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So I left a not-so-insignificant piece out of my last post on how the Skins should only be favored to win a wild card spot, but are in good position to win the NFC East. That not-so-teeny tiny piece is that the Skins have once again sacrificed all future gains for short term glory, or in our case, short term decency. The season hasn't even started, but I can't help but look further down the road, particularly as someone who panned the McNabb trade. I refer you once again to the Football Outsiders preview:"This year’s Redskins have an alarming number of players who are about to simultaneously grow old, and that’s not even counting lunatic acquisitions like Galloway. McNabb, Portis, Johnson, Parker, Santana Moss, Rabach, Philip Daniels, and London Fletcher are all at or approaching the downside of their careers, with Andre Carter and Derrick Dockery not far behind them. There are few obvious successors to these key players on the roster, and with training camp bloated with Galloway and Holliday types, it will be hard for the team to find and develop quality replacements. In a few years, Shanahan will be fired, McNabb will return to Philadelphia to retire with the Eagles, and Snyder will stand next to Urban Meyer heralding the start of another new era.
There are two sad elements to the Redskins plight. The first is that some in the Redskins organization will feel vindicated when the team loses in the second round of the playoffs. Snyder and others will convince themselves that they made all the right moves. There will be a lot of backslapping for a very small accomplishment. And of course, that will only encourage Snyder and company to climb back on the horse. The second is that so many of the Redskins problems are obvious and avoidable. Anyone who looks carefully at the roster can see long-term disaster brewing, and it doesn’t take much imagination to find healthier alternatives to the path the Redskins chose. The Redskins could have Jake Delhomme or Derek Anderson as their starting quarterback, with second-round pick Jimmy Clausen waiting in the wings. Or, they could have given Campbell another year, used their second-round pick on a defensive playmaker like Sergio Kindle, and let their defense win a few games while Shanahan made tough decisions on offense. Heck, they could have pulled the trigger on the McNabb deal but held off on all of the Parker-Johnson-Galloway nonsense, increasing their odds of finding a great young back or receiver who will improve as McNabb fades. The Redskins just can’t do that. They keep seeking short-term dividends that aren’t worth the long-range consequences.
Of course, that’s exactly the kind of trade-off addicts make. In March, it looked like Allen and Shanahan could make a difference. Now, they’re stuck in the same web that snared Gibbs, Schottenheimer, Spurrier, and Zorn. Snyder drags good football people down with him. This year, the high will last past August, but the crash will come before February. And next year’s hangover will be as bad — or worse — than the last ten."
There are two sad elements to the Redskins plight. The first is that some in the Redskins organization will feel vindicated when the team loses in the second round of the playoffs. Snyder and others will convince themselves that they made all the right moves. There will be a lot of backslapping for a very small accomplishment. And of course, that will only encourage Snyder and company to climb back on the horse. The second is that so many of the Redskins problems are obvious and avoidable. Anyone who looks carefully at the roster can see long-term disaster brewing, and it doesn’t take much imagination to find healthier alternatives to the path the Redskins chose. The Redskins could have Jake Delhomme or Derek Anderson as their starting quarterback, with second-round pick Jimmy Clausen waiting in the wings. Or, they could have given Campbell another year, used their second-round pick on a defensive playmaker like Sergio Kindle, and let their defense win a few games while Shanahan made tough decisions on offense. Heck, they could have pulled the trigger on the McNabb deal but held off on all of the Parker-Johnson-Galloway nonsense, increasing their odds of finding a great young back or receiver who will improve as McNabb fades. The Redskins just can’t do that. They keep seeking short-term dividends that aren’t worth the long-range consequences.
Of course, that’s exactly the kind of trade-off addicts make. In March, it looked like Allen and Shanahan could make a difference. Now, they’re stuck in the same web that snared Gibbs, Schottenheimer, Spurrier, and Zorn. Snyder drags good football people down with him. This year, the high will last past August, but the crash will come before February. And next year’s hangover will be as bad — or worse — than the last ten."
The scene in Adams Morgan Tonight/Metaphor for the Future of the Redskins Future
Let's skip ahead to what our roster will look like in 3+ years, and remember that we have the worst group of under-25 year old talent in the NFL. WARNING: Hide the women and children.
On offense we have:
QB: Zippo, not even a developmental guy. Nice to know we got rid of Chase Daniel, who is one of FO's top prospects...
RB: Nada
WR: Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly (syke!)
OL: Trent Williams, old Jammal Brown
TE: Cooley and Fred Davis
Overall, this is pathetic, we need another couple O-linemen, a QB, and a WR who is healthy and can beat out a 39 year old. Other than that, doing swell.
On defense:
DL: Golston, Carriker (maybe)
LB: Orakpo, Rocky, and maybe HB Blades.
