SkinsGuy Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Laughable the oddsmakers have us as third favourites behind the Cowboys and Giants. I really fancy our chances of repeating tbh. Same old song and dance with many of the prognosticators. They'll have the Cowboys winning the division, and the Giants second (by virtue of all that money they spent in FA). Then they will have the Redskins 3rd or 4th, depending on the talking head making the prediction. You can set your watch to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morneblade Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Same old song and dance with many of the prognosticators. They'll have the Cowboys winning the division, and the Giants second (by virtue of all that money they spent in FA). Then they will have the Redskins 3rd or 4th, depending on the talking head making the prediction. You can set your watch to it. They will probably put us 4th, because that is "what we do" after we win the division. Personally, I hope they do pick us last. As for how I think we'll do, there are a couple areas that still concern me, but we shored up some other holes and with other guys getting back from injury, I think we'll be better than last year. We might take the division again, but I think we at least 1, maybe 2 years away from really being good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek1973 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 They are an 8-8 team, but the division is bad and other things could break their way. They could make it to 11 wins, but I doubt it. If things go extremely (but reasonably) badly, they could be 5-11 (e.g. several key players end up missing large chunks of time). The run game is up in the air. Jones had the one really good game, but I'm dubious of him and was when he was drafted. I'm assuming they'll try and add a RB somewhere, the OL has to get better at blocking, and I really think it would help if Cousins became better at play action. Cousins is not as good as he showed last year. He is not one of the most accurate passers in the history of the NFL, which is what his completion % would suggest. I'm still not sure why that happened. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he slipped back statistically from where he was rated about the 5th best passer over all last year to about 10th. It is possible that there is something I'm missing with respect to Cousins and the offense, but I still don't understand how that happened. Moses is what he is at this point in time. Scherff could reasonably improve. I'm not sure given the combination, you'd ever call that side a force, but it can be at least good (and might be there now realistically so could become better than good). I liked the Louvaou pick up when they made it. I would have liked to see him in a functional offense/system/organization. Those kind of pick ups make a lot of sense to me. But given his age now, the time missed with injury, and the injury issues, I'm not sure he's going to be somebody you can count on. He's had 2 surgeries this off season on his foot/ankles, 7 in his career, and is not going to be ready until training camp (will miss OTAs). That's not a guy you can count on being a consistent force going forward. If some how he suddenly gets healthy, that would be a big help IMO. Barry appears to be eh. He doesn't appear to scheme up well enough that he can make the unit better than the players, but you could certainly do worse. Given enough talent, I suspect the defense could do really well with Barry, but you'll need elite talent. Making the jump from average to really good requires luck. You have to get players that out perform expectations based on what you paid (either in terms of money or draft picks) for them, and in that sense, it is hard to predict until it actually happens. So far, I'm not impressed with the strategy to make that jump. If Vernon Davis becomes a pro-bowl caliber TE again, then that would certainly help them make that jump. But nobody really is predicting that, which is why we got Davis so cheaply/easily. Peter I hope you don't mind picking your post to make some counterpoints. 1> The run game is up in the air from the point of view that we didn't really upgrade at RB. Yet before the injuries to LG and C last year we were really good against two top Ds. if you remember back when Callahan took over for the boys, they didn't have a stellar running game his first year either but his second year Murphy exploded. I am not hoping for that type of improvement, but I think we will improve a lot. 2>Why wouldn't Cousins be at least as good as last year? He will have the entire offseason as a starter. OTAs, mini camp and camp. He will work with the same receivers (again I am hoping no injuries) with a stellar from all accounts rookie WR being added. Niles Paul is going to be back so when Reed takes a breather, the pass to the TE is still an option. The OL should be even better this year protecting him. All these points are ++++ from where we were last year. And again even a marginal improvement with our running game will help him out. He will need to really regress and I just don't see that happening with this guy, he is way to much invested in his game to regress. 3>Again another year under our OL coach and I think Mosses and Scherff improve, hell the entire line should improve. Its not if Louvaou get healthy, its everyone improving just a little in both pass and run blocking along that line and I think with this coach that will happen. 4> Barry will have a lot more choices in his packages. Remember last year we really got decimated in our secondary, now we have several choices there, the key is to keep Kerrigan, Gallette and Smith healthy because both those guys will get pressure which will make the secondary that much better. Run stop is the key and honestly this is my only worry for the D. Lets hope they fix the issues. 