Scott McCloughan: Honest Evaluation and Contract Renewal

[50yrSKINSfan]

Just now, ConnSKINS26 said:

As an impartial observer, I have to say that SIP is killing it in this thread and that 50yrSKINSfan is stepping in it big time. Carry on.

 

 

 Guess you were happy watching our D getting pushed all over the field like they did Mon. Guess you will be happy watching the Cowboys and Giants in the playoffs but wait, we have the second coming of Bobby Bethard in our new GM. The op asked our opinion if SM should be retained and what we thought of his job so far. I gave my opinion and the bottom line is a FACT that 2 teams in our division are better than us and it was not the case last year. Now who's fault is that?                                                                              First I never said I liked Reese. I said he did a better job this year than our guy IMO. Now here is his resume for the people that think he stinks- 9 complete seasons- 2 super bowl wins- 77-67 regular season record- 8-1 post season record- 2 NFC championships. finished .500 or better in 6 consecutive seasons. This does not include this season in which he has 10 wins already.

[Skinsinparadise]

I know we all want to win.  Jerry Reese has been the GM for 10 years.   Reese won the Superbowl the first year he was there -- clearly he didn't build the whole roster from scratch in 1 year.   Reese was brought up in a post with multiple examples of what he did right.  Just a year ago, the NY media and fans were loudly pushing this dude to go.  I recall watching his end of season press conference where a NY media member asked Reese about why the Giants are so poor compared to the rest of the league at landing players in the middle to later rounds of the draft.  Reese got defensive and snippy about the question.  Then a few days later, the same reporter did the research and showed statistically how poor the giants have been at drafting.   Today, Reese is the genius who turned the defense around. This is again in year 10.

 

Even if we are going to go on the wild ride that Scot has done a bad job here.  The Playoffs and potential back to back winning records -- doesn't matter.  The defense isn't good -- case closed.  He took Scherff over Williams.  Doctson got hurt and why him versus any D lineman.  We can't take it.    Then, look at it this way.  People didn't write articles about Scot being the best talent evaluator in the league (if you recall the ESPN article) because he stinks at picking players.   So in my view, even if we go on the bizarre ride that Scot is just screwing it all up.   Doesn't someone with a proven record at being good at his job, deserve some time?    

 

Wouldn't the Redskins look like a dysfunctional organization if they dumped within 2 years a high regarded talent evaluator based on the premise that we don't have the patience to wait out a draft.  (Again Landon Collins stunk his rookie year -- he's good now.  That's how it works for many young players) and we have no interest to see what he does with the 10 picks they accumulated and the cap room?  Sorry, it just seems wildly impatient.

 

The fact that we are talking about our D getting pushed around Monday Night and that we can't stand watching the Giants and Cowboys in the playoffs -- IMO comes off very in the moment/Danny Snyderish.     If the Giants acted in the moment last year after missing the playoffs for the 4th year in a row and with a defense that was a bigger laughing stock than ours -- Reese would have been gone and I doubt you would have seen the turnaround they had this season.  My main argument here is why the lack of patience.  Or at the very least, I am sure even Scot's harshest critic knows the dude isn't a moron.  

 

Reese was aware his defense was really bad last season.  It was really bad the year before that, too.  He hit a point that enough was enough and tackled the problem hard.  Scot is about to do the same thing.  Why not relax and watch the movie and see what happens versus decrying the problem?

 

[Wildbunny]

Scot not only is a great talent evaluator, but, and I would even more importantly, he's respected by our owner. The fact that he was able to step in, and convince our owner regarding the Cousins / RG3 thing, is not a small feat.

 

Last offseason, we jumped on the Norman's opportunity, and we did it big time, preventing him from moving, until he signed the contract. We can afford almost every money we want and our owner is not afraid of spending big bucks. If Scot tells him that we can go full house on X or Y player, it's highly unlikely it will turn into Haynesworth 2.0

 

If he sees some opportunities next offseason, he'll be able to step in big time and makes whatever needed. Kirk won't be a problem either, we'll get the job done on both side of the ball.

[Skinsinparadise]

14 minutes ago, Wildbunny said:

Scot not only is a great talent evaluator, but, and I would even more importantly, he's respected by our owner. The fact that he was able to step in, and convince our owner regarding the Cousins / RG3 thing, is not a small feat.

