It may have escaped your notice.

But this little baby, our burgundy and gold swathed pride and joy, was birthed one year ago today.

I love my little Nathan Junior!

And as with all anniversaries, we would be a little remiss if we didn't engage in just a little retrospection and sentimentality.

Today, I asked myself the question. It was the original question. Why build a Redskins fan site? Lord (and Daniel Snyder) knows, there are plenty of them out there. BGO was actually born from a casual conversation with a friend when I offered to help out on his blog site. Next thing I know, he'd fallen from a slick commode while changing a light bulb, hit his head on the sink, and woke up with his vision for the flux capacitor....err....a brand new Redskins messageboard! Truth is, I wasn't sure then why we were going down this path. Except that my best friend was asking me to take a plunge into the mysterious unknown with him. And when friends ask, the only answer a friend gives in return is 'Hell yes!'. We found a couple of other old dear friends to tumble into the abyss with us. An idea was born.

The real 'why?' we figured out along the way. We'd found, experienced, and helped build a great Redskins community before. We'd seen impassioned groups of fans who *gasp* met, talked, argued, and discussed a common obsession, all on the internet. We'd seen people, comfortable, safe, and secure behind anonymous usernames, step out into the light, voice their true names and identities, even meet and forge real-life friendships. But we'd also seen the promise of beautiful online communities dissolve into something less admirable and rewarding. Whether that decline came as a result of low expectations, lack of vision, poor management, or just because enough humans in one place will eventually
figure out how to muck things up, really didn't matter. We had learned that true community, even on the web, is a fragile thing to be cherished and protected.

We spent a lot of time talking about what OUR site would be about. We wrote it down for our future members, cleverly christening these words 'What We're About'. We were going to be about a lot of things.

Intelligent discussion.
Respect.
Passion for a common obsession.
Civility.
Community.
Fan-produced content.
Creativity.

Those were the words we said over and over again in those early months. Once we knew who we wanted to be, we dove into minor details, like moving beyond an 'idea' to an actual website. Not knowing HTML from ROFL seemed like a minor obstacle given our enthusiasm. We taught ourselves vbulletin software, we learned basic HTML coding, we spent countless hours discussing the look of the 'vessel' that would hold our community and help define what kind of place it would be. We designed every graphic on the site with meticulous care.

Somehow, with determination, elbow grease, a lot of Google searching and Help file reading, and a couple of human sacrifices to appease the Gods, BGO was ready for its unveiling. She opened her doors to the Redskins-loving public on 15 July, 2009.

Slowly, inexorably, other dear friends showed up. We didn't advertise. We didn't market. We didn't beg, solicit, or pimp ourselves. We just opened the doors and put out the Welcome mat.

So mostly, other than the obligatory, requisite, and aforementioned sentamentality and retrospection, I just wanted to say Thank You dear friends. For showing up. For staying. For starting countless conversations, wowing us with your smarts, passion, friendship, and style. For giving us a great first year, and a wonderful fledgling community of great fans who are now dear friends.

BGO is not the biggest site in the Redskin's web-o-sphere. And that's not among our goals. But it's a special place. And we're just getting warmed up.

Happy Birthday BGO!

CSN's Rich Tandler posted a column this week about the Redskins once again being among the oldest rosters in the NFL, right ahead of the Saints and Vikings (not bad company to be in, eh?).

Some critics might question why a new coach and GM are not tearing the team down to an even more basic level and building over again with the likes of Jimmy Claussen at QB and UDFA running backs and linemen.

What Shanahan and Allen bring to the Redskins for the first time in 20 plus years is pragmatism.

Rather than tear down in a year where the picks are limited and the free agent class is the thinnest in a decade to the uncapped year, the Redskins quite correctly decided that priorty #1 was to simply upgrade the talent, and not worry about the relative age of the players retained vs. obtained.

Mitigating the risk of signing older players who could have durability issues going forward is the fact the team is keeping most of these deals short-term and composed largely of performanced-based incentives.

Tandler's review noted the increase in age at several key spots, including QB, RT, RB, etc.

But the concomitant to that is the definite increase in talent now at those spots.

I haven't been able to find too many folks that would argue that McNabb for Campbell, Jammal Brown for Stephon Heyer and Larry Johnson for Betts/Mason/Ganther, etc. were good swaps for the Redskins.

I would also suggest that players such as the 38 year old Joey Galloway, 34 year old Chris Draft and 33 year old Mike Furrey might not be on the final roster as other players emerge in camp when the pads go on or as other NFL teams make key veterans available.

Once the Redskins found out that the Rams were asking for the the balance of the Redskins draft for the next 2 years to acquire the top pick and select Bradford, Washington figured out that path would only set the team back and put them in 3-13 or 4-12 range again for 2010 and perhaps 2011 as well.

The fact the other quarterbacks available were not considered to be franchise talents presented Washington with the choice of taking a high risk on a potential bust or trading for the best quarterback in the NFC East over the past 8-10 years in Donovan McNabb.

The acquisition of the veteran McNabb meant the team needed to make other moves to re-tool rather than rebuild the roster given McNabb's potential timeline in the NFL.

Once again, that was the practical and reasonable judgment.

The drafting of Williams and the trade for Brown represented a sea change in capability on the OL. Going from Levi Jones and Stephon Heyer to Williams and Brown is perhaps the greatest single season jump in talent at OT I have seen on this team since 1981.

On the other side of the ball, the Redskins took a good bet on Maake Kemoeatu and his ability to rebound from injury to play a significant role in 2010. He is on pace to be ready for camp and his presence as a true nose tackle for the 3-4 will elevate the defense with or without the presence of Albert Haynesworth. There were really no other potential front line starters at NT available in FA or via trade in the offseason.

