Homer: Are the Redskins better with Mike Shanahan?

[themurf]

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs can’t be the coach of the Washington Redskins forever.

When he walked away from football back in 1992, the three-time Super Bowl winning coach inadvertently started a two-decade long downward spiral for the burgundy and gold.

A franchise that had made the playoffs eight of the last 11 seasons qualified for the postseason just three out of the next 18* years after Grandpa Gibbs headed off into the sunset.

*While Washington still has six games left in the 2011 season, it’s safe to say the Redskins are going to miss the playoffs for the 16th time in 19 seasons. That sentence alone makes me wonder why anyone under the age of 21 willingly roots for this team.

Amazingly, two of those three post-Gibbs playoff trips were manufactured by … well … Gibbs. Basically, every other season since ’92 has been completely forgettable as the Redskins have slipped further and further into mediocrity.

When Gibbs 2.0 decided to once again embrace retirement, the keys to the franchise were turned over to an unknown (and, as it turns out, under qualified) gentleman named Jim Zorn.

Zorn was quirky. Zorn was amusing. But most of all, Zorn was a bad head coach.

In his two seasons in Washington, the former Seattle Seahawks quarterback took a playoff-caliber roster and essentially ran it into the ground – winning just 12 of 32 games with an overpaid and under-performing roster.

Mercifully, Zorn was let go after the 2009 season and owner Daniel Snyder brought in Mike Shanahan – a head coach with a proven track record and two Super Bowl victories of his own.

Unlike his predecessor, Shanahan did not inherit a playoff-ready roster. He took over the oldest team in football and, for better or for worse, opted to shy away from any talk of rebuilding.

Instead, Shanahan pulled the trigger on a deal that brought in Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and crossed his fingers that the aging veteran could adequately play the role of John Elway.

Two months into the 2010 season, Shanahan had seen enough to know the McNabb experiment wasn’t going to work. The 12-year pro was benched in favor of Rex Grossman, and a season that started with plenty of hope and promise ended with just six wins and more new questions than answers.

Since the McNabb incident in Detroit, the Redskins have gone just 5-13.

The quarterback position, led by Grossman and John Beck, has been inconsistent at best, and dreadful, at worst. Statistically, the rushing attack – the one area of football Shanahan has always been able to excel at – has somehow been worse.

The offense has no identity and lacks anything resembling a true playmaker. There isn’t a player on the offensive side of the ball that opposing teams lose sleep over while game-planning. There isn’t a player who can put the rest of the team on his back and will his squad to victory.

Basically, the Redskins only hope of winning on Sundays involves dinking and dunking an opponent to death. That might work in water boarding, but it’s not a way to win football games.

When Grossman threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jabar Gaffney with 14 seconds left in the first half against Dallas this past Sunday, it gave Washington their first lead in a game since Oct. 2.

Any time you go five entire games without holding a lead for a single second, you’re doing it wrong. That’s not something ‘Skins fans ever expected to hear when Shanahan first came to town – which is why it’s fair to ask if this franchise is actually headed in the right direction.

A Shanahan-led team had never been shutout. It’s has now. No Shanahan-coached team had ever lost six games in a row. Well, he can cross that off the to-do list.

Week after week, the Redskins find new and creative ways to re-write the Shanahan record books – just not in the way he hoped when he took his talents to our nation’s capital.

At this point, the question becomes – how many of these current players can the Redskins build around?

When Shanahan used the fourth-overall pick on left tackle Trent Williams, he obviously envisioned the Oklahoma standout locking down the blind side for the foreseeable future.

While Williams has had his moments during his season and a half in D.C., he’s also a player who is seemingly always saddled with some sort of injury or ailment. Oh, and he’s also a guy who gets called for a holding penalty once a game and is quickly earning a reputation as a hot head who tries to get into a shoving match just as often.

Middle linebacker Perry Riley appears to be the only other noteworthy player the Redskins drafted in 2010 and he’s only been a starter for 10 minutes, so it’s far too early to know if he’s worth keeping around long term.

Outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan has been the defense’s best player this season, and looks to be a perfect complement to linebacker Brian Orakpo. Defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins was a standout during training camp, but his season ended before it ever started.

After being inactive for the first month or so of the season, rookie receiver Leonard Hankerson had a breakout game against Miami … and then promptly injured his hip and was lost for the year.*

*How much blame should be assigned to Shanahan for Hankerson’s injury? The guy was stuck riding the bench for the first two months of the season and the basically became a focal point overnight. Was it unrealistic to think his body could go from zero to 60 overnight? Did his coach set the rookie wideout up for failure by throwing him into the fire too fast?

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[Hooper]

Blaming Hank's injury on Shanny?

Now I've heard everything.

Folks, we have a defense that is on the young side and talented.

We appeared to have hit on lots of guys in the draft.

We have 18 picks in the next two drafts. That's five years of picks for Cerrato.

Whoever is coaching this team in two years -- Mike Shanahan or someone else -- will greatly benefit from what Mike Shanahan has done.

Without question we need to give him another year. He has made some mistakes for sure -- big ones -- but I think he's got us pointed in the right direction.

Fans, the media, they all scream "rebuild." Then want a coach gone in two years. It's nuts.

[bird_1972]

We have a defense that is on the young side and talented.

We appeared to have hit on lots of guys in the draft.

We have 18 picks in the next two drafts.

Whoever is coaching this team in two years -- Mike Shanahan or someone else -- will greatly benefit from what Mike Shanahan has done.

He finally brings legitimacy to this organization (on all dimensions, whereas Gibbs did so only from a coaching standpoint).

It appears as though he is less successful based on our performance over the last 2 seasons because he has chosen to properly invest the time and effort to grow the team the right way - through youth and the draft.

I firmly believe the team is a lot better with Shannahan and I hope he is given the chance to build this team slowly, through the draft over the next several years. Dan S and the fans owe it to him and the team.

[skinsdude]

Not much to argue with in that article. Pretty spot on. Not sure if Landry will be around in three years but it's certainly possible.

[themurf]

Not much to argue with in that article. Pretty spot on. Not sure if Landry will be around in three years but it's certainly possible.

Thanks, dude. I don't want people to think I'm bashing Mike Shanahan or calling for his removal. Anyone who reads the columne will hopefully see that. I'm just trying to take a step back and see how much closer this team is to being good again now compared to the day he took over. We all appreciate the fact that the drama queens and distractions are gone, but how many of these players should truly be considered long-term solutions the Redskins can build a franchise around? That's my question for the day.

[Skinsinparadise]

Shanny's mistake IMO was not rebuilding in year #1. IMO we are basically in year #1 of a rebuild, young team, lots of picks playing -- if we are going to expect instant results its unfair. they are playing poorly thus far this year, but many talk about tampa building themselves into a contender quicker than most, well in year #1 they were 3-13. it's not unusual for it to be the darkest before the dawn when you are doing a rebuild -- and the enemy IMO is to panic and not to allow the team to take a step back now to take multiple steps forward later.

it would be one thing if this would be Vinny -- we'd be looking at the future with salary cap constraints and few picks. with this regime, we are under the cap, and have 9 picks slated for each of the next two drafts. Night and day. Lets let the movie play out.

[kwitt]

Put me firmly in the camp of this team being headed in the right direction and being light years ahead of where it was two years ago.

[MattFancy]

I think even though I record doesn't show it, this team is better with Shanahan.

For one, our defense is fairly young and has some nice pieces to build around. It looks like we may have hit on 4 defensive players from the draft (Kerrigan, Jenkins, Gomes, Neild). We still have solid vets like Fletcher, Cofield, and Bowen. I think our secondary needs some work, but I think overall we have a solid defense.

Sure our offense isn't lighting it up, but again, there are some young guys there to possibly build around: Williams, Helu, Hankerson, Davis, and Paul. So there is some silver lining there.

