Homer: five Redskins who need more playing time

[KingGibbs]

I agree, murf, but we represent the minority view in this forum. The majority thinks that Mike Shanahan should put his best players on the field, regardless of age, to make an all-out effort to win out. Their rationale is that it's more important to build "momentum" going into next season. They can't define the word momentum as used in this context or offer evidence of its existence, but that doesn't seem to bother them.

Bingo! There are quite a few fans that just don't get the big picture. I want to see what the players Murf mentioned get on the field and see whether or not they are capable of producing and being an integral part of the future.

Personally? I don't care if we win or lose the next three and I don't care if people on here question my "fanhood." It's more important to me to prepare for the upcoming season(s) then to win three meaningless games that no buddy will remember.

Beat the Cowboys? Sure it would be nice, but it really is not that important to me because the next three games are more of an audition for next season and beyond.

BTW Murf. Bravo.

[authentic]

Bingo! There are quite a few fans that just don't get the big picture. I want to see what the players Murf mentioned get on the field and see whether or not they are capable of producing and being an integral part of the future.

Personally? I don't care if we win or lose the next three and I don't care if people on here question my "fanhood." It's more important to me to prepare for the upcoming season(s) then to win three meaningless games that no buddy will remember.

Beat the Cowboys? Sure it would be nice, but it really is not that important to me because the next three games are more of an audition for next season and beyond.

BTW Murf. Bravo.

Ummm, i do want to beat Dallas this week....But i think i agree with your over all point.

[Oldfan]

I think there's a difference in deliberately killing your season to get a better draft pick and evaluating talent. If you can legitimately test out young guys and still try and play to the best of your abilities then I'm fine with it.

There are two advantages of the moves suggested in the OP: we get a better opportunity to judge that talent on our roster and we lower the chances of winning our remaining games which will result in a higher draft position. It's a smart move for both reasons.

[KingGibbs]

Ummm, i do want to beat Dallas this week....But i think i agree with your over all point.

Like I said. I would like to beat them also, but if we don't, is it really going to make you lose sleep in what has been yet another disapponting season? The "rivalry'"is dead until the game(s) actually mean something again. I don't give the 'boys fans the satisfaction of mocking us because we put so much emphasis on the game(s) against them when quite frankly both teams stink right now.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?341470-A-Higher-Draft-Pick-Vs.-Organizational-Momentum-(Final-Three-Games)

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?341453-It-s-Dallas-week!-Keep-your-quot-tank-the-season-quot-talk-to-youself.-(Hello-!-You-play-to-win-the-game!)

Two threads. One of them contained a pretty even split of people agreeing with/disagreeing with the premise of winning for momentum. The other was strictly about winning one game against our arch-rivals. None of the OPs even mentioned playing age over youth.

I would say that there are plenty of fans who would love to see a youth movement over the last 3 weeks.

[skinnyfan57]

Uh, hellooooooo? Rex Grossman???

[RandyHolt]

Good stuff Murf. I dont think Shanahan seems interested in seeing that the kids have though. Call it a hunch. Only seeing Barnes when he gets mad at Buchanan. Benching Austin last week. Not getting Banks the ball. Having little patience with Devin who at worst was already a decent teamer. Didnt see Macho must last week. Rabach seems entrenched as our starter even though his shotgun snaps are lacking, and his replacement did fine in limited snaps. Heyer did good at guard. Benched the next week.

We are not rebuilding. Giving the kids a look may be considered a waste of time since he will probably end up cutting them for an aging experienced vet that does exactly what he says to the T in practice.

Damn shame, since we so need to get younger and faster, and well quite frankly, rebuild.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

Agree 100%!!! Y williams and bucc are still playing is beyond me. In Davis's limited time i have not been impressed. He looks very slow to me. I love Torain and hope he can stay healthy.

[Bat~man]

I agree with starting some younger guys, but I don't agree with Beck. Everyone always wants the backup QB, in this case we apparently want the 3rd stringer? NO thanks, there is a reason he is where he is....I'd rather start some youth with a QB, although he isn't playing well,that has played at a very high level in this league.

Doing that would give the younger players a much better chance to show what they got! If you start playing young OL, young WRs and then throw in a 3rd string QB? And you guys think it's ugly now with McNabb? Doing that would just produce shoutouts for our opponents and a heck of a lot of playing time, possible injuries for our defense.

---------- Post added December-16th-2010 at 03:28 PM ----------

Agree 100%!!! Y williams and bucc are still playing is beyond me. In Davis's limited time i have not been impressed. He looks very slow to me. I love Torain and hope he can stay healthy.

I agree on Davis, sadly. Everyone had high hopes for him, and I was even optimistic... but he just can't do the things in the NFL that he did in college. We didn't lose anything giving him a look, but it does show why he was available to us.

[darrelgreenie]

disregard

editted to the point it morphed into another post

[themurf]

Great read again, murf.

Unfortunately Mike Shanahan's list is:

1. Rex Grossman

2. Rex Grossman

3. Casey Rabach

4. Rex Grossman

5. Rex Grossman

I'm not ashamed to admit that this made me laugh out loud. Nicely done.

[Old Bay]

There are two advantages of the moves suggested in the OP: we get a better opportunity to judge that talent on our roster and we lower the chances of winning our remaining games which will result in a higher draft position. It's a smart move for both reasons.

As long as we're not deliberately throwing games to get a better draft position, it really doesn't bother me.