 

Last offseason, we jumped on the Norman's opportunity, and we did it big time, preventing him from moving, until he signed the contract. We can afford almost every money we want and our owner is not afraid of spending big bucks. If Scot tells him that we can go full house on X or Y player, it's highly unlikely it will turn into Haynesworth 2.0

 

If he sees some opportunities next offseason, he'll be able to step in big time and makes whatever needed. Kirk won't be a problem either, we'll get the job done on both side of the ball.

 

To play off of this post.  I am in the unusual position of having met him during the season and talked to him -- where I got a sense of what he's thinking.  It was absolutely clear as day to me that he is going to town on fixing the defense in the off season.   He has the picks and cap room to do it.  It should be a fun off season.   I have no clue what player he's going to pursue.  But I believe that he will pursue FAs he loves and I believe he will be willing to spend some money to do it.  I got the strong vibe this isn't going to be an off season where its going to be him signing purely the low cost Reyes types.

 

If people don't want to take my word for it.  Mike Jones said the other day basically the same thing. 

 

[dallasfan]

JMO, take it for what it's worth or disregard

 

As a fan of the Cowboys, I'd love for you guys to fire McCloughan and go back to the way things were.  I takes a lot to win a Super Bowl and I'm not one to say success lives and dies with winning one, so when I say that I don't think he's gotten you all close to competing for one, it really has no barring on his success at this point or not.  What I am comfortable with saying is, I think the days of repetitive last place finishes are over as long as he's here.  From 2008-2014, you guys were in last place every season except 2012, the RG3 season, even if you go back a few seasons prior to that to say 2004, it took 5 game or so winning streaks to end the season in 2005 and 2007 to stay out of the bottom.  So while taking a step back at some point and finishing in last place may happen, like we did in 2015, I'm pretty sure you guys will be a competitive football team in most season with McCloughan making the decisions.

 

I don't think he's had a home run yet in the personnel department, Brandon Scherff was a very good pick, but given his perceived value before the draft and needs at the time (as well as current needs) it's hard to not think Leonard Williams wouldn't have been a better pick.  Jamison Crowder is really close to being one, but I'd like to see what he does as the #1 or #2 WR next year before calling him a HR.  But even without that home run, he's building a solid team with solid depth.  He's also for the most part keeping Snyder away from things, which is something Shanahan, Allen and Gruden could not do prior to his arrival.  I think if he 100% had his way, he would have resigned Kirk Cousins long term after last season and save a few million per year, so I'm interested to see where his contract value falls or does he get franchised again, but I think you guys will be competitive year in and year out now.

[Wildbunny]

Damn if Dallas fans are praising our GM, that means we're doing some good stuff

 

Still, I can't believe what I just read... Isn't it in the natural order of things for Cowboys' fans to just do some trash talking with us? I'm puzzled now...

[elkabong82]

2 seasons in a row we are playing meaningful games in December. First time this century that has happened. 

 

Scot is the solution, not the problem. Some fans are just stupid and love to prove it after a loss.

[Hail2theSkins24]

2 minutes ago, elkabong82 said:

2 seasons in a row we are playing meaningful games in December. First time this century that has happened. 

 

Scot is the solution, not the problem. Some fans are just stupid and love to prove it after a loss.

 

 It wasn't just a loss, it was an absolute beat down by a team that lost to a playoff team by 6 TDs two weeks before. The Monday Night beatdown shows just how weak this roster is right now. I'm still firmly on the Scot train, but don't call fans 'stupid' for showing criticism and concern

[NewCliche21]

4 minutes ago, elkabong82 said:

2 seasons in a row we are playing meaningful games in December. First time this century that has happened. 

 

Scot is the solution, not the problem. Some fans are just stupid and love to prove it after a loss.

 

Pretty sure this is the ES motto if you add, " and during the gameday threads.  Especially NewCliche21.  **** that guy."

[elkabong82]

3 minutes ago, Hail2theSkins24 said:

 

 It wasn't just a loss, it was an absolute beat down by a team that lost to a playoff team by 6 TDs two weeks before. The Monday Night beatdown shows just how weak this roster is right now. I'm still firmly on the Scot train, but don't call fans 'stupid' for showing criticism and concern

 

Oh my gosh, you're myopic view is completely right! Let's just ignore all the wins, the overall record, the progress of the team under Scot's tenure, all of it! Let's ignore that he inherited garbage Joe Barry who has squandered the talent brought in for D. 