I think Shanahan's tenure will come down to the 2012 draft. If we hit on a franchise QB, it will be viewed as successful.

[KCClybun]

You say you want a revolution, well you know we all want to change the world...

Yes. The team is better with Mike Shanahan. Tired of hearing what the record was with Spurrier, tired of hearing what the record was with Zorn. We all hated those coaches, did we not? Yes, they won more games, but they still finished their coaching career with losing records and were horrible choices to coach this team.

This is the sucky part of rebuilding, and even though there are still those who will grumble to themselves "well Mike hasn't SAID we're rebuilding...", we're rebuilding. Every move we've made this offseason indicates it. No big name free agents, no ill advised trades, cap situation actually GOOD after years of disarray.

Average age of every player Mike's added this season was 26.5. The Redskins are now paying for the mistakes of the two prior administrations, and yes, that includes Joe Gibbs, who got a team to the playoffs, but left the team an aging mess with the inmates running the asylum.

You don't fix over a decade worth the personnel mistakes, missed drafted opportunities and organizational cluster****ery (that's a ten dollar word) in two seasons.

They say the greatest trick the devil ever played on the world was convincing it he didn't exist.

The greatest trick Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder played on us for so many years was being just mediocre enough that we always thought we were just a coach away, or a player away, or a year away from being decent, when we really, REALLY weren't.

[Goskinz0721]

It's way too early to ask this question. There's been numerous threads on the horrible shape of the roster when Shanny came on board.

Few in DC wanted JC at QB, so the Easter Massacre trade was made for McScab. Yeah, panic move by the team.

Of the guys on the current roster, the question remains how many should really be here? Shanny is weeding out the wheat from the chaff. But there were so many holes to fill that almost anybody was an upgrade from what was there.

[Destino]

When the Redskins hired Shanahan I had more confidence his ability to coach than I did to assemble a roster. That hasn't changed but I'm sincerely hoping it will. I think it's really going to come down to a QB with Shanahan. He shot himself in the foot with Grossman and Beck and I don't think he realized it would be this bad.

Having said that it's not time to switch coaches. Shanahan has shown promise and frankly there is no plan B. Coaches aren't beating down Dan Snyder's door at the moment and restarting in the middle of a rebuild is absurd. The team chose this route and now they have to give it time to succeed or fail.

[RichmondRedskin88]

As far as fans under 21 I'd make than even older to like 24-25 because I know ones like me can't even remember our last SB. Only real bright period I ever remember was the year we almost got to the NFC championship but we botched the FG try in the Divisionals.

[skinsdude]

I think Shanahan's tenure will come down to the 2012 draft. If we hit on a franchise QB, it will be viewed as successful.

I think that this is it pretty much it in a nutshell. He will more than likely have a top five pick; he better use it wisely.

[Goskinz0721]

The greatest trick Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder played on us for so many years was being just mediocre enough that we always thought we were just a coach away, or a player away, or a year away from being decent, when we really, REALLY weren't.

This, to me, was the greatest misjustice these 2 did to the fan base during cerrato's tenure. The message from them made for early season exuberance only to turn to midseason hatred. Those last 2 seasons prior to Shanny was a close to a complete fan revolt as I've seen in my 50 years of following the Skins.

[#98QBKiller]

Blaming Hank's injury on Shanny?

Now I've heard everything.

Folks, we have a defense that is on the young side and talented.

We appeared to have hit on lots of guys in the draft.

We have 18 picks in the next two drafts. That's five years of picks for Cerrato.

Whoever is coaching this team in two years -- Mike Shanahan or someone else -- will greatly benefit from what Mike Shanahan has done.

Without question we need to give him another year. He has made some mistakes for sure -- big ones -- but I think he's got us pointed in the right direction.

Fans, the media, they all scream "rebuild." Then want a coach gone in two years. It's nuts.

