Anyone else disappointed in our offseason pickups?

[TSO]

We couldn't do everything in two horribly handcuffed offseasons. Everyone forgets the first offseason Shanahan was here was the first uncapped one where all the franchise tag rules kicked in that forced players who would've normally been free agents under contract for another year. There was virtually no one available. We could only add pieces from the draft and we took a chance on a franchise QB in McNabb (yes, he failed, but I'd do it again and if you think you can get a franchise QB for a few years for basically a 2nd rounder you do it) and we were also missing a 3rd (used to get Jeremy Jarmon the year before in the supplemental draft) round pick.

We still did ok in the draft nabbing Trent Williams, Perry Riley (juries still out on him), and you could say our 5th rounder was for Adam Carriker, who was also well worth it. Terrence Austin was a solid pick as well. The only legitimate busts in that draft are Dennis Morris (some TE we decided wasn't going to cut it pretty quickly) and Selvish Capers. You could argue Eric Cook maybe was as well, but I'd still like to give him some time to develop as depth.

So that was Shanahan's first offseason, and that's just about as much as an FO could do given what they were working with. Look around the league during that offseason and you'll see pretty much no team could really change their roster much.

Fast forward to this offseason and you have yet another problem; the lockout. I still think this draft will go down as one of the best in Redskins history. Kerrigan, Jarvis Jenkins (who everyone seems to forget about), Hankerson, Helu, Royster, Gomes, Neild, Hurt (who's starting at LG now; played decently against a solid 49ers front and should continue to improve) and Markus White (who was a beast during the preseason and is great OLB depth right now). Then to bring in, through Free Agency; Bowen, Cofield and Wilson who will all be here for years starting on this Defense as well as trading virtually nothing for Gaffney and Hightower and, finally, re-signing Brown?

How could anyone be disappointed with this? This team can only get better together. Imagine finally having a normal offseason where they can make all of these types of moves early while the players get a chance to work together more?

I seriously think we're going to contend next year for a playoff spot (depending on how well our QB plays, whether it's a placeholder for the rookie or the rookie himself) and don't see how we won't if we get even decent play from our QB. I'm sure we're going to go hard on upgrading at WR and Oline as well. Our defense is pretty much set for years to come.

So, no, I can't be disappointed in the guys we brought in. Nor can I be with what this FO has done in two years hampered by the most difficult offseasons in NFL history.

[Houston2Taylor2Landry]

OJ- He's been hurt but when he's played he has played well.

Wilson- Not as good as I thought he was gonna be, but he's "Okay"

Cofield- For being at the wrong position...He has played pretty well.

Bowen- He's been very good. I don't know what you guys have been watching

Chester- He has been fine

Gafney- I guarantee none of you guys realize this, but Gafney could possibly have 1,000 yards this year. He has 450 right now.

Hightower-He was also pretty good until he was hurt.

ROCCA!-This guy has been A.W.E.S.O.M.E

Edit* Keyaron Fox has been great on ST and pretty good when he comes in for Rocky.

[Dirt]

Take absolutely everything the defense has done lately with a big grain of salt. They're discouraged, they don't get to rest, and even when they do set up good field position it's completely squandered. I'd say all of them have been fine.

The gaffney hate is especially weird, this guys is OPEN...ALL THE TIME. I'm not just saying that because Fox showed a couple replays of him running free, it's happening every game.

[Bat~man]

Not really. We didn't sell the farm to get these guys. The only ones upset about how it's turning out are the ones who expect to gain starters at so many positions by raiding FAs.

We are obviously in a lot worse shape that some of us thought..so some of these guys will eventually be backups, depth or play in a rotation which will be huge for us. At least, I hope so.

[skinsfan07]

Bowen? He's got 4 sacks through 8 games, already topping the $100 million dollar mans best SEASON here (aka Butterworth aka Hayensworth).

Cofield? He's a nose tackle with 2 sacks and 5 PD's... I'd say that's above average for a nose tackle through 8 games.

Agreed. These guys have been producing. They weren't splashy free agents so weren't expected to have HUGE celeb impacts (like all those FA's Philly signed). They came here and have made plays, and I ain't complaining. They are all fairly young and will help us build for the future. One step at a time folks.

---------- Post added November-7th-2011 at 07:11 PM ----------

Take absolutely everything the defense has done lately with a big grain of salt. They're discouraged, they don't get to rest, and even when they do set up good field position it's completely squandered. I'd say all of them have been fine.

The gaffney hate is especially weird, this guys is OPEN...ALL THE TIME. I'm not just saying that because Fox showed a couple replays of him running free, it's happening every game.

If only we had a QB who didn't play like a scared little ***** and actually took shots down the field. Like *sigh* Grossman. lmao.

[HailGreen28]

Our free agent class has been great this year.

Our one big acquisition, Atogwe, has been OK. Just hope that injuries don't mount.

Thank the lord, we didn't make a McNabb or Haynesworth or Jason Taylor deal this past offseason.

[Dirt]

If only we had a QB who didn't play like a scared little ***** and actually took shots down the field. Like *sigh* Grossman. lmao.

