Poll: Do you believe that drafting Cousins has placed excessive and unnecessary pressure on RG3?

[21MadFan]

Now this is a good article about the whole Cousins thing

http://blogs.nfl.com/2012/05/01/a-look-at-what-the-redskins-drafting-qb-kirk-cousins-means-for-coach-mike-shanahan/

What drafting Cousins means for Redskins and Shanahan

One of the NFL draft’s most interesting decisions came when the Redskins drafted Michigan St. QB Kirk Cousins in the fourth round. It led to some serious debate (considering they picked their franchise in Robert Griffin III in the first round) and lots of criticism.

I thought all that was pretty stupid. If Griffin feels intimidated by a lowly fourth-round pick, then he’s not the right guy, anyway. And sure, the Redskins have plenty of holes to fill.

[Captain Wiggles]

I don't know who the guest was on Cowherds show a moment ago, but he was actually suggesting that one of the reasons the cousins pick made no sense was because we Don't have any first round picks. (we only lose 2 right? 2013 2014? seriously?)

It was Peter King, Shocker he too doesn't like the Cousins pick. This seems to be all ESPN has to talk about. What am I missing? Why is this such a big story to them?

[mistertim]

Everybody is ASSUMING that RG3 is the unquestioned #1 but it's unspoken and this FO has a tendency of being full of **** ESPECIALLY at the QB position.

Actually it is has been spoken by Shanahan straight up that RG3 is "the guy". He is the future, the franchise QB. Not like it needed to be said anyway. You don't give up 2 1sts and a 2nd for a guy unless you truly believe he is your future star QB. The only actual unknown, IMO, is whether he will be the day 1 starter. We can't know for sure but if what we know about his abilities, his work ethic, and his intelligence is true then it is very likely that he will be ready.

Now, if you believe that Shanahan is just being "full of ****" then that is your deal and I don't really know what else to tell you.

It was Peter King, Shocker he too doesn't like the Cousins pick. This seems to be all ESPN has to talk about. What am I missing? Why is this such a big story to them?

Because it is the Skins and it is now just boring old offseason again at the moment and they need something to talk about and a way to keep people watching. I think a lot of it boils down to that, really.

[Veretax]

Even more, you gotta figure we were going to draft a backup a some point. We were NOT, repeat, NOT keeping both Beck and Grossman this year, and may not have either when next year rolls around. So you then ask your question, when is the best time to 'draft' a backup to start to groom?

This Draft 2012

Next Year 2013

2 Years Away 2014

3 Years away 2015?

And what round do you take him? Look I can understand some people felt maybe if he was drafted in the 6th or 7th, like Brennan, that would have shown we weren't just reaching, but seriously people, let's consider this, they had a 2nd Round grade on him, and he fell to the 4th Round? You may ask why, but if he's beyond the highest rated play left on your board, and you know you need another arm, for the practice squad if nothing else, then you pull the trigger.

This franchise gets cut and slammed for not taking talent when its there. That's why we don't have depth. Sorry, but I don't agree with Skip, Cowherd, or Wilbon. The more they argue about it the more I feel and compelled to believe this is the right decision. I mean Wilbon said just now that Grossman is a FINE backup QB? Really??? Seriously? Did you see him get destroyed coming off the bench in Detroit 2 years ago? Uh I don't think so.

[Commander PK]

I'm starting to believe that a lot of the negative chatter from the media is just blind hate for the franchise. The reason that they took Cousins is not that hard to comprehend.

Some people really get hot under the collar when you imply such things around here...believe me I know. The fact is though, the Colts did the same damn thing we did...draft 2 QB's in the same draft...and not one of them is talking about that. Granted Cousins is a better prospect than Harnish, but still. If Luck was 1 and Griffin was 1A like many have implied, what difference does it make who you drafted after that if none of the other QB's in the draft were even supposed to be CLOSE to these two in talent and upside?

[Zazzaro703]

This is such a joke of a topic. RGIII says himself no pressure no diamonds. He also says it isn't his team and he wants to prove to everyone he is here to put in the work and earn the job. Drafting Cousins changes absolutely nothing about that. Let that haters hate. This crap is probably spearheaded by the NFL as revenge for the salary cap deal, just like you NEVER hear about that anywhere on the news.

[Veretax]

Cousins on ESPN 980 right now? Nice!

'Best nugget I took from the talk'

Cousins says it's pointless to try and project to next year, (I didn't quite understand the question) but will approach this like he did when he was a back up at Michigan State. To prepare himself to be ready to step in when his number is called, and things weren't always easy there, either. Says his job is to prepare and practice hard, and to show the coaching staff what he can do, and that's what his job is.

Man I love this guy. He's not worried about where he is slotted on the team yet, he's looking to MAKE the team. Or as I read between the lines. He's gunning for Sexy Rexy's Job LOL

Actually said he would let Rex keep his number, that MAYBE when he's gone he'll get it back, LOL. This guy is a character guy, I love the pick

[skinsarethebest]

I like the move to pick up Cousins a lot.

Think of it this way: if teams knew we had NO ONE worth anything backing up RG3, they'd be all the more motivated to go all "Gregg Williams" on him and try to take him out... If anything, having Cousins as a backup might even take the pressure (literally) off of RG3

[roanoker]

RG3 will either handle the pressure or he won't. I think he will be fine. The irony in all of this is that the media pundits and talking heads probably would have said something if we didn't take Cousins. They would have pointed out that it was a steal in the 4th round, that Washington must of had its head up its posterior in not selecting Cousins given our turnover machine (Rex), and the ever incompetent Beck.

[Bang]

There is no pressure.

There is no competition to see who's the starter.

Griffin is the starter.

Picking his backup does absolutely nothing to change that, and frankly, I don't see how any of the screaming memes can think it does.

Griffin is the starter. Cousins is the backup. He will compete with Grossman for #2, and that's it.

Griffin will not feel hot breath on his neck even if he goes 0-4 in preseason and throws 14 interceptions.

The coach has said it in plain english, and they moved a lot of draft picks to make sure they got who they wanted, and it ain't Cousins.

Hey, ESPN, Jacksonville drafted a punter in the 3rd round.

A punter.

~Boot

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Hey, ESPN, Jacksonville drafted a punter in the 3rd round.

A punter.

~Boot

Yeah but Jacksonville doesn't have as many holes as the Skins

/sarcasm

[RonArtest15]

Hey, ESPN, Jacksonville drafted a punter in the 3rd round.

A punter.

~Boot

Someone should also tell ESPN that Cleveland took a 29yo QB with the 22nd pick overall.

Can't belive that folks are actually scrutinizing a 4th ROUND PICK!!

*For anyone questioning Cousins selection...ask yourself this, Why give up MULTIPLE first round picks to draft RGIII if you're just going to put him in an open competition with a FOURTH ROUND PICK? Makes NO sense. Cousins was drafted with the hopes of being groomed into our #2. Nothing more, nothing less. There shouldn't be any debate, and I can't believe that this is even a discussion.

[Bang]

Someone should also tell ESPN that Cleveland took a 29yo QB with the 22nd pick overall.

Can't belive that folks are actually scrutinizing a 4th ROUND PICK!!

AND they traded up to get a player they would have arguably gotten anyway with the very next pick.

Holmgren is a joke up there, he's flailing in the dark, but it's not news..

~Bang

[Mr. Sinister]

Yeah but Jacksonville doesn't have as many holes as the Skins

/sarcasm

And Jacksonville( as a franchise, city, etc) sucks, so it just wouldn't carry enough weight.

[rskin72]

No, Cousins drafting does not put anymore pressure on RGIII. Anyway...as others have mentioned....if RGIII can't handle competition from Cousins (or Rex for that matter), then Shanahan made a huge mistake with moving up to draft him anyhow. This is a non-issue unless, apparently, you work at ESPN. Even NFL network isn't dramatizing this like ESPN.

Now....I do NOT feel we needed to draft Cousins (or any other QB) in the 4th round. There were other picks we could have made, other holes we have, that are more pressing. Heck, we waited until round 7 to take DB's.....there were two decent ones available when we drafted Cousins. How about a Olineman or nose tackle prospect? If we really wanted another QB prospect, we could have waited and asked Kellen Moore (who had better college stats than Cousins) in after the draft. Heck, Moore probably would have beat out Rex for the backup job. So...not a fan of the Cousins/QB pick.....but it certainly should not have generated the media chatter that it did.

Also....might I add....Skip Bayless is an idiot. I read opinions on this site every day that are more intelligent and coherent than what he babbles.

[rookieskin]

I have it on good athority that the real reason we drafted Cousins is that we want to use RG3 as our Kick and Punt returner and Cousins is insurance in case he gets nicked up....

[Wrong Direction]

I think we should have drafted a safety we don't think would have been much of an upgrade over our current depth, and then taken a much lower ceiling QB later in the draft. That way we don't scare our poor new QB who wears Superman socks.

People are silly. Must not like talking about baseball, hockey or basketball, so they drum up dumb NFL stories.

[Philip Pease]

I don't think it would put undue pressure on Robert Griffin III; but I think it could be a distraction for the team and coaches. If RG3 struggles will the media write articles asking if Cousins shouldn't be given a chance? What if Cousins plays better than Griffin in preseason will he be made the starter? I remember the competition between Sonny Jurgenson and Billy Kilmer created a lot of controversy in the media; although Sonny and Billy were the best of friends and they laughed about it and rooted for each other to do well. How this plays out will be interesting; but I would not have picked Cousins as I would choose to promote Griffin as Our QB (as opposed to everyone is competing for a job). I believe Griffin is self confident and has a good work ethic so he will not feel pressure from another QB.

[KCClybun]

Here's a question for anyone who says that there were other positions that we could've addressed that we haven't addressed in free agency, in the draft, or via undrafted free agents?

Offensive Line?

We resigned two starters in Monty and Kory, added James Lee, drafted LiRibeus, Gettis and Compton, and added Josh Olgesby and Grant Gartner as undrafted free agents. In addition to finding Tyler Polumbus and Willie Smith, a FINALLY healthy Jammal Brown (probably), and a franchise left tackle in Trent Williams (and I'll be sure to add that he's one suspension away, blah blah blah). Quite frankly...we're the deepest on the o-line we've been in YEARS.

Linebackers?

In addition to resigning our team captain London Fletcher, we signed Brian Kehl, Jonathan Goff, drafted Keenan Robinson, and adding D.J Holt and Brian Hendricks, to add to Perry Riley and our swiss army knife LoAx. And that's just inside; outside linebacker wise, Orakpo, Rob Jackson, Markus White, Ryan Kerrigan? We're insanely deep at linebacker, which makes it all the weirder that people keep bringing it up.

Safety?

This draft was a really, really weak safety class; basically, after Brandon Taylor and DeQuan Menzie were gone at our pick, everyone else was a project. That said, we added Tanard Jackson, Brandon Merriweather, Madeiu Williams, and probably will move Cedric Griffin to safety, in addition to Jordan Bernstine, who projects as a safety, to add to DeJon Gomes and Reed Doughty. Is it the best class of safeties? No. Was there anyone available in the draft that would be able to usurp any oof those guys? No.

Corner?

I'd suppose people have a point here...but again, we're in the position where the quality of corners wasn't enough to overcome what we have now, and the quality of corner in free agency after the top tier guys wasn't there. Dwight Bentley and Casey Hayward represented the best of the rest, they were guys we were targeting, that weren't there. I believe it was LavarLeap that says we have a deal on the table to resign Byron Westbrook, and that our coaching staff is really intrigued by Brandyn Thompson. In addition, we added solid veteran talent with Leigh Torrence, and got a HUGE steal in Chase Minnefield, in addition to drafting Richard Crawford. And it's interesting to note that Mike specifically mentioned that next year's draft is supposed to be really deep at corner, or at least far deeper than this year's class was.

Where else did we need guys

Wide receiver? Even with Gaffney getting cut, any receiver we drafted had little chance of getting signed. Running back? We're trying to bring by Hightower, we got Helu and Royster, drafted Alfred Morris and added two more UDFA running backs. Tight end? We got Cooley, Davis, Quinn, Myers, Paulson, and we're moving Niles Paul to tight end. D-line? Neild, Cofield (and I know some people make Cofield out to be the worse nose tackle in history, but he does what he's asked to in our scheme), Scott, Jenkins, Worthington, Baker, Carriker, Balmer and Vaughn Meatoga.

This may come as a shock, but besides corner...we've got DEPTH on this football team now. And despite the mantra "you can never have enough <insert position here>", there comes a point where you're just adding bodies to add bodies at positions you don't need.

What position were we weakest at last season? Quarterback. We didn't have a starter, and we didn't have a back-up that didn't terrify us. Quarterback was a huge hole. Well, for the forseeable we filled that hole.

[darrelgreenie]

^^Then we should be all set then?

[bird_1972]

...

Good point although I would caution that Skins fans have a habit of over-valuing their own players (or in this case, our quality depth).

I hope you're right and we'll see it translate into a better record than our 5 wins last season.

[KCClybun]

^^Then we should be all set then?

The point wasn't to imply that we are "set". We're still working out the kinks. The point is that people keep bringing up several positions that we could've addressed with that draft pick, and I'm pointing out that we have addressed many of those concerns through other avenues.

[Rabsuz]

'Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what the hell you're doing.'- Peyton Manning

[Riggo#44]

Someone should also tell ESPN that Cleveland took a 29yo QB with the 22nd pick overall.

Can't belive that folks are actually scrutinizing a 4th ROUND PICK!!

*For anyone questioning Cousins selection...ask yourself this, Why give up MULTIPLE first round picks to draft RGIII if you're just going to put him in an open competition with a FOURTH ROUND PICK? Makes NO sense. Cousins was drafted with the hopes of being groomed into our #2. Nothing more, nothing less. There shouldn't be any debate, and I can't believe that this is even a discussion.

Logic is not a job requirement for ESPN. Outlandish claims, idiotic premises for articles and wild speculation are.

However your mention about Weeden brings up another point. The Browns spent a 1st round pick on a 29-year-old rookie. Suppose Cousins shown a propensity in the preseason (alliteration aside) to be a solid, not spectacular QB. How much would Cousins be worth at 25? At the very least he'll be a good back up. Otherwise he'll be a steal that gets shipped out for multiple picks like Matt Schaub was.

What really irritates me the most is teams like the Steelers, Giants, Patriots etc are widely hailed as being smart drafters b/c they ignore needs for the most part and just grab the best player available. Isn't that what the Redskins did here?

[TheTotalPackage]

Logic is not a job requirement for ESPN. Outlandish claims, idiotic premises for articles and wild speculation are.

However your mention about Weeden brings up another point. The Browns spent a 1st round pick on a 29-year-old rookie. Suppose Cousins shown a propensity in the preseason (alliteration aside) to be a solid, not spectacular QB. How much would Cousins be worth at 25? At the very least he'll be a good back up. Otherwise he'll be a steal that gets shipped out for multiple picks like Matt Schaub was.

What really irritates me the most is teams like the Steelers, Giants, Patriots etc are widely hailed as being smart drafters b/c they ignore needs for the most part and just grab the best player available. Isn't that what the Redskins did here?

the skins are a rebuilding team and not a perennial contender. we needed to use that pick to fill more immediate needs. teams like the packers, steelers, patriots and eagles have had good management for a long time and have the luxury to make those kinds of gambles.