The Bruce Allen/GM Thread

[The Consigliere]

On 3/19/2018 at 6:47 PM, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

Just gonna leave this here...

 

**** Kirk and his dad. 

 

Seriously though, I think Bruce deserves credit for making the most of a bad situation.  Not saying he didn't bungle the Kirk deal from jump street, but after everyone knew he wasn't gonna sign here we could've ended up in a lot worse situation.  I'm disappointed we let Fuller go (even though we had to add a piece to outbid other suitors), but sometimes you gotta break some eggs to make an omelet.  Or in Bruce's case, a couple dozen.

 

 

I don't see it that way. I see it as making the worst of a bad situation.

 

He should have been forward thinking and should have been calling New England every day about Garoppolo last year and if he couldn't get him, he should have taken his medicine in '18, signed a FA stop gap, kept our pick and Fuller, and drafted a QB in this class. Instead he signed an old vet coming off an unrepeatable outlier season now that he's off the chiefs and in a much inferior situation, and the team is just spinning it's wheels while losing out on two very cheap cost controlled assets (the top 75 third rounder and Fuller), and spending a ton of available cap space on said stop gap who won't get us better, and indeed is likely to lead us to a worse finish in '18 to that of '17. 

 

For me it's the worst situation possible. 

 

Take the damn medicine, sign a cheap stop gap who might actually be good like Keenum, or borderline adequate like Glennon, Bridgewater, or McCarron, save a ton of cap space by doing so, and then try to continue to build the team around the defense, and OL and hopefully developing weapons on offense. Instead we just spun our wheels, wasted cap space, threw away cheap cost controlled young players, one of whom may be a monster stud, and to what purpose? To try are darnedest to be 8-8 instead of 5-11 or 6-10 next year? No matter what direction the season goes, even if everything ends up coming up roses, this is still a mediocre at best roster in a tough conference that's getting better with innumerable teams that are far more likely to grab a playoff spot than us (Philly, Dallas, NYG, GB, Minny, Atlanta, Carolina, TB, N.O., L.A., Seattle and heck even San Francisco-does anyone really think we're likely to be a wild card in this situation? I see at least 11 or 12 teams as clearly better than us in the NFC and if that's so, what the hell purpose does Alex Smith serve? Now I have innumerable other reasons to hate the move beyond that, but if Alex Smith really made any sense to any team out there it would have been for Jacksonville or Denver, where the team basically could be a super bowl contender w/competent QB play instead of worst in the league caliber QB play (although Denver's falling off at this point). But when you're us, it's damn near impossible to understand this as anything other than a desperate attempt to camouflage really, really, really bad news to season ticket holders and the local fan base. 

[The Consigliere]

On 3/20/2018 at 8:46 AM, Skinsinparadise said:

The debate on 106.7 from the other day was mentioned here.  I listened to it, too.  I just listened to it again.  Here's the full gist of it.  It's entertaining to a degree because it dovetails from some of the debates here.  Except Craig isn't pro status quo FO -- the thing with him is more its not going to change so ignore it, live with it and focus on one good aspect of it which is college scouting.  

 

Grant Paulsen:

The Redskins front office has a non-football guy in charge  When Scot was there at least there was a football guy in the room -- high up the food chain.  Now they don't have a football guy running the show.  That's not what winning organizations do.  It's an odd set up and not a winning set up.

 

He goes Scot set the board last time in 2017 and FA.  Craig disagreed. He thinks its all scouts, scouts, scouts.  That's Hoffman's theme.  Then Grant goes Scot told me himself before he left Zach Brown was a target.  (on another note, I recall Breer said Scot told him Swearinger was a target)  Jay and Scott Campbell both admitted Scot was heavily involved in the draft board.  The only one who downplayed Scot for that was Bruce. 

 

Craig Hoffman

He's hung up (he said it on another segment on his own show) on the scouts in the building.  And they've had some good drafts. 

Grant's obsession with replacing Bruce and putting a football guy in charge is moot to him because even if they hire another Scot type -- Bruce will be in charge anyway.  That's the gist of Craig's point.  He said Scot was a scout with a fancy title. 

 

He goes Bruce won't hire a Dave Gettleman type to run the team.  He's not going to let that happen.   Bruce ran things not Scot when he was here -- that dynamic isn't going to change whether you bring a new fancy football guy into the building or not.   So Grant's hang up on hiring another Scot type is moot because he was just be a glorified scot like Scot anyway. So why obsess on that.  The scouts will have their say regardless.  So what's the difference is you bring in another one?

