guinnesscrazy Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 It dawned on me last night that I tend to go into just about every preseason ramped up to see our starters for a series or two, then mildly interested to see what our backups can do, then mindlessly following the remaining quarter-and-a-half of essentially meaningless football. I've approached nearly every preseason game in almost this same manner, but I feel very different about Sunday. Sunday night, while I will enjoy seeing the seemingly 2 or 3 starters who will play in the game, almost my entire focus will be on the offensive scheme implemented by Zorn. He has mentioned in press conferences that it will be a fairly watered down version of what's to come, but it will still be something new. Something exciting, hopefully. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of plays emerge from the red zone, what kind of 3rd downs we will have, what kinds of sequences/drives we put together - regardless of who's playing. I know many people are excited to see their favorite rookie/hometown boy/etc. suit up, even if they're playing in the 4th Qtr against a 3rd team Colts Offense/Defense. But I'm wondering where the divide is. Are you more excited to see certain players and their abilities, or more excited to see how our new WCO pans out? A lot of people probably have a happy medium between the two, but I feel, for the first time in many years (even including the Saunders era), I'm more pumped about the "system" than I am about seeing specific people shine. And since our defense remains nearly unchanged from a year ago, I guess this pertains mostly to the offensive side of the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM916 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I want to see if my theory is correct that our offense should be slightly more exciting than it has been over the last couple of preseasons. As awesome as the final five minutes were with TC's touchdown pass and Westbrook's recovery of that ridiculous botched snap to make it 14-6, I don't want to see a repeat of last year's nationally televised opener any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Since we aren't likely to see the real deal in terms of the scheme, I'll go with players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrellsMyHero28 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I'm zorny, but we won't be seeing much of his playbook. Lets see what Westbrook can do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirtyfive2seven Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I have to admit I am VERY curious to see what the skins do in terms of scheme. This isn't like Spurrier where I wanted to see bombs all over the field, etc. I actually want to see the skins put together some good drives. I want to see the "redzone" offense without Jumbo formation from the 20 yard line with 1 WR - James Thrash. This should be a very exciting games in those terms. Otherwise, I could give a poo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z0eboy Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Cool topic, IMO the Zorn effect; the players slotted to start are returning players from last season no new faces but a new scheme. Zorn WCO will have to showcase our skill players giving us a open passing attack. If this can complement the redskins / bugel running attack we will soon find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guinnesscrazy Posted August 1, 2008 Author Share Posted August 1, 2008 I realize that Zorn won't show his full hand in this game, but I don't think he's gonna go the Gibbs route the entire time either. The players (all of them) likely need more practice with the timing of the routes and the language of the plays. I think there's a good chance we'll see a bunch of new things. I believe it's more important to get all the players on the same page with respect to the playbook than to worry about opponents seeing to much of Zorn's plan early. Plus, we've been through this whole "I don't want to give away too much" thing before. We went 0-4 in the preseason, and lacked the consistency, cohesion, and confidence needed to have a great season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutliff381 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 With so many players out its hard to anticipate that. The player thats playing that I am most interested to see is probably Fred Davis. It would be Thomas or Kelly but they both aren't playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGreenistheBest Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Can I say both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbleedBnG83 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Its a bit of an odd question. Its like comparing apples to oranges. I'm sure we would all like to see some players really step up their game and become big contributors, but with the talent pool this team has, I don't think its as much a major concern. Maybe perhaps from a depth standpoint. I think the biggest question and concern that lies with the team and fans is how fast can the offense adjust to the new system. Zorn will be head coaching for the first time. How he runs the the sidelines, adjustments, half time, clock managment, play calling and all those little nuances that he has yet to have to handle is much more intruiging and important in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinC Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I have voted players simply because, for this first game in particular, we will see so little of the starters and it will be such a vanilla game plan that it will be hard to learn anything much about the offense in particular. I do think though we will see a lot of the backups and younger players so we might just see what we have at the bottom of the roster. All in all just NO INJURIES please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamroller#99 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I have to go with the players. There are a lot of guys I'd like to see. Rinehart. I want to see how Heyer is progressing. I want to see how Lee Torrence is progressing. Fred Davis, Devine, Colt, Tryon. We have a lot of new guys, that I'm very anxious to see. I think its a little premature to want to see a scheme. Not only will the offense be watered down, but the guys are still learning. The third or 4th preseason game is when people should get excited. Players will have enough reps by then to play without having to think so much and Zorn will be doing a bit more gameplanning as if it were a real game. Zorn needs real game type experience too, but i doubt he is going to gameplan much for the first 3 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HigSkin Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I'll be watching the "Zorn effect" but my prediction is that Zorn will be nervous and the game will be sloppy because they'll be working out communcation kinks and playing rookies. :2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucfSKINS Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I don't care who we have in there, I want to see how Zorny manages the game. I want to see the double TE sets, and how Blache does with the D. But I'll take it all with a grain of salt due to the fact that its the preseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrelgreenie Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I tend to go into just about every preseason ramped up to see our starters for a series or two, then mildly interested to see what our backups can do, then mindlessly following the remaining quarter-and-a-half of essentially meaningless football.I know many people are excited to see their favorite rookie/hometown boy/etc. suit up, even if they're playing in the 4th Qtr against a 3rd team Colts Offense/Defense. But I'm wondering where the divide is. Are you more excited to see certain players and their abilities, or more