Holy Crap - Dan Daly

[Skeletor The Invincible]

Geez. He's taking shots at everyone.

Times Article

You'll never guess who I saw shopping at Wal-Mart over the weekend. Dan Snyder! I first noticed him in the defensive linemen aisle, loading Regan Upshaw and Brandon Noble into his cart. A short time later he was in the offensive guard section, grabbing Dave Fiore, Tre Johnson and Lennie Friedman off the shelves. Then I spotted him rummaging around in the "Priced to Sell" bin, from which he plucked Trung Canidate and Rob Johnson.

I hear he also spent some time at Neiman Marcus, splurging on yet another guard, Randy Thomas, and an established kicker, John Hall. For the most part, though, he sought bargains rather than expensive, name-brand merchandise — an encouraging change from his previous spendthrift ways. So maybe Dan the Man is educable, after all.

The Redskins are calling their offseason approach "aggressive discipline," but "aggressive discipline" sounds a lot like "jumbo shrimp," if you ask me. Besides, adding nine players in three days — eight in free agency, one (Canidate) through a trade — is more reminiscent of "Desert Storm" than a surgical strike. In fact, I can't remember a comparable blitzkrieg in the 11 years of free agency. Perhaps we should start testing Snyder for ephedrine.

By the way, I loved the comment he made in the Opposition Newspaper yesterday. "I hate the [bleeps] who said we didn't have a plan," he whined to personal bodyguard Tony Kornheiser. "We had a plan. We're executing it now."

For the record, I was one of the "bleeps" who said the Redskins lacked a plan last season — which, of course, they did. If they didn't, why would personnel boss Vinny Cerrato have told The Washington Times' Jody Foldesy recently, "The biggest thing [in free agency this year] is that we had a plan"? But anyway ...

There's no question the Redskins helped themselves offensively with some of their acquisitions. Thomas and Fiore will shore up the two guard spots, which caused the club nothing but grief last season, and Friedman and Tre Johnson will provide alternatives should Fiore's knee fail to hold up. Canidate, meanwhile, is faster than a Snyder sales pitch, and Rob Johnson has the tremendous advantage of, uh, not being a former University of Florida quarterback.

The Redskins are probably kidding themselves, though, if they think Canidate is going to magically turn into Charlie Garner or Ahman Green for them. He's a potential piece of the puzzle is what he is, another toy for Steve Spurrier to play with. But it wouldn't be a surprise if Kenny Watson and Ladell Betts still did the bulk of the ball carrying — while Canidate snagged passes out of the backfield a la Kelvin Bryant.

The real issue, however, is this: What did the Redskins have to give up on defense to get better on offense? Answer: Daryl Gardener, for openers. He was their best defensive lineman last year, a guy who got after quarterbacks and still took care of the run. But he was deemed too expensive and/or fragile by management, and Noble was brought in to replace him. A major trade-down, to say the least.

Gardener was the one member of the line who demanded a double team. The defense has no one of that caliber now. Renaldo Wynn, Dan Wilkinson (if he sticks around), Bruce Smith (ditto), Delbert Cowsette, Noble, Upshaw — who among them requires special attention?

(And what of the pass rush? If Smith leaves or retires, the Redskins won't have a single defensive lineman who had more than 2½ sacks last season. That's not good, either.)

Then there's the chance Fred Smoot could be traded for a receiver (or for an earlier first-round pick used to draft a receiver). The Redskins have already dangled him in front of Detroit, which has the second overall selection. Losing Smoot and his coverage ability would be another step back for the defense.

Finally, Marvin Lewis is gone, and you have to wonder if the unit will function quite as smoothly without him. His successor, George Edwards, has never been a coordinator before, and there's a learning curve for everybody. No Gardener, no Lewis, possibly no Smoot — it will be hard for the defense to finish fifth in the league again under those circumstances.

So, yes, the Redskins have improved their offense this offseason. Maybe now it will begin to resemble the circus act Spurrier had at Florida. But free agency giveth, and free agency taketh away. In making life more livable for Patrick Ramsey, the Redskins have complicated matters for LaVar Arrington and Co. Of course, only a "bleep" would point that out.