 

Craig goes based on what Bruce has done in Tampa it doesn't justify him running this operation.  But the drafts have been good since 2014 because of the scouts so focus on the college scouts.

 

Personally, I think Hoffman is underplaying Scot's scouting work some.  I think he's wrong in the case of Scot considering I talked to him in November in 2016 about college prospects.  He was like Rain Man with me on every player I threw at him.  On some of those players including McCaffrey he told me he scouted them in person.

 

Craig has talked about Bruce on other shows.  He doesn't think much of Bruce.  He agrees the Redskins do dysfunction with him.  But he doesn't think Bruce will be dislodged.  So his take is try to ignore Bruce and bask in the college scouting department which he thinks is good.  

 

As for Scot's antics.  The 106.7 guys have brought it up a number of times over a year now.  It's brought up here some times again in a way that comes off like its a new revelation but its not.  I believed that there had to be something to that stuff back then.  Heck, I actually backed Bruce on it and said if Scot had to go, he had to go.  Just replace him with someone else.  Bruce didn't and here we are.  

 

I wouldn't want a Gettleman type anyway. He's a poor GM. Give me Sashie Brown anyway. Guy knew EXACTLY what he was doing in Cleveland, did exactly what he said he would, and then got fired for it because the coach it's a horrid, talentless hack. Now an incompetent has been hired to replace him (busted the cap in KC, forcing them to cut key assets over the past few years to actually pay the young players, also was bad at drafting, and now is screwing up the golden goose Brown left him in that gigantic pile of picks to go w/an offense nearly perfectly built for a young QB to develop under, and a defense already containing some of the key elements most difficult to acquire cheaply: DL talent, and those guys are young and under long rookie deals). 

 

Even if you buy the media b.s. on Brown, you'll see the truth soon enough when the idiot they brought in takes all the credit for what Sashi built. Gettleman didn't do much in Carolina worth talking about-the easy way to show this is just to imagine how god awful Carolina would be without Cam Newton, and even w/him they've been erratic at best. 

 

On 3/20/2018 at 3:26 PM, Wildbunny said:

 

I won't absolve him right now. OK he's not looking that bad right now, because Alex Smith looks pretty, but there's still a few things to keep in mind:

- He was mostly responsible for that situation, so at best he got himself out of the hole he dig.

- He still depends on how Jay and Alex performs on the field next season. It doesn't matter if you get Smith. If Kirk wents on to the Superbowl with the Vikes and wins it, Fuller is looking like a Pro Bowler and you barely reach 8-8, you'll look like an ass for getting rid of those two.

 

So jury's still out.

 

I look at that schedule and I see a floor of 3-4 wins, a ceiling of 8-9, and a win expectation of about 6. I suspect Vegas will put us somewhere between 6.5-7.5 wins. 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

If some of the pro-FO people are looking for any friends among the local media -- the closest to it is Craig Hoffman.  Craig isn't a Bruce guy at all. But I've heard him continue to tout the college scouts.

 

Craig Hoffman‏Verified account @CraigHoffman 22m22 minutes ago

More

Craig Hoffman Retweeted Marshall

The way it’s been described to me, there are 4 heavy hitters below Bruce. Shaffer, Gruden, Doug and Scott Campbell. Kyle Smith and Alex Santos also have enormous voices. Of the 4, Jay and Eric I believe are the most important.

Craig Hoffman added,

 

 

[KDawg]

Honestly, given my observations in the press box, I think Santos has a pretty big voice/role.

 

Obviously I cant pinpoint details. But he always seems to be in the middle of conversations. I’ve seen him talk to Bruce, Scot (In the previous season obviously) and Doug Williams. And they were discussing “business”. 

 

I dont have more details because I’m a guest there and didn’t want to eavesdrop. But it involves replacement backers after our injury rash. Who they talked about I have no idea. 

 

But Santos seems pretty important to the machine.

[Wildbunny]

While lurking for articles for BHRBN, I stumble on this nugget from Richmond Time Dispatch. (Those guys haven't been posting anything for nearly a month, and here they go with a BA interview...

 

That's worth a read to get the opinion of the Dark Side of Redskins Park.

 

 

[purbeast]

JP Finlay sitdown with BA.

