Jay Gruden and the new Philosophy - and all things coaching...hell it is offseason after all.

[skinny21]

I just think it's amazing how little patience is being shown by Skins fans with this man when we have only one year of coming into a crap environment to assess him with... and it makes me a little crazy inside because those who show the MOST IMPATIENCE with him are almost ALWAYS the same ones who are extremely patient with Robert, who we have quite an amount on at this point. Not only that, but they are also almost exclusively the same ones who were trashing the Shanahan's for putting Robert in the pistol more and praising the Gruden hire because "he'll actually play to his skill set as a pocket passer".

And before anyone gets all flustered from that comment, I don't think there's anything wrong with being patient and hoping our guys succeed (I'm really rooting for Robert this year myself, would be the best thing for the organization if he succeeds)... but it's so obviously hypocritical to me and I'm surprised it's this prevalent.

The reasons for dislike of Gruden's first year (and defense of him) have been discussed ad nauseam, as have the pros and cons of Griffin, so I won't get in to it. Too often I believe people try to make it into two camps when, for me, it's not. Gruden and the FO have done enough (ATM) to fix or address many of the issues from last year that I've moved into a wait and see mode for him, but last year was not a good year for him (and only a small part of that has to do with the QB position).

Griffin's issues, again IMO, are all on the field (I could care less about the slogans and branding, etc.) and he's working in the film room, he's healthy and should have a better feel for the offense. A better team around him can help as well (and should help Gruden too). The sole reason I give slightly more leeway to Griffin is because he has the potential to be a huge asset... which I don't see from Gruden as of yet. Basically, I see Griffin having the potential to be one of the tops in his craft. Gruden is not in the same boat (that's not to say he can't be).

You're absolutely right though TSO, the extreme impatience is frustrating and antithical to getting this organization back on track.

[Skinsinparadise]

 

The FACT is that this team has sucked for a LONG time. I've been saying forever that it's the talent and I feel justified in my position. How many coaches have we been through? Every year its the same thing from fans, complaining about play calling because that's all they know from Madden. But the best play still sucks when players don't execute. I believe we took a giant leap forward (still with a long way to go) with this draft. I expect the top 4 or 5 picks to either start or contribute heavily.

 

I'm calling it now.... This team is going to make HUGE steps forward and at the very least give us a shot at the playoffs. The power running game with Sheriff, Jones, and the new coach will help keep drives from stalling. Our defense wont go from worst to first but more beef up front and an improved secondary should prevent a few more points per game. Our QBs will be better in their second year  and if Griffin can reach his full potential we can be a real threat to almost any team. 

 

In short.... I BELIEVE!   Hail!

 

Agree, lack of talent has been the team's prime culprit for its failures.  Finally we got a real professional GM running the ship that gives me more optimism than anything.  As for Jay, got my doubts about him but love your optimism.  I think the issues or non issues with Jay will sort themselves out one way or another.

 

Sub:  while I agree you got to let the movie play out with Jay at least for another season before the jury is in (but I think its perfectly ok to have an opinion along the way pro or con), and I do agree we have some good pass catchers, still its practically a cliche that Shanny's zone scheme -- offensive line -- which is about smaller but quicker players are better suited to run blocking versus pass blocking.   Not to mention that arguably both our tight ends and running backs are bad at pass protection.  So I do think last year, the team was built better for the running game than the passing game. 

[TSO]

Sub: while I agree you got to let the movie play out with Jay at least for another season before the jury is in (but I think its perfectly ok to have an opinion along the way pro or con), and I do agree we have some good pass catchers, still its practically a cliche that Shanny's zone scheme -- offensive line -- which is about smaller but quicker players are better suited to run blocking versus pass blocking. Not to mention that arguably both our tight ends and running backs are bad at pass protection. So I do think last year, the team was built better for the running game than the passing game. [/background][/size]

Except, they weren't good at "run-blocking", they were good at run blocking in the ZBS, pretty much exclusively. That's a significant difference when we're talking about Gruden's ability to adapt.

Gruden kept both McVay and Foerster, while acknowledging that the reason for doing so was to keep the one strength the offense had going. That's being flexible. The vast majority of run plays were ZBS, but the Oline clearly struggled running it like in the past under Shanahan and Morris was struggling finding lanes.