The fact he has been playing out of position in a 4-3 the past 3 years in Carolina presents the opportunity for him to be more effective this year in Washington back at NT than he had been for the Panthers for $9M under John Fox.

I don't know whether Adam Carriker is an NFL starter or rotation player in the 3-4, but he was available and acquired for next to nothing by the coach that drafted him and started him as a rookie. It would appear Carriker is another guy that got caught in a 4-3/3-4 switch that went against his skill set as a DE. No one knows Carriker better than Haslett and as with Pierson Prioleau and London Fletcher under Williams the Redskins are likely to reap the extra benefits of acquiring players where the coaching staff is able to use them to the maximum of their talent.

After a 4-12 season Shanahan and Allen saw the most important thing going forward in 2010 was to get this team back to respectability and competitiveness in the NFC.

Once teams get down to 2-14 or 4-12 it can become the start of a sequence of years where teams develop the mentality of an also-ran.

I think the feeling within the Redskins organization is a return to a solid performance in 2010 will result in the team being able to recruit better free agents in 2011 (assuming a season will be played) and set the team up to move forward even more swiftly through the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

As I have posted elsewhere I think the Redskins will make several moves over the summer to add veterans for depth as they become available.

I also see one more major move left in the team, namely the acquisition of a playmaking wide receiver.

Vincent Jackson may or may not be the option chosen, but the team's interest in him shows they are clearly not comfortable tossing the keys to the car in the hands of Thomas and Kelly.

Jackson's value has been diminished by the 3 game suspension, his salary demands as a restricted free agent, and by the fact a third DUI could land him on a one year ban from the NFL from Roger Goddell.

AJ Smith may have been angling for two #2's or a #1 for Jackson, but the fact remains the Saints were originally looking for a #2 pick for Jammal Brown before the draft from the Redskins.

They ended up settling for less. And San Diego likely will as well.

That said, if not Jackson I believe Shanahan has a list of other WRs who fit his offense and could come in over the summer and be productive within a short period of time working with McNabb and Kyle Shanahan.

I would be VERY surprised to see Thomas, Kelly, Galloway, Furrey and Armstrong being the depth at WR behind Santana Moss heading into the opener.

I submit that the best way to increase his trade value is to sit him. Right now I don't think his trade value is particularly high. He doesn't want to be here and he won't play for us, so our leverage in a possible trade is fairly low. However, if we make it clear that we'd be just fine sitting him for whole season if we have to, we are negotiating with possible trade partners from a stronger position. Our apparent desperation to get him out of town ASAP is gone.

I'd say 'we'll entertain offers but if we don't get one we like we'll damn well sit the SOB all season long.'

And mean it.

The doldrums of Summer are nearly upon us. Humidity and temperature march steadily upward on the East Coast as we begin our annual descent to hell. We recall fondly January pinings for warmer weather and wonder what we could possibly have been thinking?

The adjustment is just one ritual among many.

The arrival of brutish weather harkens another kind of stagnancy, a dearth of sports this fan cares anything about. Unless you’re (gasp) a major league baseball addict (we'll deal with you later), you are about to enter the sports Mojave with a half-empty canteen. The NFL draft has come and gone. Soon even the handful of NBA and NHL fans among us will have nothing to tune in for, as those leagues bring their exhausting seasons to a welcome close. What then? Baseball? Golf? Poker on ESPN2?

What is he talking about, you ask? The NFL season is right around the corner. Minicamps are in session. Hope springs anew for the (insert beleaguered NFL franchise here) _______. This could be the season where we turn it all around. The pre-season is mere months away. Ahhh. And there lies the point – we’re months away from even being able to watch pre-season NFL games. We’re a hot, humid, interminable Summer away from the return of the real NFL.

Lord, give me the strength to wait for it.

For geographically challenged fans, the wait is even more excruciating. We can’t listen to daily prognostications on DC sports jock radio, can’t tune into today's local TV interview of player X to hear how this year will be different and how promising our Redskins future suddenly is. For distant fans, May/June/July is the dead-zone. Of course, there are other times of the year when our team is nowhere to be found on TV and radio. For Redskins fans, this frequently (and sadly) occurs in late December. That post-season hiatus is almost a necessary catharsis though. We’ve cried, we’ve bled, and we just need to take a break. We need time and space to recapture belief in our team’s ‘potential’, to re-charge our fan batteries. We watch other fan’s teams grasp glory or heartbreak on January TV. Then comes the cosmic tease of the NFL draft, during which the fortunes of every team are, with 10 seconds at a podium, won or lost. We enjoy a few blissful weeks of dissection, rejoice, and self-flagellation before the doldrums arrive. And now they are upon us.

For the 2010 Washington Redskins, everything has changed. Our gazillionaire owner has stepped away from the red phone, and appears to be content in letting football people build a team that can win. Spring cleaning saw more than a few veteran Redskins swept out. A lottery pick QB, whose lucky number was never going to come up, has been sent packing, off to the hapless Raiders to serve as their latest savior. The Redskins have made the boldest move of the off-season (again), one no one saw coming, in bringing in a Pro Bowl quarterback from a hated rival’s roster. This mysterious team we love drafted an offensive lineman with the #4 pick in the draft, and has brought in a stable of geriatric (aka ‘veteran’) running backs to compete for the glory of carrying the pigskin. The worm has turned in Washington, D.C.