 

http://www.nbcsports.com/washington/RedskinsTalk

[Skinsinparadise]

Craig Hoffman just now joked that he's not being nice to the FO just to get an interview with Bruce.  But then he goes into more or less saying he heard Bruce is upset at McNally for writing something that was critical of him -- so he's not giving 106.7 interviews for now.   But they are pushing for that to change. 

[HTTRDynasty]

Unless I'm missing something, I don't see Bruce or Doug in this pic...

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

7 minutes ago, HTTRDynasty said:

Unless I'm missing something, I don't see Bruce or Doug in this pic...

 

 

 

Well, since they put such an emphasis on Doug's "plan" not including a GM, it would make sense that neither man would be there. Can you imagine the response if Bruce Allen's goofy mug was part of the GM pic? lol..."So he IS the GM!! Thought they weren't gonna have one!"...Even worse if Williams was shown instead..."Propping up Doug Williams as the 'GM' after telling everyone that he wasn't the GM. Typical. Knew he was just a puppet."

 

Who else is missing...I only counted 28 GMs. Would Jerruh be part of this pic or is Stephen shown? They all started looking the same to me lol...

[Burgold]

The Bruce Allen strategy only works if the team starts to draft really well. They had a good draft last year, but don't have a great track record. What I identify as the Bruce Allen strategy is using free agency to get young to prime year, solid, blue collar players on the moderate to cheap who act as plug in and glue players as the draft provides the "core"

 

Now, I haven't seen enough stars for the draft for this to pay off, but I think that's the plan.

[bobandweave]

How many years will Bruce ignore the biggest issues on this team? 

 

If you check the trends the same issues have permiated this team for years

 

Running the ball

Stopping the other team from running the ball

 

Yet here we are again. A bunch of visits by guys who would help this and no one signed. No RBs, no NT. 

 

One guy drafted at NT since Bruce got here. A seventh round draft pick in 2012. 

 

Bruce Allen is garbage but his seat isn’t warm or hot. Because of Snyder’s belief that he needs him for the next stadium deal. Not because he’s good at what he does. We deserve better

 

Sure he is different then Vinny but in many ways he’s the same as he ever was. I listened to his interview today with JP and he just doesn’t get how to build a football team and sadly he never will 

[JSSkinz]

Couple things on Bruce.

 

I listened to JP's interview and he asked Bruce if he thought about trading Kirk in the 2017 offseason.  Personally, I really thought it was more about Kirk not being cooperative as the reason we didn't seek a trade but to hear Bruce say they never tried because they thought the team could have a good year makes me think Bruce was hoping Kirk would change his mind about the Redskins after a winning season.

 

Then JP asked him if he regretted not trading Kirk and he said: "no, we don't look at it that way".

 

 

That's a bonehead answer, most knew Kirk didn't want to be here so pissing away an opportunity to trade for a 1st round pick was a killer.

 

[Peregrine]

1 hour ago, JSSkinz said:

Couple things on Bruce.

 

I listened to JP's interview and he asked Bruce if he thought about trading Kirk in the 2017 offseason.  Personally, I really thought it was more about Kirk not being cooperative as the reason we didn't seek a trade but to hear Bruce say they never tried because they thought the team could have a good year makes me think Bruce was hoping Kirk would change his mind about the Redskins after a winning season.

 

Then JP asked him if he regretted not trading Kirk and he said: "no, we don't look at it that way".

 

Hah, wow.  "We dont look at it that way".  Must be his way of saying "We dont view mistakes as mistakes really.  We prefer to view them as someone elses fault and someone we can pretend we dont need to learn from."

 

Mistakes are the hallmark of success in that they give you so many opportunities to learn.  But the #1 sign of impending failure for anyone and any organization is that they plug their ears and pretend they didnt happen, and refuse to learn from them.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

1 hour ago, JSSkinz said:

Couple things on Bruce.

 

I listened to JP's interview and he asked Bruce if he thought about trading Kirk in the 2017 offseason.  Personally, I really thought it was more about Kirk not being cooperative as the reason we didn't seek a trade but to hear Bruce say they never tried because they thought the team could have a good year makes me think Bruce was hoping Kirk would change his mind about the Redskins after a winning season.

 

Then JP asked him if he regretted not trading Kirk and he said: "no, we don't look at it that way".

