Pompei's Take on our F/A season

[skinsfanbu]

Here's his take. He basicly reviewa all moves and generally approves.

http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/dan_pompei/20030325.html

Free-spending ways will catch up to Redskins

March 25, 2003

Given the $6.4 trillion national deficit, we should be used to stunning expenditures coming from our nation's capital. But it's one thing to spend millions to protect cotton fields in the Mississippi Delta from flooding. It's another to spend millions to protect a quarterback from the Dallas Cowboys.

There is no question Redskins owner Dan Snyder overspent on his recent shopping spree. If overpaying were an artform, he would be Michelangelo. The flurry of signings probably means the Redskins will be fighting the salary cap for years to come.

Snyder gave receiver Laveranues Coles $13 million to sign when Coles had been asking for $10 million. He gave guard Randy Thomas $7 million to sign when he had been asking for $5 million. Snyder would be more popular at an agents convention than chum in a shark tank.

Then again, Snyder has a better team today than he did one month ago, and America has a better economy.

So hail to the Redskins.

The result of Snyder's maneuverings is the Redskins are markedly improved at two positions -- receiver and offensive line. They appear marginally improved at two others -- safety and kicker. And they are worse than they were at two positions -- defensive line and running back. Washington also should have a greater big-play capacity with increased offensive speed.

Player personnel director Vinny Cerrato, pro scouting director Scott Campbell and the coaching staff did a nice job of identifying which players would upgrade their team, and Snyder spearheaded the effort well.

Snyder should get a bang for the bucks he invested in Coles, a player with potential to dominate. He is the one difference-maker the Redskins acquired, the roast on this crowded dinner table. With his speed and quickness, he's an excellent fit for Steve Spurrier's offense. Jets coaches will tell you Coles' fearlessness was his best attribute.

The Redskins had to give the Jets the 13th pick in the draft for Coles because he was a restricted free agent, but they would not have found a receiver with skills equivalent to Coles' with that pick. If they had kept the selection, Washington probably would have been looking at players like Georgia defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan, Oklahoma State defensive tackle Kevin Williams, Iowa guard Eric Steinbach and Miami defensive end Jerome McDougle. None of them would have been able to contribute as much as quickly as Coles could.

Thomas, Coles' teammate with the Jets, is the next best player the Redskins signed. He has been one of my favorite guards for a few years now -- an excellent pass protector with athleticism and toughness. The Redskins will welcome his vocal leadership on game day as much as they will his punishing blocks.

The acquisition of Thomas and free-agent guards Dave Fiore and Lennie Friedman should give the Redskins one of the league's better offensive lines, turning a position of weakness into a strength. A caveat: Fiore is a fine player when healthy, but he has had injury problems in four of the last six seasons and should not be expected to play 16 games.

Perhaps improved blocking can make new running back Trung Canidate run like former teammate Marshall Faulk. But the speedy Canidate couldn't do it in St. Louis, save for one 2001 game against the Jets. Even though Canidate doesn't have special receiving skills and Spurrier likes to throw to his backs, Canidate is a better fit for Washington's offense than Stephen Davis. But Davis, whom the Skins cut, unquestionably is a better running back. The Redskins will miss Davis' ability to control a game. With Canidate, Ladell Betts and Kenny Watson, the Redskins have to hope they can at least be more diverse.

Replacing Davis will be difficult, but not as difficult as replacing defensive tackle Daryl Gardener. He was the Redskins' most valuable player in 2002 and maybe the best defensive tackle in the NFL. In his place is blue-collar tough guy Brandon Noble. Playing next to La'Roi Glover for the Cowboys last season, Noble looked like he was in slow motion while Glover was on fast forward.

Also on the defensive line, the Redskins signed Regan Upshaw to pick up some slack from the aging Bruce Smith and help replace the departed Carl Powell. Upshaw plays with explosion and intensity, but he doesn't get off the block and make many plays. He has averaged 4.8 sacks per year in his seven-year career.

Matt Bowen, a restricted free agent the Redskins acquired from the Packers for a sixth-round pick, is not a Pro Bowl-caliber player either, but he should be a decent starting free safety who plays the deep middle of the field well. He'll also miss some tackles.

Bowen better hit his targets more effectively than John Hall has in the past. The free-agent pickup (and another former Jet) should improve the Redskins' kickoffs, but he has missed 27 percent of his career field-goal attempts. By comparison, the Patriots' Adam Vinatieri has missed 18 percent of his career tries.

Acquiring these players represents progress in Washington. But in order for the progress to turn to victories, Spurrier will have to find a way to meld their abilities into a team.

And that, Redskins fans should know, will be the hard part.

Senior writer Dan Pompei covers the NFL for Sporting News. Email him at pompei@sportingnews.com.