I know man. It's so weird...When Rex had that 4int game I was all in, I said **** it, bench Rex forever, I can't stand to watch that kind of **** even if he's good for a few wins as well. When I said that, I flip flopped because before, i was praising Rex saying we'll just have to deal with the 'bad rex' days. Now, I've flopped back again, and I'm here to say. That's not an NFL QB on the field right now. Anyone, ANYONE else in the league, any rookie, any ANYBODY would have us at more than 11 points in 2 games, I'm certain. Rex is decisive (even if it's a bad decision at times), has balls, and doesn't give a **** what you think. Beck looks like the quiet kid getting bullied in the hallways. Ugh.

[CrabR]

Josh Wilson a 3rd not a 2nd overpaid

Barry Cofield not a NT

Stephen Bowen overpaid

Jabar Gaffney better than what we had

Chris Chester backup and overpaid

Sean Locklear

OJ Atogwe overpaid

All are better than what we had and all have good attitudes. When we signed them I thought we overpaid vs what others in the league were signed for. All in all better than what we have been signing in FA

[authentic]

disappointed in Cofield and Wilson. But mostly in Cofield, i thought he would have been an anchor for our Dline, but has been getting man handled for a good part of the season.

[Bobbyst21]

I cant say that im really disappointed in any. I think most were depth players.Stallworth puzzles me though as it has since announced.

[issapunk]

I am fine with the way they have been producing. Look at our defense; we were basically an elite defense at the beginning of the year. We were fired up, creating turnovers, and making plays when we needed them. This was all while our offense was producing decently through the first games. After our offense started becoming literally the worst I've ever seen, of course the defense will respond. If we could have about 35:00 minutes of possession, our defense would be awesome. We literally only need a decent offense and our defense becomes elite.

If we make similar moves to the offense this offseason that we did to for the defense last season, then we are in great position. Give it 2 years and we will have a completely new team. I will admit though, that I'm having second thoughts on Shanahan's ability to do this. He has shown nothing positive concerning the offense for the past 2 years.

You know it's bad when you wish you could have Jason Campbell back.

[brandymac27]

I know man. It's so weird...When Rex had that 4int game I was all in, I said **** it, bench Rex forever, I can't stand to watch that kind of **** even if he's good for a few wins as well. When I said that, I flip flopped because before, i was praising Rex saying we'll just have to deal with the 'bad rex' days. Now, I've flopped back again, and I'm here to say. That's not an NFL QB on the field right now. Anyone, ANYONE else in the league, any rookie, any ANYBODY would have us at more than 11 points in 2 games, I'm certain. Rex is decisive (even if it's a bad decision at times), has balls, and doesn't give a **** what you think. Beck looks like the quiet kid getting bullied in the hallways. Ugh.

LOL, yeah, he does look pretty bad out there.

As far as the FA's, overall I'm pleased with everybody. The only question mark is OJ, but that's just b/c of injuries. Hopefully he can get healthy and stay on the field on a consistent basis. I would say by mid next season, if he's still getting hurt, he'd be considered a bust.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Actually, I like just about all of our pick-ups when you consider what they actually are and don't grade them against unrealistic expectations. Atogwe has been hurt but otherwise has played as advertised. Gaffney is on pace for a career year, it's really just a matter of whether you can forgive him for that drop/fumble sequence against the Panthers. Chester has settled in and is playing relatively well. Locklear has done well enough as a backup. Both of our starting CBs get more blame than they deserve, owing both to inconsistent pass defense by other players (esp. Doughty/Landry) and a lack of understanding of the limitations of zone coverage by some of their louder critics.

Cofield and Bowen are a mixed bag. Cofield clearly isn't the solution at NT but he's a clear upgrade over what we put up with last year and still has value in the DE rotation down the line. Bowen is a bit Jekyll and Hyde, he makes some great plays against both the run and the pass but he also gets pushed off the line more often than he should. Judging their play individually is a bit difficult at times because there are some systemic flaws in the way the front seven plays that could be traced to individual failure, coaching failure, or something more intangible (e.g., the lack of a fiery, leader figure).

[Tarantula]

Bowen has been great as far as QB pressures go, the guy has 4 sacks. Pretty sure Cofield leads the league (at DL) for passes batted down, not to mention he provides quite a push in the middle. Gaffney has been our most reliable receiver, even more so than Davis who appears to have the dropsies again. And hell, if Beck or Grossman could actually throw downfield, Gaffney could be top ten in yards and maybe even touchdowns. From what I see, Gaffney gets behind the defense quite a bit. Otogwe has been hurt a lot, so I still think we should give him a chance to heal. I don't know what's up with Wilson, but we definitely should have signed Ike Taylor or re-signed Los Rogers.

[Mooka]

Well... Gaffney is the best split WR we've had since maybe Gardner. And we've gone through plenty of those. (Patten/Lloyd/Thomas/etc)

...Unfortunately its such a small piece...

[Rpredskins]

Frankly I am giving a pass to every player on defense. I questioned the heart of some guys like Orakpo but the fact is when our season was still alive the defense was playing lights-out. I was impressed by Wilson in a couple games. When your offense doesn't score at all and you lose 3 in a row, its not surprising that the defense stops showing up.

Our biggest problem is run defense and I think that's on a combination of guys, not just one or two. Cofield is too small, McIntosh and Fletcher probably are too. Bowen and Orakpo are underwhelming at stopping the run. But I still think if they had something to play for, our defense can be very strong.