But what does it all mean? Can McNabb still be one of the best QB’s in this league, or was it Andy Reid who made him a star in Philadephia? Will the changes we’ve made on the offensive line be enough to keep McNabb mostly upright? Is Clinton Portis the devil, and will the recent addition of lots of competition spark him to previous impressive form? Will Fred Davis and Chris Cooley become the most feared duo on offense in 2010? Just how fat will fat Albert be if/when he finally shows up to Redskins practices, and can Jim Haslett get him looking more like the guy we traded Fort Knox for a year ago? So many questions, and so long to wait to get some answers. But wait we must and wait we will.

If there is a God, the lack of meaningful, watchable sports on TV for the next 3 months can only represent one heavenly commandant.

Get thee outside and play people

So buy yourself a bicycle, start that vegetable garden your wife’s been nagging you about, take your kids to an amusement park, paint the house that so badly needs it, learn how to brew your own beer. Something, anything to take your mind off the fact that we’ll have to wait 3 more hot, humid oppressive months to once again cheer for our boys in Burgundy and Gold.

But cheer up guys and gals. Afterall, the World Cup starts in just 25 days :)

Well Om, you're narrowing the parameters considerably. If you are arguing that 3-4 years of franchise QB play makes a team so automatically successful that no model is needed, then why are we trading for a QB that will play for 3-4 years on the OUTSIDE? For the record, I happen to agree with you that an elite QB makes everything much easier, and as such I was tempted to include teams that found a QB through the draft since they shouldn't be excluded for doing what they should be doing: finding talent in the draft. But that would have taken FAR more time than looking at teams who managed to sustain success with more than one QB under center, and the lazy in me won out. :)

First, let's look at the Redskin drafts since Casserly left: From '01-'09 we had 5, 10, 3, 4, 6, 6, 5, 10 and 7 draft picks. That's two years of more picks than rounds. Six years of fewer picks than rounds. An average of 6.2 picks a year and an average of 6.8 wins a year. We had two winning seasons in nine years (thank you Joe) and five losing seasons.

Now let's look at the Steelers. And let's take out the Rothelisberger years (though it should be pointed out the Steelers did draft him.): From '94 (when the NFL went down to seven rounds) to '04 (The year Big Ben was drafted) they had 10, 10, 9, 8, 10, 11, 9, 7, 8, 5 an 8 picks. Nine years of more picks than rounds and one year of fewer picks than rounds. An average of 8.6 picks a year and an average of 10 wins a year. They had eight winning seasons, seven playoffs seasons and a superbowl appearance. All in an 11 year span with five different starting QBs. And that's NOT including the post-Ben years who, again, they found in the draft.

Now let's look at the Chargers: Since '02 they've had two different starting QBs (both acquired in the draft) and two different coaches (neither of which were particularly successful with the Redskins, coincidentally.) And from '02-'09 they had 8, 8, 11, 7, 8, 6, 5 and 8 picks. Five years of more picks than rounds and two years of fewer picks than rounds. 7.6 picks a year and 9.8 wins a year. They had five winning seasons, five playoff appearances and one losing season in eight years.

Now let’s look at the Ravens: They’ve had a nice run from ’99 until now, despite starting six different QBs. From ’99 to ’09 they’ve had 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 7, 7, 10, 7, 10 and 6 picks. Four years of 10 or more picks and three years of fewer picks than rounds. 7.7 picks a year and 9.1 wins a year. Seven winning seasons in eleven years and 3 losing seasons.

I have to admit, it’s tougher to find an NFC team that wins consistently without a franchise QB. The closest I could find that met that standard was Tampa. They had a pretty good run during the Dungy/Gruden era from ’96 to ’08, even though they started seven different QBs over that time. During that era they had 9, 10, 7, 9, 5, 9, 8, 6, 8, 12, 10, 10 and 7 picks. Nine years of more picks than rounds and two years of fewer picks than rounds. 8.4 picks a year and 8.5 wins a year. They had eight winning seasons in 13 years, seven playoff appearances and a superbowl win and four losing seasons.

Now I understand this may look like cherry-picking, but remember you set the parameters. I’m not going into teams that have long-term franchise QBs which are far more common. But I will say that I was unable to find a team without a long-term franchise QB that drafted fewer picks than rounds that was able to sustain any kind of success. You either need that QB, or you need a draft. Preferably both.

What we’ve done so far is gotten ourselves a short-term QB, and we ended up with six draft picks, three of them in the seventh round. I see we picked up a 4th rounder for Campbell in 2012 so there’s that. But I’d like to see us starting to use the draft the way other teams do. Then I’ll be happy to admit we are looking to the future.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go take a nap. :)

This time of year, as the shattered pieces of broken NFL dreams are pieced back together in hope of building (or rebuilding) a Super Bowl-bound franchise, front offices are forced to make some of the toughest decisions of their careers - who to hire, who to fire, who to acquire, and who to simply admire.


Decisions concerning free agency, renewing contracts, offering tenders, proposing trades, and of course, drafting players, can make or break an NFL team. Drafting Jamarcus Russell helped Oakland dig themselves even deeper into their own Black Hole of misery. Trading for Drew Brees got New Orleans their first Super Bowl trophy.

As a fan, you can’t expect the guys upstairs to get every decision right, but it’s safe to say that Washington fans have seen their beloved franchise on the wrong end of these decisions way too often lately. Brandon Lloyd. Adam Archuleta. Jason Taylor. Randel El. Albert Royal Painsworth. The list goes woefully on.

Yes, they all made sense at the time I suppose. I rationalized those moves and figured (privately, hoped and prayed) that Vinny & Co. knew what the heck they were doing. After all, you’d much rather have a proven player than have to take a stab on some rookie, right?

But after watching these acquisitions fail horribly, one after the other, while watching the perennial world beaters gleefully swim in a pool draft picks like Scrooge McDuck year after year, I slowly began to realize the truth. We weren’t going anywhere as an organization until we brought better decision-makers into the building.