5> For me the only luck required for this team to go deep in the playoffs and win our division is keeping the injury bug away. We just can't afford injuries to key players like Reed, Kerrigan, Norman, Cousins, or anyone in the OL, certainly not Williams and Scherff. if that happens I love how we match up against our division opponents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayAction Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 As long as romoSUCKS is healthy the Cowboys should be better this season. I expect the Giants to be better despite throwing money around like Snyder in his bad old days. The Eagles are in transition but likely to play tough despite their overall record. If the Skins can get to 9-7 that would be a huge because it shows that the Skins are on the path to sustain a competitive team. But 9-7 is not likely good enough to win the division outright and unlikely to garner a post season opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twelfth man Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 No major injuries and the OL and DL do better than last year vis-a-vis most opponents, 10-6 (given tougher schedule this year). HTTR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbob Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Still 19 and 0. Just like most years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Peppers Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Anyone catch any of the expert's "2017 Too Early Mock Drafts"? We are picking between 7 and 14. I've seen 4 mocks and 14th is the latest we've picked. Todd McShay has us picking 7th. (Insider Required) http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2016/insider/story/_/id/15452051/cleveland-browns-headline-todd-mcshay-way-too-early-2017-mock-draft-nfl-draft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 I don't expect us to get worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morneblade Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 If we stay healthy, we're a better team than last year. I'm going to guess 10-6, without look at our schedule. I'm hoping most of our rookies can help us, because most of them are filling holes we have, and I'm hoping Martell Spaight is healthy and contributes a lot. If we get hurt a lot again, and the rooks don't step up, more like 7-9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergie829 Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Ok peeps, I know a lot of people don't give credence to ESPN prognosticators. However, watching SportsCenter Special tonight they are talking about how all the divisions stack up after the draft. As for the NFC East they all agree that the Redskins are still the favorite for 2016, unless romoSUCKS stays healthy for the entire season which in their opinions could make the difference. They do agree that Elliot and Doctson will both contribute to their respective teams for the upcoming season. So my question is: What are your expectations as far as Cousins vs romoSUCKS are concerned? I don't think romoSUCKS can stay healthy for 16 games. He's 36 years old and his window of opportunity is closing fast. I don't think he has the stamina or the talent, cause he ain't Brett or Peyton that's for sure. If he can't stay healthy, who is his backup? It's doubtful that their rookie QB can come in and make any kind of immediate impact like Goff, Wentz or Lynch. Cousins is healthy, he showed great improvement as the season wore on last year and there is no reason to expect his growth not to continue, unless he is injured. However, God forbid he gets injured, we do have a viable backup in Colt. What do you think? (PS: I did not use romoSUCKS in this, spell check sucks.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbit Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Cereally, It all hinges on LeRibeus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 5 wins is our floor, 11 wins our ceiling. 5 or fewer wins is regression. 6-7 wins I can see and would not consider regression, but more a tough schedule and bad luck. 8-9 wins I think of as improvement. A solid performance with a really tough schedule. 10-11 wins I feel exceeds expectations and is a really good season. 12+ wins, we've arrived ahead of schedule. A playoff appearance and a win or two to boot would be gravy. I'm going with 8-8. Improvement to me, but probably disappointing to most. I feel like one more draft and some development of our young group and we'll be ready to compete on a year to year basis. At that point it's just about continuing to fill the pipeline. And for the record I want Scot here running drafts like Ozzie runs Baltimore. Do whatever it takes to keep him in his element and running this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veteranskinsfan Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 If we go 8-8 and still improve in several areas that is fine. This division is hard to repeat as Eastern Conference Champion. It has been several years since the same team won back to back in this conference. ESPN has Redskins coming in second and Dallas coming in first place. We have more talent this year than last year but our schedule is tougher. I believe in our General Manager and his drafting ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinsInFebruary Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 ESPN has Redskins coming in second and Dallas coming in first place. Wait, greed trumps football again? Shocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 Gotta strive to improve to double digit wins. Regression back to the 4-6 win territory would be painful. If we get the injury luck we're due for, we should be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTskin Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 I was ecstatic to win the NFCE last year, but in the back of mind I knew we were still a year or two away from being rebuilt, so the thought of playing a "1st place schedule" in 2016 put me in pessimistic mode. I just went over the schedule and am now a lot less concerned. I hate that we start off on prime time MNF against the best offense in football, but other than that, I only see two games that I chalk up as probable losses- panthers and cards. I believe our floor is 7 wins with three of our last four games being very winnable. I just wish I had a reason to believe our rush offense/defense would be improved. Aside from finger crossing that our young OL take the next step and that our defensive scheme will be revised to make up for our lack of run stuffers, I worry that the trenches will be our demise again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters20 Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 I think around 8-8. I think it's another