Redskins Lunch- Monday, Ryan Clark

[Skins4481]

One time Ryan Clark walked down the street with a hard on. There were no survivors.

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Ryan Clark.

Ryan Clark doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Ryan Clark has allowed to live.

Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Ryan Clark.

Ryan Clark does not sleep. He waits.

[glikster04]

clark was a decent safety - not the best. the reason he was so vital to us was because he was sean taylor's best friend and was able to control him on the field, telling him where to go. thats why he was so important.

[edgun88]

Ryan Clark is on Redskins Lunch right now..

He said he is doing good and that he still lives in the area. He also said that he thinks GW and the defense is gonna turn it around next year, "..it is all about chemistry."

I for one miss Clark a ton and think we could have made the playoffs if he was back there at SS. But instead we let him go to pick up AA and we stunk it up. Granted Peirson going down was a big loss but still.

Chemistry makes and breaks a football team. It is by far the most important aspect IMO. I remember when I play football last year. We were 2 and 3 starting the first 5 games. wheb we grew as a family we finished out the season 6-4

[elkabong82]

Who's Ryan Clark?

....Vincent, Fox, Doughty, Archuleta, Prioleau. I'd rather us find a starter out of this group. People only want Clark back now because our D stunk this season. Although, in all fairness, there was a good amount of people on this site last year who wanted Clark to stay. I don't think the "Clark was benched" argument works either though. Randle El lost his starting spot in Pitt., but he did pretty well for us. We have talent at the safety position already though, especially w/ the possibility of Springs moving over to safety.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Ryan Clark drinks Chuck Norris' blood

[phatboy41]

I really don't think Ryan Clark would've changed our season. He may have made a bigger difference than many people on this thread believe but I still think our team would be out of the playoffs due to the awful play of our offense at the beginning of the season. But, I will say that I think it is obvious losing Clark hurt the team really badly. When you throw away a player that is incredibly valuable to the other players on your "team" it hurts. There is a chemistry with every great team in the league, and it almost looked like we were headed down that path, and we just blew it all away last offseason. We've had a history of losing players who meant a lot to our team starting with Antonio Pierce and last season we finally started to get some of that gelling together. You have to make a "team," a "team" can't be bought from all accross the country and be expected to play together when hardly knowing each other at all.

[thelarkascend1ng]

i think that was very nice of him

[Smurf85]

Not having Clark might not have been the reason why we sucked.Then again if we kept Pierce,Clark and even Smoot our defense would have been a lot better.Smoot might not have been a #1 CB and he sucks with the Vikings.When he played here he gave a 110% and was a solid #2.We could probably get Smoot back for cheap and if we can get Clark i would be glad to get him back.Both these players were solid guys and they both know GWs system.So i say if we can get one or both of them lets do it.

[Smurf85]

Well i just looked up Ryan Clarks contract.It doesn't look like we will get a chance to get him back.He signed a 4 years deal last year. I think Smoot could be cut.

[Mark The Homer]

A little nostalgia. The Redskins defense was ranked 2nd in the league when this shot was taken. Ball is on the Detroit 2 yard line. Detroit offense approaches the scrimmage line. Clark and Taylor appear totally unconcerned. Washington looks almost bored. Wynn is pumped. Griffin seems to be mocking them. Credit Wash Post.

[skinsman4u]

I miss Clark as well, but to say that he was the missing link that would have turned a 5-11 team into a playoff team is a bit of a stretch.

Right and Deon Sanders wouldn't have either, better yet lets add Tomlinson would he or how about Peyton...or may beLarry Johnson. Archuletta will do the same thing he did last year and that's not be able to cut it in pass coverage. Period. So live with it. And while we're at it Archuletta was often blocked by WRs, like Plexico Burre. So that says a lot foir his run support. Is AA good at defending the run? Oh sure, but better than Ryan? Well that wouldn't have been my trade. There's only two men in the NFL that can turn the Skins around and that's Dan and Joe.

[Taurus82]

I would of took AA over Ryan Clark anyday. Who woulda thought.

[Mackdaddydean]

I strongly believe if Ryan Clark was here we'd be playing in the Super Bowl instead of those damn Bears. Yes folks he's that much of a game changer.

Bill Cowher DID NOT choose to leave Pittsburgh, Rooney kicked his ass out when he found out that he benched Ryan Clark, the best safety that has ever played professional football.

Sorry to burst your bubble but Cowher had been building a new house in North Carolina all season...he planned on resigning from the very beginning. I can assure you it had nothing to do with Ryan Clark....even though I agree he would have helped us a bunch had he been here this season.

[CPortJGibbs89]

Sorry to burst your bubble but Cowher had been building a new house in North Carolina all season...he planned on resigning from the very beginning. I can assure you it had nothing to do with Ryan Clark....even though I agree he would have helped us a bunch had he been here this season.

haha......