I just don't see what else could've been done. You say the strength of the offense was to run more, I say bs. You'd have to cut Desean's snaps considerably to do so, which would've been a clear tell for the defense, and he was easily the best part of our offense. And it's not like we had a guy who could fill in for him and be a true dual threat catching and blocking to keep defenses honest.

All this shows is the importance of a GM with an overarching vision acquiring the pieces. Gruden came into a situation where the one strength of the offense heavily depends on outside blocking, yet we acquire a guy like Desean Jackson who is clearly weak in that area.

Do you think Scot does the same? No way. At least not without making sure others could do the job properly and knowing Desean wouldn't be taking all the snaps.

We're now moving more to a power-run game that'll have our guys running more effectively between the tackles and would minimize the impact of a Desean Jackson not blocking outside. Scot also brought in guys at that position who are more willing blockers, yet still can catch passes, so you can potentially cut Desean's snaps down a little more while still having the threat of a pass.

I think it's painfully obvious how mismatched our personnel was last year. Saying "Gruden should've ran more" is just easy arm-chair expert **** to me.

[bedlamVR]

The run pass ratio is more of a mind set than anything related to personnel it is showing a commitment to the run and a more patient pkhilosophy .

It is a realization of what areas of the team are strengths . Sub I get the comment about Jackson.... But once you figure something isn't working change it ... Jackson was not added the night before the season opener it is up to the game plan to work out how to keep him out there without sacrificing the abillity to run .

For those who point to the talent and cry what could he do pretty much miss the point of coaching and game planning entirely. It is about putting players in position to succeed and to motivate them to be better . Did Jay do that .... Think about this ... Did Jay do that well enough to justify 4 million a season ?

For all of those who liked his honesty calling out specific players and dismantling their games in post game public press conferences week after week do they also like the fact he deflected all blame from the coaching staff stating the coaches responsibility ends on Saturdays.

I am generally optimistic I hate changes in the coaching staff but at the end of last season I honestly was in dispair the team had no heart no identity and I had no idea how the team could get better. Scott has been a breath of fresh air a reason to hope but then I look at the guy at the top and I listen to him and all I am not sure he can change or even sees the need to change . From all reports Gruden opposed all the changes to the coaching staff to the point of begging Jim Hasslett to stay it makes me wonder if he can be objective enough to make the most of the talent anyone can acquire for him ..

[TSO]

The run pass ratio is more of a mind set than anything related to personnel it is showing a commitment to the run and a more patient pkhilosophy .

It is a realization of what areas of the team are strengths . Sub I get the comment about Jackson.... But once you figure something isn't working change it ... Jackson was not added the night before the season opener it is up to the game plan to work out how to keep him out there without sacrificing the abillity to run .

For those who point to the talent and cry what could he do pretty much miss the point of coaching and game planning entirely. It is about putting players in position to succeed and to motivate them to be better . Did Jay do that .... Think about this ... Did Jay do that well enough to justify 4 million a season ?

For all of those who liked his honesty calling out specific players and dismantling their games in post game public press conferences week after week do they also like the fact he deflected all blame from the coaching staff stating the coaches responsibility ends on Saturdays.

I am generally optimistic I hate changes in the coaching staff but at the end of last season I honestly was in dispair the team had no heart no identity and I had no idea how the team could get better. Scott has been a breath of fresh air a reason to hope but then I look at the guy at the top and I listen to him and all I am not sure he can change or even sees the need to change . From all reports Gruden opposed all the changes to the coaching staff to the point of begging Jim Hasslett to stay it makes me wonder if he can be objective enough to make the most of the talent anyone can acquire for him ..

 

For all those who want to vilify, time and again, coaches who have done nothing but have success everywhere they've been until they come here because they think they're smarter than everyone else... think about this, did we need Scot? Did we need to pay a GM a ****load of dollars to acquire personnel? What's the point of that?

 

And only a fool doesn't understand the difference between peers and subordinates. The coaches are peers, essentially. You will almost NEVER hear them criticize each other publicly. The players are subordinates. Some coaches use that as a tool. The infamous Parcells would blast players all the time, but almost never coaches. This is something you learn in elementary school for crying out loud. You don't really see teachers going off on each other, but they'll certainly do so with the students.    

 

And, really, "from all reports Gruden opposed all the changes to the coaching staff"? Are you kidding me? All you're doing here is proving that you can't make a point without clearly exaggerating and stretching the truth. There's no need for that, bedlam.  