With the firing of Vinny Cerrato and subsequent hiring of both general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Mike Shanahan, Dan Snyder has at last given the Burgundy faithful something that it’s been starving for: unified upper management qualified to properly evaluate and make sound decisions. What a concept.

Since then, the road to recovery has begun, and the evidence of change is crystal clear, particularly in the way we’ve approached the off season. Tempered free agent spending. Short, low-risk contracts. Removal of under-performing cap space. Building depth. Unpredictability. Finding a franchise QB.

Although there are countless factors taken into consideration for all these decisions, it ultimately all comes down to one thing – value.

So what is value? Like most things, it depends on who you ask. And, like most things, it all comes down to money.

According to Webster, they’re 8 definitions of the word, but only the top 3 really pertain to NFL player personnel.

1 : a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged
2 : the monetary worth of something
3 : relative worth, utility, or importance

Think about the difference between those 3 definitions for a second. #2’s take on value is the price tag. #3’s definition revolves around what the purchased thing you’ve paid for actual gives you. And #1, not surprisingly, is the implicit relation between #2 and #3.

So what does any of this have to do with the Redskins? Everything.

With previous management, our concept of value was aligned with the idea that you get what you pay for. In many cases under the Snyder-Cerrato regime, when you read a headline about a Washington move, it was usually followed by the words “record contract”, “big splash”, “multiple draft picks”, “high priced”, etc. They figured that the more you spent, the more you got. Can’t really blame them for their approach. Made sense to me, and as a fan, I’d rather see my franchise owner shell out millions to try to help the team succeed rather than become the Bills.

But then what happened? All the big investments crashed. We provided plenty of #2, but didn’t get any #3 in return. We lost the value game, and we lost it BAD. To put it in perspective, we paid Brandon Lloyd over $450,000, the cost of a 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago, for each reception he made over his two-year Washington career.

So what’s different now? For starters, we’re setting ourselves up to win big, rather than lose big.

In Donovan McNabb, we got ourselves the quarterback we’ve never had, but always needed, and at a price that doesn’t break the bank, today or tomorrow. Making a play to move up to that 1st pick to acquire Bradford probably would have cost us multiple day 1 and day 2 picks, not to mention a contract that will reach up into the $50 million range. This was something yesterday’s management would have considered, but not today’s. Instead, we got a franchise quarterback for a 2nd and a 4th, and a contract that when signed, will probably be half of what the untested rookie gets paid.

I don’t expect much from Larry Johnson or Willie Parker, but the fact that we paid roughly $6 million for the two of them, it doesn’t really matter. We’ve invested little, so our potential losses will be little. But think about the famous Shanahan zone blocking in Denver, and how it made careers out of no-name, late-round picks such as Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Rueben Droughs, and Tatum Bell. The potential for either Johnson or Parker to resurrect their careers and thrive is absolutely possible, and therefore so is the opportunity to win big in the value game we’ve grown so accustomed to losing.

Today we acquired Adam Carriker, a former 1st round pick , from the St. Louis Rams for the price of ….. switching our respective 5th and 7th round selections in this week’s draft. Basically, for free. And although his oft-injured 2 years in St. Louis was met with disappointment, the concept of Carriker finally getting the opportunity to play as a 3-4 defensive end (what many had considered him perfectly built to play), makes for yet another low-cost, high-reward possibility.

As Draft Day races closer, and more trade talks about Haynesworth & Co. continue to swirl, it’s impossible to say what’ll happen next. But one thing I know for sure. I know I can trust them not to do anything incredibly stupid.

And you just can’t put a price on that.

Since Easter I have spent a good bit of time reading more than my fair share of media and fan comment about everyone’s new best friend, Donovan McNabb. I have to say I have not heard this much hype about a guy in Burgundy and Gold taking snaps from center since . . . well . . . since Campbell took over the starting job from Brunell.

Before I elaborate further, I have to admit to you all that I am a Jason Campbell fan but I did not start out that way. I was against drafting him when Gibbs did it as I really thought we had the QB position covered with Ramsey and Brunell. In that I was proven incredibly wrong. I also believed then that we needed to spend the picks differently and build through the draft. In this I continue to be proven right.

It was nothing personal against Campbell so much as it was something against the institutional impatience we had going at the time, constantly trading tomorrow for today and coming out on the short end of the stick both places. He was just the latest example of an organization without a plan and as such represented much of what I had come to dislike about the way the Redskins have done business consistently since the death of The Squire.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum . . . the kid impressed me.

He rolled with everything that happened to him. The constant changes in the play book and the coordinators. The injuries around him and even to him. The obvious disdain for him by the front office/ownership and the lack confidence in him from the coaches. Drops, incorrect routes and just generally poor play from the guys he was throwing the ball too. Age and injuries that robbed him of any protection up front. Not to mention the criticism of the fans and even teammates.

Yet against all odds, he improved. Every season he got better at his craft.

It would be hard to find a young man in the NFL who has endured more professionally than Campbell has since he was drafted by the Skins 5 years ago. It would be impossible to find one who has done so with more class.

For the last 10 days I have read the unintentional slams by well meaning fans excited about the arrival of a “real” quarterback in Washington and I cannot help but think that somewhere along the line we have decided that winning at any cost is more important that playing the game with class and dignity.

Class and dignity have value in my world.

I want my QB to face the music like a man. Say and do the right things. Be a shield for his teammates to take shelter behind when things get tough.

Say what you want about his play, even if you choose to ignore that it continues to improve, but Campbell has been all those things and done them in spades.

