I need to know something in a poll form.

[Morneblade]

Well, as member number 30 with over 12,000 posts I can safely say that Art is, more often than not, full of crap.

I havnet been around long enough (only a couple years, spent 1 of those lurking) to really know but I'll agree with you on the subject of the D-line. :notworthy

[Koolblue13]

AC just said on Sirius that the whole D line has been in DC for the offseason working together. There are 12 or 13 guys everyday, everyone is healthy and the line is deep.

[skinsn24]

And I say... don't sell yourself short

Coaches make plenty of mistakes. Most coaches get 1 opportunity to be a head coach.... get 3 years and then some never coach in the NFL again. Different coaches and different schemes get hired for a variety of reasons.

You don't have to be a football genius at the X's and O's to understand that there are some positions in the NFL that are more important than others.

Hell, isn't there the common opinion that you don't need to draft RB's so high or pay them so much because you can find productive backs late in drafts or in free agency? Aren't the FB, TE, HB, OG and S positions commonly devauled in the NFL?

Not so for QB's though is it?

Quality DT's and DE's are at a premium in the NFL. That's why you saw everybody get franchised this offseason.

The voice of reason:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[UK Skins]

Hell, isn't there the common opinion that you don't need to draft RB's so high or pay them so much because you can find productive backs late in drafts or in free agency? Aren't the FB, TE, HB, OG and S positions commonly devauled in the NFL?

I know it is slightly off-topic but I am working with a Broncos fan here and as soon as he found out I was a Redskins fan he started ridiculing the Portis trade. The whole round pegs into square holes argument and their use of system backs. I told him Portis is one of the best RBs in the league but it is hard to refute the argument that he was not a good fit for our offence or that we over-paid for him.

And don't start flaming me, I love Portis, just look at it in the context of the coaches and the lack of any credible plan for the team.

[skinsfanno9]

That post was directed at Art not me but I'll use it as pretext to make a point. As to points being ignored that contradicts as you say Art's "postulate". And it sounds like you are trying to make this an academic research driven point but that's fine I'll run with it, its been awhile but I TA'd stats and research back in my day so I can play along. Your point seems to be there are various variables involved that Art didn't account for that impinges on his theory and since we aren't controlling those variables and factoring them then his postulate doesn't capture the whole picture and is therefore off base.

Well this is much simpler than that. The point is this its Gregg Williams' scheme not ours. Do we understand his own scheme better than he does or do we not? That's it.

Sorry, I'm just now noticing that someone responded to my post. You're missing my point - the point is very simple - strategies and assessments of how well an organization is meeting its strategy are not made by individuals - these things are made by GROUPS of people. So the question isn't does Greg Williams understand "his" scheme, and thus, can he understand "the need" to fix "his" scheme. My point is this is simply NOT an individual decision, especially as it ends up as "we need a safety more than we need a Dlineman." That type of decision is a group-oriented one - one that involves LOTS of people. Put simply, Greg Williams may be a complete genius, but organizational strategies and assessments are made by LOTS of people - perhaps they are all experts. But large groups of experts REGULARLY make truly bad assessments in totality.

So the issue that the Redskins' overall assessments of their current problems could EASILY be bad assessments, even though all those involved are pure experts. This happens all the time in all organizations. Independent of the player picked, the evaluation of "what went wrong" and "how do we correct this" is not a simple decision made by one person. This is a complex group oriented process - and like all other group oriented processes, the opportunities for idiotic folly abounds. This is NOT an academic point - its a fact of organizational decision making. Unfortunately, the Redskins are in fact an organization comprised of many people involved in the decision making processes - hence...

Again, the quality of the Redskins decisions and strategy are not primarily a function of expertise, they're a function of the quality of their decision making processes which involves all the assistant coaches, the head coach and the personnel dept.

I'll go back to my metaphor from a previous post that I am running my business, I set it up, I deal with it every day the ups and downs. Now can someone run my business better, maybe. Now, am I going to make mistakes, for sure, who doesn't? Are human factors going to affect it daily, of course. Is water wet? But can someone else explain my own business model that I concocted and that I am running on a daily basis better than me? No way.

Well again, the Redskins aren't run by one person. No part of the team fits that model - certainly not the personnel decisions (including their priorities for what type to draft). Are you honestly telling me the Dline coach has no part in the process for evaluating how good the Dline did? The Secondary Coach isn't involved in evaluating the secondary's performance, only Greg Williams? Does Coach Gibbs play a role here? What about Cerrato? Can you tell me with a straight face that this isn't a group-oriented process? Anyone who's been in a decent sized organization can list a range of maladies listing to horrid decisions that are the result of the group oriented process, not the expertise of those involved. You ever heard the phrase "too many cooks spoil the draft pick?"

The point here isn't that Gregg Williams isn't infalliable or that the D line is perfect the way it is or that people can't criticize. The point is some of the criticisms smack from the person running with a premise that is simple and blunt and implies without directly saying it that Gregg is a dope who doesn't understand his OWN schemes and how they are supposed to work.

Usually the point is driven more or less from the perspective that either all defenses are run alike or Gregg doesn't understand basic football 101 or have any clue about the health and prospects of football players he sees every day in practice like we do from a quote or two from the WP.

This may be someone else's point on this thread, but it isn't mine. At all. My point is that Greg Williams does not make "the personnel decision" or determine "the personnel priority". Nor does he make "the evaluation" of what's wrong. A WHOLE GROUP of coaches make the assessment of what's wrong. A LARGER GROUP of experts (including personnel folks) make the personnel priorities. This is just not a singular decision. To say that poor decisions can't occur in large group-oriented decision making processes (Which Art has flat out stated - as all this evaluation and strategy is child's play) is absolute fantasy.

That's my point, and it relates because this negates the idea that the Redskins evaluations are always 100% accurate and that these always line up with a clear strategy (clear strategies rarely exist in organizations for the same reason). So the comparison of my knowledge versus GW's knowledge is irrelevant here - I can still question their decision NOT on GW's intelligence or understanding as compared to mine, but on the basis of the quality of the Redskins organization's capability to make sound decisions (even though the organization is filled with experts far smarter than me).