I agree with your points and I think we should stay the course with Shanahan at least through the 2012 season. If the team is still struggling and finishes 6-10 or under for a third consecutive year (assuming we're finishing poorly this year) I think it would be hard to argue for keeping Shanhan around. But I do think Shanahan/Allen have done a good job of throwing out the trash here and bringing promising youth in. I just hope he can do something with it.

[kubstix]

Looks to be going in the right direction which is good....but sometimes Mike is ridiculous with things. For example "Coach Mike Shanahan admitted that he isn't ready to commit to Roy Helu as a full-time back yet." How is this even a discussion by coaches? Mike is the biggest egotistical idiot I've ever seen with some things.

[themurf]

Put me firmly in the camp of this team being headed in the right direction and being light years ahead of where it was two years ago.

I tend to agree, but to play devil's advocate a bit - how are the Redskins light years ahead of where they were? The stats and the standings remain pitiful and I'm not sure there are 10 players on the roster who are definitely building blocks. Yes, the roster is younger. But is it actually better? Yes, the salary cap situation has improved, but that has as much to do with the uncapped year as anything this regime has done.

In the last month alone, Shanahan has been shut out for the first time in his head coaching career and is in the midst of his longest losing streak of his NFL career. I'm someone who is on board with him being here for at least five years, but it'd be nice to see some progress between now and then.

Other than Kerrigan, there aren't even any other rookies to enjoy watching regularly. Jenkins and Hankerson are done for the year and the rest of the newbies don't get enough regular playing time to properly evaluate.

---------- Post added November-22nd-2011 at 01:54 PM ----------

Fans, the media, they all scream "rebuild." Then want a coach gone in two years. It's nuts.

Please point to anywhere in this column where I suggest the coach should be removed. And while we're at it, did I actually blame Shanahan for Hankerson's injury or simply ask a question about pushing a rookie too hard too fast?

[SkinsHokieFan]

This is looking quite a bit like Bill Parcells in Dallas, with exception to overachieving in year 1 with Quincy Carter at QB (had Shanny kept JC and went 10-6, that would have been the equivalent)

Parcells took a major step back in year 2 (2004) as he decided to go the rebuild route over the "drive forward with the trash we have route"

The Cowboys went from 10-6 (a team that started 7-3) to 6-10

They were able to in the next draft of 2005 add key pieces in DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears and Marion Barber. They made the right moves, even though it only paid off in a 9-7 season led by Drew Bledsoe, and another missed playoff berth.

It wasn't until 2006 and Tony Romo sits to pee, Parcells 4th year, that things finally appeared to start turning a corner, and that was AFTER the switch was made from Bledsoe to Romo sits to pee. Romo sits to pee still only led them to 9-7

So in 4 years Parcells went 10-6, 6-10, 9-7, 9-7. But he had brought in the foundation players in Ware, Spears, Barber, Romo sits to pee a culture change and something for Wade to work with

[Hiro]

Other than Kerrigan, there aren't even any other rookies to enjoy watching regularly. Jenkins and Hankerson are done for the year and the rest of the newbies don't get enough regular playing time to properly evaluate.

And while we're at it, did I actually blame Shanahan for Hankerson's injury or simply ask a question about pushing a rookie too hard too fast?

Murf, I enjoy your articles and feel that typically you're pretty spot on with your analyses. Even when I feel you're being a bit hard on the administration, you do bring up good points.

This though, I kinda feel you're asking for it to be both ways. You want a guy like Hankerson to be properly evaluated and get lots of playing time. At the same time though, you wonder if he was pushed too hard? Murf, this is the NFL. All rookies are going to be asked to work harder than they ever have before, and they are going to pushed to see how far their abilities can take them. What we end up seeing, as a result, are which rookies respond to the push by showing progress, and those who won't. In my opinion, Hankerson showed more this year as a receiver than a guy like Devin Thomas in his two years here (who mostly showed more of his athleticism than his progress as a receiver).

I'm disappointed for him that he got hurt, but I'm really optimistic about his future, arguably because he may have been pushed.

