Punani]

We can all talk about the O-line, Offense, Defense, Coaches until we are blue in the face trying to understand what happend to this team and how to fix the problem.

While some of those areas need addressing I think the main reason why we had a tough year in 2006 and why we should be excited about 2007 is that Joe Gibbs out thought himself and was light on the players during mini and training camps thinking that would give him an edge with helping players from being injured and keeping the team from wearing down towards the end of the season.

That idea blew up and he won't make the same mistake twice. I expect Joe Gibbs will have one of the most brutal training camps he has ever had in his coaching career. Players are going to be working their butts off and when the preseason starts the players are going to be so pissed off and worked up we are going to see a totally different team then we saw last year. People are going to hustle and be very agressive and we will be more then ready when week one comes around.

You can bank on it!

[stp240]

I have seen many posts talking about how players are getting old...they did not all catch Brunell syndrome. One year is one year, if theyre hurt...thats one thing, but the drop off from 05 to 06 was not because of age, it will not be an excuse for 07 either.

Of course it looks like every position on D needs to be addressed, but these are the same starters from 05 excluding clark. Clark wasnt that talented but i would like to still have him because of his pull in the locker room.

My question on D is what changed?

ummmm Clark...ok....no

the coaches and the scheme on defense has changed

we have our d line playing patty cake, our linebackers non existent, our cb's playing 10 yrds off and our safeties worrying about run support

[Chief skin]

not getting my hopes up, I was convinced they would be a conteder on 06 and boom 5 - 11 UGH

[EnFoRcEr_uPu]

I'm going to say they hit an 8-8, maybe 9-7 season depending on it they actually keep the team together for once. I'm sticking to my 2008 SB run prediction.

[REEGSKINS]

i think this is a very good thread. well thought out and makes me optimistic for 07. i think jason is going to be great. and with a great qb you always have a chance.

[RedskinInExile]

We can all talk about the O-line, Offense, Defense, Coaches until we are blue in the face trying to understand what happend to this team and how to fix the problem.

While some of those areas need addressing I think the main reason why we had a tough year in 2006 and why we should be excited about 2007 is that Joe Gibbs out thought himself and was light on the players during mini and training camps thinking that would give him an edge with helping players from being injured and keeping the team from wearing down towards the end of the season.

That idea blew up and he won't make the same mistake twice. I expect Joe Gibbs will have one of the most brutal training camps he has ever had in his coaching career. Players are going to be working their butts off and when the preseason starts the players are going to be so pissed off and worked up we are going to see a totally different team then we saw last year. People are going to hustle and be very agressive and we will be more then ready when week one comes around.

You can bank on it!

God I hope so. There were a lot of intangible things wrong with the team this year, and being slow and rusty out of the gates was one of the big ones. Thankfully, the coaches can fix this one

Chemistry was another, and that one can't be fixed so easily, especially the way this FO spends its money

[JimmyConway]

God I hope so. There were a lot of intangible things wrong with the team this year, and being slow and rusty out of the gates was one of the big ones. Thankfully, the coaches can fix this one

Chemistry was another, and that one can't be fixed so easily, especially the way this FO spends its money

We MUST play strong from the beginning. Going in to week 10 with anything worse than a 5-4 won't be good even though the team usually plays well down the stretch. Gibbs knows this. I expect this offseason to be very different from others.

Can 07' be a success? Yes.

[stp240]

Another thing i thought of is that.... although 5-11 looks like a horrible record, 4 of those teams are all above average teams, i think this team as is (with Rocky) has the ability to be an elite team. They just have to play with that same attitude and intensity week in and week out.

[Thirtyfive2seven]

You know what worries me the most is the fact that we were suppose to rely on our defense to carry us this year as we learned a new offense. Our defense utterly failed us. This season the redskins are going to have to rely on their offense because no one in their right mind is giving the defense a chance to play well after the performance they had in 06. Maybe they will play with a chip on their shoulder. I'm worried that Campbell won't progress as much as we think.