HTTR,

[inmate running the asylum]

"And they are worse than they were at two positions -- defensive line and running back. "

Horse pucky! :laugh:

Stephen Davis only had one 100-yard rushing game last year and was not the Stephen Davis of old, barely rushing for over 700 yards in total. Watson and Betts in their limited opportunities, each had TWO 100-yard rushing games. Plus the addition of Trung gives us very good depth at the position.

Yes, Brandon Noble is a drop off from Daryl Gardener. But not as much as everyone thinks. Gardener had only 4 sacks and was not the 2nd coming of Warren Sapp. So we lose a little at RDT but we gain more depth at RDE with the addition of Regan Upshaw. Plus we will probably draft a DT in the 2nd round, which should give us depth and be an upgrade over there.

I wish these damn writers would do a little research with statistics first, before shooting off their mouths as so-called experts. :gus:

[matty dread]

Is Davis a better back that what we have? Of course, but does he fit into Spurrier's scheme? No.

Davis needs an offense that will feed him the ball, he's simply not going to get that here. In the Fun 'n' Gun a power back is useless.

Why is this so hard for people to understand??

As for Hall, he convientently leaves out the fact Hall has kicked in one of the worst NFL stadiums for kickers.

Other than that it's an accurate article.

[Tarhog]

Yeah...we haven't a decent kicking game in years....don't know what he's thinking there. And I agree that the loss of Davis (in terms of both his reduced effectiveness and penchant for fumbling at critical times) is LESS of a loss than conventional wisdom argues..Betts, Watson, and Canidate will be solid and versatile for us.

[NavyDave]

While S Davis didnt make his usual 1000 plus yds you can also look at the fact that he wasnt fed the ball and the O line sucked.

When he was fed the ball we won and when he wasnt we lost.

Hmm the Bowen part has me wondering a little but hey I would still like to get one of those 4.3 40 safeties and turn Terrell into a dime back as well as put Lott on practice squad

[scottb]

This was rather a strange article. While slamming the Snyder in the front end, it actually was a fair analysis of the personnel. I kinda think Pompeii just doesn't like Danny and it influences his perspective.

[Zen-like Todd]

What's up with his bass-ackwards reference to the FG stats? I've never seen someone quote miss percentages before. Of course, I'd love to have Vinatieri, but who wouldnt? And apparently Hall has only missed 15% of his kicks outside of Giants stadium. So, considering what we've been through lately, I'll take it.

[SPare]

Lets face facts here. To say that the team is no worse off at RB at this point is wishful thinking.

Sure, we can justify that the player that was here last year in an injured Davis won't be missed, and that the fit to the system isn't as good with him.... it's still speculation.

I just don't see it being better necessarily.

It could work out better, but then, it could also be worse.

[Larry]

I have trouble understanding the people who say we won't miss Davis, because we've replaced a Pro Bowler with three question marks.

I don't care if you replace him with six question marks. Only one of them's going to be on the field at a time.

While I'll admit that it's possible that one of the question marks will turn into an asset, (they do have potential), odds are that even the best of the three won't be as good as Davis was. (At least at accomplishing the same things he did. They may be better receivers. I doubt they'll be as good at first-and-goal.)

[bulldog]

here's what's funny. Davis gets snubbed for the Pro Bowl and is left out of a lot of media types top list of backs in the NFL, and yet the minute the Skins let him go, it's as if the Skins just lost Emmitt Smith in his prime

There is no question that Davis has been productive in the past. At 29, there is a question about his longevity, given the carries he has had the past 4 years.

Not everyone is a Riggins that can pile the carries until they are 35 years old. Most backs begin to breakdown and 30 is a definite barrier for the inside rusher that doesn't make people miss, but takes them head on.

That said, it is interesting that Ladell Betts is given no chance to be productive or indeed a factor at all.

Usually when a starting player is released and you have a #2 pick sitting behind him, that player is given some chance to step up and play, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

From what we saw of Betts in 2002, he was up and down. Good news for the Redskins is that he was 'up' toward the end of the season when it became clear that Davis woud not return and Spurrier had lost confidence in him after the fumbles, etc.

Betts ran for 100 yards twice last year. And he showed he could catch the football.

You would imagine that production, while limited, would get attention in these descriptions of the Redskins as a team with no backs or with one back, namely Trung Canidate.

To be honest, I don't think Canidate is going to be the starting RB here. I think he is going to end up being a change of pace runner. He will have to improve his receiving skills to stick around a Spurrier offense over the long-term

[chunky Salsa]

Pompei is right. We are worse off at RB and DT then we were last year. Most are agreeing but amend by saying we are not as bad at those positions as most people think. We are still worse at those two positions whether it is a lot, some, or little.

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