Other than that though, I will argue in the short term, the Redskins aren't better off. In the long term though? I believe we're in a position to be better for years than we have in a long time.

[Hooper]

Please point to anywhere in this column where I suggest the coach should be removed. And while we're at it, did I actually blame Shanahan for Hankerson's injury or simply ask a question about pushing a rookie too hard too fast?

You can't ask if Shanny is to blame for Hank's injury... then say you don't blame him at all when called on it. That's ridiculous.

Just like you can't kill Shanny for trading McNabb when you were a huge fan of the move and the player. Edit: you can bash him for it I guess. Just don't act like you were always against it. That's why I get to do as unaccountable fan.

[KingGibbs]

I'm completely onboard with the rebuild and the fact that I show no emotions after a loss only proves that. I do however think Shanny has made enough mistakes to set the rebuild back. Next year we will most likely have yet another QB and my fear is that Shanny will be given another pass based on that alone.

With the cap space and draft picks we have next year I fully expect a dramatic turnaround new QB or not. If the Matt Ryan's and Joe Flacco's can make the playoffs their first year then so can Shanny with his new QB if that QB is given a good supporting cast. Jim Harbaugh is another reason to increase the heat on Shanny because that team is having success with basically the same team, only Harbaugh has cahnged the culture and the players have bought into his way of thinking.

[themurf]

Murf, I enjoy your articles and feel that typically you're pretty spot on with your analyses. Even when I feel you're being a bit hard on the administration, you do bring up good points.

This though, I kinda feel you're asking for it to be both ways. You want a guy like Hankerson to be properly evaluated and get lots of playing time. At the same time though, you wonder if he was pushed too hard? Murf, this is the NFL. All rookies are going to be asked to work harder than they ever have before, and they are going to pushed to see how far their abilities can take them. What we end up seeing, as a result, are which rookies respond to the push by showing progress, and those who won't. In my opinion, Hankerson showed more this year as a receiver than a guy like Devin Thomas in his two years here (who mostly showed more of his athleticism than his progress as a receiver).

I'm disappointed for him that he got hurt, but I'm really optimistic about his future, arguably because he may have been pushed.

Other than that though, I will argue in the short term, the Redskins aren't better off. In the long term though? I believe we're in a position to be better for years than we have in a long time.

You can't ask if Shanny is to blame for Hank's injury... then say you don't blame him at all when called on it. That's ridiculous.

Just like you can't kill Shanny for trading McNabb when you were a huge fan of the move and the player. Edit: you can bash him for it I guess. Just don't act like you were always against it. That's why I get to do as unaccountable fan.

I don't have the answer on what happened with Hankerson. I don't know enough about the situation to say one way or the other, I'm simply asking if it's unreasonable to think that going from non-factor to being on the field for 45 snaps before his injury against Miami was a bit too much stress on his body. My guess as to why Helu hasn't gotten more than 10 carries in a game is because they're slowly working him in, so I'm wondering if Hankerson would still be in the lineup if it had been a more gradual transition from inactive to on the field for nearly every offensive snap.

[skinsdude]

The way that I interpret what Murf is saying about Hankersons injury is that Shanahan kept him on the bench for so long and then attempted to make him a focal point of our offense immediately instead of easing him into the rotation.

[Hooper]

Harbaugh is doing a great job, but he inherited a decent roster. Better than the Skins for sure, especially in the trenches. It's well known that the players in San Fran thought Singletary was in way over his head and had tuned him out.

But again, Harbaugh is doing a great job. That dude scares me.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Harbaugh is doing a great job, but he inherited a decent roster. Better than the Skins for sure, especially in the trenches. It's well known that the players in San Fran thought Singletary was in way over his head and had tuned him out.

But again, Harbaugh is doing a great job. That dude scares me.

I was calling for us to bring in Harbaugh back in 2009

Great scheme, agressive, motivator, I think he is going to be an outstanding HC. If he hits on a QB, look out

In fact, in that thread Rufus T Fly made the internet's first ever "Suck for Luck" post. Good job Rufus!