 

I'm calling fans stupid because they are completely discrediting what Scot has done so far and are giving all positives to prior regimes despite those people leading this team to crap records. You're defensive because you agreed with that kind of post in here "a lot" (wonderful contribution there btw, as well as violation of board rules). Those fans are turning on our GM in under 2 seasons despite the fact that this is the first time in over 2 freaking decades that this team is good 2 seasons in a row. This "weak" roster is still 7-6-1 and has an elite offense.

 

So yeah, the posts giving all positive credit to others, implying Scot has done nothing, even going so far as to cry about the Scherff pick solely because of where he was drafted (dude is arguably top 5 in just year 2), those are all very stupid posts.

 

 

[Hail2theSkins24]

8 minutes ago, elkabong82 said:

 

Oh my gosh, you're myopic view is completely right! Let's just ignore all the wins, the overall record, the progress of the team under Scot's tenure, all of it! Let's ignore that he inherited garbage Joe Barry who has squandered the talent brought in for D. 

 

I'm calling fans stupid because they are completely discrediting what Scot has done so far and are giving all positives to prior regimes despite those people leading this team to crap records. You're defensive because you agreed with that kind of post in here "a lot" (wonderful contribution there btw, as well as violation of board rules). Those fans are turning on our GM in under 2 seasons despite the fact that this is the first time in over 2 freaking decades that this team is good 2 seasons in a row. This "weak" roster is still 7-6-1 and has an elite offense.

 

So yeah, the posts giving all positive credit to others, implying Scot has done nothing, even going so far as to cry about the Scherff pick solely because of where he was drafted (dude is arguably top 5 in just year 2), those are all very stupid posts.

 

 

 

 Again, I like Scot. What I don't like, are homers like yourself who bash fans that criticize some of the moves he has made. Who the heck said Scot has done nothing? About the Scherff pick, I like him. He's a solid Right Guard. But I can see why others would question it (Williams/Vic Beasley being passed). That's the point I was making. 

 

 Hope the view is nice on your high horse. 

[50yrSKINSfan]

Just now, elkabong82 said:

 

Oh my gosh, you're myopic view is completely right! Let's just ignore all the wins, the overall record, the progress of the team under Scot's tenure, all of it! Let's ignore that he inherited garbage Joe Barry who has squandered the talent brought in for D. 

 

I'm calling fans stupid because they are completely discrediting what Scot has done so far and are giving all positives to prior regimes despite those people leading this team to crap records. You're defensive because you agreed with that kind of post in here "a lot" (wonderful contribution there btw, as well as violation of board rules). Those fans are turning on our GM in under 2 seasons despite the fact that this is the first time in over 2 freaking decades that this team is good 2 seasons in a row. This "weak" roster is still 7-6-1 and has an elite offense.

 

So yeah, the posts giving all positive credit to others, implying Scot has done nothing, even going so far as to cry about the Scherff pick solely because of where he was drafted (dude is arguably top 5 in just year 2), those are all very stupid posts.

 

 

Oh let's rejoice in the wins, all 7. Let's forget about the beat downs by the Steelers and the Panthers at home in prime time. Let's rejoice in the ALL-PROS Scott has given us on defense.  Let's rejoice about our elite un-balanced offence. Let's forget the misses Scot made in the draft and FA and the trading down instead of trading up. Let's forget we were NFC East champs until the Giants and Cowboys both passed us. And he calls us stupid.

[Hail2theSkins24]

@50yrSKINSfan You're proving his point about going for Scot's throat. Has he made mistakes? Of course, but without him Kirk could be a starter on another team and we'd be finding a QB. He trimmed a lot of fat off the roster, and while last offseason wasn't very productive, he has the resources to really build the team the way he knows best. 

 

 I agree with you, it's time to stop looking at Scot as a genius savior who can do no wrong like others glorify him as. But I think you'll be pleasantly surprised what he does this offseason 

[ZRagone]

3 hours ago, Hail2theSkins24 said:

 

 It wasn't just a loss, it was an absolute beat down by a team that lost to a playoff team by 6 TDs two weeks before. The Monday Night beatdown shows just how weak this roster is right now. I'm still firmly on the Scot train, but don't call fans 'stupid' for showing criticism and concern

 

If that loss shows how weak the roster is, what did the absolute beat down of a team in contention to be a division winner and who's been a perennial powerhouse tell us about the roster? If you're going to do knee jerk reactions, then somehow in the span of a few weeks our roster has shown to be strong (against Green Bay) and weak (against Carolina). This is why judging the roster on knee jerk reactions to single games is idiotic. 

