JimmiJo Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 http://www.warpathconfidential.com/?p=1007 Five Questions By John Pappas Warpath Confidential Editor Questions surrounded the Washington Redskins coming into training camp. Would the offense be better than their 16.6 points per game average in 2008? Would players drafted last year such as Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas assume a more prominent role? Would the addition of players such as Albert Haynesworth and Brian Orakpo improve a top five defense? While some of these question began to be answered in the preseason, others remain. Here are five questions coming into the 2009 season. 1. Will Jason Campbell lead the team to victories and the playoffs? Campbell is beginning his fifth year in the league, third as the designated starter, and second in Jim Zorn’s offense. It is also his contract year. While fans have been generally patient, it is time for Campbell to put up. Campbell’s overall averages such as completion percentage (58.5) and quarterback rating (80.4) are respectable. But his 16-20 win/loss record leaves something to be desired. Analysis: Campbell needs more time. Time to throw, that is. Campbell showed for the first half of last season that with time to throw and a good running game he can be effective. Campbell is not a quick release guy. Rather, he likes to drop by five or seven steps, scan the field, and let the ball go. If he has time to do this, he can be the player fans have been waiting for. 2. Will the offensive line stay healthy? The Redskins’ offense is one injury to an offensive lineman away from being in big trouble. The preseason demonstrated that while the starters can hold their own, the backups are horrid. Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas are coming off surgeries, and neither were young before they were injured. The team has retained 10 offensive linemen in the event an injury occurs. Analysis: It is unlikely all starters stay healthy for the entire season. This is especially true for guys like Randy Thomas. Worse, the backups aren’t up to the job. The Redskins should bring in roster cuts from other teams to see if they can get some help. Click the link to read the full article... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr1 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I think 1, 2 and 5 are key. I've liked what I've seen in the play calling in the preseason...it's when the pressure is on, however, when the true test will come. And, I'm not sold that the o-line is dramatically improved. I'd have liked to have seen some competition at center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I can't answer those questions, but the warpath girls continue to improve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I'm gonna guess that the OLine back ups will perform better than expected if they are unfortunatelly needed to fill in for more than a series or two....We rarely saw one back up with 4 starters in the preseason, which would be the most likely scenario...so it's a little skewed as far as preseason perceptions go. I'll also take a guess that the run blocking and running game will be better than most are assuming as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chump Bailey Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I think Rinehart's up to the job of filling in for Thomas. Although I definitely think Mike Williams played better than Bridges, I still think it's imperative we bring in one of the T's out there currently available. I don't like Blache. He seems way more egotistical than GW when he was here. I don't like his style or demeanor at all. I hope he can get the most of these guys. I wish GW had gotten the chance to work with Orakpo and Hanyesworth. I hope this is Blache's last season personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLSkins Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I think Rinehart's up to the job of filling in for Thomas. Although I definitely think Mike Williams played better than Bridges, I still think it's imperative we bring in one of the T's out there currently available. I don't like Blache. He seems way more egotistical than GW when he was here. I don't like his style or demeanor at all. I hope he can get the most of these guys. I wish GW had gotten the chance to work with Orakpo and Hanyesworth. I hope this is Blache's last season personally. I agree with your first thought, but the second I don't. If the defensive boss does not have an ego driven demeanor the defense will never ascend to greatness that opposing teams fear. I love Blanche, now tighten up the coverages coach, you finally have the line you wanted. BTW, I like the Warpath articles, they seem as accurate as any out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinWarship Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 overall averages such as completion percentage (85.5) now that's accuracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octane67 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Everything hinges on the O-Line and their health or who is backing them up..... Keep JC upright and he will do well as he did in the the first half of last season before Samuels got injured Control the line of scrimmage and CP will own all RB's and Fantasy owners will be scouring these forums for more info Control the time of possession and keep your defense well rested (and Hayensworth) and the D-Line does very well. Zorns calls will not be questioned unless the team does bad especially on offense which hinges on the