[TheLongshot]

Bingo! There are quite a few fans that just don't get the big picture. I want to see what the players Murf mentioned get on the field and see whether or not they are capable of producing and being an integral part of the future.

The thing is, I don't think playing young players before they are ready is seeing the big picture either. While many would like to see young players play, you also don't want to enforce bad habits that hurt the team in general. There are many times when a coach is just not seeing everything he wants to see out of a player in practice. In that case, the player is only going to see time if he has to get pressed into service, either through injury or through poor performance of the player ahead of them. (Tho, more than likely it will be the former rather than the latter.)

[darrelgreenie]

Will Montgomery –

James Davis –

Kevin Barnes –

Darrel Young –

Macho Harris – .

Fred Davis

Good stuff murf-

Montgomery-imo has proved that he can play in the NFL a marginal starter a solid back-up that can play C/OG

James Davis and imo Keiland Williams both need at some point to get 20+ in one game

Barnes-imo he's part of the rotation but unless someone slumps Buchanon you can't just plug him in Unless you try him as FS

Macho Harris-probably doesn't know the defense well enough to play

Young- i think he's already part of the future

Fred Davis- has starting TE ability but they shouldva traded 1 of the TEs already if they weren't planning on using them as featured part of the passing game

Terrence Austin- should get more snaps/targets to see if he can be a viable WR going forward

Perry "Ellis" Riley-with Rocky injured/slumping and due to his FA status we Need to see if Riley can replace him

Shanahan can always use the injury excuse

QBs-I don't want to see any QB other then McNabb

But IF they ever start Grossman over Beck then it shows me that Kyle is more interested in proving/finding that its the offenses struggles aren't his fault but McNabbs

and that is a bad, bad, sign

And where has our QB coach been during all this?

Someone should shove a microphone in his face and ask him some questions

[RandyHolt]

I will assume I am the only one clamboring for Chris Wilson to get more looks at Kick Returner.

Joking aside, I would like to see him get more snaps at LB. Is this guy part of our 3-4 or not. Maybe both he and Alexander need to get a look inside. More square peg round holes but Shanahan doesnt seem to mind that. Its the theme of our entire defense this year.

[Oldfan]

Two threads. One of them contained a pretty even split of people agreeing with/disagreeing with the premise of winning for momentum.

I counted 22 for momentum, 15 against. That's a 60% majority.

The other was strictly about winning one game against our arch-rivals.

It was a discussion on the same issue. The author of this second thread linked his and said so.

None of the OPs even mentioned playing age over youth.

How can you logically do what murf suggests and expect that you won't be hurting your chances to win out and build momentum?

I would say that there are plenty of fans who would love to see a youth movement over the last 3 weeks.

But as the sample, 22 to 15 shows, they are likely in the minority.

[Elmerz]

Great read thanks Murf! We are not winning with the vets on the field dammit! Some coaches cannot seem to stay away from the vets, regardless of performance. I don't understand this mentality. Banks and Austin could be the Jackson, Maclin duo, but at this rate we will never know. C'mon Mike!!! Use these games for evaluation!!

[themurf]

First of all, the fact that Oldfan and I are agreeing more and more these days makes me wonder if I know what I'm talking about anymore. hehehe. Otherwise, I do agree that guys like Perry Riley, Terrence Austin and anyone else under the age of 25 should get ample opportunity to show if they're worth keeping around. I just wanted to specifically highlight a few players who I'm particularly interested in seeing more of.

[bikie]

I couldn't agree more with the OP... play ANYONE we need further evaluation on to make a more informed decision on regarding next year's roster...

I have still yet to hear anyone, be it fan, announcer, or analyst who blamed a teams current performance on the previous year's last 3 games...

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I counted 22 for momentum, 15 against. That's a 60% majority.

Fair enough...though I think 40% is a pretty strong showing. Either way, you win.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

I agree on Davis, sadly. Everyone had high hopes for him, and I was even optimistic... but he just can't do the things in the NFL that he did in college. We didn't lose anything giving him a look, but it does show why he was available to us.

Yea i was very high on him. I was hoping he would show the burst we were missing but to me Torain is bigger and seems much faster than him. Oh well. Like u said didn't cost us anything for a change.

[herb mul-key]

i agree murf....well done

[justice98]

They probably shoulda sold high on Fred Davis and maybe recouped a pick.

[SMOSS89]

I'm not ashamed to admit that this made me laugh out loud. Nicely done.

Its funny. It's true. It's funny AND true!

Again, good read murf.

[TheLongshot]

I will assume I am the only one clamboring for Chris Wilson to get more looks at Kick Returner.

Joking aside, I would like to see him get more snaps at LB. Is this guy part of our 3-4 or not. Maybe both he and Alexander need to get a look inside. More square peg round holes but Shanahan doesnt seem to mind that. Its the theme of our entire defense this year.

The problem is, he's Orakpo's backup. I assume that switching him to the other side isn't as trivial as people think.

---------- Post added December-16th-2010 at 12:21 PM ----------

Yea i was very high on him. I was hoping he would show the burst we were missing but to me Torain is bigger and seems much faster than him. Oh well. Like u said didn't cost us anything for a change.

People here have blown things out of proportion when it comes to him. I'm not sure where the high expectations came from, but it hasn't been from what he's done in the NFL. Also, coming on midseason, he's going to be behind in learning the offense and how they want him to play here. I don't think we will really see what he has until training camp next year.