themurf Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 (photo by Melvin Arroyo) During his first two years in Washington, Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan was asked to win under less-than-ideal conditions. I’m not saying that in order to drum up sympathy for the guy. I’m simply pointing out that his predecessor didn’t exactly do him any favors. For starters, Shanahan inherited a train wreck of a roster that was the oldest in the NFL and was littered with overpaid and underwhelming “talent.” The Redskins lacked playmakers on both sides of the ball, which is typically frowned upon when building a franchise for long-term success and stability. They had too many “me-first” players who worried more about cashing checks than sacrificing for the good of the team. They had different rules for different players and a general “inmates running the asylum” mindset. In short, it wasn’t really a coincidence that the Redskins were a doormat. Slowly but surely, Shanahan rid himself of the past-their-prime players that the previous regime was addicted to as set out to rebuild the roster from the ground up with an eye towards younger talent. While this is viewed as a common business practice in most other NFL cities, it was absolutely a breath of fresh air for Washington. Clearly last offseason’s agenda was all about upgrading the defense. Seeing newly-acquired players like Ryan Kerrigan, Barry Cofield, Stephen Bowen jump right in and contribute from day one was obviously encouraging, as was watching the front office’s savvy maneuvers on draft day that resulted in a dozen new players in the burgundy and gold. Because Rome wasn’t built in a day (or something), the Redskins essentially put upgrading the offense on hold and elected to settle for bargain basement acquisitions like Jabar Gaffney, Donte Stallworth and Tim Hightower in hopes of getting some sort of production from less heralded veterans until proper attention and resources were available. While each of those players had their moments, it’s safe to say the offense still lacked an impact player who could tilt the game in Washington’s favor. There were rarely, if ever, explosive plays, which meant that if the Redskins couldn’t put together a 10- or 12-play drive, they struggled to put points on the board. The day’s festivities began with Indianapolis receiver Pierre Garcon announcing via his Facebook and Twitter accounts that he was coming to our nation’s capital. Later it was learned that the 25-year-old had agreed to a five-year deal for $42.5 million with $20.5 million guaranteed, including an $11 million signing bonus. “I wanted you all to hear it from me 1st before u saw it on the news,” Garcon wrote. “I will be signing with the Washington Redskins and I’m very excited about the opportunity in front of me. I want to thank all Colts fans from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support you’ve shown me the past 4 years and I hope that at some level u will still follow my career, as I will continue to share my life with you on here.” A little while later, the Redskins finalized an agreement with San Francisco wideout Josh Morgan on a contract worth $12 million over the first two years and $7.5 million guaranteed. While Morgan’s full contract is for five years, the final three seasons can be voided. Just to show how bare the proverbial cupboards were at Redskins Park, the front office is hoping to get one more receiver to sign on the dotted line any minute now. It was reported late Tuesday night that owner Daniel Snyder, general manager Bruce Allen and Shanahan spent the evening dining with Denver receiver Eddie Royal. Should the team land the Virginia Tech standout, it would definitely signify a radically new receiver corps for the 2012 season. And while lazy critics will cling to “once again the Redskins are trying to win free agency,” that’s clearly not the case to anyone actually paying attention. Case in point: Garcon (25), Morgan (26) and Royal (25) are all young, with their best football ahead of them. This, of course, is a departure from the previous regime’s thought process which revolved around collecting over-the-hill veterans with more name recognition than talent left in the tank. These three youngsters are all dynamic players who bring youth and speed to a position that ranked among the league’s least effective last year. Of course, that won’t stop some folks from stressing over the contracts handed out while saying things like “Why on earth would you pay Garcon that much money when he’s never been a number-one receiver?” My answer is simply: “Wait and see.” A year ago these same critics hated the free agent signing of Cofield because “they once again overpaid” and “he wasn’t a true nose tackle.” Well, from where I was watching, Cofield did just fine in his new role and helped anchor a much-improved defensive front. His consistent play in the middle of the line helped free up pass rushers Brian Orakpo and Kerrigan to get to the backfield and make plays. On the day Cofield signed with Washington it might not have looked like a natural fit to outsiders, but this coaching staff identified a very specific skill set that he brought to the table and had a very specific idea of how to best utilize his abilities in their scheme. A year later, they clearly knew what they were doing so I’m happy to give Shanahan and Co. the benefit of the doubt. Click here for full article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sideshow24 