Is Donovan a better QB today than Jason Campbell? Yes, but I don’t know that it is as big a gap as many think. I hope it is but I will have to see it play out that way, on the field with this team, before I fully embrace it as reality.

You see, for all I hear how great a QB Donovan is, I look at his last 11 seasons and see that he played for a far better organization than most get the chance to. He played that entire time for the same coach that drafted him and in the same system. He had a front office and coaching staff with a plan. He had a defense that year in and year out was one of the best in the league at forcing mistakes, giving him a short field or even scoring on its own. He had an offensive line.

In short, he had the one thing Campbell has not had . . . a team.

Even with that huge advantage he could not win the big one. Often I had the impression that he felt others were to blame and while he stopped just short of throwing anyone under the bus, he has consistently failed to shoulder much if any of the responsibility for the Eagles falling short. Certainly there has been some whining, a bit of finger pointing and that constant smug grin that seems to suggest that, to steal from Jim Mora, we think we know but we don’t know.

I don’t know if Jason Campbell could have been a better quarterback than McNabb but I do know we will never find out.

I guess the bigger question right now for this Redskin fan is whether McNabb can be as good a man as Jason Campbell.

The gaps on either side of the center are the A gaps. The gaps between the guard and tackle are the B gaps. Outside the tackles are C through E gaps, but we'll concentrate on the first two.

A defensive lineman can do one of two things, he can line up (generally) over an offensive lineman, or he can line up in front of one of the gaps between offensive linemen.

If he is lining up directly over an O lineman, then he is responsible for controlling the gaps on either side of that lineman. His job is to drive into that lineman, maintain his position and then if the ball carrier comes into either one of those gaps on each side, slide into the gap and stuff the play. These guys can be called nose guards, nose tackles, 2 gappers. As you can imagine, a two gap DT must be bigger stronger, and extremely durable. You think of guys like Butz, Adams, Siragusa.

If he is responsible for a single gap, then his job is to prenetrate through that gap, get into the backfield and cause as much disruption there as possible. This requires more quickness and explosion at the snap. Think Sapp.

But it gets a little more complicated. Teams assign numbers to the OL, in fact, they can assign two numbers to each O lineman depending upon which shoulder (left or right) they want the D lineman to attack. They call these numbers 'techniques', although the term is a somewhat of a misnomer.

The 0 technique or position is right over the center's nose.
The 1 technique is lining up over the center's left or right shoulder (in the A gap).
The 2 technique is on the shoulder of the OG closest to the center, right shoulder for the left guard, left shoulder for the right guard, (in the A gap).
The 3 technique is the other shoulder (outside) of the OG, closest to the OT on each side (in the B gap).
The 4 technique is the OT's inside shoulder, closest to the center (in the B gap).
The 5 technique is the OT's outside shoulder (in the C gap).

Thus a 3 technique DT is a gap shooting tackle who specializes in the 'B' gap between the OG and the OT, with an alignment emphasis at the snap for being closer to the outside shoulder of the OG rather than closer to the OT. By lining up this way, he can shoot straight into the gap, or turn and trap the OG inside thus creating more of a lane for a blitzer.

At the same time, a nose tackle is typically asked to play the 0 technique, right over the center's nose, and control the gaps on each side of the center. At least one of the OGs will be doubling up on him each play, hoping that they can drive him the opposite way and crate a lane behind the driving guard, or lock on to him so that he can't slide into the other A gap.

We see these kinds of articles every year and while it’s nice that the guys and all sitting around the camp fire singing kumbaya, it really is meaningless in evaluating the state of our team. Given the number of disappointments we have endured over the last 18 years, I can’t bring myself to be optimistic based upon statements made in the offseason. At this point, I am less concerned with winning and would settle for simply not being bored.

And there are certainly enough changes that make speculation regarding our offense at least intriguing and that is good enough for me. For instance:

McNabb’s best year by any measure was 2004, which was also the one year he played the full season with TO. So how will the Redskin wide receivers do compared to the Philly receivers? With a new QB, do Thomas or Kelly start to justify their draft position or do we have a steal in Marko Mitchell?

Do we keep both Davis and Cooley and if we do what does the offense look like when they are both on the field? Both of these guys have proven to be hard to bring down which is something I enjoy watching perhaps as a result of having to watch Mark Bavaro carry a couple Redskin defenders a few extra yards for a critical first down for so many years. Many teams have trouble matching up with one good pass catching tight end, much less two. I’m looking forward to watching them exploit this. Can we get Cooley/Davis split out wide or open in the flat where they can get up a head of steam? Can we get them to spread the field horizontally while Moss is spreading it vertically opening up the middle for McNabb scrambles? Can the presence of Cooley and Davis on the field at the same time give DM multiple outlet targets and effectively slow down the rush and compensate for our less than optimal line?

How much of McNabb’s success was due to Westbrook and how well will he perform without him? On the other hand, this will be the first time DM has played where the defense will have to respect a power running game. How will that help him? Will Parker end up in a Westbrook role or will Cooley end up playing the traditional WCO pass catching fullback role as an H back?

There is certainly enough going on to make the preseason interesting this year. :happy:

There have been a fair number of posters that have questioned how a team coming back from 4-12 could spend picks on a quarterback who has been in the league longer than Dan Snyder has owned the team?

The answer is actually remarkably simple - quarterback like a staff ace in the majors is a transormational player.

Some point to the Caps patience in drafting Alex Ovechkin and wonder why the Redskins don't just follow the draft path.

For one, the transition of a qb to the NFL is one of the most difficult in sports. Ovechkin as a rookie scored 52 goals and had 106 points for the Caps.

The Caps didn't wait on Ovechkin, he essentially waited 3 years on the team to bring in more talent.