2 hours ago, Hail2theSkins24 said:

 

 Again, I like Scot. What I don't like, are homers like yourself who bash fans that criticize some of the moves he has made. Who the heck said Scot has done nothing? About the Scherff pick, I like him. He's a solid Right Guard. But I can see why others would question it (Williams/Vic Beasley being passed). That's the point I was making. 

 

 Hope the view is nice on your high horse. 

 

Vic Beasley looked rather worthless last year, and a stand out this year. We'be got a guy from that draft who was a stand out one year and just kind of there another year...and he's being classified as a bust. Thanks for pointing out Vic Beasley, he's actually an example of why the overreaction 2 years into a draft is ridiculous. 

 

Also, scherff is arguably a top 5 to 10 guard in the game right now. Calling him "solid" right now is soft peddling his value. 

 

I dont diageee with you that reasonable criticisms of Scot can be had. Please read the posts of 50yrs, who is the primary person people are arguing with...these are not reasonable criticisms that are being levied by him. 

[Bang]

Nobody hits on every pick, and everybody has free agent signings that don't work out.

the difference is that now the ones we have that don't work out are not 100 million dollar deals that make the team a laughing stock and cripple us for the future.

we can drop first-signing David Bruton mid-season for sucking eggs, and we do not end up as jokes in Jimmy Fallon's monologue. We don't have the barrage of columnists having a jolly good laugh..  hell, for a time there it was a go-to for any writer anywhere if a deadline loomed and you had nothing.. just write about what a joke the Redskins are..   but not anymore. 

We are no longer the sucker to call on draft day to unload some old clunker for a picks. We make much more shrewd trades with an eye on the future.

 

McCloughan's free agents haven't been much to write home about, but he has pulled in emergency talent that has contributed,, Mason Foster off the street, Will Blackmon off the street. he shops deep, doesn't just buy the shiny pricey thing in the window, unless it is clearly one of the best in stock, ie; Norman.

 

McCloughan has overseen two drafts. which means his most seasoned vets are in ONLY in their second year. 

He's found some straight up dynamite in Jamison Crowder. Straight nitro, a certified game-breaker.

He's pulled Brandon Scherff, and nobody needs to have this justified anymore. (including the move to guard.)

Su'a Cravens has me VERY excited,, i think he can be a special player, and so do a lot of people. 

Kyshon Jarret looked like a steal of a safety who would certainly be helping things this year, but a freak injury can't be blamed on anyone.

 

Sophomore slumps are real, players who look good as rookies often don' look as good once the league has a season of film on them, so they have to grow.

So, for that and other reasons on the sidelines.. I do not hold Preston Smith's talent accountable as much as i do the coaching. I do not expect guys who spent their first season on IR to come in and be great, like Martrell Spaight. it's too early to make a final judgment on these players.

Matt Jones, i'd also say it's too early, except fumbling is a near-fatal sin. Running technique can be taught, but he's got to hold on to the ball. We've seen what he's capable of,, both good and devastatingly bad.

 

I'm all for Scotty McC. i think he does the job right, and I think he has the organization moving in the right direction.

 

~Bang

[Master Blaster]

Being as no one thought Moses would step up last year, the Scherff pick was a no brainer. 

 

Many of you posting remind me why I have pretty much quit coming to this site. Always negative. 

 

If this D gets 2-3 solid starters in the offseason and gets a competent D.C. (Really hope Scot makes this move) it can easily be a middle of the pack defense, which is all this teams needs with the offense it has. 

[bh32]

I think he should stick around just so we don't have to go through the Snyder years again,but i just don't understand the hype..There is no way in hell this team will be competing for a SB in year 3 with a defense so depleted of talent..Yes he can pick up players in FA,but how many quality player do you really think we could afford? With where we will be picking in the 2017 draft,no player will be a likely immediate contributor..So again the 3 year plan is way behind.It's likely gonna take 4-5 years because of the neglect of the defense,due to bust FA's and low round draft resources spent on defense..

