ES: Redskins are nothing without Samuels

[SonnyJ]

There are no guarantees when it comes to drafting. Not every pick pans out but over the long haul that talent trickles down to the bench. If nothing else a 4th rounder will in most cases be the better athlete over a 7th rounder, able to play in spots. If the FO wants someone better than what they already have then more power to them.

blah blah blah..

Whatever, dude. It's not worth the time to go through this post and point out all the flaws. You've fixed your mind on this concept of yours and clearly have no interest in looking at some of the realities.

[TSO]

I see where you're coming from. But I'm pretty sure I'd laid out my case by using our secondary as an example.

Carlos Rogers and LaRon Landry are first rounders. Fred Smoot and DeAngelo Hall are free agents that earned a nice payday. Justin Tryon and Kevin Barnes are high draft picks. Chris Horton is a late-round steal. But look at the commitment it took, whether in draft picks or via free agency, to stockpile the amount of young players the team now has in the secondary. That doesn't even factor in the Sean Taylor tragedy.

If half of the emphasis that is clearly placed upon the secondary was on the offensive line, I'd feel a lot better about this team heading into the season. Derrick Dockery and Stephon Heyer over Pete Kendall and Jon Jansen is a start.

The front office just needs to remember that offensive linemen might not be as flashy as a cornerback, but they're just as important on gameday.

Let's give the O-line problem a little history. When Gibbs returned, the O-line was the the team's strongest unit. Joe said so.

Between 2004 and 2006, the FO traded up in the draft and traded picks for vets leaving us short of picks, especially in rounds three and four. Some part of the team had to be neglected in the draft. While the O-line was neglected in the draft, it wasn't neglected in free agency and trades.

The O-line didn't just begin degrading when Vinny took over after Joe left. The problem traces back to Gibbs and trading away too many picks.

Vinny has us on the right track by drafting the BPA, but the draft isn't Home Depot. He can't make a shopping list and expect to go in and fill his order.

Replacing Campbell wasn't a top priority, but QBs like Jay Cutler don't often become available. That's what it's all about as I see it. It's not about prioritizing and filling needs. It's about recognizing and seizing opportunities to improve your team as they present themselves. Orakpo had to be taken over Oher because he graded out as a much better NFL prospect.

At first glance, these two views seem like they're in opposition to one another, but yet, I find myself nodding in approval to both. Murf is absolutely right that we have had a heavy focus on the secondary in the draft, and that is why we're so deep there, but Oldfan is right on point about the BPA philosophy.

I guess what happened is that we just ended up in positions where good to great players on the secondary (according to our grades) were available whereas average to below average Olineman at the spot we were picking. What do you go with? You can never really have enough depth in the secondary, either, right? I'd pick the stronger secondary guys just because of the better grade.

I have a good feeling we'll be emphasizing Oline next season, and hopefully, some of our own guys like Edwin Williams and Rinehart are able to really take it to the next level. I just don't think it's so vital that it's through the draft. If we get some fairly young, proven FA Olineman I'd actually be more pleased than if we got a question mark through the draft.

I can't help but feel, along with Oldfan, that we've improved as a whole in terms of scouting and decision making the last few years. I like where we're heading. We've got some great potential in our youthful players that can develop with a solid mix of veterans we can play until they can take over. The only spot that's iffy is the Oline, but I believe as stated a bunch of times already, that almost every team in the NFL has this same issue. Good quality Olineman simply just aren't as easy to come by as other positions.

I never wish injury on any player... but it'd be extremely interesting to see if, say, a couple of guys on the Giants Oline go down and see how well things go for them afterward.

I think the argument can be made that our problem is not depth so much as it's injury-prone starters on the Oline. But how much of that can you blame on the FO? A lot of those injuries were freak ones, and the only guy you could say is legitimately injury prone is Randy Thomas. I think our depth at guard isn't bad at all in comparison to any other team.

[The Sisko]

If Rinehart, Batiste and some of the other guys actually turn out to be dependable players, then everything's okay. But last year the depth was so bad that opposing teams felt obligated to inform Zorn that if changes weren't made, Campbell was going to get hurt because of his substandard line.

Whether a guy like Terrell Suggs is a blowhard or not, you don't ever want to hear you're line is so bad that opposing teams feel bad. I'm not suggesting that they should have passed on Orakpo or anyone else. But until I see otherwise, I'm going to continue to believe the offensive line is an issue.

nice read..(if healthy) Samules is going to the probowl again this year..though,Imo Zorn's predictable,conservative,and timid play calling,all helped contribute to the decrease in the adverage per yards

Do you think maybe, just maybe what Murf posted could have had anything to do with that? Absolutely. Zorn called the plays he did because he knew the limitations of our line.

Not sure how or why it happens, but every once in a while a bug makes it so some threads are locked at five stars and some are locked at one. Looks like today was this thread's day in the barrel.

Too bad because it's a thread worthy of 5 stars.

Great OP and great follow-ups Murf. :thumbsup: