Lavarleap56 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 In 2007 the Washington Redskins went into free agency signing London Fletcher filling a huge need at MLB. At the time Redskins fans understood London was a good player who was familiar with Gregg Williams from their time together with the Buffalo Bills. Fans were split on the move not knowing if they could trust the player choices of Williams after pushing Antonio Pierce out the door in 2004 and replacing him with Lemar Marshall. You could look up all the stats from 1998-2007 and see a 160 consecutive game streak, consistent high tackle numbers, and zero pro bowls. Read More.. http://httr24-7.com/?p=3299 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLSkins Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hail to the NO. The reason some think London has slowed down is the Inside lbers have been exposed by the lack of the containment and pressure.. Carriker and Orakpo had an impact people, realize it. Love your article though LL, Could his level of play be due to the injuries he is working through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truskinsfan18 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Father time has caught up with Fletch. He is a step too slow on every play, and he is missing tackles left and right. I knew this day would come someday, wish it didn't though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Jones Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Or, it could simply be father time has finally caught up with him. I played a competitive sport into my forties. As I aged my mind would read the field just like it always did, but my body would no longer do what my mind was accustomed to it doing. I had to make adjustments and such, but the bottom line was I got slower and my athletic ability deteriorated as I aged. I no longer could keep up with the younger players. It could be simply he is hurt or age has finally caught him. Either way, Fletch deserved the contract he got and he deserves to play out the last eight games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hail to the NO. The reason some think London has slowed down is the Inside lbers have been exposed by the lack of the containment and pressure.. Carriker and Orakpo had an impact people, realize it. Love your article though LL, Could his level of play be due to the injuries he is working through? So Orakpo would have helped him not get shook by Ahmad Bradshaw or stiff armed by Dwyer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I still think he's a starter but he's not the same guy No Shame in admitting that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCClybun Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Love your article though LL, Could his level of play be due to the injuries he is working through? Personally I think it's a little bit of injury, a little bit of the rest of the front 7 not playing well, and then yeah, London's age. I think he's been dealing with that hamstring injury for a while and that doesn't help with tackling. It's probably a combo of everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan2k Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 He is done. He can stay here as a coach but his skills are show when there is no existence of a d-line. I think he leads the league in missed tackes for a MLB. and also he gets torched by other TEs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavarleap56 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hail to the NO. The reason some think London has slowed down is the Inside lbers have been exposed by the lack of the containment and pressure.. Carriker and Orakpo had an impact people, realize it. Love your article though LL, Could his level of play be due to the injuries he is working through? I would agree with you IF London was getting caught up in trash and not able to make plays. Fletch is still getting in position to make plays hes just not making them like he use to. Tight ends and Running Backs have had a lot of success on him this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFTW Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Personally I think it's a little bit of injury, a little bit of the rest of the front 7 not playing well, and then yeah, London's age.I think he's been dealing with that hamstring injury for a while and that doesn't help with tackling. It's probably a combo of everything. Totally agree. Fletcher just isn't 100% but maybe he's lost a step. He isn't going to beat every TE and he wasn't doing that last year either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsNatsFan Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 It's very obvious if you've been watching closely. I do really hope to see his game improve, that it's for some correctable reason, minor injury maybe. I'd hate to see him go out like this. The coverage stats are interesting. He has similar numbers to last year in half the games. He's been targeted twice as often as last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavarleap56 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 It's very obvious if you've been watching closely. I do really hope to see his game improve, that it's for some correctable reason, minor injury maybe. I'd hate to see him go out like this.The coverage stats are interesting. He has similar numbers to last year in half the games. He's been targeted twice as often as last year. It looks like teams are specifically targeting him in the pass game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeefJerky Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like fletch's window is rapidly closing. Love the guy and hope his game steps up, but that remains to be seen. Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavarleap56 Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like fletch's window is rapidly closing. Love the guy and hope his game steps up, but that remains to be seen. Hail. Sucks but I do agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmuss1 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Or, it could simply be father time has finally caught up with him. I played a competitive sport into my forties. As I aged my mind would read the field just like it always did, but my body would no longer do what my mind was accustomed to it doing. I had to make adjustments and such, but the bottom line was I got slower and my athletic ability deteriorated as I aged. I no longer could keep up with the younger players.It could be simply he is hurt or age has finally caught him. Either way, Fletch deserved the contract he got and he deserves to play out the last eight games. Father time doesn't catch up with guys who can run down Darren Sproles, see game 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogofWar1 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I think the problems with TEs is just because TEs have evolved into 6'2"+ monster men who aren't supposed to be taken down by a 5'10" ILB. And London is just not a coverage LB for most WRs. He should not be asked to cover guys like Jimmy Graham, who are 8 inches taller than him, or shorter faster guys. That's just bad play calling and demoralizing. London's value was never in coverage, it was tackling. I'm far more concerned with his tackling of RBs. If he's lost a step there, then that's where we start seeing problems. Still, I think he's definitely starter caliber in the NFL, if less so than in previous years. That being said, if there's anyone I would give more responsibility to stop the run (while ideally reducing his coverage responsibilities) it'd be London. It was mentioned in the "If you were defensive coordinator" thread that the wide-9 for the DEs might be an option, but it'd force our ILBs to play the run better. I say go for it. If London starts faltering there, then at least you know it's truly the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLSkins Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 So Orakpo would have helped him not get shook by Ahmad Bradshaw or stiff armed by Dwyer? Yes and if he was at 100%, see my point. ---------- Post added October-30th-2012 at 09:20 PM ---------- I still think he's a starter but he's not the same guyNo Shame in admitting that Personally I think it's a little bit of injury, a little bit of the rest of the front 7 not playing well, and then yeah, London's age.I think he's been dealing with that hamstring injury for a while and that doesn't help with tackling. It's probably a combo of everything. Can't argue that. On either case, but It is hard to know, maybe only London knows for sure. I hope to see him for at least two more years as a Skin, his heart and his head should be willed to Keenan and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Chaos47 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Right because the fact that he's having balance issues and now has a hamstring bothering him couldn't have anything to do with it. Father time doesn't catch someone in 6 damn months. With that said the balance issues worry me as its not a simple thing to solve. If he's not concussed it may be a worse condition, that may not be able to be fixed with rest or medication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLSkins Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I would agree with you IF London was getting caught up in trash and not able to make plays. Fletch is still getting in position to make plays hes just not making them like he use to. Tight ends and Running Backs have had a lot of success on him this season. I think that is where the injuries kick in, just a tad off, just a tad behind because your team is not as strong, it all adds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCClybun Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 For the record, I'm not sure this is London's "swan song" unless London wants it to be, unless his skill set really continue to decline. It might mean more competition for London next year in the form of Perry getting his shot, or another linebacker drafted, but I think ultimately London will have the final say on whether or not he wants to end his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rskin72 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Well, issues with fletcher could certainly be age related in part.....but also believe that the absence of carriker and rak also adds negatively to this equation as maybe they make some of those plays....or at least slows down the rb....to allow fletcher a better opportunity to make or assist with the tackle. Also, he has had something wrong since preseason......the fo was very secretive about it, but something is not right physically with fletch, imho, and we probably wont know the full story until the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braindx Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Unfortunately, I think he's lost a step, and it happened before the hamstring strain in the Giants game. He's been missing tackles he usually makes, and giving up many more catches and yards to TEs and RBs as the stats say. I guess we're hoping Keenan Robinson and Perry Riley can step up. We need to hire Fletcher as a coach after he retires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavarleap56 Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Father time doesn't catch up with guys who can run down Darren Sproles, see game 1. Was a great read, react, anticipation play but he didn't run down Spoles. He diagnosed the play and beat the throw to the spot at the same time Spoles got there. ---------- Post added October-31st-2012 at 03:02 AM ---------- Right because the fact that he's having balance issues and now has a hamstring bothering him couldn't have anything to do with it. Father time doesn't catch someone in 6 damn months. With that said the balance issues worry me as its not a simple thing to solve. If he's not concussed it may be a worse condition, that may not be able to be fixed with rest or medication. Hamstring injury just occurred and he has been off the whole season. Balance issues could be one of the issues but that's still not a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyc Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I love London and he's still a starting linebacker in this league (be it not as elite as he was the past few seasons). I think the defense needs to get younger though going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrelgreenie Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I knew London was slowing down during the Giants game. Before that I tried to tell myself I'm just being hyper critical to a rare missed play. But for the first time I saw Fletcher hit a RB (Bradshaw) with a full head of steam and Fletcher fell backwards.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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