Hey Dan Snyder, thanks for setting the Redskins back in the right direction!!! HTTR!

[Bantu]

Anyone who thanks Dan Snyder is an idiot. An idiot who lets a jerk, like Snyder, crap all over them and then thanks him when he does something he SHOULD have already done in the first place.

[Oldfan]

There are many ways to get a QB if you really want one and are willing to pay the price to get one. And with that team's ability to hoard picks, they definitely could have paid the price needed.

If anything, Shanahan wasn't aggressive enough in trying to find a legitimate franchise QB, believing Griese and Plummer could get the job done, and when he got one, it was too late.

Bill Walsh obtained Montana in the draft for a third-round pick. He picked up Young in trade for the last pick in the fourth-round. Belichick got Brady in the sixth and Cassel in the seventh. Walsh and Belichick weren't lucky; they designed systems which don't require super athletes like Elway and Cutler at the QB position.

The problem is that you assume "win now" and "build a dynasty" are mutually exclusive...

If you can explain how it's possible to devise one plan that will achieve two different objectives, I'll listen.

By analogy -- if you start out in Washington and alternate your steps, one toward New York and one toward San Francisco, you won't end up in New York or San Francisco. You'll end up in Cleveland.

If win-now is the goal, then Marty's or George Allen's plan will achieve the best results. Both achieved outstanding regular season records by consistently beating the cupcakes on their schedules. Both had losing records in the playoffs and never won a Super Bowl.

Schottenheimer.. the teams he built in San Diego were definitely championship caliber...

A.J. Smith built the San Diego roster. He and Marty didn't speak to each other.

I don't understand why you say Marty was trying to win now in Washington anyway. He cut Johnson, Centers, Stubblefield and Sanders, and while they all had underproduced, they had Pro Bowl pedigrees.

I based my opinion on Marty's entire body of work spanning several years.

[ridgely00]

The past is the past and the future is now. Serious Dan, TY. This is the direction OUR team needs to be.

You cut ties with your pal and the face of the organization for over the last decade. You brought in true Redskin blood to run the team. And he got you your coach, and us a Pro Bowl quarterback with the leadership/intangibles we've been lacking. You take full credit for the dead-end we collectively hit ending the last decade. You've closed you're door and have stepped out of the limelight. Ex-players feel welcomed again and have been seen back at the Park. You're blowing up the tailgate; hooked up the high def. Are vying to bring a Super Bowl to Dc, and get Dc back. thx.

Jeez, last year this time, I was eating me Lucky Charms.

We enter this decade (and season) on the positive.

Redskins fans, it's been... We had players, took out one all star, delivered a few more concussions, had mad D, made plays, and got post season; but we haven't seen this type of top down professionalism in a long time.

After the golden years of Gibbs 1:

Pettibone - All I remember was losing every Sunday. He was a bad coach who couldn't scheme or use our MVP SB QB. Rypien gets cut. Welcome Heath Shuler and errrrrrr Gus Ferotte (then Trent Green, and sometime later Ramsey). And the circus begins.

A long circus it was.

Norv Turner - To be fair, Turner didn't out right suck. But all I remember were FOULS. Fouls. And fouls; and a fist fight. Fouls and discipline are a direct reflection of the coach. Westbrook cost us a Wild Card berth. Dan Turk a playoff.

Robiskie - Doesn't count.

Schottenheimer - Gutted the team. Thrash goes on to be Philly's #1 receiver. B.Johnson wins a SB in Florida. I HATE THE BUCCANEERS. Enter Jeff George, and Tony Banks with his fur coat. And Marty's nepotism.

Spurrier - A revolving door for University of Florida players (Gators.2). Stupid slogans.

Gibbs II - To be honest, this was a nostalgia choice. But we made a couple runs. Thank you for the return of this gem. Had to be exciting for gen-y.

Zorn - No one bought in. BINGO. And our FAILED stupid gimmick plays (and Zorn's inability to realize that everyone of those bull**** plays will live on in YouTube).

Welcome back, Dc, to some good old football. Top down, we haven't seen it in so long. Sit back; Shanny was born to run a Dc offense. Run it down your throat then bomb that ball deep. Just wait. Snyder has the deep pockets (Snyder wants to win) for the players ShanAllen (and Kyle) wants.

Snyder, continue us down this road. This is the right direction. Let's chase another Lombardi. These next few seasons will be good...

:helmet:

Edit: Oh yeah, haters, keep your hateraid and start your own thread.

He doesn't deserve credit for something he was forced to do. Fact.

[Skinsinparadise]

Mike is a good Xs and Os guy in attacking defenses, but he's not so good that he can do it without some good talent to work with.

Don't know if you caught the article the other day about Kyle. Granted am not a football expert, not even close, but part of what i do for a living involves strategy -- political strategy where its my job to outfox the opponent. I do buy into what Kyle said which is that he doesn't really have a set strategy he game plans to his opponent and their weaknesses.

Zorn was a garrulous type who put his cards on the table, it struck me that when he talked about strategy it wasn't really about game planning. He struck me more like Spurrier -- i got a scheme try to stop me.

I just think the better defensive coordinators, like Lebeau can stop the here's what i got I aint going to try to fool you approach. that's of course just my opinion.