There is no way a Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy would have anywhere near this kind of impact on the Redskins and that is assuming they eventually will be regular starting quarterbacks.

What if they are busts? What if they are like Rex Grossman 5 years from now?

Ironically enough it is my opinion that the Redskins have failed in the past decade in major part because the team did NOT go out and spend megabucks to acquire a successful NFL quarterback.

The team spent $10M on a safety and $40M on a DT, but they went cheap at qb and that really hurt them.

Other than Brunell's $7M bonus in 2004 it was Tony Banks, Shane Matthews, Patrick Ramsey and Jason Campbell running the show.

Shanahan gets it. You START at quarterback and then build around him.

In this case I fully expect Washington to come out of the draft with a left tackle whether at #4 or by trading down.

I also expect another veteran signing over the summer when teams evaluate their draft picks and decide to release some vets who can still play the game.

But we now have in place the player that touches the ball on 100 percent of the snaps and tha player in McNabb has a track record not seen here since Joe Theismann broke his leg in 1985.
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There are as many theories on what our Washington Redskins should do in the 2010 NFL draft as there are recipes for ‘NC barbecue’ in my neck of the woods. And the discussions revolving around those two passion-inducing topics can get equally spirited. I can’t help you with the NC barbecue debate (although you are putting too much vinegar in yours), but let me try and help clear things up for you on the upcoming Redskins draft picture.

Brace yourself – because the Redskins are going to draft a quarterback with the 4th pick of the draft – and they’ll be making a rock-solid decision.

I know. I know. I’ve heard the arguments you’re about to make.

Without an offensive line to protect him, it won’t matter who we have at QB, we need to build from the trenches up. We’ve largely ignored the offensive line for a decade and we won’t be successful again until we invest there. Selecting a QB in the draft is a crap-shoot. You’re as likely to get a Ryan Leaf as you are a Peyton Manning. Teams find QB ‘gems’ in the later rounds, why can’t the Redskins? Jason Campbell can be a solid NFL starter, he just needs protection and stability. Mike and Kyle Shanahan will help him make it to the next level. Etc...etc…etc…

Let’s start with what we know. You may argue we *may* know this, but search your soul and you’ll know you know it. Jason Campbell is not the answer at quarterback and never will be. Campbell is not without significant physical gifts. He throws a beautiful ball, has plenty of arm strength, and although rarely mentioned, he’s capable of turning a broken play into a 20 yard gain with his feet. Campbell’s athleticism is undeniable.

Some have argued Campbell isn’t ‘smart enough’ to be an NFL starter. Ridiculous. Campbell’s simply the victim of his own southernness, his quiet, thoughtful demeanor frequently mistaken for something else. Given the voluminous changes Campbell has had to embrace during his time in DC, one could argue he’s proven his football IQ is more than high enough to get the job done.

There’s just one problem. He hasn’t gotten the job done.

Sure Campbell’s shown flashes. He’s shined occasionally. He’s been more than solid for a 2 or 3 game stretch. But he hasn’t, when critically necessary, shown the ability to take the team on his back and carry it to crucial victories. Campbell is simply not the answer. He won’t be. And Shanahan clearly knows it. The Redskins flirtations with and courting of numerous potential successors even prior to Shanahan’s arrival speak volumes about their assessment of Jason Campbell’s future. In DC, he has none. If you accept that one fact, you know we are on the hunt for our next QB in DC.

Could he already be on the roster? I don’t think so. Of course, sometimes life brings surprises. Colt Brennan could shock us all and dazzle Shanahan this summer. Perhaps Rex Grossman, given a new lease on life in what appeared to be the terminal stages of his NFL career, could rebound and turn into a Pro-Bowler. But neither of those outcomes seem likely, do they? So, again, where does that leave us? In dire need of a franchise quarterback.

And so on to the most compelling argument against doing what the Redskins will surely do on April 22nd, 2010. The Redskins cannot, will not draft a QB with the 4th pick because without rebuilding our offensive line, no QB can be successful. This argument is tricky, because like all good arguments, it’s half right. No QB can be successful without a solid offensive line protecting him. But the argument fails because it’s a ‘sucker’s choice’. The argument is not ‘The Redskins need to rebuild the offensive line; therefore they should not draft a QB with the 4th pick’. To the contrary, it's ‘The Redskins need to rebuild the offensive line to protect the QB they select with the 4th pick’. The two goals, while somewhat daunting given the extent of our needs and our limited picks in 2010, are not mutually exclusive. We can do both.

So why must the Redskins go QB with that 4th pick? It’s really quite simple. Its true selecting a QB in the draft is a crapshoot. But Redskins fans have to start with one supposition, without which our future may be dark, foreboding, and scary. Mike Shanahan is a Super Bowl-winning head coach with decades of experience all supporting the idea that he damn well knows a winning quarterback when he sees one. It has to start there. Assuming that’s the case, and God knows, I’m assuming it (because I don’t have the stomach to consider the alternative possibility), no matter where we select a QB, it’ll be Shanahan selecting him.

Another assumption I’ll make is that, given there are only so many QBs in a draft, it’s very probable there are only 1 or 2 in a given draft that’ll ultimately be ‘impact’ or ‘franchise’ QBs, however you define that. I define those players as QBs who have the ‘IT Factor’, that almost impossible to define quality in the guy behind center that allows him to make those crucial plays, whether by experience or perhaps just instinct, that turn the tide and bring victory more often than defeat. The ‘IT Factor’ is exactly what Jason Campbell lacks and will never have. There’s a QB in this year’s draft that has it. And one or two teams will have the opportunity to draft that guy.