 

 

That's a bonehead answer, most knew Kirk didn't want to be here so pissing away an opportunity to trade for a 1st round pick was a killer.

 

He also referred to it as Monday Morning QBing with a laugh, as if folks weren’t talking about all this in real time for the past several years.  Such a joke.

[FrFan]

12 hours ago, bobandweave said:

How many years will Bruce ignore the biggest issues on this team? 

This is the privilege that comes with unaccountability. Then you can piss on everybody's shoes and not even bothering telling them it's raining.

New Stadium means More money for Dumb and Dumber.

[XtremeFan55]

There is one word that comes to mind when I think of Bruce Allen...

 

“Cavalier: adj.  Showing arrogant or offhand disregard: dismissive; showing a cavalier attitude towards the suffering of others.”

 

I think Bruce believes that being GM is beneath him and that what he really aspires to is being an owner and treated with that level of respect and honor.  Lately I have begun thinking that Dan Snyder must be so weak and socially awkward that Bruce has the upper hand and Snyder is now the puppet.  The ultimate power grab.  To be thought of as equal to an owner without ever having the means or ability to acquire a team.  The guy is like Wormtounge in LOTR.  

 

With that level of arrogance and entitlement all fans, players, coaches, scouts, etc...are treated with disdain.  

 

The only hope for this team is to fall to historic ineptitude that causes a radical change in the front office.  What are the odds that the Redskins suffer thru 20 years of Cerrato then Allen...SMH.

 

Meanwhile...SKOL!!!

[SkinInsite]

3 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

He also referred to it as Monday Morning QBing with a laugh, as if folks weren’t talking about all this in real time for the past several years.  Such a joke.

 

It's not people haven't been saying keep franchising Cousins is going to bite the skins on the ass for the past 3 years now. But don't worry it's all part of a master plan because somehow this front office is different from all the ****-show of yesteryear. 

[Reaper Skins]

Remember when he went out of his way to say how easy getting a deal done with Kirk would be?  How it wasn't nearly as complicated as everyone makes it out to be?

 

“I don’t think it’s as complicated as everyone wants to make it. And we’ll get together with his agent, and I’m sure we’ll come to an agreement.”

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/30068/bruce-allen-deal-with-kirk-cousins-not-as-complicated-as-believed

[srtman04]

50 minutes ago, Reaper Skins said:

Remember when he went out of his way to say how easy getting a deal done with Kirk would be?  How it wasn't nearly as complicated as everyone makes it out to be?

 

“I don’t think it’s as complicated as everyone wants to make it. And we’ll get together with his agent, and I’m sure we’ll come to an agreement.”

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/30068/bruce-allen-deal-with-kirk-cousins-not-as-complicated-as-believed

He is a ****ing buffoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Consigliere]

5 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

He also referred to it as Monday Morning QBing with a laugh, as if folks weren’t talking about all this in real time for the past several years.  Such a joke.

 

They think we're idiots and homers. Some are one or the other, some are both, but many of us are neither which is why more and more of the stands are filled with fans of other teams. 

 

[Dissident2]

17 hours ago, XtremeFan55 said:

The only hope for this team is to fall to historic ineptitude that causes a radical change in the front office. 

 

Again, lol. 

 

 

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

It recently occurred to me that Bruce Allen is a millionaire Republican who has a job because of his last name and who drinks Coors Light in some weird nod to being a Joe Sixpack. I want Vinny back. At least I could relate to him as fellow member of the "nice looking Italian fellas" club.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

2 hours ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

It recently occurred to me that Bruce Allen is a millionaire Republican who has a job because of his last name and who drinks Coors Light in some weird nod to being a Joe Sixpack. I want Vinny back. At least I could relate to him as fellow member of the "nice looking Italian fellas" club.

 

Just wait until Bruce catches up on current trends (read: 10 year old trends) and starts talking about IPAs or PBRs. 

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

2 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

 

Just wait until Bruce catches up on current trends (read: 10 year old trends) and starts talking about IPAs or PBRs. 

 

I honestly stopped reading Peter King mainly because he was a beer snob but also really really really bad at it. Like he wrote paragraphs about discovering Shock Top.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

6 minutes ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

 

I honestly stopped reading Peter King mainly because he was a beer snob but also really really really bad at it. Like he wrote paragraphs about discovering Shock Top.

I lost patience with his "Travel Notes that Might Only Interest Me" or whatever they were....