[[[ghost]]]

I think Ryan Clark isn't a bad example of GWs offense. Sure, GW got lucky with Antonio Pierce being amazing, but everybody else we've let go on defense has sucked elsewhere. GW needs his players, and his players need him. They both bring out the best in each other.

Bring him and Smoot back. They won't even be that expensive.

[Jimbo]

Clark is right. Chemistry is HUGE, especially in the secondary. He and Sean Taylor seemed to have a great rapport. I definitely miss that and I know Taylor does too.

Can Archuleta turn it around and get in synch with Taylor and, especially, what Gregg Williams wants and expects? He had better be willing to do his offseason work at Ashburn if he really wants things to work out for the best.

As for Clark coming back, I don't think there's much chance of that but if it make Taylor happy and more comfortable, I'd be all for it.

[redman]

Ryan Clark was a good fit for our scheme, but he's a guy that two teams have allowed to leave in free agency. He's never going to be a Pro Bowler. I respected him because he played above his head in our scheme and always gave full effort.

My preference was to resign him and I think we would have definitely been improved if we'd kept him and not signed Archuleta. I also think that, along the "true Redskin" mentality, he's the kind of guy who you reward for his contributions as a signal to the whole team for what hard work can get you.

That's only one problem out of a set of problems that our defense had however.

[Mark The Homer]

Ryan Clark was a good fit for our scheme, but he's a guy that two teams have allowed to leave in free agency. He's never going to be a Pro Bowler.

But if he can turn Taylor into a pro bowler, it's just as good.

[redman]

But if he can turn Taylor into a pro bowler, it's just as good.

What does this mean? Taylor was in his third season. He shouldn't need a baby sitter on the field anymore.

I don't agree with any premise that focuses on one position on our defense as the cure-all for our defensive problems. We had multiple problems at every level of our defense - line, linebackers and secondary - last year. Our DE's couldn't generate pressure; our DT's were injured; our MLB was playing injured; our WLB play was average on a good day; we were missing Sean Springs; Kenny Wright was awful; Carlos Rogers' play declined from the end of his rookie season; Taylor was erratic and caught out of position too much; we needed to start Verron Fox over Adam Archuleta at SS.

[Stophovr6]

^^^

I think taylor needs someone to guide him. You can tell he is thinking too much. He needs someone to tell him where to go and what to do and he can do it. It seems to me that he is constantly second guessing himself out there.

[gutlead74]

ever body forgets about the contributions stoutmire made

[ldsdbomber]

It's hard to know how much of a difference replacing Clark with AA made, but I think it made a bigger difference then you guys joking around seem to think.

Clark was solid and reliable. Fans who paid attention in '05 know that Clark was a key part of the defense. He knew the defense, and was a big help to Taylor. When Spring went out in '06, that left that side of the secondary with 2 players that didn't know the defense. If Clark had been in there, maybe Wright would have fared better. Also, If the team had kept Clark, they could have used that AA money in other areas, like the Dline.

Letting Clark get away was the single biggest offseason mistake the team has made since Gibbs return IMO.

dont be daft. Antonio Pierce is orders of magnitude better and was a far worse FO move. Clark was decent and probably had a positive effect on Taylor. but we should never have let AP go, certainly not for the fairly reasonable increase he went for.

[44-XVII]

speaking about major blows. That AP lost it´s still hurting. I hope Marshall steps up in 2007.

[Mark The Homer]

What does this mean? Taylor was in his third season. He shouldn't need a baby sitter on the field anymore.

I don't agree with any premise that focuses on one position on our defense as the cure-all for our defensive problems. We had multiple problems at every level of our defense - line, linebackers and secondary - last year. Our DE's couldn't generate pressure; our DT's were injured; our MLB was playing injured; our WLB play was average on a good day; we were missing Sean Springs; Kenny Wright was awful; Carlos Rogers' play declined from the end of his rookie season; Taylor was erratic and caught out of position too much; we needed to start Verron Fox over Adam Archuleta at SS.

You know what it means. We had a collection of defensive players who, together, could work magic. The FO's or GW's assessment that "It's the system, Stupid" was obviously wrong. IMO, it doesn't matter what ST "should need." IMO, what works is what matters. Ryan Clark, with ST, worked in that defense. And, yes, so did many others (AP, Smoot, Bowen, etc.). The mistake, I think, was to allow individual players to go elsewhere based on their individual performance, giving no regard to the cohesiveness of the TEAM.

[dcoles11]

Right and Deon Sanders wouldn't have either, better yet lets add Tomlinson would he or how about Peyton...or may beLarry Johnson. Archuletta will do the same thing he did last year and that's not be able to cut it in pass coverage. Period. So live with it. And while we're at it Archuletta was often blocked by WRs, like Plexico Burre. So that says a lot foir his run support. Is AA good at defending the run? Oh sure, but better than Ryan? Well that wouldn't have been my trade. There's only two men in the NFL that can turn the Skins around and that's Dan and Joe.

Were you drunk when you typed this?