 

The only one we have something from TK on was Haslett. That's it. And it can be argued that for as foolish as Gruden was to be loyal to Haslett, the FO should've never put him in the position to have to fire Haslett in the first place. All they had to do was the right thing and fired him along with Shanahan instead of playing the PR game while allowing him to play the victim with the "I was handcuffed" bs. Still, I agree, woud've liked Gruden to be smarter about that... but I also understand how difficult it is for coaches to show any semblance of disloyalty. Haslett hired Gruden before, and while it seems so easy to us, they're human. 

 

But it's too bad you had to basically make up that statement there to prove your point. What other coaches was Gruden opposed to, lol? Come on, man.  

 

Again, the stupid was flowing from the top and everyone who comes here gets affected by it. Gibbs friggin traded a hundred picks, had two seasons where he won only 6 and 5 games respectively, and left the team as the oldest team in the league. But we all know where that started from, don't we? We all understand the root causes there, for some reason. Yes, Gibbs certainly earned the benefit of the doubt in his career to garner that kind of deep analysis, but by the same token, Gruden was a first year HC who came into one of, if not THE, worst situation in the league.

 

It's amazing how I've ended up becoming this Gruden-defender, lol. I didn't even care for the hire. Go back and look at my posts. I thought everyone was so ridiculous the way they were trashing Kyle and Mike and how they used Robert, and how Gruden was going to be great and how flexible he is and how much of a player's coach he is, etc... and how Allen was going to let the scouts do their jobs and everything was going to be wonderful... but then to see the change and how it happened here? It's ridiculous. Suddenly, Gruden's past means nothing and he's this inflexible stubborn ahole who just hates his players, lol.

 

I mean, wow.        

[LD0506]

Some people seem to have this weird idea that Scot rode into town and just started pushing coaches around, telling them how they were to do their jobs. I simply cannot believe that there has not been a substantial amount of give and take between the GM and HC about exactly what was needed and where, and how it would all mesh together. Gruden inherited a mess, there's no denying that, and you can argue that he stumbled but dayum, expecting him to magically transform the team is a little much, hiring Scot benefits him more than anyone.

 

The coaching staff has been majorly upgraded, can't believe that happened against the HC's wishes or input. Seemingly good additions made on the lines (gotta see how they work in real games), secondary revamped, key elements added elsewhere, this roster is going to look very different from last year but somehow Gruden is just sitting in the isolation booth until training camp? C'mon

 

McClue has radically changed the atmosphere but he knows that most important thing, the whole organization has to work together, how can anyone think he doesn't include the HCs wishes and intentions in that? There will be growing pains but everyone, the GM, the HC, the QB all want and need success and can only find it together.

[Skinsinparadise]

Except, they weren't good at "run-blocking", they were good at run blocking in the ZBS, pretty much exclusively. That's a significant difference when we're talking about Gruden's ability to adapt.

Gruden kept both McVay and Foerster, while acknowledging that the reason for doing so was to keep the one strength the offense had going. That's being flexible. The vast majority of run plays were ZBS, but the Oline clearly struggled running it like in the past under Shanahan and Morris was struggling finding lanes.

I just don't see what else could've been done. You say the strength of the offense was to run more, I say bs. You'd have to cut Desean's snaps considerably to do so, which would've been a clear tell for the defense, and he was easily the best part of our offense. And it's not like we had a guy who could fill in for him and be a true dual threat catching and blocking to keep defenses honest.

 

 

This is almost exactly the same offensive line that helped lead the league in rushing 2 years previously, were 5th in 2013 and even then it was said the line is built much better for running then pass blocking, on third down when the defense knew they had to throw the O line often struggled to protect.   We had 4 of the same 5 O lineman last year.  The same running back.  The same O line coach, with the same scheme.

 

As I pointed out earlier part of what makes the running game work is sticking with it even when its not working earlier in the game.  You see Seattle for example do so all the time.   Dallas used to be impatient with the running game, not anymore.    As for D Jax, it's not uncommon to have one WR weak on that front, you just adjust -- and I think it more then evens out on balance when you consider Garcon is a killer run blocker and the fact that arguably we have poor pass blocking from both the TE and RB position.   Plus you got young developing QBs leaning a new system, putting the game on their shoulders isn't an easy route.

