WP (JLC) - Zorn: Secondary Injuries Are a Concern

[Stormy]

I wish Zorn would have called me predraft. I could have told him about this and maybe we could have built a little more depth. 75% of this board knew this would happen. It happens every year with Smoot & Springs.

So true, and the need for depth at CB was widely proclaimed by the fanbase at the time. Instead, rather than simply drafting Thomas, and then following him with DE and CB help, we drafted 2 extra pass catchers who have basically never seen the field. The 2008 draft is already showing itself to be the debacle it was, not purely because of the zero impact present production, but because of the major depth issues in predictable areas beginning to rear their head.

We've had to play large portions of major games without Springs and Smoot, which was foreseeable, and which will continue. And, we've had to trade a top draft pick for an aging Taylor, when our oft-injured veteran DE went down. Thank heavens Rodgers recovered way ahead of schedule, otherwise we'd already have been sunk by our folly in this, and past drafts.

The Zorn hiring was incredibly astute, and I loved it. The promotion of Blache to replace GW was a much more solid move than I anticipated, and I opposed it at the time. The OL has mostly performed better than I expected, too, despite injury and age concerns. However, this year's draft was a farce which has already cost us dearly on the field, and which has already compelled us to burn some of next year's picks to fill this year's attrition. Foolish.

[NinjaGaiden]

I hope that atleast Springs and Rogers play. If none play, I don't know about our chances against the Browns anymore. We surely need to stop them from scoring points which I doubt will happen if none of them play.

[authentic]

Whats the difference between Springs and a dollar?

A dollar can make four quarters.

Posted by: Rypien11

:rotflmao: :doh:

[MrJL]

well one thing I feel better about is the fact we'll have a legitimate reason if we do lose. It won't matter to anyone but Skins fans but it'll mean when everyone is healthy we'll do better.

Still Zorn did say he considered the injuries to be nagging more than anything so that a plus. AND they're thinking about bringing in reinforcements if they have to.

The Skins have Richardson and Byron Westbrook on the practice squad. As I recall quite few people wanted Richardson instead of Tryon on the roster. If we need them it's as simple as putting Kelly on IR and releasing Rob Jackson(then signing him to the practice squad). When the injuries heal up you move one of them back and bring someone like Anthony Mix back to take Kelly's place

[fire3fighter4]

a healthy redskins secondary is starting to become an oxymoron.

[Bacon]

Put Kelly and Thomas back there, at least they can catch the ball

Thomas would get called for interference on every play.

[Wyvern]

Back on September 1, (discussing some post about picking up Dominique Foxworth) I took flak for stating that our defensive secondary situation was very fragile. I pointed out that we probably didn't ever want to be in the position to have to rely on both Torrence and Tryon out on the field us, even if Tryon was in the nickel package. I was not confident about either Torrence or Tryon. (And I'm still not.) My concern was that it was quite possible that we might lose 2+ of our talented trio of CBs -- and it would be dangerous to rely on Torrence and Tryon to be able to successfully step into staring CB's role.

I was criticized for my remark back in September - - - I was accused of "looking for holes where they didn't exist." While I'm not happy about the Skins current problems with injuries to Springs and Smoot, I can't pass up a chance to point out how I wasn't that far off base with my concerns. Frankly, Rogers' quick healing and solid CB play was a pleasant and unforeseen surprise. However, springs and Smoot seemed to be more banged up these days -- someones always in danger of being unable to play.

Well, it's after the deadline now. Too bad we didn't try to swing a deal with Atlanta to pick up Dominique Foxworth (who had been traded bly Denver to the Falcons for a 7th rounder). Foxworth is a great CB/Nickelback, in Rogers' 2005 draft class, but he's not happy in Atlanta. With Atlanta's hand-picked secondary in place, Dominique hasn't been able to showcase his skills. He's considered a good player. Anyhow Foxworth will be a free agent this off-season, so maybe we should check him out.

But by way of an immediate fix, maybe we should IR Malcom Kelly (unless he's actually capable of coming back strong this season) and pick up another veteran free-agent CB. ...I still think we should investigate signing up Andre Dyson (formerly of the Jets). Dyson might be ready to play for us after the bye and wouldn't cost us a draft pick. Dyson was a solid CB for the Jets but since they'd invested heavily in young players in their secondary, they had to let Andre go.

[dustinwhylee]

Doesn't matter who our secondary is because their top receiver has comparable hands to Carlos Rogers.

[Doctorfro]

The best defense is a good offense. Let's keep the Browns offense off the field. How about 40 carries for CP? Or better yet, 30 carries for CP and another 10-15 carries for SA? Then we don't have to lay the burden on the dinged up defense.

[turbodiesel#44]

So true, and the need for depth at CB was widely proclaimed by the fanbase at the time. Instead, rather than simply drafting Thomas, and then following him with DE and CB help, we drafted 2 extra pass catchers who have basically never seen the field. The 2008 draft is already showing itself to be the debacle it was, not purely because of the zero impact present production, but because of the major depth issues in predictable areas beginning to rear their head.

We've had to play large portions of major games without Springs and Smoot, which was foreseeable, and which will continue. And, we've had to trade a top draft pick for an aging Taylor, when our oft-injured veteran DE went down. Thank heavens Rodgers recovered way ahead of schedule, otherwise we'd already have been sunk by our folly in this, and past drafts.

The Zorn hiring was incredibly astute, and I loved it. The promotion of Blache to replace GW was a much more solid move than I anticipated, and I opposed it at the time. The OL has mostly performed better than I expected, too, despite injury and age concerns. However, this year's draft was a farce which has already cost us dearly on the field, and which has already compelled us to burn some of next year's picks to fill this year's attrition. Foolish.

Exactly. I understand our weakest leg was offense and it needed work. But we need to maintain our strengths at the same time unless we are rebuilding. And you don't rebuild a playoff team. A second round corner might have been able to help us later in the season.

Usually Smoot and Springs make it further into the year than this before they start breaking down. But they aren't getting any younger or healthier. We have 3 new pass catchers on the bench. And we still need a WR.

Neither of our losses can be pinned on the D. Our DB's are among the best in the league, but extremely shallow. Let's hope we can keep our strengths up and patch Springs and Smoot and get through the year. Not much choice now.