The Sky Has Fallen - Our Defense Needs a Makeover!

[Hersh]

I have a feeling Rex Ryan will be available. He would be my 1st choice hand down.

 

 

This would be the worst move of the offseason if the Redskins did it. It's a classic splashy move the Redskins normally do that would give Gruden all sorts of headaches. The media would have a field day cause they would always go to Rex for quotes rather than the head coach. It would be a disaster.

[knowledge316]

First cut - GM Bruce Allen, he's the guy that kept Haslett

 

As for players: 

 

Riley -- he can't cover yet Haslett keeps him in coverage instead of spy or blitzing

Merriweather -- this dude is worse than Rambo

Biggers -- he was terrible in Tampa and he's still terrible

Porter -- who signed this injured guy?

Clark -- past his prime and too slow

Orakpo -- too much bark, no bite

[Voice_of_Reason]

I'm going to go another way:

 

First step is to fire Haslett and Morris, and get another, proven defensive coordinator.  Rex Ryan is going to be available.  He's a loud mouth SOB with a foot fetish.  I don't care.  Guy knows defense. Sign him.I also could give a good **** what style of defense they run.  

 

K. Robinson, Amerson, Hatcher and Kerrigan, you're safe because your'e good.

 

Baker, Kearse, Murphy, Breeland: coaches decision.  Probably safe because you're good, young, cheap, or it's too soon to tell.

 

Everybody else, thanks for playing.

 

For me, you're only keeping 5 or 6 of the defensive players.  So it really doesn't matter what scheme we go with. 

[worldpost]

Unfortunately this isn't Madden or fantasy football.. You can't cut or release 75% of your defense, half of your offensive line, and the entire special teams..   I see Rak not being resigned. Multiple high draft choices used on CB and S, finally a dependable FA replacement for LB..

[Paul Cumberland]

Rak ...  You can't franchise him again but you don't let him walk without trying to re-sign him.

 

Actually, you can franchise him again but I don't believe we will.  per the 2011 cba, a 2nd franchising of a player would set his salary/cap number at 120% his previous number... in year 3, it would be 144%...  anyway, as for him signing a new contract, If he doesn't lower his demands, he'll be gone and that money/cap space saved will be able to go to others...  (i.e. morris, williams, griff)...  look for his replacement coming from next year's draft cause good olb's with experience are expensive in fa..

[carex]

Also about Rak.  Putting him at DE, with a few extra pounds and never asking him to cover should help his sack totals some. 

 

I do think the Skins could pull off a major renovation on the D in the offseason.  The only cap number I've heard is 140 mil and the Skins are at 122 mil.  Releasing Bowen, Cofield, Golston, Porter, Chester and Paulson(I like Paulson but I'm not sure he's a 2mil a year player) frees up almost 20 million dollars.  Renegotiate with Williams who is nearing the end of his contract and counts for almsot 14 million

 

The secondary should be our primary concern in the draft unless a tackle as good as Williams was available with our pick; can't just ditch Moses this quick and interior linemen worth what should be a high first are rare.  4-3 OLB is also rarely picked that high and with what we'd have at the DL it'd be hard to justify going there.

[Phat Hog]

I think Riley is a keeper, just don't put him in coverage!  He's a beast at the line.

[carex]

Actually, you can franchise him again but I don't believe we will.  per the 2011 cba, a 2nd franchising of a player would set his salary/cap number at 120% his previous number... in year 3, it would be 144%...  anyway, as for him signing a new contract, If he doesn't lower his demands, he'll be gone and that money/cap space saved will be able to go to others...  (i.e. morris, williams, griff)...  look for his replacement coming from next year's draft cause good olb's with experience are expensive in fa..

 

I don't mean can't as in not allowed, I mean can't as it would be borderline impossible to justify doing it so there's no real reason to even consider the idea.  And I don't believe you could draft another passrushing OLB/DE, which would be four with our top pick in seven years

[skins4eva]

Riley is trash. He is such a massive, massive net negative to the defense. Who the **** thought he could play? Career special teamer, should not be getting regular snaps for any NFL team. I think we should start either Heyward or give Trent Murphy a shot at MLB.

