pft.com bruce Allen won’t let Scot McCloughan talk to media

[Playaction2Sanders]

I'm sorry Scot has been our best GM in decades.. He had one bad year and it had nothing to do with drafting dud's but guys who could contribute but caught the injury bug... If we cut him loose before his time, we deserve all the bad karma that comes with it...

[Koolblue13]

1 hour ago, Birdlives said:

 

 

Bottom line, the team is a dysfunctional joke thanks to our owner. 

I'm as critical as anyone but this is ridiculous. 

 

I've brought this up a few times as an example, but Danny wasn't even allowed to make a uniform decision. Pant color. Cant even chose the color of his teams pants on game day.

 

Who gives a **** if the GM can't talk to the media. It ain't his ****ing job.

[Skinsinparadise]

From meeting Bruce and Scot.  It's easy to see the same on TV.  Scot is a straight shooter, brutally honest.  Bruce is a nice guy but the ultimate smooth politician.  With sensitive negotiations going on or about to go on, I gather Bruce wants a politician out there spinning things and I don't think that's Scot's style. 

 

I think the most silly part of that article is the Aubrey Pleasant part as if him not being back is a disaster.  I think Galdi's tweet sums it up well for me.  I generally like Mike Jones but him going on and on about Pleasant being lost to the Rams was the kicker to me that he just wanted to write a doom and gloom article -- hey what if everything goes bad?  Kirk's gone.  Every major FA is gone.  The defensive coach fails, etc.  Yeah agree with Jones if every major decision fails in the off season and it all goes wrong, things would be bad at Redskins Park and there will be consequences.  But I don't see how that's a revelation outside of Jones laying that out as a viable possibility. 

 

Al Galdi ‏@AlGaldi  24m24 minutes ago

More

Nothing against Aubrey Pleasant, but when exactly did he become #Belichick? Reminiscent of over-reaction to #Redskins losing Morocco Brown.

[Birdlives]

6 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I'm as critical as anyone but this is ridiculous. 

 

I've brought this up a few times as an example, but Danny wasn't even allowed to make a uniform decision. Pant color. Cant even chose the color of his teams pants on game day.

 

Who gives a **** if the GM can't talk to the media. It ain't his ****ing job.

 

This **** starts at the top. You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

 

GM's talk to the press. It IS their ****ing job.

 

As for the issues with the GM, it's smoke. He's always talked before, now he's being muzzled.

 

Like I said, puddles on the deck. Not definitive of anything, but not good either.

10 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

From meeting Bruce and Scot.  It's easy to see the same on TV.  Scot is a straight shooter, brutally honest.  Bruce is a nice guy but the ultimate smooth politician.  With sensitive negotiations going on or about to go on, I gather Bruce wants a politician out there spinning things and I don't think that's Scot's style. 

 

I think the most silly part of that article is the Aubrey Pleasant part as if him not being back is a disaster.  I think Galdi's tweet sums it up well for me.  I generally like Mike Jones but him going on and on about Pleasant being lost to the Rams was the kicker to me that he just wanted to write a doom and gloom article -- hey what if everything goes bad?  Kirk's gone.  Every major FA is gone.  The defensive coach fails, etc.  Yeah agree with Jones if every major decision fails in the off season and it all goes wrong, things would be bad at Redskins Park and there will be consequences.  But I don't see how that's a revelation outside of Jones laying that out as a viable possibility. 

 

Al Galdi ‏@AlGaldi  24m24 minutes ago

More

Nothing against Aubrey Pleasant, but when exactly did he become #Belichick? Reminiscent of over-reaction to #Redskins losing Morocco Brown.

 

Valid points. It seemed like a bit of filler to me, but the article did just what it was supposed to. It generated the potential of "here we go again". Bottom line, until the team stops this kind of stuff and is consistent in winning year to year, we're still on the verge, we're still at a crossroads. Based on past history with this owner, pardon some of us for being pessimistic.

[FrFan]

When Bruce Allen said "we were winning on the field", that disqualified him from giving any lessons regarding media communication to anyone, imo.

[Taylor703]

9 hours ago, skinfan2k said:

GMSM shouldn't be talking to the media. This offseason determines his fate.

