Mason Foster released

[Voice_of_Reason]

On 7/23/2019 at 11:53 PM, Renegade7 said:

You make it sound like they so much better then him, we dont k ow that, we jus know Foster sucks.  Potential doesnt equal production, we are now at zero-zero at both ILBs now.  If anything they will be inexperienced, it's still going to be the weak point of the defense.

I look at it differently.  If you weren’t going to win with Foster, which you weren’t, then you might as well try other options.  I have no idea if they are better or worse.  But if you know option A is bad, why keep banging your head on that wall?  

 

This has been a criticism I’ve had for years:  the Skins fall in love with these physically limited, try hard guys and then stick with them instead of looking for better more talented options.  Ryan Grant, Rob Kelly, etc. 

 

If option A is average to below average, just try something else until you get to a better option.  

 

Or else you’re perpetually 8-8.

[PartyPosse]

Mason was the new Reed Daughty or Will Compton. A great depth player to have around but shouldn't be starting.

[Renegade7]

7 hours ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

I look at it differently.  If you weren’t going to win with Foster, which you weren’t, then you might as well try other options.  I have no idea if they are better or worse.  But if you know option A is bad, why keep banging your head on that wall?  

 

This has been a criticism I’ve had for years:  the Skins fall in love with these physically limited, try hard guys and then stick with them instead of looking for better more talented options.  Ryan Grant, Rob Kelly, etc. 

 

If option A is average to below average, just try something else until you get to a better option.  

 

Or else you’re perpetually 8-8.

 

You're jumping ahead and sound like your assuming we'll suck this year. 

 

I hadnt really thought about the try hard thing because I supported the cut, but you bring up a point I wanted to avoid, depth.  I mean, are we going to get anything better then another try hard at this point of the offseason? That's fine if we do, but we need to at minimum now that both our starters from last year are gone now.  

 

Feel like I'm rambling here, but I'll shut up if we bring somebody else in.  Right now, I dont know if I can be convinced we've improved at ILB, and that was the main weakness of our defense last year.  Regardless for the reason or how we got here, I'm concerned.

[PartyPosse]

26 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Feel like I'm rambling here, but I'll shut up if we bring somebody else in.  Right now, I dont know if I can be convinced we've improved at ILB, and that was the main weakness of our defense last year.  Regardless for the reason or how we got here, I'm concerned.

 

Getting rid of the two major catalysts for our main weakness (Brown and Foster) is addition by subtraction. Add in Montez Sweat on the outside and the further development of Andersen, JHC and SDH along with the addition of Bostic means the LB corp has improved significantly. I'm not saying it's still not a liability but it's still massively improved. Add in the fact that our safety play should be better with Landon Collins and, I assume DRC (cuz he shouldn't be a CB at this stage of his career) and i'm a lot more optimistic about the middle of the field. 

[Renegade7]

1 minute ago, PartyPosse said:

 

Getting rid of the two major catalysts for our main weakness (Brown and Foster) is addition by subtraction. Add in Montez Sweat on the outside and the further development of Andersen, JHC and SDH along with the addition of Bostic means the LB corp has improved significantly. I'm not saying it's still not a liability but it's still massively improved. Add in the fact that our safety play should be better with Landon Collins and, I assume DRC (cuz he shouldn't be a CB at this stage of his career) and i'm a lot more optimistic about the middle of the field. 

 

You're talking about the overall linebacking unit to make up for ILB, I'm talking specifically about ILB, OLB was a strength last year, too. 

 

Those guys at ILB are not massive upgrade at ILB, just saying they arent Zach or Mason doesnt make them immediately better. Zach for better or worse was a pro bowl linebacker, is Bostic really that much better?  Mason started 16 games last year, so how is replacing him with his backup an improvement? 

 

If they can prove this will be alright in August, sure, but this feels like an unknown we are trying to convince ourselves to be optimistic about.  Redskins have forced me to be far more objective then I used to be.  We absolutely should bring somebody else in, heaven forbid something happens to Bostic.

[PartyPosse]

5 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

 

You're talking about the overall linebacking unit to make up for ILB, I'm talking specifically about ILB, OLB was a strength last year, too. 

 

Those guys at ILB are not massive upgrade at ILB, just saying they arent Zach or Mason doesnt make them immediately better. Zach for better or worse was a pro bowl linebacker, is Bostic really that much better?  Mason started 16 games last year, so how is replacing him with his backup an improvement? 

 

If they can prove this will be alright in August, sure, but this feels like an unknown we are trying to convince ourselves to be optimistic about.  Redskins have forced me to be far more objective then I used to be.  We absolutely should bring somebody else in, heaven forbid something happens to Bostic.

Keeping Foster around was almost like settling for mediocrity. I'd rather settle for a player making half the money. According to PFF Mason also graded out as our worst ILB BY FAR. The only thing he brought to the table was consistency in that he was consistently out of position or getting trucked over. He made a lot of tackles, why? Because he was the easy path for opposing players. In terms of replacements, this isn't a season we're gonna be competing for the SB so I'd rather see what we have in the young guys we drafted and see where they fit in. There's a reason guys like Stephone Anthony, Josh Keyes and Josh Bynes are still available - because JAGs like them and like Foster don't really bring much to the table other than a warm body. 

 

Your cynicism regarding the capabilities of our young LB have more to do with your cynicism regarding the front office. Completely understandable but also easy to look at the glass half empty.