CB: D******* Hall (I don't see double-move sticking around this long). You know who is missing here? FO's #5 prospect, Justin Tryon.
S: Landry (hard to count, but could be a new man in the box this year, although his missed tackle on the huuuge LDT run says otherwise), Kareem Moore
Overall, there are some bodies here, but no cornerstones except for Rak.
Next year's draft doesn't offer a ton of hope, as we already missing our 3rd and 4th round picks. Good thing I only put a down payment on tickets for this year's Super Bowl....
(Image courtesy of deadspin.com and my friend's cell phone)
people read the espn article about the age but fail to subtract those players whom wont be here nest year. lets remove the equation of daniels galloway and the other few over 35. once you remove 5 players that wont be here next year we become avg. age of 27.5 or the middle of the nfl. stop talking a ratings grabbing article and do some research yourself. the redskins are fine. its funny how not one of you attend all the practices or training camp but seem to know more then the coaches, gm's and players. honestly do a little more research before posting a moronic comment that is only just quoting someone elses article.27 years old..thats that truth of the age of the redskins. those over 35 wont be here next year and 33 for a QB isnt old ( see manning, brady). if mcnabb does good he will sign long term if not hes gone. and to those of you who think he will leave and not sign, have you heard of franchise player? thats what the redskins will tag him if he dont sign and that would be a complete reversal of what mcnabb said. if anything mcnabb has always spoke truth good or bad.
ReplyDeleteGoing by average age is just cherry picking a statistic. It is the talent level of the young players that matters, and that is why I listed the key young players on the team. It is as if you stopped reading my article after the FO quote.
ReplyDeleteClick the link to FO's article on best under-25 talent - we are dead last! Look at Atlanta and KC, they are actually building something, particularly Atlanta who could be good for awhile if they keep this up.
As a general rule, you don't want to get older at RB and WR. Larry Johnson and Joey Galloway are ancient. And McNabb is almost as fragile as Fred Taylor. I think they'll be lucky to win 6 games.
ReplyDeleteLet's breakdown the comment of "Anonymous".
ReplyDelete"People read the espn article about the age but fail to subtract those players whom wont be here nest year. lets remove the equation of daniels galloway and the other few over 35."
Using your argument, we can eliminate our 5 youngest players and our average age is closer to 30. Thanks for simultaneously explaining to us how math works and exemplifying useless arguments.
"The Redskins are fine. It's funny how not one of you attend all the practices or training camp but seem to know more then the coaches, gm's and players. Honestly do a little more research before posting a moronic comment that is only just quoting someone else's article."
OK, yeah, there's a little too much Football Outsider's, but on everything else, are you serious? Have you seen the team in the past decade? Shit, the past two decades? Do you really feel good with Sexy Rexy as your back-up/ future? Is there a core of young talent behind Orakpo, Cooley, Williams and Fred Davis (who will likely sign with another team soon BTW) who make you feel confident in our future? Are you Mike Shanahan and offended at the audacity of a fan having a differing opinion? I have yet to see in 20 years any coach, GM or front office guys in the 'Skins organization who inspires any confidence in me, except maybe Schottenheimer. At this point, I believe that almost anyone could recruit talent better than the people working in our front office. I will say, Trent Williams makes me happy. Oh, I hope you appreciate me cleaning up a little of your grammar.
33 for a QB isnt old ( see manning, brady). if mcnabb does good he will sign long term if not hes gone.
No, it's not. I am glad you pointed out Favre on your list of examples of successful and old quarterbacks. However, you fail to recognize that even when McNabb is elite, which is from time to time, he is also super, super prone to injury. He also runs sort of funny and no one wants to watch that for more than a few years.
and to those of you who think he will leave and not sign, have you heard of franchise player? thats what the redskins will tag him if he dont sign and that would be a complete reversal of what mcnabb said. if anything mcnabb has always spoke truth good or bad.
I am sorry that I called you Shanahan earlier. I gave you way too much credit. With this last comment I feel like it is more likely you are a middle school student who just started watching football like 2 years ago who was asked by a teacher (who thought he was creating a cool assignment) to comment on a blog. You want to put a franchise tag on McNabb? Wow! I am glad he's always been honest, we might as well franchise tag Abe Lincoln's corpse. After this past weekend it seems like we got the wrong Philly QB.
Basically, it seems like you think the Redskins have been in the process of some brilliant 20 year plan when we are below mediocre to terrible consistently. No, we have been fucked by poor drafting, dumb trades and idiotic contracts which have been managed by the front office. You completely missed the point of the article written or you are Rip Van Winkle, just woke up and don't realize it's not 1992. It's not. Our defense is generally pretty good, but our offense fucking sucks. We have no QB, RB or WR's to build upon. We are the Bills of the NFC only we have a shitload more money and are a much more desirable place to move to. We are the Knicks of football. That sucks and you're a fucking moron.