This year, Washington is one of them.

Yeah. I know. Tom Brady was drafted in round 6. I get it. It happens. But more often than not, if you want a franchise QB, you’d better count on having an early round 1 pick, unless you believe you’ll win the lottery some day. The most crucial factor which will drive the Redskins inexorably towards making that crapshoot selection of a quarterback with pick number 4 is that it could be a decade before we’re in a position to use a top 5 pick again. That’s it. You can argue that there are no franchise QBs in this draft. I think you’re wrong but you can make that argument. But if Mike Shanahan thinks he’s got the opportunity to pick a QB with that elusive, rare ‘IT Factor’ with pick #4, he has to make that choice. Do we need offensive line help? Absolutely. In fact, if we do go QB at #4, I’d strongly recommend we let junior hold the clipboard for a year while we continue to rebuild our offensive line. I suspect that’s exactly what we’ll do.

April 22nd is fast approaching Redskins fans. Get out your jerseys, dust off your foam fingers, tell the wife you’ll be otherwise occupied that evening, and get ready to meet the next franchise QB of the Washington Redskins 18 days from now.

“Ahh yeah, that's right baby
Girl, tonight we're gonna make love
You know how I know baby?
Cuz its Wednesday, and Wednesday night is the night that we make love.
Tuesday night is the night that we go and visit your mother, but
Wednesday night is the night that we make love.
Cuz everything is just right, conditions are perfect.
There's nothing good on TV, conditions are perfect.
You lean in close and say something sexy like " I might go to bed I've
got work in the morning." I know what you're trying to say baby.
You're tryin to say "Ooh yeah, it's business time, it's business time.”

Who knew? As kids growing up tossing around the old pigskin (you know, that well-worn Wilson with the lump on one end where the bladder was trying to bust through the seams), we pretended to be our idols. We admired their skills, their courage, their grit, and their moxie. They could do things ordinary humans couldn’t.

Sonny.
Billy.
Theismann if you were the brash, mouthy type.
Hell, in a pinch, it might even be Marino or Elway, or if you rolled old school – Unitas, Montana, or Broadway Joe maybe?
Ron Jeremy? I never game him a thought. Maybe I should have.

Today, our backyard heroes try to get away with things ordinary humans couldn’t.

So what is it with today’s athletic icons? Fame. Riches. Adoration. It isn’t enough? Having the world at your beck and call, no wish unwishable – it just doesn’t ‘do it’ for you anymore?

When did being a decent human being go so out of fashion?

Sam Kinnison once claimed to have to drink a six pack of Heineken every night to keep from cutting his girlfriend’s head off and storing it in a bowling ball bag. ‘I don’t condone that kind of thing’ he'd scream, ‘but I UNDERSTAND IT!’. As an official member of American maledom, I too understand that primal urge, the inner voice whispering continuously ‘look at her…’. We have all been very naughty boys. We’re all bad bad boys at heart. We (and our head-shaking significant others) know this about ourselves. And yet, most of us - far more than anyone gives us credit for - don’t act out like our former heroes, the modern day sports star.

Tiger.
Big Ben.
Kobe.
And God knows how many other ships waiting to find an iceberg with their name on it.

It’s not about being a ‘hero’ or a ‘role model’. Sports fans gave up that fantasy a long time ago (sometime around the time of the Chicago Black Sox). It’s just about trying reasonably hard not to be a horrible human being.

What drives star athletes to seek to divide and conquer all of womankind like Genghis Khan gobbling up Asia? Is it the sex? Is it, as Tiger Woods recently claimed, a ‘sense of entitlement’? Or is it a reflection of some pathetic emptiness these guys feel, some desperate attempt to fill some incomprehensible void that no amount of fame, fortune, or screwing can satiate? There’s a lot of irony in each seemingly endless revelation. A lifetime of discipline in the pursuit of athletic perfection is somehow useless in the face of mere temptation. That the affection, embrace, and love of literally millions still isn’t gratification enough. That athletes who can do the unthinkable on their chosen field of play, just can’t follow through on the most basic male requirement of them all. Just. Don’t. Be. A. Scumbag.

It’ll be interesting to see how our former heroes fare. Maybe it will take losing millions to drive home the point. Maybe it will take experiencing that ‘other kind of fame’, the kind that makes you a pariah, elicits finger-pointing and whispers, not autograph-seeking at restaurants, to help them get it. I don’t know. I hope our modern day athletes do start getting it. Because frankly guys, it’s an embarrassment.

It’s time to start living within some norms. You don’t have to be perfect. Just try to give up the whole ‘Caligula’ thing. You don’t have to experience every sensation in every orifice. Leave the records to Warren Beatty and Wilt.

Come on athletes. You were right – sports is a business, and it IS business time. And the business you need to get busy with is growing the eff up.

OK, I figured since it is the off-season and there is not much more than speculation going around, I would create a thread for amusing personal Redskins' stories. I have already shared one of my absolute favorites with my anecdote in the Introductions thread, but here's another to get this started.

For those of you who knew me over at ES under the pseudonym bschurm, you may recall this story so please bear with me, hopefully you will enjoy reading this again. For those of you who don't, here goes:

As I sat in my seat at Raymond James Stadium for about 30 minutes after the victory that sent us to Seattle in 2006, savoring the delightful aroma of sweet revenge after a controversial loss to the Bucs earlier in the season (a game I had attended as well), I contemplated my options for a possible trip to the Northwest. I was in a financial position to go, so I made plans to fly to Seattle to support the troops as they battled on in their playoff journey.

