SkinsTerps26 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 It is baffling to me to see so many pundits/nfl fans/articles saying the skins will finish worse than last year. I keep looking at the depth chart and the progress of our young players and feel this team has improved all around (for the most part). But is it necessarily enough? Remember, we needed to win 2 more games last season (rams/bengals :doh:) to be in the playoffs. I know we stunk against some of the better teams in the AFC (steelers/ravens) and against the giants, but we played great against the 2 teams that made it to the NFC championship game. I want you guys to rate the following positional categories and state weather you think we improved enough to make a difference or got worse as an overall unit. If the starters are better but maybe the depth isn't so good. And is the improvement drastic enough to make this team a contender in the NFC? Oline WR/TEs QB RBs Zorn Dline LBs DBs K/P Return Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACW Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline: Marginal Improvement WR/TEs: Improvement QB: Same RBs: Same Zorn: :whoknows: Dline: HUGE (literally) improvement; Orakpo too LBs: :whoknows: DBs: same, but that's OK K/P: Couldn't be much worse Return: :whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTerps26 Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 Here is how I see it. O line: 1 year older, but some different pieces to the puzzle 2008: CS, PK, CR, RT, JJ depth: Chad Rinehart, Justin Geisinger, Jason Fabini, Stephon Heyer 2009: CS, DD, CR, RT, SH: depth Chad Rinehart, Mike Williams, Will Montgomery, E Williams, Batiste The starting line is similar, but staying healthy is obviously the biggest concern. Line should be better( dock > pete, Heyer > Jansen) but the young depth worries me this year, although it can't be as bad as geisinger and fabini. The jury is still out on Rinehart. O-Line slight improvement with the starters, depth is a major concern RBs. 2008 and 2009 are the same plus mason, but before the line broke down, CP was getting it done. I'll call this a push, but expect to see more of same from the first part of the season rather than the last 8 games. RB's same Wide Receivers 2008: Moss, ARE, Thrash, Kelly, Thomas 2009: Moss, Kelly, ARE, Thomas, Mitchell I expect this group to flourish this season, moss will finally get some space, and you can tell all 3 young guys want to see the field, that competition should be extremely beneficial for the team, plus ARE can act like the slot/switch/gadget receiver he was meant to be WR (theoretically) much improved. Went from having 1 1/2 wide receivers to 5 that have potential to make an impact on the field. TE Same as before, but don't expect davis to be a non factor like he was last season, cooley played great minus not getting into the endzone. slight improvement Quarterbacks Same as last season, just banking on JC getting it done with some stability established now; 2nd year in the system, but can't claim improvement until we watch a real game. slight improvement, if only b/c jason has improved his rating every year. Zorn: One year under his belt, but he ended worse than he began... Zorn seems more confident, I'm hoping his play calling has improved with experience, but that is yet to be seen from preseason. push ------------------------------------- Dline Improved, Hayne$worth, nuff said. Linebackers: Waived every Strong side linebacker we had on the depth chart last year. Now we have Wilson and Orakpo as Sam LB. I would say, our Linebackers got a little bit worse b/c of the projects we've placed in that position. Fletcher and Rocky might have to compensate while those two guys get adjusted to the position. LBs slightly worse DBs. We definitely lost our best DB (when healthy) but considering we played like 5 games a season, its pretty much a wash, I will say tho, I don't trust Hall out there as much as I did springs. The depth chart is also a concern, too many young and inexperienced guys, we'll have to see. Slightly worse, but hall came into the picture last year so we are similar with that situation, health is the major concern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Than-Q Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 K/P: Couldn't be much worse Sure it could, we could have Brooks or Plackemeier punting again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline - Improved a little in talent, quite a bit in depth WR/TEs- definitely improved QB- JC has looked pretty sharp this preseason, I'll say improved RBs- same, but with Mason. Zorn- impossible to tell based on nothing but preseason playcalling, but you have to assume an improvement over his first year of coaching Dline- big improvement LBs- eh, not much depth there. probably go with the same as last year DBs- probably same... i'm not sure about Hall's coverage skills, but he should generate some turnovers by taking chances. K/P- Well, Suisham's still here... but we finally have a real punter thank God Return- We'll have to see who gets chances to return other than Rock and ARE. Might be an improvement... We are definitely enough improved to pick up 2 more wins than last year. I'd say our range is from 9-7 is we do poorly to 12-4 if we play well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline: potential for some improvement, but not the immediate improvement we needed WR/TEs: most definatly. kelly, thomas, mitchell and davis... can't argue QB: I'm a campbell supporter, so i don't think improvement was needed here (see O Line and WR's). It bothers me we don't have (in my opinion) a 'future' QB that we're grooming. (no, I don't consider Colt the