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I'm taking note of this paragraph:

By the way, I loved the comment he made in the Opposition Newspaper yesterday. "I hate the [bleeps] who said we didn't have a plan," he whined to personal bodyguard Tony Kornheiser. "We had a plan. We're executing it now."

[Tarhog]

Thats because he's a bleep.

[bubba9497]

a little snot nosed woman-less jealous geeky bleep :finger:

Geez, how professional.. calling out the Washington Post, and attacking Tony Kornheiser.

Maybe we should take a collection and send him a case of pampers.

A quick poll; which emotion most resembles Dan Daly?

1. :cry:

2. :toilet:

3. :geek:

4. :moon:

5. :dunce:

6 All the above

[Yomar]

wow, objectivity be damned, things are getting a tad acrimonious over at the Times...

[fansince62]

he's right about the defense........say what you will.....he's right

- right now....we don't have a pass rush; we don't have a star defensive lineman who the offense must adapt its strategy to

[Steve Y]

Hey bubba...I'll vote for what is left in the bowl on #2:toilet:

[Art]

He IS right about the defense. People on this board have come up with the same concerns. I've been speaking concerns over the line for MONTHS. Noble and Upshaw stem the bleeding. But, we need a transfusion. If you do keep Wilky and you have a rookie or two to bring along, the situation is a lot more bright.

But, we are not better now than we were to end the year along the defensive line. Noble or Upshaw are better than Powell. But, neither is as good as Gardener. We have no certain pass rush ability. You'd think Bruce should be more fresh coming off the bench, but, deep down, I think he'll want to play elsewhere rather than succumb to the realities of where he could still be the best for a team.

[Henry]

What is with all the talking heads complaining that we haven't fixed everything by the second day of free agency?

Every team loses free agents. Philly is losing Douglas. Arizona is losing Boston and Plummer. But not very team has immediately begun to address those issues like the Redskins have. JAY-sus, this morning Clayton was on ESPN radio chiding us for not addressing our WR corps deficiencies. I guess Snyder would have gotten everyone's approval if our FO had acquired 15 new players by yesterday instead of only 9 right? Sure he would have.

That was the most unprofessional piece of crap I've read from the Times since ... well, a week ago. Dan sure put Kornheiser in his place. :laugh: But i'm willing to wait at least another week before I dub the offseason a total failure.

[BD]

He's right about the D, but he's still a bleep.

There's a definite hole on the line -- the chief reason I think we need to draft a DT in the first. I'm now assuming that we will end up with a line made up of Wynn/Smith, Wilkinson, Noble, and Upshaw.

That's a solid line in terms of not giving up a lot of big running games, but the pass rush will be slim to none. None of these guys needs a double team. None of them will do a lot to free up the LBs to make a big play. I think they'll be solid, but unspectacular.

That's why I think we need to either trade up to get Jimmy Kennedy or Dewayne Robertson, stay where we are and get Kevin Williams, or trade down and get Johnathan Sullivan. All four of those guys would make an immediate impact on the line, and they'd allow us to rotate out BDW or let him go. They're not going to be Julius Peppers, but they'll have the constant potential for big plays. DT is a deep position in this draft, and I think we should fill it.

[GB81]

Agreed. It makes much more sense to go D-line in the first, retain Smoot and make due with our current receiving corps (plus a WR in the 2nd round). You can't fix everything at once.

[daustin]

He's NOT right about the defense.

By upgrading our offense, our "D" will be on the field 5 - 10 minutes less each game, and that spells: Less Points, Less Yards and More Sacks (due to fresher legs).

We need a young, balanced team with play makers on both sides of the ball and now we're on our way to having just that ... you can't have the best of everything with a salary cap in place.

[Art]

Daustin,

Your point is true, if expanded beyond the point of being completely truthful. You are absolutely correct that an improved offense will improve the defense. We won't probably increase time of possession anywhere NEAR 5 to 10 minutes a game though. That'd be some kind of record or something .