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Nice job again Murf! Seeing how young our offense has gotten with one trade and one day of free agency is just awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themurf Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Nice job again Murf! Seeing how young our offense has gotten with one trade and one day of free agency is just awesome. As Rich Tandler pointed out, there's a very real chance the Redskins starting offense Week 1 will feature 11 players under the age of 30. That's night and day from how the previous regime ran things. Refreshing, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RemoveSnyder Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 (photo by Melvin Arroyo) ... The day’s festivities began with Indianapolis receiver Pierre Garçon announcing via his Facebook and Twitter accounts that he was coming to our nation’s capital. Later it was learned that the 25-year-old had agreed to a five-year deal for $42.5 million with $20.5 million guaranteed, including an $11 million signing bonus. ... Dear themurf, when RG3 connects with Garçon for a TD and Garçon does his thumb behind the head, pointing to his cedilla - I need a photo of that. thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer_FFX Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 As Rich Tandler pointed out, there's a very real chance the Redskins starting offense Week 1 will feature 11 players under the age of 30. That's night and day from how the previous regime ran things. Refreshing, isn't it? Wow - that is a good nugget of info. I hadn't even realized that. The new regime's plan of going after players in FA who are on the "cusp" of breaking out and just entering their primes, is indeed, refreshing! As always - nice write-up, Murph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Nice write up Murf. Can't say I disagree with anything. I love the fact that we are getting younger at WR. Hankerson, Garcon, Morgan, and possibly Royal are all under 27 y/o. Plus there is a nice amount of speed there too. Something we haven't had at WR since Moss in 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvinmcneill Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Yeah great article Murf! It's almost like we are using free agency as a second draft. We are bringing in young guys on reasonable deals who have a lot of potential. If they exceed expectations we have a good player at a reasonable cost, if they bust (like atogwe) we can cut them without killing our cap (like atogwe). Also I think that not paying top dollar for someone else's talent has to have a positive effect on the team as a whole. Everyone is competing and no one gets handed a job just because they make a ton of money. I think over the next few years we'll see some of these guys turn into real stars. At that point I think Danny will open up the check book and pay our guys top dollar after they've proven themselves on OUR team. Here's to the future! Hail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Yes! I can't believe that the Redskins are not being touted as having the best offseason so far. I'm not even including RGIII - the quality of receivers we've signed sets us up for an elite passing attack that any QB can ease into. Seriously, you have Hankerson, Garcon, and Moss on the field with Davis at TE and Helu coming out of the backfield. How can any defense slow that down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I simply can`t agree about Cofield. I didn`t watch a lot of football last year... but whatever I did see.... I saw a lot of Cofield. And it consistently showed him standing straight up off the snap.. and getting into hand-slapping with the Centre (single-blocked). He wouldn`t even engage the linemen... he was peering over his shoulder looking into the backfield. I was supremely disappointed with Cofield`s play last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Great write up :yes:...and definitely a significant philosophical change in the front office from years past. Shanahan and Allen aren't paying guys for what they've done for other teams...they're paying them for what they expect them to do for the Redskins. They aren't relying heavily on coaches' "wish lists" and big-name recognition to make their FA decisions...they're relying heavily on their pro scouting department finding players who fit both the schemes and the criteria of being players entering their prime who are just below the more well-known players. Snyder and Vinny wanted newly-acquired FAs to simply keep doing what they had done for their past teams...Shanahan and Allen seem to want their newly-acquired FAs to develop and maximize their potential while with the Skins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrFan Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I like the way Shanahallen is adressing free agency and the draft. Everything is done following a plan and a wise strategy. The pieces are put together each year, and know they will start paying dividends. I think the Rams are going to get a couple of bottom 1sts from us. Hail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTillIDie Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 This is why I've been so aghast when morons like Florio and Wilbon and Simmons and co. talk about the Shanahan Redskins as doomed, no plan, going nowhere, continuation of the Snyder-Cerrato era Redskins. All it took is a little bit of imagination, patience and belief in Shanahan to see that we're building a young, talented, highly competitive team that will soon take the NFC East reigns. (Again: Week 1: Eli Manning - 31; Tony Romo sits to pee - 32; Mike Vick - 32; Robert Griffin - 22) Our starting offense, we could be looking at: QB: Robert Griffin - 22 WR: Hankerson - 23, Garcon - 25, Morgan - 25 HB: Helu - 23 TE: Davis - 24 LT: Williams - 23 There's NO team that has comparable youth and talent at those premier positions on offense. In Shanahan's proven system, we're going to put up huge numbers sooner or later. Which, of course, is how the rest of the country of mostly-idiots will judge our team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFTW Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I like the way Shanahallen is adressing free agency and the draft. Everything is done following a plan and a wise strategy. The pieces are put together each year, and know they will start paying dividends.I think the Rams are going to get a couple of bottom 1sts from us. Hail The only problem I have is that he was doing this the same way in Denver and getting no where with it there too. Last year they focused on defense and the defense was actually pretty good, now it looks like the defense might be pretty craptacular next year with 0 secondary and Fletcher likely gone. I guess the upside is that they aren't signing former superstars to superstar contracts or overpaying for Randel El's and Archuletas who clearly aren't a fit for what the team really needs. Of course there's plenty of time to address the defense later if the cap has any room for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 As Rich Tandler pointed out, there's a very real chance the Redskins starting offense Week 1 will feature 11 players under the age of 30. That's night and day from how the previous regime ran things. Refreshing, isn't it? Well, Vinny was trying to get there, he just didn't have the ability to find the right players. Gibbs was the one who liked older, veteran players. Course, we are kinda forgetting that the youth movement started a year later than many of us expected under Shanahan. Some of it was understandable in that there weren't a lot of young players who could be got, but it was compounded by some questionable decisions. I'm glad it is finally started. While I like the signings for the most part, but no guarantee that any of these guys will have the impact we hope for. We've seen such things blow up in our faces before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Yes! I can't believe that the Redskins are not being touted as having the best offseason so far. I'm not even including RGIII - the quality of receivers we've signed sets us up for an elite passing attack that any QB can ease into. Seriously, you have Hankerson, Garcon, and Moss on the field with Davis at TE and Helu coming out of the backfield. How can any defense slow that down? By single covering the receivers, overloading the right side of our line, and spying Davis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The only problem I have is that he was doing this the same way in Denver and getting no where with it there too. Last year they focused on defense and the defense was actually pretty good, now it looks like the defense might be pretty craptacular next year with 0 secondary and Fletcher likely gone. I guess the upside is that they aren't signing former superstars to superstar contracts or overpaying for Randel El's and Archuletas who clearly aren't a fit for what the team really needs. Of course there's plenty of time to address the defense later if the cap has any room for it. It is a little early for all of this. The CBs are the same from last year, and the problem at safety is pretty much what we had at the end of the season, so I don't see the huge decline as of yet. I expect it will be addressed. I do agree that potentially losing Fletcher would be a big hit, but nothing is written there. As for if we are not overpaying, the Indy press is certainly playing it like we did overpay for Garcon. The article was a combination of a bit of sour grapes, but with a point underneath it that maybe he's not mature enough to handle it. It is cerainly a problem we had with Lloyd. Hopefully, it won't be that. Personally, I think he does have the potential to be a #1 WR for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTillIDie Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The only problem I have is that he was doing this the same way in Denver and getting no where with it there too. Last year they focused on defense and the defense was actually pretty good, now it looks like the defense might be pretty craptacular next year with 0 secondary and Fletcher likely gone. I guess the upside is that they aren't signing former superstars to superstar contracts or overpaying for Randel El's and Archuletas who clearly aren't a fit for what the team really needs. Of course there's plenty of time to address the defense later if the cap has any room for it. I think Fletcher will be back. It's not like Atogwe or Landry gave us much last year; Doughty still played 680 out of 1056 total for us. We've still got the majority of the core -- Bowen, Cofied, Carriker, Orakpo, Riley, Kerrigan, Wilson, Hall -- with Hall being the oldest of the bunch at 28. Plus we add Jenkins, a de facto high 2nd round pick. We're barely 24 hours into free agency -- taking that doomed "our defense is going to be craptacular" is pretty foolish and short-sighted. And for the record, Shanahan