year or two before we can take that next step. One question is does cousins have a sophomore slump? It will be interesting because he has been in the league a while but last year was only time he started all games. Is there anything left for teams to learn about him or was last year his floor going forward? If we can figure out our running game I think that goes a LONG way to getting that next level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBass1724 Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 Don't underestimate the fact that Kirk is going into this season as the lead dog for the first time, has been injury free, and is playing in the same system that's been in place the past couple years. Our offense should be scary good with the weapons at his disposal. The whole continuity thing (coaches, players, system) has me more pumped than anything. This is the year to take a big jump to the next level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 I don't expect us to get worse. I think there is a chance we play better and still lose more games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyndorf25 Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 I think around 8-8. I think it's another year or two before we can take that next step. One question is does cousins have a sophomore slump? It will be interesting because he has been in the league a while but last year was only time he started all games. Is there anything left for teams to learn about him or was last year his floor going forward? If we can figure out our running game I think that goes a LONG way to getting that next level Sophomore Slump? Cousins is graduating! I understand what you are saying but Cousins is not a wide-eyed sophomore year 2 QB with the playbook and the team's fortunes just suddenly laid at his feet. This is a guy who had worked, studied, and learned while gaining the trust of his coaches and teammates over that last three years. This is his time to put it all together and I believe he will. Great. I just jinxed our franchise QB to be. My bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbo Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 No new insights or angles, but what the hell, it's slow http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/washington-redskins/some-experts-predict-poor-finish-2016-redskins-whats-basement-wins?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo SOME EXPERTS PREDICT POOR FINISH FOR 2016 REDSKINS; WHAT'S THE BASEMENT FOR WINS? <edit> ESPN's Todd McShay released a "Way-too-early 2017 NFL Mock Draft" last week that predicted the Redskins would hold the No. 7 pick in next year's draft. A Top 10 selection would generally mean the 'Skins win less than seven games, and to land at No. 7 likely suggests the Redskins go 5-11 next season. For context, the folks at Sportsbook.ag set a win total of 7.5 for the 2016 Redskins, with no monetary advantage to bet over or under. McShay's mock draft prompted an interesting debate from ESPN 980's Kevin Sheehan and Chris Cooley on Monday that asked what should be the basement of expectations for the 2016 Redskins. Though neither predicted Washington to drop to 5-11 from last season's 9-7, Cooley said he could see the Redskins falling backwards to a six-win season. Sheehan voiced a more bullish opinion, suggesting Jay Gruden's squad should lose no more than eight games. "This team is going to be better offensively than it was a year ago," Sheehan said. While last year's team did provide some offensive fireworks late in the season, and the addition of Josh Norman should significantly improve the defense this fall, Washington is still a franchise with just three winning records in the last decade. Scot McCloughan has done much to overhaul the roster, but the 'Skins are still just one year removed from a disastrous 4-12 campaign. In Vegas, gamblers like to look at the trends to come up with a bet. For the Redskins, the trends are paradoxical. On one hand, the success of Kirk Cousins from last year, combined with a full offseason at the No. 1 QB spot with no position battle, should be a harbinger of more success. Add to that the 'Skins added talented playmakers in rookie WR Josh Doctson and veteran TE Vernon Davis, and maybe Cousins should outpace even 2016's record numbers. With that in mind, and even a marginally improved defense, it could be easy to project a seven or eight win floor for the Burgundy and Gold, with a much higher, fan-pleasing ceiling. But, consider the team has done little to improve an anemic run game, or to bolster their run defense, and the optimism wanes. Add a first-place schedule, and remember the 2016 Skins never beat a team with a winning record, and a backslide almost seems inevitable. <edit> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBeast Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Gotta strive to improve to double digit wins. Regression back to the 4-6 win territory would be painful. If we get the injury luck we're due for, we should be fine Definitely want the double digit wins, even if we wild card in, or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 5 wins we're not allowed to have nice things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrine Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 My expectations are anything at 8-8 or above is a success. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and you cant build a dynasty when you fall back into 5-11 seasons. Its a brutal schedule, and you expect there to be growing pains. But you have to prove its a trend and not a fluke, and having a bad season just puts you right back where you were. On the plus side our passing offense should be fantastic this year. On the negative side, we still lack a run D and a running game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurgundyMalaise Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Pre draft? A bit early for this thread, no? This was a great point. I'm more confident in the team, specifically the defense, since my first post now that we had a good draft and added another key defensive player. Still worried about the running game on both sides but other than that, we seem to have a pretty formidable bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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