 

If this off-season determines his fate than this franchise is dumber than I ever thought it was...

[Riggo#44]

So I just wasted a couple of minutes of my life reading Mike Jones article in the Post--he's gone full Jason Reid. Holy hell that article was hot ****ing garbage. Rants about how the Redskins are 20 days away from free agency, and have made no progress on their free agents (neither has anyone else outside of Jamie Collins), bashing the drafts after 2 years, no mention of almost $80 in cap space and 9 picks. Says Fuller and Cravens showed promise but are unproven--well no ****, they're rookies...

 

I went in on him on Twitter. Nothing but standard click bait. Jerry Brewer is so much better.

[Wyvern]

I can understand some possible reasons for Allen's action.  And it doesn't mean we have to view this as some impending harbinger of doom for the franchise (as the WaPo article tries to convince us to do).

 

What's the upside for the Skins in having McCloughan talk to the media?  

 

--Does it help to have McCloughan's reactions/evaluations to certain candidate Free agents or potential 'Skins draft picks be publically aired?  

 

--Does it help the Skins to have him fend off multiple questions/requests from the media to have cough up details about the Skins wish list and/or their strategies for talent acquisitions?

 

-- Is there an upside to having McCloughan spend his time preparing for these interviews with story-seeking reporters, instead of using that time for preparing for interviews with potential additions to the Redskins roster or on analyzing/evaluating talent (a big reason why McCloughan is with the Skins FO)?

 

Over the last couple of years, we've seen the Skins improve on the control of Skins internal information that gets out into the public.  This latest decision by Allen is probably one more precaution aligned with that philosophy.  After all,  Allen handles the press skillfully enough, and this relieves McCloughan of the obligation to have to meet with the media.

 

After all, how does the franchise benefit from having each of McCloughan's reactions subject to televised micro-scrutiny by the media, so opponents can try to glean intel from any tells that McCloughan might slip.  The Skins don't owe most of these media-vultures a thing!

[Reaper Skins]

If there's one person in the organization that I don't want distracted from doing his job during the offseason, its the GM.  

 

The less time he spends answering the same 3 dumb questions about Cousins, and having his words twisted and put under a microscope , the better.  "Ooh he said he'd "like" to have Cousins back.  Last week he said he'd "love" to have Cousins back.  BREAKING NEWS: GM souring on Cousins!  Deal looking like it won't happen!   

 

He's focusing on improving the other 52 roster spots.  Allen is focusing on keeping the media out of his hair so he can do it well.  Why is this a bad thing again?

[bedlamVR]

this is an example of a press guy raging against the fact there is no news - so while there is no news you still need to sell advertising get people reading your articles - so you make news . 

 

Its an irritation i get from from most of the press guys at the minute . Even tandler and Kiem are getting a little ancy 

[TSO]

59 minutes ago, Birdlives said:

 

As for the issues with the GM, it's smoke. He's always talked before, now he's being muzzled.

 

It's not smoke. Maybe a fart in the wind. 

 

What evidence is there that he's "being muzzled"? 

 

All we know is a directive came down from Allen, who is in charge of these things, for the media to not have Scot available. 

 

How do we know Scot didn't want this himself? What if he told Allen he doesn't want to deal with the media? There's nothing to indicate that this wasn't mutual, at worse. 

 

It's a jump to conclusions (mat) to assume Scot is being victimized here. Make no mistake, the art of subtlety is strong within the media. They're pissed they can't talk to Scot and they're going to fire some shots.

 

Now, maybe you're right and this is indicative of another mess occurring under Snyder's watch. But you're not going to be right based on this. It's weak. What you're claiming are red flags is based on total speculation.

 

Everyone is speculating out of their minds right now because it's been extremely quiet. I refuse to get caught up in anything until it happens. Until Kirk isn't signed to a LTD, for instance, I think it's silly to panic. 

 

Yes, it's worrisome because this organization has seen epic collapse after epic collapse and, yes, it absolutely starts at the top. But to assume that's what's happening here now and throw away all the progress that's been made the last two years based on rampant speculation? 