future franchise QB that is being groomed) RBs: yes, with mason in, and the coaches saying they understand they need to spell Clinton, we should have a running attack that lasts 17 weeks instead of 8. Zorn: yes, he knows the players better, they know him, etc. he's mentioned this many of times Dline: yes - orakpo and haynesworth, daniels is back, andre carter is going to be better than ever. we'll see about wynn... LBs: no... henson looks good, fletcher of course is good, but i want orakpo on the D line, and I wand 2 or 3 more solid LB's. something for next years draft DBs: we have better depth, but roggers and smoot are ont heir way out... still remains to be seen if barnes and tryon will step up to fill the role over the next few years. i have my doubts, but potential is there. K/P - punting: hell yes, we lost at least 2 games because of our punter last year. kicking: no... suisam was decent in 07, but in 08 he was terrible in the clutch. Return: if ARE isn't back there we're improved - how much is yet to be seen. just my opinions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTerps26 Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 i don't know if its a good thing or not that our team is so similar to last year. I remember the 6-2 beginning and thinking "man, this team is solid" for the most part, we are improving in areas that we really needed help in (WR/Dline). There is no insurance policy for the oline, so i'll be holding my breath every single snap on offense hoping our oline doesn't get injured. Defense seems a little bit weaker in the the areas we were strong in last year (Lbs/DBs), but this will be more than compensated by our Dline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 i don't know if its a good thing or not that our team is so similar to last year. I remember the 6-2 beginning and thinking "man, this team is solid" for the most part, we are improving in areas that we really needed help in (WR/Dline). There is no insurance policy for the oline, so i'll be holding my breath every single snap on offense hoping our oline doesn't get injured. Defense seems a little bit weaker in the the areas we were strong in last year (Lbs/DBs), but this will be more than compensated by our Dline. I'd say it's a good thing. In order to be a great team this year we need our Oline to stay healthy. That's what killed us last season, otherwise we finish at least 10-6. We stay healthy, we make the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4SB Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline: Slight improvement, but not enough for my liking. WR/TEs: Considerable improvement. Thrash wasn't much of a receiving threat. We have 4 draft picks who have shown signs of contributing this year in Marko, Kelly, Thomas and Davis. QB: To be seen. It looks like Jason has improved this offseason. RBs: About the same. Zorn: I am sure he has improved, but I want to see how he deals with regular season games this year. Dline: Big improvement. Haynesworth and Orakpo added. Don't forget Jarmon. LBs: About the same. I would prefer to see a true SLB. DBs: To be seen. I can see why Springs was let go, but he always came up big, when healthy, vs big time WRs. Carlos and D-Hall need to step up. K/P: Improvement. Hunter Smith brings reliable punting and holding. Suisham...:doh: Return: To be seen. I have a feeling Thomas can take one back to the house this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmySmith Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 QB - wash Old Grade C Now C RB - wash Old Grade B Now B O-line - wash Old Grade D Now D WR - improve? Old Grade C Now C+ TE - wash Old Grade B+ Now B+ Dline - improve! Old Grade C+ Now B+ LB - improve! Old Grade B- Now B+ D-back - improve! Old Grade B Now A- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bay Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Conceivably we got better or maintained in every area. With the o-line this is a problem because they've been hard pressed to stay healthy in the past, so it's tough to say they'll stay healthy this year. When starting, each of them is quite good to excellent, but it's just health that's the problem. Hopefully our depth there is actually good, though it doesn't really look that way on the edges. Everything could be improved, but if this unit faulters down the stretch again then it is unlikely that any of the other improvements (at least on offense) will do enough to matter (this year). Unless Campbell takes off and has a Roethlisberger type performance (playing well despite his line being dreadful). I'd say our other weakest area is linebacker. There's really not much depth there, at least from the experience standpoint. I think for the first time in a while, our receiving corps could be the strength of our offense and the line for our defense. It's quite exciting, I find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMS Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I think we have a hugely improved Pass rush this year. I think that's going to transform an already strong defense into a beast. I think they have the best pass rush we've had since dexter and Charles were both making pro bowls... ( not in the same year)... I also think adding a tall legitamate #2 receaver to the offense is going to be a big benifit on offense. It being a contract year for Cambell is going to help too. I think the team is gong to be significantly better. It's not the good teams that crush us, it's always the bad ones which we seem to have a problem getting by and winning consistantly. We are going to win early, and struggle late again this year, but if we cna win the games we are supposed too and win our share of