o-line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmiJo Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 now that's accuracy That would be the old fat finger action there, but thanks for hatin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACW Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 :yes: :fingersx: :yes: Very good at least. :1stplace: :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Skins Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 just some other thoughts: Which Hall will we get? Is Orakpo up to playing LB? How will our Red Zone offense look? Will we improve at FG accuracy? How will the wedge rule help/hurt us (since Rock seems to depend on it)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysaskin Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Everything hinges on the O-Line and their health or who is backing them up.....Keep JC upright and he will do well as he did in the the first half of last season before Samuels got injured Control the line of scrimmage and CP will own all RB's and Fantasy owners will be scouring these forums for more info Control the time of possession and keep your defense well rested (and Hayensworth) and the D-Line does very well. Zorns calls will not be questioned unless the team does bad especially on offense which hinges on the o-line Spot on, this O-Line needs to stay healthy, while I think Montgomery is a major upgrade over Rabach, Rhinehart looked bad, BMW looks like he is a year away from Regaining form. This line needs to stay healthy and be dominant and next year in the draft I want to see mostly O-Line picks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkabong82 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Barring major injuries to the OL, I think our offense is going to be in the top half of the league this year. Just my opinion though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahons21 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Barring major injuries to the OL, I think our offense is going to be in the top half of the league this year. Just my opinion though. First I would say I have gained lots of respect for your opinion, though we both know we disagree on the Redskins offense. -With that being said.. I am curious as to why you believe our offense will have so much improvement? I personally can think of only two reasons: a health o-line, and the development of Kelly... But many others have cited "2nd year in a system" as a reason for an improved offense... If you agree with this notion, I am just curious as to why? Have there been many or any teams in recent NFL history that have had an extremely drastic improvement from the first year in a new system to the second, without drastic personnel changes? Who are these teams? And is there other possible reasons as to why there offense improved, such as the other three teams in the divisions defenses got significantly worst(completely hypothetical there) -Your comments are appreciated Elkabong, and I hope we can try to stray from any discussion directed solely on you know who.. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahons21 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 just some other thoughts:Which Hall will we get? -Depends on how we use him I think.. If we play him in zone, I fully expect him to continue being a ball hawk... If we play him in man against premier receivers I could see him struggling Is Orakpo up to playing LB?How will our Red Zone offense look? Will we improve at FG accuracy? How will the wedge rule help/hurt us (since Rock seems to depend on it)? -I think he is... Sure he'll get beaten by some of the better TE's in the league but that is to be expected.. I assume it happens to most rookie LB's, even the one's who aren't playing out of position -Our RZ should look a lot better with bigger targets... Hopefully teams won't triple Cooley anymore (which may me fantasy points for me, Cooley's my TE) -Ohh FG's, god how I hate it when Suisham has to kick one... Hopefully it improves, but I just don't see any reason why it would... We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed for this one -Rock was definitely dependent on the wedge... I personally would like to see a lot more from Thomas on returns.. He may not run a great route but the guy is an athlete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Skins Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 -Depends on how we use him I think.. If we play him in zone, I fully expect him to continue being a ball hawk... If we play him in man against premier receivers I could see him struggling Didn't he make a name for himself as a shutdown corner in man coverage? -Our RZ should look a lot better with bigger targets... Hopefully teams won't triple Cooley anymore (which may me fantasy points for me, Cooley's my TE) But this is exactly what we were saying last year, and it just didn't commense. Kelly was unhealthy and I guess they just didn't trust Thomas, but there were times (Dallas in particular) when we coulda used some big targets in the Red Zone and we just threw fade routes to Moss. :doh: -Ohh FG's, god how I hate it when Suisham has to kick one... Hopefully it improves, but I just don't see any reason why it would... We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed for this one I'm not as down on Suisham. I think he's a good kicker who had trouble with his holder last year. He had a good year in 2007 and so I'm confident he can return to form. One question I've always had about him is the 45 yards and over kicks. I don't expect him to be 100% on those, but he's gotta get more consistent on those