excited to see how our new WCO pans out? I LOVE preseason games because we get to see our back-up and 3rd string players. Injuries are a part of the game. I like to watch and see which back-ups look lost, scared, which ones play hard, run sharp routes, catch the ball, make big hits, miss the tackles, excell in coverage, get burned deep, etc. etc. etc. B?C these are the players that can make or break a season. Which back-ups can step up if a starter goes down. Also i expect only to see a glimpse of the WCO offense. Jim Zorn seems like a creative guy. The WCO is a very flexible and adaptable offense. I think we'll only see the base sets that all the WCO teams run. I think our preseason offense will look no different then the Eagles, Packers or Seahawks, you won't see any of Zorn's innovations. Especially with our injured WRs we'll have a hard time going 4 wide. I can't wait to see: Crummey, Rinehart, Jackson (DE), Matt Sinclair (LB), Curtis Gatewood UDFA (LB), Rian Wallace (LB), Stuart Schweigert , Oshinowo, Babatunde (DT), Richardson, Matteral UDFA (DB), Mann, Maurice (WR) etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roblowsta Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I'm interested in seeing Zorn's scheme, or at least a watered down version of it, but I'm more excited about seeing specific players. Players on my radar include: Colt Brennan - I hope he plays well enough to supplant Todd Collins at the #2 QB position. Collins is an immobile product of Al Saunders' offense. Marcus Mason - Hometown kid - Can he make enough plays on special teams and in the backfield to crack the 53 man roster (like he did last year) and stay there. Westbrook - Another home town boy with alot of potential. In the next year or so we will be looking to replace Springs. Can Westbrook or Torrence:doh: do it? I found myself yelling at the TV screen every time I saw Leigh Torrence in the game...Can he utilize his speed and actually make some plays this preseason? Since our WR draft pics are most likely sitting out the game, I'll be seeing what all the Burl Toler fuss is about. Can Nemo stay healthy and make some plays? Is Rheinhert(sp?) really that much of a beast? The list goes on so I'll be watching every single play as if it's the first play of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guinnesscrazy Posted August 1, 2008 Author Share Posted August 1, 2008 Can I say both? I purposely left out a "combination" option for the reason that I wanted to see which aspect would "win out," if you will. Like I said in the OP, I realize there are many, many fans who don't prefer one to the other - they want to see the players and the system equally. I was just interested what the opinions would be since I, personally, am much more interested in seeing what Zorn might bring to the table than I am in seeing our backups. I feel like we have great depth at a lot of positions, and many of our backups are guys that stepped in last year with all the injuries and showed that they can compete with the starters too. I think our team is stacked with talent and I trust that our players and our depth will be sufficient to secure a great season. That's why my focus for Sunday is on the game plan - no matter how vanilla it may be. ...you won't see any of Zorn's innovations. Obviously, he's not gonna throw out a bunch of twin TE sets and HB passes, but I think the best coaches can be a little daring and call a couple of "different" plays. I know there's this whole thing about not allowing our opponents too much game tape from preseason games, but I think that a little regular season simulation would only help us in future games. Many teams have plays that work throughout the regular season, over and over again. Opponents see those plays, game plan for them, and still get caught off guard when they happen. I just don't know why, because it's a preseason game, it should be any different. The more you run a play, the better you get at it. You find things to tweak, you find weaknesses in a defense. You can alter the play with a thousand nuances week to week, and if it keeps working, you keep running with it. My main concern (and has been for many years) is that everyone is so worried about hiding their "stuff" during the preseason, that no one ever gets game-speed practice. I'd rather show a play during the preseason - if it works, you figure out how to make it better and keep going with it. If it doesn't work, you find ways to alter it, or gameplan differently. But if the coach hides all his plays during the preseason, comes out for game one with all these tricks up his sleeve, and we get crushed, then the "hiding" aspect doesn't really help. And for many years in this organization, I feel like we go through many preseasons hiding most or all of the playbook, only to emerge in the regular season to find that a good portion of what we were hiding never pans out to be effective. I mean, I guess most, if not all teams do this, and I'm obviously going off on a tangent. Maybe this debate should be saved for another thread at some point. I guess I'm just excited for a new offense that won't be anywhere near the levels of conservatism we've had the past few years. And I'm excited about scoring touchdowns! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomlord2k Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I just wanna see the Skins in person. Living in Indiana it's hard to do. I've be able to catch a few games in Chicago and Cincy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Excuses Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I want to see Colt Brennan, Heyer, Westbrook, Torrence and Blades play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinC Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I want to see Colt Brennan, Heyer, Westbrook, Torrence and Blades play. Well you will be out of luck with Blades - he had knee surgery and is out about 3 weeks. He should be back for the last 2 preseason games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laxpunk2006 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 For me it's gotta be the players. I did manage to make it to a TC day this year but for the most part we don't get to see the actual position battles. Sunday night we get to see who can step up when the lights are on and make plays. We've been hyping Rinehart, Crummey, and Heyer as future starters, so I'd love to see who can walk the walk. At CB our top three are set but then it's all up for grabs. If Rogers starts on the PUP list the nickel spot opens up too. Westbrook looked good last preseason but has he actually learned anything through a year of NFL conditioning and coaching? I'm personally a big Torrence fan but can he be relied on to hold down the nickel if injuries pile up? Can Tryon cover an NFL reciever as well as he can talk? There are position battles all over our roster that should be a blast to watch unfold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinnyles Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I'm damn sure of one thing...Zorn will keep it exciting and new, just like his practices!!!HTTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Year_of_The_Monk Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I am all for the Zorn Effect on this one; we have the players, now I just wanna see can he put it all together to make the Skins successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Since we aren't likely to see the real deal in terms of the scheme, I'll go with players. Ditto. A lot of players that I wanted to see won't play. Thomas, Kelly, Taylor and others are sitting out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRobi21 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Since we aren't likely to see the real deal in terms of the scheme, I'll go with players. My thoughts as well. I voted for players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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