[Bibby]

I'll thank him after a decade of success. Since he hasn't placed a legit contender on the field consistently. I've never witnessed that from the Redskins and same goes for the fans my age too.

[Kindred]

Exactly. Has nothing to do with win or lose, but rather putting a successful business model back into place. Finally. Going forward, we can't blame the organization. It's gonna be either the coaching or the talent (the lack of).

Cheers brothers! Redskins football is back.

I'm not following your logic. A "successful business model" is one that is likely to achieve its objectives. How can it be a successful model in the NFL if its objectives don't include winning football games?

This business model, based on Bruce and Mike's history, is likely to fare better than the previous administration but fall well short of becoming the number one NFL franchise (like the Patriots have been) -- which should be the objective of all NFL teams , in my opinion.

There is only one objective in a successful business model: Satisfy the goddamn customer, we're the customers, and we want a frikkin Lombardi.

[Jeff in D.C.]

I refuse to give Danny any credit for finally waking up and smelling the coffee after 11 years of mediocrity. This is what he should have done in the first place but his massive ego got in the way of his decision making.

At least now there appears to be professionalism, a sense of purpose, and a direction with this franchise and it's no longer the laughing stock of the league. I feel good about that.

Granted we don't know how this will turn out, but let me point something out here. There have been several other seasons in recent memory which led to low expectations the following season:

1998: 6-10

Not much was expected of the 99 team. New QB comes in in Brad Johnson, and Champ Bailey & Jon Jansen were unproven rookies. Stephen Davis had never been a #1 RB, and Michael Westbrook & Albert Connell had hardly been reliable WR's to that point. The defense in 1998 was ranked 24th, so nothing big was expected of the D in 99.

1999: 10-6, division title, playoff win.

2004: 6-10

Joe Gibbs first season back was highly unsuccessful. Heading in to 2005, we had Patrick Ramsay and a 35-year old Mark Brunell at QB, and the offense in 2004 was ranked 30th. Santana Moss was traded for but not much was expected from the 2005 team considering how the 2004 season ended.

2005: 10-6, wc spot, playoff win.

2006: 5-11

The team appeared going in the opposite direction after making the playoffs in 2005. The defense badly regressed, there were several free agent busts, and the roster was getting older. Jason Campbell had taken over at QB by the end of the 2006 season.

2007: 9-7, playoffs.

Now I challenge anyone to tell me that the personnel on this team isn't better than it was in 99, 05, & 07 and those were playoff teams. Granted, that by itself means nothing since we don't know how injuries will turn out and which players won't perform to potential, but the last three times this team has made the playoffs, it has come after a season of 10+ losses.

And we have something that we haven't ever had here - our GM, coach, & QB each have proven track records.

[Skinsinparadise]

I refuse to give Danny any credit for finally waking up and smelling the coffee after 11 years of mediocrity. This is what he should have done in the first place but his massive ego got in the way of his decision making.

I have to agree with that. He clearly seems to want to win and will spend whatever it takes to do it. But the best I can say is:

1. He interferes with personnel and he's just not good at it, and why should he be he's not a football professional. Like Sally Jenkins from the WP says, he uses the Redskins as his own personal toy, its just too much fun for him not to play some fantasy football with it.

or

2. Maybe his reputed involvement is overblown and he just doesn't hire the right personnel people to make decisions. But why is that?

It strikes me that he never goes after the Bill Polian types to run his operation. Vinny Cerrato wasn't a hot commodity but unemployed when he grabbed him, notice anyone snatching him now? And i am not as hard on Vinny as most on the board, I don't think he stinks, I just think he's mediocre.

Bruce Allen seems much more classy and professional than Vinny but he by his own admission isn't a personnel guy. He's a contract/management type.

Shanny I think is a great coach but isn't regarded as one of the league's top personnel guys, I think he's better than Vinny in that regard especially in terms of procuring offensive talent but being the personnel guru isn't his gig IMO.

Danny likes to cite Joe Gibbs 2nd stint as the glory years, but come on what were we 30-36? And Gibbs is great man, but IMO wasn't a great coach in his 2nd stint and even more questionable on personnel.

The Giants hire guys like Floyd Reese who kicks butt on the personnel side of things. While Vinny flubs 2nd round picks on Wrs and dud trades like Lloyd, and inflated Fa signings like Randle El. the Giants pick up Manningham in the 4th round who played much better than our guys. They get Steve Smith in the 2nd round who's a stud. Nicks looks like is a star in the making. Heck that tall WR they took in the 4th round a draft ago, Barden i think his name is?, I hear good things about.

We take Carlos Rogers, the Cowboys grab Ware. The Cowboys get late round studs or undrafted FA's like Romo sits to pee, Austin and Ratlif. Eagles get Cole in the 5th round. Our version of hitting the jackpot in the late rounds is Chris Horton. That's where IMO we are losing the battle.

Oldfan said before in a thread that we draft fine but trade too mny picks. I agree we trade too many picks. But if you judge a draft partly based on finding elite players in the later rounds, we IMO do not draft as well as our competitors. And yeah we do keep if not horde the late round picks, it was one of Vinny's favorite things to do, trade down in the later rounds and get more picks.