Random Thoughts, Observations, Predictions

[Riggo-toni]

Something tells me Fred Davis will have a mini-renaissance with Kirk under center, particularly if Jordan Reed is still a no-go. Davis needs a new contract, and unless he can show something, he's looking at the classic vet min + incentives from somebody (probably the Pats). I think he steps up and Kirk will find him.

Speaking of Cousins, he reminds me a lot of Jake Plummer. Athletic, decent arm, goes through progressions, looks like Montana one minute...and then the next throws a head scratching wtf interception. Last week it was fumbles. Against Dallas, I think Romo sits to pee and Cousins combine for at least 5 ints.

DeAngelo Hall has been a premier CB this year. Last year it seemed like he stuck to his assignments, but safeties failed to pick up WRs when they were handed off. This year, he's abandoned such disciplines, and is just blanketing guys through and through.

If we didn't have London Fletcher, Haslett's 3-4 would've always looked this putrid. Now that he's too slow to keep up, Hazhat's weaknesses are being exposed. That said, our D does seem to play its best against Dallas and Chicago.

Schotferbrains was offered to stay on if he would relinquish personnel duties to a GM and fire Jimmy Raye. Raye was the worst OC ever in my Skins lifetime, and Schothead's draft and FA acquisitions were fairly dreadful. Antonio Pierce was the only decent guy he dug up, and Antonio didn't amount to much until the arrival of Gregg Williams. Schotferbrains refused on both counts, preferring to be fired and get paid by El Dano. Then he went to SD over the strenuous objections of assistant GM AJ Smith, but was hired under the conditions that he not bring Jimmy Raye or his other failed coordinators with him, and that final say over personnel rested with Butler and Smith. IIRC, his 2nd year the team went 3-13 before bouncing back on a quantum leap in Brees' abilities.

Likewise, Snyderatto wanted Spurrier to stay, but insisted he fire Kim Helton and the DC. Spurrier reached a settlement and left. Look for Shanny to insist on retaining Burns, Hazlett et al just to force Dan's hand.

If Marvin Harrison played his career with the Skins, this board would've been littered with fans whining about how he's not a #1 WR.

I predict if Aldrick Robinson goes over 100 yards receiving, we beat the Cowboys.

There's a reason no coach has yet won a SB for 2 different teams. The NFL is constantly evolving, but a coach who won it all a decade earlier inevitably tries to capture lightning in a bottle, insists on doing it the way he did before, and has such credentials that noone will question him. Just as the zone blitz neutered the counter-trey, the development of athletic DL who can play inside or out has made the smaller athletic ZBS offensive linemen a huge liability for interior stunts and blitzes in a now passing-oriented league. (For that matter, even the traditional franchise LT coupled with solid OL may be less effective than the newer cap effective strategy championed by Belichik of spending more on the interior to protect 3 step drops.)

Of the 3 coaches to win multiple SBs in recent years, 2 were "retreads" (Belichik and Coughlin), but still had something to prove and adopted to changes in the game. Rex Ryan turned around an absolutely horrible Jets franchise (trust me, I live in NJ where the Jets games are always on CBS) and took them to back to back AFC title games with Sargent Buttfumble behind center. If the Jets are dumb enough to fire him (which they are), I'd like to see him coach here, PROVIDED THAT a legit GM with full control over personnel makes that hire and that Ryan promises NOT to bring in Brian Schottenheimer on staff. I'd also be willing to give Whisenhunt a 2nd look. Both were doomed by awful QBs, and we've got 2 franchis QBs (I hope) on the roster.

[Tyron Biggums]

 PROVIDED THAT a legit GM with full control over personnel makes that hire and that Ryan promises NOT to bring in Brian Schottenheimer on staff. I'd also be willing to give Whisenhunt a 2nd look. Both were doomed by awful QBs, and we've got 2 franchis QBs (I hope) on the roster.

Great post. Quoted my favorite part.

Thanks for sharing

Hail

[pjfootballer]

Sargent "butt-fumble". Love it!

[Audible_Red40]

I thought that thought was "thot" not thought.

