SkinsGuy Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Got this from Hap's Breaking News forum and brought it to the Stadium because I thought it might make an interesting discussion topic. ESPN basically had the beat reporters for 30 of the NFL's 32 teams rate the team they cover on a scale from 1 to 10 on how close that team is to being a Super Bowl contender (a "1" meaning no where near close and a "10" meaning a Super Bowl contender in 2016). They purposely left the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers off the list for obvious reasons. John Keim gave the Redskins a "7" as you can see here (the link to the article is below): http://espn.go.com/n...make-super-bowl With the Super Bowl matchup set -- Carolina vs. Denver on Feb. 7 -- we asked the NFL Nation reporters covering the 30 teams that won't be playing in February to answer a question: On a scale of 1-10, how close is the team you cover to being a Super Bowl contender? Here are their responses, with 1 being nowhere near close to being a contender and 10 being on the brink of playing in the 2017 Super Bowl: 7: Talented but missing critical pieces Washington Redskins: This might be a bit optimistic, but the Redskins have a good young core offensively, along the line and with talented targets in the passing game -- tight end Jordan Reed and receivers DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon and Jamison Crowder. Quarterback Kirk Cousins showed he could make this offense click. Cousins needs to show he can lead a team deep in the postseason, though (yes, the bar gets raised for him again). And the defense needs plenty of work, though they will be helped by the return of outside linebacker Junior Galette. Also, general manager Scot McCloughan's presence helps them in this quest. -- John Keim click on the link for more What do you think? Too high? Too low? Just right?Or too early? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsGuy Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 For the record, the beat reporters for their respective teams gave the Cowboys a "5", the Eagles a "4", and the Giants a "3". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 6 or 7 seems about right. I think our passing game is already good enough to contend with, and our ST coverage and kicking game were very good, but we have to shore up the defense and hopefully find at least a respectable run game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacks 'n' Stuff Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I'd've said 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetThePointsSoar Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I'd have said 11. But I may or may not be biased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveakl Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Three pieces away. Stud on the Dline, stud at mlb, stud in the secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Too early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazel-Ra Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Yes too early for that noise. I am hoping the team at least maintains 8-10 wins and continued to focus on the core building next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacks 'n' Stuff Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Our defense has a loooooooooong ways to go before we'd look like either of the D's playing in this year's Super Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 The Packers game showed that both O and D lines need to make more progress before consistently beating good teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Not even close to being in the same league as the majority of the playoff field this year. Never mind these final four teams, all four of whom should have made us all feel extremely uneasy about this roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaSkins Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Six has already been said but I will second it. Seven is a touch too high, but I think we are going in the right direction. He gave a subtle nod to McCloughan which is maybe what gave us a extra boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Comrade2000 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Probably 2, maybe 3 more solid drafts. Team, more than likely will slip next year. Gruden still has to improve as a coach. Kirk has to show he wasn't a one season wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemocystem Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I'm gonna go with, eyes tell me 6 based on evidence from this season.....but inference tells me 7-8 based on another full offseason with a potential bevy of cash, full case of draft picks, & more team experience/continuity. All under the capable thumb of Scot McCloughan. The potential is there to go backwards, but i don't believe it will be so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachboy757 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I think 7 is optimistic. I would say 5 or 6. The offense is good at ball control and defense good at holding leads in the first half, so if we can get a better pass rush and line backers that are more fast I think we can advance to competing with the better teams in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Probably 2, maybe 3 more solid drafts. Team, more than likely will slip next year. Gruden still has to improve as a coach. Kirk has to show he wasn't a one season wonder. Pretty much. Next season could well be a 'step backwards to carry on moving forwards year' as much as another playoff year. The rest of the East for one won't be half as weak next season. But at least we know we're building this the right way with a top evaluator who will assemble the pieces over time to get us back to where we so crave to be. Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrFan Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 We're on the right path but long is the road. We will have to beat teams with a winning record first, then keep most of our key players healthy as much as we can. If SMC will keep on drafting us gems and compliment the team with a few solid committed to success free agents, I would say in three years from now we will be a serious SB contender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsGuy Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 6 or 7 seems about right. I think our passing game is already good enough to contend with, and our ST coverage and kicking game were very good, but we have to shore up the defense and hopefully find at least a respectable run game. This is where I am at, too. The NFL is a passing league, and if you have a great passing game, you've won a lot of the battle. However, the Redskins do need more (particularly on defense). Some of that will come from players on IR getting healthy. Some in FA and some in the draft. When I saw this, I felt that a "7" seemed a little too high. At the same time, a "6" felt too low. So I say a "6.5" sounds right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsGuy Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Probably 2, maybe 3 more solid drafts. Team, more than likely will slip next year. Gruden still has to improve as a coach. Kirk has to show he wasn't a one season wonder. I disagree that the Redskins will "slip" next year, though I get why folks feel this apprehension about the upcoming season. Mainly because that has been the team's pattern. To have a let-down season following a good season. However, this team has shown it can break these type of patterns. I believe this team (led by our GM) will break this one as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFTW Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I wouldn't bet against the letdown season. It's been going on since at least 1983. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I disagree that the Redskins will "slip" next year, though I get why folks feel this apprehension about the upcoming season. Mainly because that has been the team's pattern. To have a let-down season following a good season. However, this team has shown it can break these type of patterns. I believe this team (led by our GM) will break this one as well. Can't speak for anyone else (good God I wish I could because you just KNOW the game day thread for one will be utterly unbearable if the record isn't at least parity to this past season); but I wouldn't personally see it a 'let-down' year if we did say have less wins and no post-season as I thought we massively over achieved, as awesomely brilliant as December in particular was, this year for where we should be at this point. It would be just be part of the natural development curve with a more or less completely rebuilt young team for me that naturally will have dips as they go. Nothing to get too disheartened over as they'll both doubtless be a lot of continued growth within that and so long as you keep sight of the ultimate bigger picture down the line. But sadly it wouldn't be viewed that way as we know the way message boards go. We've had a taste so we want it ALL! And we want it NOW hot darn it! Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofSparta Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 The rest of the East for one won't be half as weak next season. Why not? The Giants and Eagles will have new head coaches. New coaches, new philosophies, no reason both can't have down years again next year. Sure, the Giants still have Eli, but he's been under Coughlin for how long? How quickly will he be able to adapt to a new offense and scheme? And a new Eagles HC might realize that having Murray on the team means you should run once in a while so Bradford doesn't die, but Chip has spent 3 years gutting that team of most of its talent. Dallas with a healthy Romo and Dez can be an issue, no doubt. But Romo is also having surgery to fix his collarbone, which he's now broken 3 times. And he's 35. No doubt he's still got a few years left, but it's not like players get less injury prone as they get older. Also, the run game was decent but nothing to write home about without Murray. Every team in the East still has flaws that make them very beatable, even us. But the Giants haven't had a winning season in what, 3 years? Chip shipped out almost everybody with talent, and the new coach is now missing a high draft pick thanks to the Foles-Bradford trade. Dallas is relying on a 35 year old, mistake-prone QB who broke his collarbone twice this year. For all we know Kirk is a 1-year wonder (think Anderson on the Browns a while back, or Cassel in NE), but if he can prove he's made it to the next level, we're in a much better position than anyone else in the East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 ..... For all we know Kirk is a 1-year wonder (think Anderson on the Browns a while back, or Cassel in NE), but if he can prove he's made it to the next level, we're in a much better position than anyone else in the East. A healthy Dallas would take exception to that and I wouldn't argue against them. But it's not the time right now for that so I'll leave it. Hail. *Edit* Unless you're talking about QB's going forward. I was just thinking of their overall roster right here. right now when healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofSparta Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 *Edit* Unless you're talking about QB's going forward. I was just thinking of their overall roster right here. right now when healthy. I should have clarified, because that's what I meant. Cousins, if he proves himself, is about a decade younger than Eli/Romo. So unless the Eagles ditch Bradford this season and go younger, we'd have the youngest starting QB. I'd kill for Sean Lee if he could stay healthy, but he's another big question in big D. I'd also love to have Witten...but I'd rather have had him 5 years agao. Right now I think Reed's youth is a better bet for us 2-3 years down the line than the fact that Witten is apparently made of adamantium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I should have clarified, because that's what I meant. Cousins, if he proves himself, is about a decade younger than Eli/romoSUCKS. So unless the Eagles ditch Bradford this season and go younger, we'd have the youngest starting QB. I'd kill for Sean Lee if he could stay healthy, but he's another big question in big D. I'd also love to have Witten...but I'd rather have had him 5 years agao. Right now I think Reed's youth is a better bet for us 2-3 years down the line than the fact that Witten is apparently made of adamantium. Oh, I don't think we have many genuine top bracket players right now, but Reed's as good a playmaking TE as any the entire league for me. Up there with Gronk. Those two are a level above anything else. Graham whomever. I'd argue that all day. Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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