the rest; we'll win 10 games. and get into the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 The team has clearly improved, but man am I worried about the o-line and the linebacker corps 2 players HAVE to stay healthy Chris Samuels and London Fletcher Chris Samuels goes down for an extended period and you can pretty much punt those games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTerps26 Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 so far it all reads like marginal improvements, except the Dline which was drastic. a lot of potential with the wide receivers. all is settled with the Oline being healthy... hope the skins have jon runyans phone on speed dial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMS Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 so far it all reads like marginal improvements, except the Dline which was drastic.. If you could pick one area to improve on don't you think D line and Pass rush would be it. We haven't had a decent pass rush since Bruce's first year. Today we might have one of the best dlines in football... Haynesworth requires a double team, and it looks like Arachbo a very exciting player. Taylor went from our best pass rusher to maybe our third best. That's dramatic.... We get our share of turn overs and we will be much improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins-Canes-Mounties Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 QB: Should Improve in theory. This is our biggest question mark. Could be a weakness. RB: The same / performing at high level TE: The same / depth should improve slightly / performing at high level WRS: Should improve in theory with another year out of MK & DT. Mitchell is a hungry rookie. Dependent upon QB play. O-Line: Slight decrease / potential weakness. Dock is an improvement over Kendall. Another year of wear and major injuries from Thomas and Samuels. They have to be considered better last year. Rabach should be the same. Heyer is a huge question mark at RT. He is probably equal to what we thought Jansen would be last year. Depth is a problem. There is no Heyer on the bench. Rhinehart has disappointed. The way that I see it, last year we could sustain 1 injury. This year we can sustain none. D-Line: Significant increase / performing at a high level. Addition of Haynesworth and LDE depth. Drafting Jarmon for depth. Even Orakpo can bring it on certain plays where he lines up at end. LBS: About the same / potential weakness. A lot of us were hoping MW could play at a high level last year. Fletcher is solid. Rocky should be better than he was last year coming off of the ACL. Orakpo looks good, but who knows at this point. It is hard to rely on rookies. Wilson is also changing position. Depth is a concern again. SECONDARY: about the same / performing at a high level. Springs was always hurt, but we were a different team with him on the field. He will be missed. Los' injury is a concern. Hall is a question mark, but could be great. CB 4 and 5 (and 6) are concerns. Safety should be stronger than last year. There were questions about who was lining up next to Laron. Now we know what we get with Horton, and we have some quality depth. We did not have that last year. S TEAMS. Improve. Kicker is still garbage. return teams are solid. Punter is solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline: worse. I think Dockery is an upgrade because of age not talent on the field. Heyer is not very good and the line is older in general with no depth. WR/TEs: Wide outs improved significantly. QB: Slight improvement coming from experience. Nothing major. RBs: About the same. Zorn: Slight improvement coming from experience. Dline: Big time improvement LBs: worse. Orakpo is learning a new position and will be a liability at times because of it. DBs: worse when compared to Springs on the field. Improved when compared to the times when Springs was injured (which was significant) K/P: same Return: same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSkins2006 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline: potential for some improvement, but not the immediate improvement we neededWR/TEs: most definatly. kelly, thomas, mitchell and davis... can't argue QB: I'm a campbell supporter, so i don't think improvement was needed here (see O Line and WR's). It bothers me we don't have (in my opinion) a 'future' QB that we're grooming. (no, I don't consider Colt the future franchise QB that is being groomed) RBs: yes, with mason in, and the coaches saying they understand they need to spell Clinton, we should have a running attack that lasts 17 weeks instead of 8. Zorn: yes, he knows the players better, they know him, etc. he's mentioned this many of times Dline: yes - orakpo and haynesworth, daniels is back, andre carter is going to be better than ever. we'll see about wynn... LBs: no... henson looks good, fletcher of course is good, but i want orakpo on the D line, and I wand 2 or 3 more solid LB's. something for next years draft DBs: we have better depth, but roggers and smoot are ont heir way out... still remains to be seen if barnes and tryon will step up to fill the role over the next few years. i have my doubts, but potential is there. K/P - punting: hell yes, we lost at least 2 games because of our punter last year. kicking: no... suisam was decent in 07, but in 08 he was terrible in the clutch. Return: if ARE isn't back there we're improved - how much is yet to be seen. just my opinions Rogers is on his way out?? Are you crazy? Like we're just gonna let our starting CB, not only that but one of our youngest CBs just go. Smoot sure he is getting up there in age, and is better as a nickel or dime guy but Rogers is definitely