[daustin]

Come on Art ... you gotta allow a guy to dream a little

[Dirk Diggler]

Daustin

There's another side to that coin.

A lesser defense will force fewer 3 and outs and thus be on the field longer. This will keep our upgraded offense on the bench, would it not?

All

As you all know, I think the Times is a rag and Dan Daly is their head janitor.

However, this article is absolutely on point.

The bad news is obvious:

We went from a slightly above average D- line with at least 1 top-drawer playmaker to a mediocre (at best) line with no playmakers we can count on. I don't consider BDW to be a guy we can truly count on.

The good news:

It's March and we don't play Sunday.

Which makes it absolutely imperative that we address the defensive line in the draft with at the very least a #1 or #2 going on a DT or DE. But, ideally we would use both of our top picks there.

A trade up for a WR just seems out of the question if we harbor any hopes of playing consistently well defensively. To deal Smoot (along with draft choices) in an effort to move up and then forgo the defense with the selection of a WR is simply suicide.

Dirk

Dan Daly is still a fu**.

[The Wicked Wop]

I thought the article was pretty much on except for him getting defensive about himself.....and also the fact that Edwards has maintained that he will have a more attacking defense than Lewis...ie more LB blitz's......one thing to point out as well is that it appears are try to resign LB Kevin Mitchel which may be a sign that the team could move to a 3-4 in passing downs...if there traditional 4-3 doesn't provide enough of a pass ruch....before you say anything, im not one of these guys that thinks the skins will move to a full time 3-4 or for that matter should, but resigning Mitchel at this point would seem like a good idea.

[NavyDave]

We dont have the linebackers for a 3-4 and I still hate that defense.

Leave for teams that can only go so far like the Steelers.

I have to agree with him also trading Smoot o attempt to improve the offense is foolish.

Why turn a mini strength into a major weakness?

Outside of Champ who is afraid of Bauman,Terrell and Ohalete?

[GURU]

Usually, I can stomach Daly's columns. But the biggest problem I have with today's is the fact that he's contradicting himself from a column a few weeks ago.

Published on February 11, 2003, The Washington Times

Redskins mine for fool's gold

Don't get me wrong. Daryl Gardener did a bang-up job for the Redskins at defensive tackle last season. He came to the rescue after Santana Dotson got hurt and played better than any D-lineman on the team, stuffing the run and providing consistent pressure up the middle.That said, I'm not sure Dan Snyder should spend $4 million a year to re-sign a guy with a history of back problems, not when he's already spending $5 million a year on a middle linebacker coming off ...

One day, he's criticizing for spending too much on star players, the next he's criticizing for spending less on solid players who aren't stars.

Which is it?

Again, I don't mind Daly's acerbic opinions and when he calls out Snyder. It's hypocracy I can't stand.

[gbear]

When you look at the Raven's pass rush from their great D a few years ago, where did you see the excellent individual pass rush coming from down after down? Mcrary was pretty good at beating his guy one on one, but I wouldn't say he's a franchise sack artist. Sometimes the sack numbers don't tell the whole story. I think, Wynn, WIlkenson, Smith, Upshaw, Jackson, Scott & Noble have the ability to put some preassure on the QB. I think a lot depends on how Jackson is perceived to be recovering from his injury. He was getting nice preassure before getting hurt.

IF Jackson can play like he isn't hurt, that gives us a pass rush pressence on both DE sides. Wilkinson can get push and Noble can hold the line. That's a fine pass rushing group made better if Scott progresses (totally a bonus). I'd like another DT so we can run a rotation at both DE and DT to keep guys fresh, but I'm not worried about it particularly on passing downs as opposed to run downs. We'll see though.

[GB81]

Nice work GURU. I've always found Daly to be a nice balance to Wilbon and Kornheiser, who seemed petrified of ever criticizing the front office. But...this is BS. You can't write that the team should not sign Gardener and then three weeks later rip them for not signing him. I always thought some people here were way over the top in their total dismissal of the Times...but this gives their argument a lot more credibility...

[jimster]

I sooooo hope we trade up for Suggs - and if we do this a-hole will criticize us for that too