Where we're better, and where we're not.

[Art]

The draft approaches and we've been a busy team. We've touched much of the team in an effort to improve either starting quality, depth or both. Let's take a quick look.

QB: The addition of Brunell and retention of Ramsey improves us both in terms of depth and starting quality, regardless of who starts and who's on the bench. Brunell is an efficient passer who is accurate and limits mistakes. Ramsey has someone to learn from.

RB/FB: The addition of Portis gives the Redskins a top tier runner who brings big-play, game-changing ability and forces teams to respect what he can do. If he gets into space with his lateral movement and speed, teams will be chasing him, so this will force teams to play us more tightly opening up some of the Gibbs passing game. As yet we've only lost Johnson at the running back, fullback position, but in a one-back offense, this hardly seems all that serious. Another dramatic upgrade here both in starting quality and depth.

OL: Moves here have been for depth as starters are likely in place. Raymer provides a high quality character and depth guy who may wind up winning the starting job. Moore is retained to cover in case Fiore can't return. The depth of the position, especially on the interior, is excellent. If Fiore is going to return, you have competent edge depth as well. A mild improvement overall as it's just to depth, but a clear area of roster improvement nonetheless.

TE: Well, this was not a great position of strength last year. It remains something less than a strength this year. But, with the addition of Rasby as an excellent blocker, and Sellers as an H-Back, to go with Royal and Chamberlain at this point, the team has depth and improved starting ability at a position that will make its greatest impact blocking and protecting more than catching.

WR: Another area, like the offensive line, that looks in tact from a starting standpoint, but the addition of Thrash and retention of McCants more than makes up for the loss of Johnson. The depth and special teams ability of Thrash is a key upgrade at this position for us.

DL: Smith is gone, Chase is in New York, Dalton was released and we don't appear interested in Zellner's return, not to mention Holsey is being held on the vine a little. Daniels was added and is a superior player, overall, to Smith at this point given how drastically Smith declined. Griffin adds a good, athletic tackle who is better than anyone we had at that spot last year and improves the starting quality of the front four. Noble's return to something near full strength is key as with him the line has good depth with Haley and Wynn/Daniels/Upshaw as primary reserves on the defensive line. Holsey should probably be retained if possible to lengthen the bench. Here's an area where it looks like we are better as a starting group with Griffin and Noble at tackle and Daniels possibly bumping out Wynn or Upshaw, and we look better depth wise given the injuries last year to Noble and Haley. Another move here is necessary though.

LB: Armstead was our best player at this spot last year. He's in Carolina. Washington is not Armstead's equal overall as a player, but he's younger, bigger, more athletic and allows Arrington to move to Armstead's spot, thus improving our situation. The relase of Trotter pushes this spot back, though, both as a starting group and depth. We really need to land Holdman to extend our quality here if possible and we have to hope Smith can emerge in the middle as a young guy with upside.

DB: Currently the safeties are largely untouched. Terrell is lost, but unimportant in the grand scheme. Bailey is a huge loss, but, we got the corner we felt was the best available to cover for him. Not enough to cover the loss of Bailey obviously, but the additions of Brown and Harris do that. We're still weaker in the secondary as a starting group without Bailey, but the depth we have is among the best in the league now.

P: Tupa was one of the top punters in football and has continued to be an excellent kicker even as he ages.

K: Nothing done here. Nothing needed.

Now, the obvious improvements in coaching to go along with an improved roster give you hope that things are pointing in the right direction. Overall, the weakest area we have is defensive line where some protection against Noble being unable to return is needed. Another playmaker at safety or tight end or defensive line in the draft really improves this team dramatically and comes close to finalizing a very active, productive offseason.

[jbooma]

I have a feeling we will see Wynn play a lot at DT and we also might be using the 3-4 quite a bit this year

[GB81]

I essentially agree with everything said there. Unfortunately, the Eagles got significantly better as well. The Cowboys will likely make slight improvements in addition to the slight improvements they have made already. However, an additional year under Parcells will likely reap some rewards. And, the Giants, who clearly underachieved last year, should be improved under Coughlin and thanks to the #4 over all pick. In general, the East, as everyone has said, will be a monster.