built a top-5 offense in Denver. You don't want that here? He didn't have the aforementioned defensive pieces to be as competitive as we're going to be. And of course, we've still got the draft to add depth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrFan Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The only problem I have is that he was doing this the same way in Denver and getting no where with it there too. Last year they focused on defense and the defense was actually pretty good, now it looks like the defense might be pretty craptacular next year with 0 secondary and Fletcher likely gone. I guess the upside is that they aren't signing former superstars to superstar contracts or overpaying for Randel El's and Archuletas who clearly aren't a fit for what the team really needs. Of course there's plenty of time to address the defense later if the cap has any room for it. I didn't know how Shanahan did it in Denver, I trust you on that but I think they will address the S/CB positions in FA and during the draft (Brandon Meriweather, Brandon Taylor, maybe Carr). The LB position I confess remains a question mark since no information is coming from Ashburn and the medias. For the first time in a very long time I'm starting being confident in the path we're taking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilsburypgh Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 By single covering the receivers' date=' overloading the right side of our line, and spying Davis?[/quote']but you forgot about RG3's legs..lol. hes gonna be the X factor. Beast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 By single covering the receivers' date=' overloading the right side of our line, and spying Davis?[/quote']I am absolutely praying that defensive coordinators all over the league follow your advice :yes:... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncr2h Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 I am absolutely praying that defensive coordinators all over the league follow your advice :yes:... It's not that fearsome of an offense. If I knew that we were playing against that offense every week it would be a huge relief. Is anyone scared of Garcon? No. You should know this - we just played the Colts. Did you care that Garcon was on the field? No. Is anybody scared of Eddie Royal, Santana Moss, Leonard Hankerson? No. How about Fred Davis? Maybe a little bit, but if there's only one good receiver on your offense it's not that big of a deal. Plus he's not amazing anyway, just good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 It's not that fearsome of an offense. If I knew that we were playing against that offense every week it would be a huge relief. Is anyone scared of Garcon? No. Ah, the ol' "Nobody is scared of (fill in the blank)" retort lol...an oldie but a goodie :thumbsup:... You should know this - we just played the Colts. Did you care that Garcon was on the field? No. We probably should have cared...because he had 4 catches for 103 yards and a TD against us. I know that 25 yard per catch average is yawn-inducing...and I'm sure that none of it was yards after the catch. So, yeah, I hope all the defensive coordinators in the league feel the exact same way you and LKB do and ignore Garcon completely this season lol... Is anybody scared of Eddie Royal, Santana Moss, Leonard Hankerson? No. How about Fred Davis? Maybe a little bit, but if there's only one good receiver on your offense it's not that big of a deal. Plus he's not amazing anyway, just good. There is so much here that I could point out as...well, "shortsighted" to be generous lol...but why bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schizlor Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Maybe his reason for signing here, is the same reason he might flourish here: http://blogs.nfl.com/2012/03/14/garcon-chose-skins-rg3-over-chargers/ And who can resist the annual compulsory Santonio Moss reference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epochalypse Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 People need to remember our WRs were getting open last year, and they were over 30. These guys are faster. Also on the defense side, we'll be improved if our offense can score more points. It'll allow our pass rush to flourish. One hand shakes the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paloosa Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 You know I am not surprised by any of the signings because we needed some guys that are going to produce. Now the lack of production from the WR corp isn't all the WR's fault. The QB still hs to throw the ball to the right spot so the lack of production will improve once we have either RGIII or Luck playing there. I don't expect to win instantly anymore and have not been a big supporter of RGIII because he had one year of taking a winning team to a bowl game. But I am willing to give him a chance because he can't be any worse than Grossman or Beck. The whole Heisman trophy thing is what bothers me the most because of the lack of production that previous QB's had so far. Only two have won Super Bowls.But looking at his stats while at Baylor shows me that he can be as good as Peyton Manning or any other successful QB. So we should be better this coming year and if we could make the playoffs this coming year then the signings and drafting of RGIII or Luck will be a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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