 

Come on now. It's time we start recognizing that we're way too paranoid as fans because of the past. Let's not play a role in this or add fuel to what is likely nothing more than frustration on the media's end. There's nothing substantial here, just a journalist taking a negative angle on everything that has happened based almost entirely on his opinion. 

 

I'll be right there with you if some of what's being implied here ends up being true, but that won't change the fact that it was just a solid guess on Jones's part. It won't make the way he went about this right. Sometimes you get the right result even though your process was wrong, so let's not aide that process. 

[Birdlives]

11 minutes ago, Wyvern said:

I can understand some possible reasons for Allen's action.  And it doesn't mean we have to view this as some impending harbinger of doom for the franchise (as the WaPo article tries to convince us to do).....

 

 

Valid points, but skepticism is still warranted. Its still the Redskins, they've still been bad for almost 2 decades, and the owner has still been an impatient douchebag over that time. If it's at all possible that he wants blow this up if we don't win after only three years of what most would consider solid progress, then things really haven't changed. That's valid, it's disconcerting, and it's intolerable. I know people want to stamp the team with things are different but it will not be different until we have years of competitive success in the rear view mirror. It still starts at the top.

[LexLukas]

This fan base is the reason we can't have nice things. The draft is a crap shoot we all know that. Stop trying to run on Scott.

[Koolblue13]

I guess making this a story is better than rehashing the cousins and Doctson crap.

[onedrop]

4 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I guess making this a story is better than rehashing the cousins and Doctson crap.

Depends on whether you're a Redskins or eagles fan. 

[ThomasRoane]

I don't think there's a conspiracy here.  The bread crumbs point to the issues that Allen has with Scot.  Zoony was one of the first to point out that our superstar GM has not been very "super."  Here are the issues that would lead Bruce to putting him on a short leash.

 

1.  The Russini "deep throat" leaks prompting Scot's new wife to embarrass the organization with a very public cat fight.  Not to mention the fact that Bruce has been trying to get rid of the "sources say" BS that has plagued the Org for far too long.

2.  Draft a right guard with a top 5 pick.  Now, I'm personally okay with it because Scherff is and most likely will be a perennial pro bowler.  Still, you don't want to draft a guard that high and pay him like you would a bookend Tackle. 

3.  Missed badly on Matt Jones.  A third round pick should be a starter.  Drafting an RB that shies away from contact does not show that you've done your homework as a talent evaluator.

4.  Preston Smith has talent but we aren't sure that he loves the game.  BMitch, Doc, and Cooley have all questioned the kids motor.  Takes too many plays off. Again, why wasn't this found out in all the research?  Especially when our GM said he wanted football players.  Football players should love to play football!

5.  He has missed on a lot of Free agents.  Zoony covered the full list but guys like Golston, Reyes, Paea, etc have been big disappointments. 

6.  Our safeties were far below average and Sua Cravens (2nd round pick) couldn't beat any of them out.  And Sua played some Safety in college.  I'll give him a pass on the injury.  That happens and Cravens had not shown a history of being hurt.  We'll see if that continues to be a problem (a la' LL30).

7.  The team needed inside backers.  Spaight is undersized and not the fastest guy.  Today's backers need to be able to cover a back out of the backfield.  It's a passing league.  Douglas kinda disappeared.  Got hurt I guess but seemed kind of stiff.  A run stopper who can't play on third downs.  QB's like Rodgers would see that; go no huddle and pass making that guy cover someone he can't cover.  Situational substitution plans are hard to maintain now.

8.  Josh Doctson.  The player with the mystery injury is a H-U-G-E problem!  You cannot miss on a first round draft pick.  Especially if you're going to neglect a talent-starved defense to go with a position that was well stocked.  I'm fine with the BPA theory but you have to be right about that guy.  We don't know if Josh really has an injury or if he's an immature (albeit nice) kid who is homesick and doesn't do well on his own.  A big problem for an NFL athlete. 

9.  Tensions with Jay Gruden.  Jay knows his job is on the line and he's a little frustrated that he's not getting the help he needs from Scot and personnel.  Jay remarked that his last two first round picks were for a guard and a receiver who was hurt the whole season.  Now, Scot did go to bat for Jay on arguing for Kirk over RG III.  That was good but I think Jay is a little tired of people knocking him and giving Scot a pass.