That being said, the Redskins are in a drastically better position to compete than they have been in recent memory.

[ragintd]

This is how I see the Skins.

We're going to improve 5 games because of 4 things.

Joe Gibbs

Joe Bugel

Clinton Portis

Gregg Williams

I think lose one of the 5 games because of our DL.

So I think the Skins probably will end up in the 9 or 10 game win area.

[Art]

Originally posted by GB81

I essentially agree with everything said there. Unfortunately, the Eagles got significantly better as well. The Cowboys will likely make slight improvements in addition to the slight improvements they have made already. However, an additional year under Parcells will likely reap some rewards. And, the Giants, who clearly underachieved last year, should be improved under Coughlin and thanks to the #4 over all pick. In general, the East, as everyone has said, will be a monster.

That being said, the Redskins are in a drastically better position to compete than they have been in recent memory.

The Eagles added Kearse and Owens as big-names to fill need areas. This obviously improves them a great deal in those areas. But they have other areas where they lost major contributors, like Vincent, Taylor and Emmons. Emmons was limited in what he could do, but what he could do he did better than perhaps any other backer. Jones is not as good as Emmons in that area and while he is better in some others, he's simply not a guy you fear.

In the balance, the Eagles have lost a lot more top end, starting level talent than we have. Vincent, Emmons, Taylor, Staley and even Thrash were all starters the Eagles lost and only Thrash was clearly improved upon in the balance.

We lost Armstead, Champ and soon Trotter as similiarly key starting level players. We haven't and don't appear likely to replace Trotter, but Washington's benefits offset Armstead and the additions of Springs, Harris and Brown offset Champ. The Eagles smartly improved two areas they needed to improve and are relying on some other areas internally to cover for other losses. They may be fine do so.

But, I don't know that they've improved dramatically until those internal areas show they can handle the same roles as the guys who departed.

[GB81]

I see where you are coming from, but don't lose sight of the fact that Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown were high round picks who, if history is any indicator relative to Philly, could step in and do well. Vincent was trailing off, and Taylor was also losing games to injury. They are definitely question marks, but they could well succeed. Right now, I'd take Smoot and Springs over Brown and Sheppard, but I love the Eagles safeties.

There does seem to be some redundancy to the Kearse pick (following a high draft pick on McDougal), and I was ecstatic the Skins demonstrated some restraint in not pursuing him. Owens, on the other hand, gives them a top 4 player in a spot where they were arguably the worst in the league last year. Eammons is a loss and I don't see Simoneau, Dhani Jones and whoever else being able to completely make up for that loss, but I also thought they would hurt from the Trotter loss, which they didn't at all. I think it's a net gain for Philly--just not nearly the gain the Skins made.

The Eagles, as I'm guessing you would agree, are still the favorite to win the division in my opinion.

[Oldskool]

I think you may be a bit optimistic in your hope of Noble coming back this year. I know that the coaching staff has said X Y and Z about him possibly contributing this year, but I think that’s all smoke and mirrors at this point.

If he can even contribute this year, that will be great, but I wouldn’t expect him to be a starter. That still leaves us without a starter at one of the DT positions. In that case, we are on par with how we were last year.

[Art]

GB,

Yes, I think Philly has to be the favorite. I simply can't imagine even Gibbs is so great as to overcome a 12-year break from coaching to take over a new team and get it playing like a well-oiled machine in a year.

OS,

I think I mentioned a couple or few times above that I worried about Noble's return being something we could rely on and that we needed to protect against his inability to play at full strength.

[Oldskool]

Originally posted by Art

OS,

I think I mentioned a couple or few times above that I worried about Noble's return being something we could rely on and that we needed to protect against his inability to play at full strength.

No I agree with you. Id just hope that we would have stayed with a mindset of Noble not even being able to contribute when making player personnel decisions this year.

We all saw what happened when we depended on Trotter playing at 100% a year after knee surgery. Doing the same with Noble could bring disaster.

[Redskinswhoopass]

The one thing you missing is:

Coaching Staff: This is a huge improvement for the skins. It beats out any Free agent sginings in the league. This is where we need the most improvement over the years. And now that we have it Sky is the Limit

[Redskinswhoopass]

One of the worst things about losing Armstead and Trotter is that are DL will show more weakness. Last year are DL was pretty Pathetic but sometimes are qaulity at LB's made up for it.