 

If I were defending Jay on pass-run arguments it would be they got behind a lot and had to throw more.  And so what if he is more of a Sean Payton, I like to throw the ball more type of play caller versus more of a Bevell-Gibbs style ball control guy -- coaches win in the league either way.

 

But to the point of the thread, I do think its a valid conversation in that, Jay so far in his career has not been a ball control guy.   And from what I've observed (some Cincy fans have said the same) he gets impatient with the running game and likes to throw the ball.   Plenty of winning teams do it the same way, so it can be taken as a criticism but it doesn't have to be.  The question to me seems to be Scot McCloughan helped built SF and Seattle as a ball control team -- that doesn't fit Jay's prior philosophy but rhetoric wise he seems to embrace it now, will it actually play out that way?  Should be interesting to watch.  But I respectfully disagree that the personnel was set up more for the passing game last year.   

[Koolblue13]

Middle of the pack would mean we were ranked 16th, not 21st. 

That's some hair splitting rankings. 1-10 ran a lot. 11-22 kind of mixed. 23- 32 passed a lot.

 

We are high side of the middle of the pack.

[Burgold]

I'm not totally sure how this thought plays in, but relative to running the ball we haven't been happy for years. Even in 2012 and 13, when Morris was putting up huge numbers, we still argued that Kyle was pass happy and too quick to abandon the run... and he often was. So, is that common concern the nature of the modern beast, a fault in the play caller, a deficiency in personnel, or all of the above.

There are reason's under the surface why Gruden and Kyle give up on the run immediately (like in the first quarter) and it's not as simple as we're too far behind because they've given up on the lead while we've held leads.

[Alexa]

Let's see....we have Garcon, Jackson and Reed. Plus this new kid that might be a stud in the slot. Seems to me that we should be passing it a bit more than pounding it 40 times a game. I guess it depends on the QB situation and need to see how that plays out, as well as the line. But we need to get these guys the ball.

[skinny21]

Anyone know our PA % vs the rest of the league?

Also, I'm curious what "tailoring the offense to Griffin" will entail. Thoughts?

Lastly, what do Gruden's detractor's need to see to come around on him?

[Reaper Skins]

The level of fan commitment in this area is so intense and long standing that in a lot of cases they are more familiar with the franchise than the players and coaches.  He's been here 1 year.

People on here are bashing Gruden him for being to honest and not giving players support, but an open door, brutally honest approach is just what this team needed to air out the stink of the last 2 decades, get some egos in check, and turn the focus towards actually get better.  No more playing to the level of "good enough" mediocrity.  He's here to make the team better, not win over the media or be blindly supportive of players who aren't getting it done.  Gruden does praise his players when they do something worth praising, there's just very little play in a 4-12 season to justify it.

The GM and the coach are alot more in synch with their philosophies that people give them credit for, and the idea that SM already has Gruden's replacement lined up is ridiculous.

[Burgold]

Lastly, what do Gruden's detractor's need to see to come around on him?

Wins. Lots of wins!

 

Same thing with Griffin's detractors and maybe even Snyder's.

[Jumbo]

I wrote much of this right after the OP appeared, and as I sometimes do, held it back to wait and see how the thread would go for sure, not wanting to start anything myself. <insert smiley--board glitch> I added some more to it just now, and it's one of my "wordy" posts, so make your choice. But imma post it now.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Really? The compulsion to endlessly recast the same old same old that some have re: RG3 and/or Jay (and prior to jay, there is a related degree re: rg3 and shanny et al) topics continues to fascinate, though many of us have appreciated the lull and notable "lessening" of much of that stuff in recent weeks.

First, understand and note---The OP/premise is basically another "uber-repetition" opportunity based on absolutely no new angle and ignoring the fact we have at least one existing Jay thread. But as was noted (so it doesn't need to be pointed out again in any reply to this post--pay attention to this), it is the off-season, and we really do get more lax as the board is slower and there's less need from a staff angle to be more limiting of excess. And this "new" thread arises, as the OP stated, solely out of the fact that the OP still doesn't think much of Jay (bulletin bulletin--and that view is absolutely fine of course) and for seemingly no other reason than to create yet another iteration of the same old merry go round.

Some folks don't like seeing this claim made, but discussions on jay and rg3, whether addressed separately in topic, or as an on and off again mix, and despite the denial of a few, have been connected here for many months in that they usually share many similar dynamics featured by a number of the same posters, often in voluminous repetition mode on these matters, and often tied together---obviously not unrelated to how Shanny topics/views became very melded to rg3 topics/views.