longer kicks. -Rock was definitely dependent on the wedge... I personally would like to see a lot more from Thomas on returns.. He may not run a great route but the guy is an athlete Well, if Thomas doesn't become the threat at WR, maybe he can get more time as a KR. I don't know how I feel about this, but I just want us to be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Skins Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Barring major injuries to the OL, I think our offense is going to be in the top half of the league this year. Just my opinion though. thats a helluva flyby statement to make. I just hope we can get more aggressive and I think that if we are more aggressive, then we'll have a nice passing game and a nice running game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkabong82 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 First I would say I have gained lots of respect for your opinion, though we both know we disagree on the Redskins offense.-With that being said.. I am curious as to why you believe our offense will have so much improvement? I personally can think of only two reasons: a health o-line, and the development of Kelly... But many others have cited "2nd year in a system" as a reason for an improved offense... If you agree with this notion, I am just curious as to why? Have there been many or any teams in recent NFL history that have had an extremely drastic improvement from the first year in a new system to the second, without drastic personnel changes? Who are these teams? And is there other possible reasons as to why there offense improved, such as the other three teams in the divisions defenses got significantly worst(completely hypothetical there) -Your comments are appreciated Elkabong, and I hope we can try to stray from any discussion directed solely on you know who.. Thanks I appreciate the kind sentiment. First off, the team having a 2nd year in the offense is important for several reasons. One is that the playbook is much larger. Campbell said in the offseason they added something like 50+ more plays (iirc). Another is that the team is more comfortable in the offense as everything is more familiar. The coaches have had the offseason to go over the tape and determine strengths, weaknesses, and how they think the O can improve. Learning from last years mistakes and hopefully correcting them. The OL is healthy, relatively, again, and this year we have more young depth than we have had in quite some time. Samuels and R. Thomas are a concern, especially Samuels. However, he has bounced back from injuries before, and I am hopeful he does it again, though I do expect a drop in his performance this year because of the injury from last season. Rinehart will eventually be our starting RG, and while he looked raw at times, he can also be stout at times. The depth on OL is going to be key this year, and I much prefer young guys who can hold up an entire season than vets who can't. Dockery is also an upgrade, durability-wise, for the OL. The OL is still a concern for me, but I liked how much time they were giving JC in preseason. We've got to hope either the OL stays relatively healthy, or our back-ups are up to the task and not too many of them are called on. Then we have the WRs, a unit which has greatly improved from last season. It looks like Kelly will be the #2 WR, the first time we've had a legit one in I don;t know how long. What Kelly brings there that ARE couldn't (jump balls, physical play, etc.) is a big upgrade, and opens the field for Cooley and Moss, both of whom I expect to have big years. ARE will be very effective in the slot, he's good in the Welker type role. Devin Thomas will get in there and should continue improving (though we knew from the time he was drafted he was raw and would take longer), he adds more big play potential at KR too. Marko Mitchell is great, and though at first he likely won;t see the field too often, Moss, Kelly, ARE, and Devin Thomas all have some injury concerns, so the depth we have at WR is great. Kelly and Thomas this year are improvements over themselves last year. The 2 TE sets I believe we finally see more of, especially if the OL becomes less effective over the season. Davis is more comfortable in the offense now (he needs to hold onto the ball though), and Zorn has said he will see a lot more time this season. Deadly package in the redzone. The run game is reliable, and though some expect it to slide, in the long run I think the run production will be close to last seasons. Betts will have an increased role, so maybe he can improve since he's not been too great the past few seasons. Mason is good depth, and though he isn;t a change of pace back, he gives youth to the position, and given CP gets banged up every season, and Betts gets injured as well, having Mason is a good option, IMO. The things I believe that limited Campbell last season aren't there as much this season. The OL is obviously still a concern, but we have more depth and younger depth than before. Plus, the WR group we have now are bigger, more physical, which provides a much better bail out option if the OL craps out, than say 2 WRs who are 5'10" and can't really separate themselves physically from the defender, both are speed guys, so they need time to create space, where as a WR like Kelly or Marko you can get the ball to a lot quicker because they can create separation almost immediately with their physicality, which bails out the OL as the passes can come out much quicker. I loved this preseason when the OL was blitzed hard, and Campbell threw a 2-3 yard pass to Kelly, who then