[zoony]

I agree with a lot of it. But not the Plummer comparison. I'm thinking Tom Brady simply because both came out of Michigan schools where it is too damn cold to catch a ball much less throw one. Both had similar knocks on their scouting reports, though Kirk was picked a bit higher. Watching Brady early in his career kind of reminds me of Kirk. Not the greatest arm strength in the world but the ball comes out quickly and both seem to be very smart QBs who see the field well. Both also got their first starts in year 2

Obviously Kirk has a long way to go before he is ever in the same class as Brady is in now, but at this point in his career it seems like there are a lot of similarities

[kleese]

1. Sick of hearing about Fred Davis. No one wanted him for a reason. He's been active the past three games and in two of them he dropped a pass on a potential game winning drive. I'd rather keep Paulsen next year. Zero interest in Fred Davis being on the team next year.

2. Cousins is intruiging. I'm a little biased--- my 2012 off season plan was to sign Peyton and draft Cousins in the first or second round. Obviously, I was high on him before we made the deal for RG and was shocked and pleased he was available in the 4th. People talk about him like he has this really limited ceiling--- but I'm not sure why? He has the physical tools. And he seems smart. He has also shown a touch of clutchness in his very small sample size. He could be a star. Or he could be good, not great. He could be average. He could be below average. All depends on how he develops and how he learns and adapts. I'm ok with mistakes and bad throws if a QB is able to overcome them in crunchtime. It's always been Grossman's problem. A stupid mistake in the second quarter you can live with. A stupid mistake on the final drive and the game is over. I find KC to be a very interesting prospect and I'm curious to see if he is here next year.

3. My God, Hall has been incredible this year. He is the most undervalued Redskin in the history of message boards, dating back to the mid 90's. He was better this year than Champ at his best. And Hall has always been very good for us. Just under appreciated. Now, would I sign him? That is tricky. He's getting close to declining age and his brilliant year is going to push up the price. But I don't think we can afford to lose good players on defense.

4. I've always been a little higher on Has than others. I liked the way the D finished last year despite the injuries. They were great against Dallas and Seattle. And that mattered to me. They held that 14-13 lead in the playoff forever. But I certainly can't say Has has been "good" here and I do think its time for a change. London has been awful this season. Can't imagine many worse players in the league. Sucks to see it. Hope he has a good game on Sunday and the fans recognize him.

5. I was "eh" on Marty for many of the reasons you mentioned. We went 6-8 that season in the 14 games we played with playoff implications. We crashed after the five game winning streak, including a loss at home to a terrible Dallas team. And he was an awful personnel man. Snyder was right to try and get him to give those duties up. Spurrier quit on the skins late in the 2003 season--- he has zero interest once he found out the NFL wasn't easy.

6. Hankerson had his best game as a pro in Cousins' first start. Aldrick had his in Cousins' second start. Both of those guys also flourished in pre season with KC. Whether it is because of play design/calling or not, it does appear that when KC is in there, we are more likely to spread the ball around and stretch the field vertically.

7. Excellent point. SB winning coaches are likely going to be more rigid and less hungry. Less humble and willing to adapt. I think the potential exists in that same case for big time college coaches--- a guy like Saban or Bob Stoops for instance can take an NFL job knowing full well that millions await him back in college if it doesn't work out ala Spurrier. So they can roll the dice and if it isn't going well... "Eh, later." I like the idea of a hungry and worthy assistant or a "retread" coach that is still young enough that he has something to prove. I'd prefer the former, but if we went latter, Lovie Smith would be my first call.

[Riggo-toni]

It would be indescribably magnificent if Cousins does turn out to be the next Brady! My Plummer comparison was based on initial observations. Brady was primarily a game manager his first season starting as I recall, with the Pats turning into a throw first team the next year (02), so the fact that Capt Kirk is chucking it downfield so much right out of the box means I should probably cut him a little slack on the INTs.

Kleese - I never said Mr Sleepy would be here next year, in fact I mentioned the possibility of the Pats signing him. I simply think he will realize how much more ganja he can buy in the future if he shines the next couple of games, and may be motivated accordingly. He's definitely gone from here next yearregardless, but even Rod Gardner once managed a 200yd game against Carolina.

I think Grossman's "bad Rex" tendencies are the result of undersized hands. Too much float on even intermediate passes. It' a lot easier to grab a wounded duck than a speeding projectile, and the limitation compounds exponentially in bad weather.