And yes, much moreso recently, many here have "progressed" to where there is more separation, nuance (here, "nuance" can be the size of a semi at times), and ability to acknowledge concerns in each figure instead of some "all for one and all against the other" syndrome. And that took a lot of effort IMO by handful of really good posters here (on differing sides) to keep beating the drums for more reasoned objectivity and open-mindedness and less presenting of speculation/interpretations as established facts amid all the white noise.

Still, this is a message board after all, and people come here to read and post at all "levels" of posting and for many of us it really is a regular habit. And prime centers of interest on the team are rg3 and jay, so what are you going to do?

Well, for me and a few others here, there's really no harm in waiting until you have something new to say on this topic or there's something really new to talk about, even if then you're more or less repeating previous views. At least then it's in application to new info/events in cases where such is available. I still post on topics a lot in several forums here, for instance, just not so much into the deal of repeating myself ad nauseam (as someone used the phrase) on thread topics where there's nothing new to say.

If you were to ask "well, gee, ****head (my other official title here) what do you want in your ideal little world?", it would be for some of ya to try your hand and create some actually interesting and new/different topics/angles or make some interesting/different or new post (thoughts). Whoah. I gots to sit down. <insert smiley> Per ES, don't ever get concerned---it's ok for the board to be slow at times. Always has been.

This is just me posting my personal take as a long-time Es'er and Redskins fan.

(our wonderful board/software/IT situation is glitching again so I am not getting my normal access to smilies/text options etc)

In the end on this stuff, to each their own.

Kudos and respect to those who will try to make some actual fresh conversation out of this, though.

[Boss_Hogg]

Gruden will be gone after 2015 and we'll have another top 5 draft pick. 

 

That's all I care about. 

[Burgold]

It is difficult to cull fresh insight out of old data. It can be done.  Sometimes very old data sets can still yield patterns that up to now have remained unnoticed.  What's even tougher is to take an old data set and then pull out new findings on the same hypotheses that the original study and all the subsequent replications have been based off of. 

 

That's the difficulty w assessing Gruden now.  We are looking at an old data set... his first season. Some are assuming that data is static and some think that there will be some degree of evolution within the organism or personality as learning or environment impacts, but the truth is... we haven't seen any new data with the exception of how rookie minicamp was run.

 

We do have some data on how Callahan is different than his predecessor or Barry is different from Haslett, but everything is almost necessarily a rehash except the talk about draft picks and even that will soon be old hat until we get to see them in action.

 

Still, no one likes a vacuum and so we must continue to wring out every ounce of worth from our data. After all, this isn't science... it's passion.

[LD0506]

............... it is the off-season, and we really do get more lax as the board is slower and there's less need from a staff angle to be more limiting of excess.......................

 

So would it be fair to assume that the beginning of the season might bring with it yet another oh-so-entertaining thinning of the herd? Lie to me even, just say yes, I could use a lil sumpthin today, besides your new mods need scalps for their lodgepoles

 

 

 

.......................And that took a lot of effort IMO by handful of really good posters here (on differing sides) to keep beating the drums for more reasoned objectivity and open-mindedness and less presenting of speculation/interpretations as established facts amid all the white noise...........

 

A point worth repeating/stressing, the wheat here has been valiantly warring against the chaff and deserves some recognition.

[clarkskin]

An even run/pass ratio is more often an indicator of having had a good season, but not necessarily the cause for it.  How in the hell could we have close to a 50/50 ratio when constantly in huge deficits?  Not too many folks would be happy if we stuck with our "balanced" gameplan when down 17 in the 4th quarter...

[Jumbo]

Couldn't have asked for a more choreographed follow up than Boss Hogg's lol. (hope you get that the way I mean it, BH--no worry, and you're hardly alone)

This might (likely) have just become a mini-me version of the rg3 thread, but I think that can be avoided if it lives.

I alluded to something weeks ago related to where Scots head was actually at and the effusive "in Scot we trust" movement and how fragile it will be for some (as was shown, though not as badly as it could have been in some reactions to the draft).

I said Scot was gonna surprise a lot of posters with the draft and he surely did...but here's another thing...and I'm going to post this only as my speculative analysis..he's also very positive about jay both as a HC potential and a "real football guy." He's not just making the best of it or "counting the days"--he likes (would underline that word if it was working) working with jay.