[Master Blaster]

Let's not forget as well that last year the Redskins played a last-place schedule. This year it's a first-place schedule.  So theoretically they are putting up the same results against better competition (remember the no wins against teams with winning records last year?).

 

Looking like it will be a third-place next year.  I for one think this team is trending in the right direction. 

[Skinsinparadise]

12 minutes ago, bh32 said:

I think he should stick around just so we don't have to go through the Snyder years again,but i just don't understand the hype..There is no way in hell this team will be competing for a SB in year 3 with a defense so depleted of talent..Yes he can pick up players in FA,but how many quality player do you really think we could afford? With where we will be picking in the 2017 draft,no player will be a likely immediate contributor..So again the 3 year plan is way behind.It's likely gonna take 4-5 years because of the neglect of the defense,due to bust FA's and low round draft resources spent on defense..

 

The Giants had a defense way worse than ours and turned around the defense in one off season.  3 free agents and arguably just one draft pick from the year before turned the tide for them.  It's not as if this defense has nothing.  Trent Murphy and Kerrigan are 10 sack guys, maybe Preston Smith wakes up and reemerges.  Josh Norman is a stud. Su'a Cravens looks like a stud in the making.   Breeland is picking up.  Baker is good.   We got some parts.  Its just that the weak players are very weak.  You add two good D lineman, a free safety and maybe a MLB -- I think this defense is night and day better.

 

The Giants basically added a corner, a DT a DE and a young safety emerged and their wretched defense turned around.  Somehow I think its in play for us with about 70 million in cap room and 10 draft picks.  And our hurdle isn't as high as the Giants.  The Giants offense stinks.  They need their defense to carry them.  We don't.  We just need to upgrade from bad defense to a mediocre one IMO.  And I'd put money on us getting it done.

[CommanderDOOM]

In play for back to back winning seasons since when??

[thebeermonkey]

Easy to forget how abysmal this team has been for a long time. The NFL is about parity - we're moving towards that. We need defence but everybody knows that.

 

Give a GM 5-7 years and judge them them.

 

 

[elkabong82]

10 hours ago, 50yrSKINSfan said:

Oh let's rejoice in the wins, all 7. Let's forget about the beat downs by the Steelers and the Panthers at home in prime time. Let's rejoice in the ALL-PROS Scott has given us on defense.  Let's rejoice about our elite un-balanced offence. Let's forget the misses Scot made in the draft and FA and the trading down instead of trading up. Let's forget we were NFC East champs until the Giants and Cowboys both passed us. And he calls us stupid.

 

Yeah, because having a better record than the team with the best record in football is perfectly reasonable expectation in year 2 of a team that was 4-12 when Scot took over. Expecting all-stars at most spots on defense just in year 2 is perfectly reasonable. It doesn't take time at all to build a champion. Oh, and let's ignore that we actually do have talent and that a bad DC is squandering it. Go about your business of discrediting the GM for all positives and giving credit elsewhere. It's just pure luck for him. Clearly his track record is a mirage. Your posts are proving my point, so thanks. It will be nice if this team wins these last two because you'll probably disappear from the board.

[elkabong82]

12 hours ago, Hail2theSkins24 said:

 

 Again, I like Scot. What I don't like, are homers like yourself who bash fans that criticize some of the moves he has made. Who the heck said Scot has done nothing? About the Scherff pick, I like him. He's a solid Right Guard. But I can see why others would question it (Williams/Vic Beasley being passed). That's the point I was making. 

 

 Hope the view is nice on your high horse. 

 

Because homers totally rip on the DC in their posts. Because saying Scot isn't responsible for the team winning is such a legit POV. I said people that cry about Scherff because of where he was drafted are stupid. 

[justice98]

I think GMSM has benefitted from a lot of luck in free agency.  I would like to see a better, more proactive plan for this year.  His two big free agent signings were DJAX and Norman, who fell outta the sky unexpectedly.

 

He closed the deals when they became available, so credit for that, but had the Eagles and Panthers not stupidly cut impact players that wouldnt/shouldn't have otherwise been available, his free agent record would be rather spotty.  

[RedBeast]

I think this time next year most fans will be calling Dan to extend GMSMs contract (end of year 3, on a 4 year contract). Something ia afoot here and having that much cap money and draft picks in the same year is not a fluke.