stiff armed a defender to shed the tackle and get a 1st. Been awhile since I've seen one of our WRs do that. And the final aspect is the defense. That starting DL has looked dominant at times, and I can't wait to see the full thing, and not just the trimmed down preseason version. They will most likely gives us more sacks and tunrovers this season, which means the offense should see a lot more shorter fields than they did last season. This helps out the entire O, especially the OL who then don;t have to drive down the whole field (last season they allowed more sacks per pass attempt on the opponents 49-20, than any other area on the field, I agree with those that say our #4 ranking for D was deceptive because while the scoring was held down, there weren't a lot of sacks and turnovers, so not a lot of short fields, thus the OL wore down by the time they crossed the 50. Bigger pass plays, and more of them, which I expect to see since Zorn has done it in the preseason and since he's on the hot seat this season and he needs to be more agressive and has said he plans to be, will help the OL out also. So for these reasons I believe we will have an offense in the top half this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronMike Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 All of us believe that the key to success in 2009 rests upon the OL. If the OL is unable to open holes for CP, then we are forced to either pass more or go to 2 TE sets. But I think the 2 TEs will be Cooley and Yoder, not Cooley and Davis. Also if either Samuels or Heyer go down for any length of time, Yoder will be tasked to help out on that side. If we are passing more, then the OL will have to protect JC better than last year. That protection depends upon Samuels and Heyer remaining healthy for the entire season. Last year L. Alexander came in for short yardage plays as an extra blocker. I expect to see BMW in that role this year. He struggled mightily in pass protection in the Jax game, but he is a motor grader in the running game. That is why we kept him (plus he is a good reclamation project if he can improve his stamina and pass blocking). HTTR :helmet: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatmeworry Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 As long as just one starter goes down I'm not so worried. If 2 or 3 do at the same time it could be trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahons21 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Thanks for taking the time to produce a well thought post Elkabong.. Your beliefs certainly give me reason for optimism, but it remains as cautious optimism. I can't deal with another heartbreaking season, so here's to you being right -I agree with much of what you said, but only to a point. On Kelly though it is awesome having a more physical #2, in addition the the passing game I hope he will help the running game too, if he can use his size to get some big blocks downfield, it will really help Portis to break away. -The o-line has to be my biggest concern too.. I think our starters have the potential to be good bunch but can they stay healthy? And I personally am a little fearful of what will happen if a backup is forced to start, our depth didn't look to great in this preseason in my opinion. -Hopefully our D can produce some turnovers to help our offense, however will our offense be able to get over it's RZ struggles? Or will the turnovers lead to FGs (which Suisham misses all too frequently) -Sorry I didn't have time to respond with a better post but I am in kind of a hurry... Thanks again for taking the time to write this post, you certainly took away some of my anxiety for this coming Sunday HTTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahons21 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Didn't he make a name for himself as a shutdown corner in man coverage? -Not that I am aware of.. I thought becoming a man corner was what sent his career downhill in OAK.. He came here played some zone which allowed him to make some plays on the ball, which as we saw lead to some nice INTs But this is exactly what we were saying last year, and it just didn't commense. Kelly was unhealthy and I guess they just didn't trust Thomas, but there were times (Dallas in particular) when we coulda used some big targets in the Red Zone and we just threw fade routes to Moss. :doh: -I do wish we had used Thomas/Davis more last year in the RZ, but Zorn just didn't trust them it seems. Hopefully this year Kelly and Mitchell will really be able to help, but I see what your saying about this being the same song and dance from last offseason I'm not as down on Suisham. I think he's a good kicker who had trouble with his holder last year. He had a good year in 2007 and so I'm confident he can return to form. One question I've always had about him is the 45 yards and over kicks. I don't expect him to be 100% on those, but he's gotta get more consistent on those longer kicks. -Ya I know I give him too hard of a time.. But I mean he has one job, kick the ball Well, if Thomas doesn't become the threat at WR, maybe he can get more time as a KR. I don't know how I feel about this, but I just want us to be good. -Ya if Thomas broke out as our sure fire #2 I would feel differently, but right now it seems like he is the 5th best WR on the team... But on the other hand the dude is an incredible athlete, and I think we need to take advantage of it -But only time will tell, Sunday can't get here any sooner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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