10.  Scot couldn't keep his mouth shut about the Cousins contract.  I'm not so sure that Scot was just playing the bad cop in the negotiations.  Kirk was obviously pissed with him and showed it with the emotional outburst after the GB game.  If Bruce is going to get Kirk to agree to a team friendly contract (which won't be nearly as friendly if they had made a deal the past season) then Kirk needs to feel some love.  Scot running his mouth to his buddy Jason Cole was not helping.  That also makes me wonder if maybe Scot was really the one who said the team needed to see Kirk prove that 2015 wasn't a fluke.  That cost the team millions of dollars against the cap.  That was a big time financial miscalculation and if that was Scot's doing then if I'm Bruce I'd be pissed too.

 

Bottom line is that Scot is being put on notice that he is accountable.  Bruce and Jay may be on the hot seat but Bruce has made it abundantly clear that the GM is right there with him and that he better focus less on leaking info and do a much more thorough job on evaluating the talent for this year's draft and free agency. 

 

 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

1 hour ago, Playaction2Sanders said:

I'm sorry Scot has been our best GM in decades.. He had one bad year and it had nothing to do with drafting dud's but guys who could contribute but caught the injury bug... If we cut him loose before his time, we deserve all the bad karma that comes with it...

 

I agree.   He's had some bad luck.  Josh Doctson has become Scot's albatross as to his critics.  The dude is a punch line to them.   Scot's fault that he got hurt.   If all that happens is he gets healthy I think it would represent a big turnaround in the perception of that draft coupled with Cravens developing into a stud at safety which I think will happen.  

 

The other part of this is favoring later for now approach isn't sexy with the media and some of our fans so Scot gets burned for that perception wise.   For example, he traded picks and moved in the draft (we didn't have a 2016 4th rounder because it was traded for 2017 picks) to set up 2017.  But I noticed it rarely gets a mention. It's as if Scot had a 2016 4th rounder and struck out on it.   We now have two 4th rounders, two 5th rounders, two 6th rounders in 2017.  But who cares to some?

 

At the time, Vinny mostly got some love for doing "now" stuff at the expense of later.  Yeah he traded next years 2nd rounder to move up in the draft but Vinny got the man -- we got our guy Rocky Mcintosh. On and on.   Vinny just got slammed later in retrospect when those moves were proven short sighted.   Scot doing the reverse doesn't get the love/credit -- favoring later at the expense of now isn't fun and sexy.    Perception wise, Scot might as well have thrown that 4th round pick in the garbage last year.  So my point is he isn't going to win over some perception wise with that approach.  Even though that's the approach that almost everyone (including the media) was clamoring for when they hit rock bottom in 2014. 

 

The reason why I think everything will be cool after this off season is I think it will serve both the patient and impatient ones concurrently. Adding future picks and cap space is meaningless to the impatient ones (mostly talking about the media) while we are going through 2016 -- but it becomes meaningful in 2017 because the boring future turns to the present.  And yeah keeping my fingers crossed on Doctson.  I suspect that pick turns from what some consider a bust to a boon. 

 

I am not saying Scot is immune to criticism.  He's made mistakes.  But who in his position hasn't?   And I know some here say that bringing in Vinny sets the bar low for Scot and its an unfair comparison.   My point on that front isn't Vinny the person.  It's the Vinny approach.  And I think Vinny's name is so toxic that some (especially the media) distance themselves from any association to him -- but at the same time if you listen to them philosophically they agree with the Vinny approach:  spend big, win now, and most importantly, if it doesn't work immediately its a disaster, someone needs to be blamed for it and lets try something new -- something cool, sexy, and shiny, patience is for losers!  The idea of setting up the cap for the future, adding picks is meaningless, who cares -- its not tangible, if you can't feel it in the present, it just doesn't exist. 

[SkinsGuy]

30 minutes ago, bedlamVR said:

this is an example of a press guy raging against the fact there is no news - so while there is no news you still need to sell advertising get people reading your articles - so you make news . 

 

Its an irritation i get from from most of the press guys at the minute . Even tandler and Kiem are getting a little ancy 

 

This is pretty much it.