not on his way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamyesme1111 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline: potential for some improvement, but not the immediate improvement we neededWR/TEs: most definatly. kelly, thomas, mitchell and davis... can't argue QB: I'm a campbell supporter, so i don't think improvement was needed here (see O Line and WR's). It bothers me we don't have (in my opinion) a 'future' QB that we're grooming. (no, I don't consider Colt the future franchise QB that is being groomed) RBs: yes, with mason in, and the coaches saying they understand they need to spell Clinton, we should have a running attack that lasts 17 weeks instead of 8. Zorn: yes, he knows the players better, they know him, etc. he's mentioned this many of times Dline: yes - orakpo and haynesworth, daniels is back, andre carter is going to be better than ever. we'll see about wynn... LBs: no... henson looks good, fletcher of course is good, but i want orakpo on the D line, and I wand 2 or 3 more solid LB's. something for next years draft DBs: we have better depth, but roggers and smoot are ont heir way out... still remains to be seen if barnes and tryon will step up to fill the role over the next few years. i have my doubts, but potential is there. K/P - punting: hell yes, we lost at least 2 games because of our punter last year. kicking: no... suisam was decent in 07, but in 08 he was terrible in the clutch. Return: if ARE isn't back there we're improved - how much is yet to be seen. just my opinions RoGers is on his way out??? huh???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTerps26 Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 Rogers will get the franchise tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 We got better at QB and WR/TE from the progression of the young guys we had last year. We're about the same at RB, adding Mason makes it a push since our guys are a year older. We should be a little better all accross the OL since I think Heyer will be an upgrade over Jansen and Dockery should be better than Kendall. Our depth sucks this year but it did last year too. On defense obviously the defensive line is way better and deeper this year. The linebackers might be a little worse in losing Washington and Fletcher getting older, but Blades is still there and McIntosh isn't coming off such a serious injury this year. Defensive backs are probably worse than last year and losing Springs will hurt. But they played so well last year, it's hard not to take a step down from where we were before. Plus Landry should keep improving and Horton will be better, and I'm hoping Rogers is at that point where he can play at a high level like he's capable of, every single week. Our 12th man on defense Hunter Smith is also a lot better, overall, I think we are much better equipped to control field position this season than last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Rogers will get the franchise tag. Or Campbell will. McIntosh is up for UFA also. It'd be a blow to lose any of those guys. If Campbell has a big year then obviously he stays. But man I really hope we don't let Carlos go. He can shut top tier receivers down when he plays well (weeks 2 and 3). It's so freaking hard to find a shutdown corner and it is such an important position. It goes: QB, LT, RE, WR1 and CB in terms of value. We'd be morons to let him traipse on out of here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oline: Slightly WR/TEs yes due to time in the system QB yes due to time in the system RBs Push Zorn Yes, as HC's learn just as new players do Dline Yes. Haynesworth and Orakpo (when he playes DE) make a difference. LBs Push. Orakpo is negated by the loss of Washington (vet presence) and Fletcher being older. DBs slightly with Hall being here for the full season but slightly negated by Barnes being a rookie and Smoot being older. K/P yes. Hunter the punter will be better than the scrubs we've had but Suisham still makes me nervous. Return Push Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 RBs: yes, with mason in, and the coaches saying they understand they need to spell Clinton, we should have a running attack that lasts 17 weeks instead of 8. You realize that Mason won't even dress most games? :doh: Redskins coach Jim Zorn dispelled the notion that RB Marcus Mason could be a goal-line option this season.As expected. Zorn envisions Mason as a special teamer with no assurances of being active on a weekly basis. His main offensive role is to be ready for action should both Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts suffer injuries at the same time. Source: Washington Post Related: Clinton Portis The guy is a security blanket just in case Portis AND Betts can't go the same week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilsu Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 QB: Better. Jason Campbell and Todd Collins both have more experience. RB: Same or worse. Depends on if Clinton Portis is still hurting from last year. Marcus Mason might be a factor, too. WR: Better. More comfort. Malcolm Kelly and Marko Mitchell have stepped up. Hopefully Devin Thomas, too. TE: Same. OL: Worse. Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas are coming off injuries and are both older. Casey Rabach's also older. Stephon Heyer's not really that much of an upgrade over Jon Jansen. I expect better pass protection. Not sure about run blocking. Depth seems suspect. DL: Better. LB: Same or better. Depends on Orakpo, and if Fletcher has lost a step or not. DB: Worse. But it's still very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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