 

So true--which is why I'm quoting you.  Riley is and always has been trash as a starter.  Absolutely no impact.  A completely reactive player.  No real talent at the starting level.  In fact, he's a complete liability.  Why in the hell aren't we giving Compton a shot?  He can't be worse than Riley.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

I think Riley is a keeper, just don't put him in coverage!  He's a beast at the line.

He's like the RB who is great with the ball in his hand but can't pass protect...

 

He can't play in the NFL.

[carex]

He's like the RB who is great with the ball in his hand but can't pass protect...

 

 

 

so he's like Alfred Morris?

[BraveWarrior]

Re: Riley - I tried to forget most of last year, but I seem to remember he had great numbers as far as tackling. I don't recall how he was in coverage. What happened to him?

 

Anyway, I agree with most of the cuts others have already suggested. I do like the idea of going back to a 4-3. The 3-4 just hasn't worked for us. Other teams have successfully transitioned from 4-3 to 3-4 in 2 seasons. We haven't done that. Our defense is supposed to be based off the Pittsburgh model, but they seem to play it much more aggressively than we do. Could be they've just had tougher, more aggressive players in their better years. The 3-4 is supposed to let you better disguise where blitzes are coming from, but Haslett rarely sends any kind of exotic blitzes. I guess that's because the backfield can't be trusted to cover well enough to send more backers on blitzes.

 

One thing though - if Orakpo goes, can they please have a jersey swap day where you can turn in your Orakpo jersey for a different player's jersey? I have a rarely worn Orakpo jersey (usually put on the Sean Taylor jersey, and on some occasions, the Darrell Green jersey comes out) that I'd like to turn in.   

[SweetAlfred]

Dan Snyder you're fired.

[ihateusernames]

I went back and watched every defensive snap of every game , not including this past Monday night game. I've graded every single player on several key components , with an importance on tackling. Here's what i have so far:

Best player on this defense so far this year has been Keenan Robinson. Solid instincts, solid open field tackler so far, has played well. His career trajectory looks good..this guy could legitimately develop into a pro bowl caliber inside linebacker. Looks like a potential candidate for a leader of this defense too ( when everyone else was brawling in philly, he was sitting with a dazed nick foles)

Others who have done well:

Kerrigan - has been fine. I would like to see more pressure from him, but he's been good.

baker - has played good. Would have liked to see him next to cofield even more.

Hatcher - was stronger in the first 2 games, but has still done nice.

Clark - Sorry guys, but Clark has one of the top grades of any individual defender on this defense through the Giants game. But I think he'll retire at the end of the year anyway.

Average guys:

Orakpo- hasn't made many plays. Has missed some tackles too. Instincts are average. Did make more pressures on the Qb than he got credit for in the philly game but all in all, he's not much of a factor.

amerson - started out fine after the first 2 weeks. But that was against Fitzpatrick and henne, Has been the BiGGEST DiSSAPOInTMENT on the defense since then, and was TERRIBLE vs. nY. I don't know what the Redskins have there in this guy yet.

hall - honestly was not off to a good start. Had trouble in week 1, was torched deep for 6 in week 2 (wr dropped the ball), missed a tackle in that game, and was struggling in philly. He might be labeled the best corner on the Redskins, but that might be because the whole secondary is weak. At 30 years old, still gets stupid penalties like unsportsmanlike conduct for piling on. Ridiculous. We'll see if there's even more dropoff next year

Breeland - too early to tell. Didn't do all that well in his first start against ny but rookies will get a pass from me.

Jenkins - has played okay. Some nice defensive plays against the run, a pressure here or there. Not considered a starter at this point anyway.

And now, most importantly, the guys THaT MUsT BE REPLaCED in order to have a chance on defense:

1. Bacarri Rambo - he was there for weeks one and two. Obviously, he's gone now. But no one got a worse grade from me than him. He was in a word, awful. He doesn't belong in the NFL. I know there are pockets of people here for some odd reason that seem to like him or felt like he needed more of a chance (I think because they read NFL mock drafts that errored in their judgement at the time of what that guy could be in the NFL and rated him a 3rd or 4th round pick )

To those that liked or continue to like him, a simple question: did you sit down and grade him play for play, every defensive snap he had? Because I did. I watched every snap in that bowl game vs Michigan state (ironically vs Kirk cousins) and I thought he sucked. I thought he was absolute garbage. Last year, he was putrid. This year, he was terrible. And those that say it was just a few of the obvious hideous plays (which by themselves were enough to get a player kicked off the team) but that's not true. Again, I wrote down marks for each player, play after play. You don't see what I saw. I saw him coming on the blitz with a clear shot to sack chad henne only to take another bad angle and have henne of all people run around him for an easy first down. Many plays like that. It wasn't just the obvious terrible plays in the passing game. In summary, Rambo does not belong in the NFL at all.