 

People (including sports media) are so used to dysfunction and leaks at Redskin Park, that they don't know how to act when there isn't any dysfunction or leaks, and there haven't been any sine GMSM arrived here.

 

So they try to manufacture some.  Not to mention this is the Washington (Com)Post we are talking about. It's obvious this is just another petty, vindictive shot in their tawdry little feud with Snyder.

 

 

[ThomasRoane]

12 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

The other part of this is favoring later for now approach isn't sexy with the media and some of our fans so Scot gets burned for that perception wise.   For example, he traded picks and moved in the draft (we didn't have a 2016 4th rounder because it was traded for 2017 picks) to set up 2017.  But I noticed it rarely gets a mention. It's as if Scot had a 2016 4th rounder and struck out on it.   We now have two 4th rounders, two 5th rounders, two 6th rounders in 2017.  But who cares to some?

 

 

Scot has done some really good work in some areas.  I never saw Crowder being such an NFL threat when he was at Duke.  Scot also hit on Mason Foster and Vernon Davis in Free agency.  So, it's not all bad.  But his work is not good enough to convince any proven DC (like Bradley, Phillips, etc) to choose to come coach at Washington.  Scot has a good reputation from the past but like he demanded of  Kirk he needs to prove it with the Redskins as well.  Bruce just reminded him of that fact in a crystal clear manner. 

[redskins59]

Honestly, SM gave away our plan last year.  We wanted to draft Ryan Kelly, but SM gave that plan away to the media.  And I honestly believe that it contributed to the Colts drafting Ryan Kelly.  Their GM loves to copy ours.  Remember that year when they claimed our rookie Tevin Mitchel?  

So he should stop talking to the media.  He can't give away our secrets.

[Skinsinparadise]

I think there are some myths about the draft similar to the myths being discussed about FA in the Kirk thread.  Where the perception is how things should be versus how they typically are.  Bill Parcells famously said in his draft specials if you can find 2-3 players who can contribute then you had a good draft.

 

That's a difficult concept to grapple with and its understandable why. I think that's because we all get jazzed about our draft picks.  They are all shiny new toys to unwrap after draft day.  We read about them, most of them have good stories. There is hope.  We expect them all or most of them to contribute.  But, it's just not typical reality.

 

Lets take Matt Jones. And lets start with WHERE he was taken in the third round.  They traded down with Seattle in that round.  The Jones pick was close to the bottom of the third round.  So I'd call it for what it was a low third round pick -- close to being a 4th rounder.  And yeah statistically pulling a rotational running back as a late third rounder is actually a hit not a miss.   If you consider the stats, the odds that you pulled off a RB starter with a late third round pick is about 12-13%.  

 

The kicker on Matt Jones is lets pretend none of that is true.  Scot arguably recovered that pick with finding an undrafted FA at RB.  Not to mention its not over for Jones, yet.  

 

Kiper actually of all people says it well.  He's more or less said the draft is a crap shoot, its really hard to impossible to nail most of your picks.   So your best shot to do it is to increase the number of picks you do have and thereby increase your odds -- that is do it the Patriots way.  If you go through the Patriots drafts they strike out a lot and strike out consistently.  But they play the volume game.

 

It's part of the reason why I think Scot's critics will be satisfied with him this off season.  Doctson should be healthy.  And he added picks to this draft (fortunately a talented draft as to positions of need -- maybe coincidence  or could be forethought) that he's set himself up to have a good draft.

 

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2015/2/20/8072877/what-the-statistics-tell-us-about-the-draft-by-round

Running Backs

The position has been devalued over the years but the statistics still show that it is better to draft early if you are looking for a starter.

• Of the 207 players drafted 33 have become starters for half their careers. This gives an indication that there is a lot of Running Back By Committee (RBBC).
• There is a very high bust rate for RBs. The first round gives you a 58% chance of finding a starter followed by 25% in the second, 16% in the third, 11% in the fourth, 9% in the fifth, 6% in the sixth and 0% in the 7th.
• If you rank the rounds by the total RBs drafted you find that the greatest number are drafted in the 7th, followed by the 4th, 6th, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, and 5th.