I figured we were likely going to find Scot will do any number of things that confound many here---I sure hoped so as that is a generally good sign IME. I remain just fine trusting Scot in ALL things GM-wise, including without expecting perfection or miracles, and I don't mean just "when he thinks like I do."

I think Jay has genuine potential and knows the game very well indeed, and has a share of good qualities for the job. But for me he is still a question mark overall with much to prove and some seeming shortcomings in leadership and communication. Sufficient mastery of the X's & O's at a championship NFL level is something I'm skeptical about, but he's good IMV and still "new" too and can grow.

I couldn't accurately gauge him in isolation well enough by my standards in this cluster**** last year. So I'm more in a "wait and see" mode than "the verdict is in!!!". I do look at him going into this next season as "no matter what you're given to work with, this is a prove your individual worth all on your own and make it obvious or plan to go" year---which is how I also see RG3 and several other players/staff.

Note to Burg: I think it's much less about "passion" in most instances and more about many other forms of impetus lol. I often use "it's just one of my favorite wastes of time" as an explanation, which is what an old girlfriend once dubbed me.

[Burgold]

Note to Burg: I think it's much less about "passion" in most instances and more about many other forms of impetus lol. I often use "it's just one of my favorite wastes of time" as an explanation, which is what an old girlfriend once dubbed me.

That's a less kind, but not inaccurate way to put it. I was trying to be nice. I think the power of habit and addiction also plays a large role in posting, reading, message board behavior. I suspect it does for me anyway.

 

On the Scott and Gruden marriage part, I don't have any clue whether McCloughan likes Jay or not. My feeling is this year is a "prove it" year. All the parts from Scott Campbell to Jay and RGIII are being given a thorough examination... not quite a clean slate, but close to it.

 

If they pass muster then onwards and upwards, but if they don't I wouldn't be surprised at seeing Madame Guillotine. If I had to guess,  I'd say that Scott wants Jay to work out. It's easier and best, but is he pulling for him?  I wouldn't go that far. I will say he has given Jay as much help as he could which is all to the best. It doesn't feel like a lame duck season in that way.  Scott went hard to work at fixing holes. On the coaching side, I think Jay chose his staff as should be.

 

The judgment is not in. 

 

Besides in professional circles "like" has little to do with it. It's about results. My feeling is Jay has this year to prove himself or find himself out.  He may have more slack than that and who knows what proving oneself means, but that's what I think.

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

I think it's too early to tell whether Jay has the intangibles required to get us to where we want to go.  I remember (vaguely) the story of Bart Starr going home after his first meeting with Lombardi.  The Packers sucked at the time.  Bart's wife wanted to know why he was so happy, and Bart said because he knew they were going to start winning.  

 

Some guys have that, and I'm not saying Jay should be Lombardi, I'm sure we'd all be happy for a coach that put us on the right track and stabilized the HC position.  Some coaches are better equipped to lead than others, which is often overshadowed by Xs and Os discussion.  It certainly takes a mix of both to have sustained success.

 

Regardless of intangibles, it takes talent to win games.  Until we have talent competing at every position, it's tough to judge what a coach can do with it.  I just think Jay can improve his chances of seeing this thing through, if our team shows improved effort, execution, and discipline.  I'm pulling for him.  Someone has to come along and end this seemingly eternal mess.

[Burgold]

At this point, I think it might be useful if Jay becomes Bruce Budreau. A guy who instills energy, excitement, and winning into a team long defunct. Maybe he doesn't get you to the peak, but he sets you on the upwards trail.

[Jumbo]

Redskins GM: Building winner not a one-year thing, it's a 10-year thing

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25186550/redskins-gm-building-winner-not-a-one-year-thing-its-a-10-year-thing?FTAG=YHF7e3228e

“This is my philosophy,” the GM said this week during an appearance on SiriusXM (via the Washington Post). “Right or wrong, I've been lucky to be with San Fran, I've been lucky to be with Seattle. I've seen how it's always [come to fruition] if you have the philosophy, it's not Day 1 that you're going to be better, but if you go the long haul, in the future, it's going to be really good.

"I want to make sure the coaches are on board, I want to make sure the scouts are on board. I want to let them know when we take this player, it's ownership. When we're bringing a guy in here, he could be 21, 22, 23 years old, but we need to teach him. We need to teach him how to be a Redskin, we need to mold him to be a Redskin. And let's get him a second contract. And then that's when we start hitting it, that's when we start going. … It's not a one-year thing, it's a 10-year thing.”