2. Brandon merrweather - missed tackles in the open field on pass completions and getting smoked in singled up coverage can summarize Brandon, it's why he's been cut by two other teams. In a league where your safeties need to be able to cover, merrweather is a relic of the in the box tackle the ball carrier in the running game safety, which he still does decently. But more is needed, an upgrade is an absolute requirement.

3. Perry Riley - perry, perry, perry. Not good. Along with Rambo, no defensive player consistently takes poorer angles in the open field to the receiver. We all know he can't cover to well either. They need a Robinson clone to play inside next to him. Eli manning for example was just looking wherever 56 was and throwing it, whether the coverage was good or not, he had no respect for Riley at all. Nor should he.

As bad as the defense feels right now, if they upgrade just at merriweather and Riley they can improve. They'll also likely need a few FS unfortunately though because my hunch is this will be it for Clarke. They'll also not be resigning orakpo and even though he's decidely average, he is the best they got. Trent Murphy has looked stiff and slow with no threat of a rush in his own right so far in his rookie season and he's not the athlete that orakpo is.

4. Biggers wouldn't be the nickel corner if there weren't secondary injuries. Biggers is not good. Upgrade needed at nickel corner badly next year.

As for cuts, a number of these guys are free agents anyway:

Jenkins

Clark

Merriweather

Orakpo

[Stormy]

The defense doesn't need a makeover, it needs a reliable secondary. A lot of ya'll are posting top 5 cuts and most of them are secondary players. I don't feel Haslett is the best option, but he's never had a secondary here in DC that would allow him to run the agressive style of defense he wants to run...

The secondary is awful, and Haslett and Morris are an enormous reason why. It's their coverage calls, the coverage techniques they've taught, the mentality they have instilled, and even largely their personnel. They have had a big hand in many of the DBs brought in here through the years.

One of the quotes I was most furious about following what I considered a subpar 2014 draft where we passed over some potentially great BPA candidates who also played positions of need (Bitonio, Jernigan, Brooks etc...) was Haslett saying they didn't have any DBs available in rounds 2-7 who they graded out as 'better than what they had.' Aside from Breeland, who was one of the few picks I loved.

They have a massive blackhole of secondary incompetence that has sabotaged the team for years, and a guy like Terrence Brooks, who is already projected as a long term starter for a far superior franchise, isnt better than what they already had? Wasn't better than Rambo (cut), Thomas (might as well be cut), Merriweather and Clark (not offered even a single year deal by any team in the NFL during FA)?

Haslett has no idea how to put anyone in a position to succeed, much less an ability to assess or develop talent. The tortured logic that they haven't been given the right personnel, enough time, enough control etc... has to stop. They most go, and anyone who tries to keep them from going must go.

Oh yea, and as for my cuts. Nobody leaves before Haslett and Morris are canned. Then, let Orakpo walk, Riley, Merriweather, Biggers and Porter. That's addition by subtraction.

[emor09]

I want to keep Kerrigan, Robinson, Amerson, Breeland and Baker. 

 

I want to cut Orakpo, Riley, Merriweather, Biggers and Porter.

 

I hope we fire Jim Haslett, the Jets fire Rex Ryan, and we hire Rex to be our DC.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

First five cuts huh?

 

Well, first and foremost, I'd FINALLY boot Hasshole, Morris and Burney off the staff. The 'backers Coaches Olivadotti and Baker are the only defensive Coaches I'd retain.

 

Now, as far those 'first 5 cuts' of the playing personnel, in no particular order:

 

Merriweather/ Orakpo/ Golston/ Cofield (Down to age) and Jackson.

 

But in truth, it would be easier to list, in an ideal World, who I'd retain:

 

DL. Baker, Hatcher, Nield, Jenkins.

LB. Kerrigan, Riley, Robinson with Compton and Murphy to be given a chance to prove themselves.