The one huge bonus to are D is that they won't have to be on field as long. No more of this pass, pass, pass, punt. That could end up doing wonders for a Defense.

[Mooney]

Originally posted by Redskinswhoopass

The one thing you missing is:

Coaching Staff: This is a huge improvement for the skins. It beats out any Free agent sginings in the league. This is where we need the most improvement over the years. And now that we have it Sky is the Limit

Agree completely.

How about the fact that Bill Parcells said the 'Skins had the best personnel in the division last year?

I know I am blindingly (is that a word?) optimistic, but...

Best personnel + Great coaching = Division title.

And the survivor of the NFC East in the playoffs...

HTTR!

:dallasuck :gaintsuck :eaglesuck :ravensuck

[NavyDave]

great points Art.

I still believe that June 1st will have us address d line whether we draft a DT or not

[Oldskool]

Originally posted by NavyDave

great points Art.

I still believe that June 1st will have us address d line whether we draft a DT or not

We may do so, but I highly doubt that we will find a starter on the D line come June 1st. We struck gold with Gardener a few years ago and he appears to be the only nugget that will be out there come that time, but Gibbs and co have said that they aren’t interested in Daryl ATM.

[Chachie]

Art-

You post good stuff. Thanks.

[Utah]

To me, I want to wait and see how these guys line up and smack each other around before I get too much into who will produce and who won't.

[The Rook]

Pretty good assessment. TE and all of defense have question marks. I hope we can keep a defensive coordinator for more than one year.

[BONES]

WE HAVE A NEW AND EXCELLENT DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR, I THINK WE NEED TO LET MR. WILLIAMS HAVE THE FIRST PICK IN THE DRAFT AND MAYBE THE SECOND PICK.

[sbaugh]

I agree with most of what you say but I think you're being a little pessimistic on th O'Line. There's going to be greater emphasis and better coaching for some real good players. These guys have been neglected the past couple of years.

[skinamatic]

Originally posted by sbaugh

I agree with most of what you say but I think you're being a little pessimistic on th O'Line. There's going to be greater emphasis and better coaching for some real good players. These guys have been neglected the past couple of years.

I agree. If the coaches can help this O-Line realize it's potential, the sky could be the limit for the offense. I think the O-Line has the talent, they just need someone to guide them and teach them discipline.

[Art]

Maybe we should update this after the first day.

The anticipated loss of Trotter but replacement with Barrow I think hurts our potential but doesn't really diminsh our production in the short term. Adding Taylor expands our quality in the secondary even further potentially both with his skills in the starting lineup as well as bumping a starter in Iffy to key reserve.

Cooley and Kozlowski replace Chamberlain and someone else is likely to go eventually, but we've further improved the team's depth here though we've lost some potential in the passing game. As was the case a few weeks ago, this is an offseason that is difficult not to love to this point.

[BG]

Your sentiment about the Dline really hinges on Noble returning back to full strength. We did make some great moves in FA. We will not miss Champ at all IMO. With Brown, Springs, Smoot Iffy/Bowen and taylor lurking in the secondary, we have DRAMATICALLY improved our secondary from what we had last year.

I see how Greg is putting the pieces together. This is coming together not unlike his run with the Titans. Granted, in his first year with Tenn, he had huge production from Kearse, which honestly, I don't think he expected. We've got Lavar who could provide some of the pass rush and a capable end in Daniels.

I am excited to see the speed at wich this defense is supposed to play. I should be scary.

Overall, there is no way you can give our offseason any grade lower than a strong and solid B.

My opinion, it's an A.

[Art]

Even without Noble the line has improved substantially with the addition of Griffin. That's not to say he's a building block or anything, but, he's a solid player who has some unique athletic traits that will help us more than what we've had. Obviously with Noble you more markedly improve the unit. Adding Holsey and Brackens would further solidify what you have through depth at least. Something more has to be done I think. My concern is what more will be done is going to be done on a low level. With the fifth and/or sixth draft pick and rookie free agency we'll probably get a couple of guys we won't really know about for a couple of years. But, it'll be a start I suppose .