<edit>

Not surprisingly, Griffin and coach Jay Gruden expects Year 2 to be much better than last year's forgettable four-win effort.

"Yeah, just knowing what coach wants and growing together. We're all in this together. We know that," Griffin said earlier this week. "We go out there as a team and we come off that field as a team, so whatever happens is under our control and I look forward to continuing to grow with him and the rest of the team."

[Burgold]

"I want to make sure the coaches are on board, I want to make sure the scouts are on board. I want to let them know when we take this player, it's ownership. When we're bringing a guy in here, he could be 21, 22, 23 years old, but we need to teach him. We need to teach him how to be a Redskin, we need to mold him to be a Redskin. And let's get him a second contract. And then that's when we start hitting it, that's when we start going. … It's not a one-year thing, it's a 10-year thing.”

 

Nods happily. Good quote and sentiment.

[TSO]

This is almost exactly the same offensive line that helped lead the league in rushing 2 years previously, were 5th in 2013 and even then it was said the line is built much better for running then pass blocking, on third down when the defense knew they had to throw the O line often struggled to protect. We had 4 of the same 5 O lineman last year. The same running back. The same O line coach, with the same scheme.

Sooo... last year the Oline wasn't allowing Morris to get hit behind the LOS, Morris wasn't struggling to find lanes like he did in previous years, and Desean had no affect on anything? Let alone the regression seen with the TEs in run-blocking as well. None of that happened because they were the same guys so it's impossible. Players don't age, QBs don't get injured, schemes need no adjusting, it should all just work.

Now, that could all be on Gruden. Or it could all be on those coaches he retained. Or it could be some combination of that along with a lack of an overall vision from the top and it would've been a tough situation for anyone to overcome (my position more or less).

Gruden was just a big dum dum. Kyle was just stupid, too. We probably could've finished as the best rushing team in NFL history had they just committed more. I mean, of course game situations and the defense knowing what's coming has nothing to do with anything. Just their commitment to it. Those idiots.

There's simply no way for you to know that more of a "commitment" would've helped the offense. There's no way to know how that would've affected the way defenses attacked us. There's no way to know how it would've affected the passing game. There's no way to know if the running game actually benefitted from the ratio we had due to the defense staying honest.

You mention the Seahawks commitment, but fail to bring up how easy it is to commit to running when you have the best D in the league. Imagine if we went 3 and out more than we already did because we stubbornly stuck with the run... Yikes. I don't think there's a game where the opposing offense scores less than 40.

It's easy to just throw that out there and assume you've found the solution. Heck, I remember when Gibbs was constantly criticized for "run, run, pass". Now we look back at that era with fondness and how "Gibbs got so much out of that terrible personnel making it to the playoffs twice".

We think we know everything while it's happening.

The Shanahan's were trashed for keeping Robert in the pistol, not spreading teams out and playing in tight formations. Because Robert was the awesomest bestest pocket passer and those idiots don't know how to use him. Gruden will now surely let his passing skills flourish, I mean, he got that Dalton to do well and that guy sucks compared to Robert's magnificence.

I swear, I'm not exaggerating. This was a common theme all offseason last year.

Now we're essentially saying we're going back to more tight formations and a run-heavy scheme, and people have the audacity to say "yeah, should've been doing that the whole time since our personnel was more suited for that". Ugh. Mind-boggling.

I'm not saying we shouldn't criticize. What I am saying is we should qualify our criticisms with the understanding that there's so much we simply don't know. Too often we make blanket statements like we have all the information necessary to judge and we've got ****.

Don't get me wrong, like Jumbo said... It's getting a lot better and that type of commentary has certainly lessened. But assuming more of a commitment to running the ball last year would've worked better for the offense, or the team in general, is overboard for me.

It's just as likely, if not more so, that our strength at WR and the passes called allowed us to not be the worst offense in the NFL, finish at 12 overall in yards, and allowed our running backs some space they otherwise may not have had at all.

I'm glad now we see that our QBs need this. Last year that wasn't the case. Gruden was brought in to take Robert and turn him into the awesome passer he so obviously always was. That false vision started at the top of our organization and you can't put it all on Gruden. Now, fortunately, Scot is correcting this and by all indications Gruden is definitely on board.