DB/ Amerson, Breeland. Minnifield and Hall if he fully recovers from the achilles.

 

Outside of the MAJOR priority, the O-line, most all my draft picks/ resources would be going into the defense to give the new DC every chance he needs to succeed.

 

Hail.

[skinzplay]

Anybody who ever thought that Haslett could effectively lead this defense.......well, I never criticize people for their opinions because, hell, I've been wrong many more times than I care to admit. But his track record before arriving, and his track record since arriving should tell the decision-makers in Ashburn all they need to know.

[The Robert Griffin Experience]

I think Riley is a keeper, just don't put him in coverage!  He's a beast at the line.

 

lol no he's not. He's "better than bad" as a run stopper. I'd grade Riley like this:

 

Coverage: 30

Run Support: 69

Blitzing: 67

 

In my book, under 70 is a failing grade even though it's technically not an F.

 

Watch Keenan play and then watch Riley play. Keenan is a stud.

[Veretax]

I never thought Perry Riley was worth keeping long term.  I never saw anything while Fletcher was here that would really indicate understanding or skill. In fact, the only thing I've ever seen, is people projecting their well wishes on him.  (maybe this has not been stated enough.  I think the influence and skill of fletcher, along with his football sense, likely masked many of the problems we are seeing today.)

 

 

That's why he was on my first five out.

 

(I do agree with another poster that shoreing up the OL, adding a quality TE, are probably high on the list of concerns too. Especially if RG3 is going to be our guy moving forward at some point).

[skins island connection]

Dan Snyder you're fired.

 

Go away.

You obviously didn't factor in the one single thing that really stands out with Snyder; ok, 2.

1. He had a hands-on approach at first, but then backed off.

2. If he sells the team, kiss the Redskins name goodbye. It wouldn't surprise me to see Goodell put a stipulation into the sale that requires a name change.

 

Now, defensively, VOR hit it;  fire Haslett and Morris. I'd be curious to see how a Rex Ryan would do with the players we have on defense right now. Sure, there may be some pisspotpoor players on the team, but is there a % of blame one can pinpoint on the player or the way he has been coached/utilized in this defense?  Players are only as good as the teacher. Haslett has been on a field trip for years.

[autoidiodyssey]

1.  Brian Orakpo - For the money he is going to want you can fix the rest of the D. If you could bring him back on a "prove it" 1 year deal I would be okay with that. But I absolutely let him test the market.

 

2.  Brandon Meriweather - The rule changes have taken away what he was best at doing. It does not seem like he has been able to adjust his game. Hopefully an upgrade will be available with an early draft pick.

 

3.  Perry Riley - He is lost in coverage and does not seem to be able to tackle all that well. Hopefully an upgrade will be available with an early draft pick.

 

4.  EJ Biggers - He does not seem to add anything, there has to be an upgrade somewhere.

 

5.  Tracy Porter - Has he played? Again there has to be a better player out there.

 

An off season with new ILB, SS, FS, CB depth, and a couple of OL will go a long way towards fixing this teams ills.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

There's no need to even mention Biggers

He's literally the worst guy on the squad. The fact that he's playing regularly should tell you something

[Pedro]

We need a good DC who is able to bring in all the coaches he wants/needs.

[PortisBetts]

First five cuts huh?

 

Well, first and foremost, I'd FINALLY boot Hasshole, Morris and Burney off the staff. The 'backers Coaches Olivadotti and Baker are the only defensive Coaches I'd retain.

 

Now, as far those 'first 5 cuts' of the playing personnel, in no particular order:

 

Merriweather/ Orakpo/ Golston/ Cofield (Down to age) and Jackson.

 

But in truth, it would be easier to list, in an ideal World, who I'd retain:

 

DL. Baker, Hatcher, Nield, Jenkins.

LB. Kerrigan, Riley, Robinson with Compton and Murphy to be given a chance to prove themselves.

DB/ Amerson, Breeland. Minnifield and Hall if he fully recovers from the achilles.

 

Outside of the MAJOR priority, the O-line, most all my draft picks/ resources would be going into the defense to give the new DC every chance he needs to succeed.

 

Hail.

 

Is the only reason you'd keep Riley because we have no one else? Because he is just bad. I agree with everything else you said.