[SolidSnake84]

I'm predicting 7-9 or maybe 8-8. Jason Campbell has shown flashes, but nothing to really impress me. I'm not suggest MB come back, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad to pick up somebody with a little more experience. There's some good QB's out there that are now Free Agents...and the defense was just horrendous. Fixing the defensive problems would go a long way. Hopefully Betts will be our starting back, and then we can have a powerful running game once more. I'd be satisfied with 8-8.

[Decimator]

I think that we all know that this team will be better. I'm not saying that we're the worst I've ever seen, but it was a bad team, playing unispired ball.

In one of the few games they came to play this season, Tiki proved to be the better man.

I'm saying that Joe Gibbs, and the sheer amount of talent, when added together, with the bitter taste of a horrid season will equal at the very least a respectable 4-2 record against the division next year, with at least a 9-7 record.

Don't lose faith, everyone has a hiccup.

[MattGeorge85]

One key that is mandatory is starting training camp MUCH earlier than they did this past season. The opinion of "this team has all the tools to win, plus we had success last year so we can afford to wait" will not work.

One of the reasons that the Saints of all teams have done so well this year is because they were really hungry and trained like it in the offseason.

Coach Gibbs is aware of the soft training camp this past year. He let the guys have it kinda easy and they came out looking unprepared. This will not happen again in my opinion. Every player had better come ready to work or look for another team. We might even be suprised with some people who unexpectedly improve with a tremendous effort put forth.

[ldysknzfn1]

I, for one, was shocked at how far the D tumbled from '05. I was blindsided by that...wasn't even looking for that in any shape, form, or fashion. Like an earlier poster brought out..Our D was supposed to carry us while learning a new offense..but it failed miserably...and I'm not sure why except for the obvious...10yd cushions on passing plays...and inability to tackle anyone at the LOS:mad: .

Can '07 be successful?...certainly. I, like a few others, think the offense is set...tweak a few areas like WR but not too much. The defense however..I'll be honest..I haven't a clue really. Just stop the friggen run...and the friggen passing plays! Simple...right?

I can't wait for '07. I love this team and the rollercoaster ride just makes it incredible. Its like opening a present every year..you never know what you're gonna get.

[stp240]

So does the scheme on Defense need to change?

EXACT SAME CB's 10 yrds off, Safties playing run first, THE EXACT SAME front 7 non existant....

Or do these players all of a sudden suck and we need to get rid of most of them?

[USS Redskins]

THE CHANT OF THE CONTINUAL LOOSER: THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR....

They have been saying this in Arizona for years!

I wonder, if in like 2010 after the Skins still havent made the playoffs, will some dope post this: "Gibbs took the Skins to the playoffs in 2005 and he will again in 2011....

[stp240]

THE CHANT OF THE CONTINUAL LOOSER: THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR....

They have been saying this in Arizona for years!

I wonder, if in like 2010 after the Skins still havent made the playoffs, will some dope post this: "Gibbs took the Skins to the playoffs in 2005 and he will again in 2011....

for arizona...there is a next year with the new qb and playmakers

for us... there is 98% of the same guys on the field and a better QB, so its not just me saying oh...were gonna be good next year, i told you why...if you dont agree then tell me why not.

[GaryClarkFan]

Unless that talent, talent,talent turns into production,production,production, we will continue to suck. Looking good on paper is just that...looking good on paper. This team needs to play with the fire and determination of the damn Eagles, Pats, etc, and stop giving piss-poor,:2cents: pathetic assed performances. Last year was a ****ing embarrasment and you all know it.

Until this team grows a pair be ready for much of the same as last year...a few good wins followed by typical Redskins uninspired so-called football. DAMN, where the hell is Gary Clark when you need him???

[stp240]

very true, do you think the coaches may be to blame? The defensive side of the ball is where your effort and drive needs to be put forth, do these guys want to play for GW and Co. at all? I say no...

There is always that potential that keeps us fans hoping