If you want a stud RB, they are likely to come from the first round. If you are looking for depth, the fourth round seems to be the place to go. This year Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon have the first round grades based on statistics it seems likely that one of the two will be a bust. However, this could be like 2007 when AP and Beastmode went in the first round. For the Chiefs, since 2007 they have taken a RB every draft except 2010. Both Charles and Davis were the highest drafted both coming in the 3rd round.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2015/05/22/tracking-nfl-draft-efficiency-how-contingent-is-success-to-draft-position/#7849c4d928ea

2) Correlation between Draft Position and Staying Power

Given that the average career length is only 3.3 years, this begs the question of how much more likely are higher draft picks to stick around the league longer than later draft picks.

For simplicity, and with more time I would like to build a larger sample size, I looked at all players drafted in the 2010 draft, and gauged what percentage of games over those five years (a max of 80 games) have players started.  The sample size here of 210 players produced these results:

Percentage of Total Games Started
(Since 2010...80 games max)
Groups	Median
Overall	15.0%
1st	67.5%
2nd	33.8%
3rd	36.3%
4th	6.3%
5th	4.4%
6th	1.9%
7th	0.0%

[Probos]

10 minutes ago, redskins59 said:

Honestly, SM gave away our plan last year.  We wanted to draft Ryan Kelly, but SM gave that plan away to the media.  And I honestly believe that it contributed to the Colts drafting Ryan Kelly.  Their GM loves to copy ours.  Remember that year when they claimed our rookie Tevin Mitchel?  

So he should stop talking to the media.  He can't give away our secrets.

 

?????  How do you know this??  Ha,....

 

I think it's clear SM doesn't have the power most thought he had.  Bruce runs the show,...which really sucks.  The fact that your GM (at least in name) is encouraged not to speak with the media is troubling.  It does not project solidarity and cohesion at the top.  The way they've handled the Cousins situation speaks to that as well. 

 

 

[CrypticVillain]

*yawn*

 

I guess I should elaborate... We had back to back winning seasons for the first time in a long time. Yeah, last year didn't result in a playoff year, but considering the pieces we had, it was a pretty decent year. If this is how they want things to be in the off-season, so be it. We're still moving in the right direction IMO.

[Dissident2]

I know everyone wants to believe a more rosy picture of what's happening, but I've always liked Mike Jones and feel like he's a great, usually accurate beat reporter. He's never struck me as the sensationalist type. And everything he writes here speaks to what I've been feeling (and probably most other fans, if you're honest) this whole offseason thus far: unease. There is a stench-heavy wind blowing, 

 

This team's upper management continues to bungle things because they have no idea how to effectively sustain success, and it usually boils down to how they treat their staff. As usual, we hear the same reports of backbiting, refusal to pay what people are worth, unclear lines of authority, and of course the usual worthless commentary from Allen. (I will never forget his absolutely shameful presser after Shanahan was fired. That wasn't even amateur hour.)

 

They need to sign Kirk as soon as possible. Going into the season with him on a franchise tag would be an absolute disaster, knowing he'd be a lame duck quarterback. They should also give Jay an extension. Now. And they should let SM speak. This team desperately needs more transparency. Scott's made some big mistakes, but you can't ignore the first two winning seasons in a row in umpteen years. He's also a straight shooter. Just ask Russini (sorry). 

 

 

[CTskin]

7 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Lets take Matt Jones. And lets start with WHERE he was taken in the third round.  They traded down with Seattle in that round.  The Jones pick was close to the bottom of the third round.  So I'd call it for what it was a low third round pick -- close to being a 4th round.  And yeah statistically pulling a rotational running back as a late third rounder is actually a hit not a miss.   If you consider the stats, the odds that you pulled off a RB starter with a late third round pick is about 12-13%.  

 

The problem here is that when we were on the board in the 3rd round, David Johnson was available... The tradeback was a poor move.

 

That being said, we've had two above average years with McClu and when coupled with his success in SF and SEA, I just won't let myself get bothered by each individual hit or miss. 

 

More importantly, I just hope this gag order doesn't ruin our boy SIP's shot at winning another auction to hang with McClu.