Well, the stars were all aligned for me to go. I had barely managed to get a flight into Seattle with just enough time to get to the Stadium, find parking and get to my seats. I had not taken into consideration the time change, assuming the game started in Seattle at 4:30, well that was 4:30 Eastern Standard Time, 1:30 Pacific Time. Yeah, I know, bonehead!

Like I said the stars were aligned because I was able to deal with no delays making the flight from West Palm to Houston to Seattle, getting to the rental car counter, finding my car, driving to the stadium with 30 minutes to spare before the game started.

Now mind you, I had just spent nearly $800 for airfare and tickets to the game. When I get to the stadium, I see they are charging $45 for parking. Of course I am too cheap for that, there is no way I am paying $45 to park! So I make the next possible right hand turn and drive about 7 or 8 blocks, where I realized I was a little too far away from the stadium and would probably have to pay the 45 bucks! I made a U-turn under the I-5 overpass at the next light and as I am heading back in the direction from which I came with the stadium in full view, a truck comes flying off the Interstate and plows right into me sending me into the opposing lane of traffic. After I gathered my senses, I realized I had just been in a serious accident. That piece of junk Dodge Stratus was shredded! Totaled! I looked around to find the other vehicle only to see it was gone later to discover it was reported stolen about a half an hour after the accident.

So, within minutes the paramedics and police were on scene. My head was spinning! Not only had I just been in a serious accident, but all I could think about was the game! The police were questioning me about the accident, the paramedics were concerned about the powder burn on my forehead from the airbag being deployed and the whole time I could think of nothing else but being inside the stadium for kickoff!

I had to call to make arrangements for a tow truck to come for the piece of junk that was totaled, I had to find a spot for my overnight bag because I had planned to leave it in the car and check into my hotel after the game, and I could hear the teams being introduced! Thank God the ambulance driver was from DC and was a Skins' fan, he told me he would hold onto my bag at the station 'til after the game, the tow truck was taking the car away and the paramedic offered me a ride to the stadium so I didn't have to walk because the game was about to start.

Now, as all this was going on, my adrenaline began to slow and I began to feel some significant pain in my arm. I was hiding it from the paramedics because my focus was on the game, but I did ask them to give me a sling as they dropped me off in front of Qwest Field behind the pyramid section at the north end zone.

They dropped me off at the stadium, but I had missed some of the 1st quarter. It did not matter how urgent I expressed my desire to get to the game and how accommodating the authorities were, I was unable to make the kick-off, but alas, I was in the stadium headed to my seat. It was thrilling being there! They have one beautiful stadium in Seattle and it made for a good football atmosphere!

My seat was smack dab in the middle of season ticket holders so I was once again immersed in a sea of opposing fans for a Redkins' playoff game in consecutive weeks. It was not as friendly as Tampa, but after the drunk idiots in my section spewed a little venom, threatening an opposing fan whose arm was in a sling, the older, more respectable fans just told me to ignore them that they were harmless.

I watched as Sean Alexander was knocked out of the game by a sweet hit by Lavar! I watched Carlos Rogers drop a game changing interception and probable TD return. But by the end of the 3rd quarter the pain in my arm had become unbearable. With some shifting going on inside my arm, I knew I needed to get to the hospital. I walked over to the Fire Station where the paramedics were holding my bag. I asked them to call me a cab so I could get over to the hospital. Dude was cool! He told me he would drive me over, free of charge.

So, after checking into the emergency room, getting some X-rays, and waiting a while, I saw as they placed the images of my arm on the light to review them. I could see the problem from approximately 25ft away. The ulna had been snapped like a twig. The shifting I had been feeling in my arm was the 2 pieces of a broken bone moving around in my arm

I went to the 2006 Redskins playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a broken arm that had occurred 30 minutes before kickoff.

Needless to say, I went straight to the airport to catch the next possible flight since there was not gonna be any pleasure sticking around Seattle for another day as a Redskins' fan after they lost a playoff game having a freshly broken arm. LOL!

It was absolutely the worst flight of my life! That accident cost me quite a bit! But as I look back, it was an experience for the ages!

Hail to the Redskins!

Now let's hear some of your favorites!

The Redskins faithful enter this 2010 offseason with more questions than answers. How will the player's react to all these new coaches? Will we able able to transition to the 3-4 effectively? Is Chris Samuels going to retire? What will be the fate of Jason Campbell? How will we approach free agency with the possibility of an uncapped year looming? Has Clinton's time run out in D.C.?

Perhaps the most compelling question, if not the most important, is what will new head coach Mike Shanahan do on draft day?



Obviously, no one knows for sure at this point (not even Shanahan), given that we're weeks away from the combine, and months away from the draft itself, but regardless, the mock drafting business is alive and booming.

The general consensus amidst these fortune tellers is that the Redskins will take either a QB or an offensive tackle with their first pick, the #4 overall pick in the entire draft. Can't say I disagree, either. So the burning question is, which way will we go?

Although I often mock the mock draft, and consider such acts of blind prediction as little more than an NFL-themed game of Pin The Tail On The Donkey, I decided to play along this time. After all, it's the offseason, what the hell else am I going to do?

I lost my magic 8 Ball last summer, and my local gypsy was fresh out of tea leaves (she blamed it on the weather, guess she didn't see that storm coming), so I needed to rely on the advice my 3rd grade history teacher once told me. The best way to predict the future is to study the past.

In an effort to get a gauge on Shanahan's positional draft tendencies, I analyzed all 111 draft picks he made during his tenure with the Denver Broncos between 1995 and 2008, breaking each pick down by position to see if anything popped out. Hardly an exact science, but it'll have to do until those tarot cards finally show up.

First, let's look at the raw totals by position. And uh, Carlos? You might want to 'pay attention' to this.


Apparently, if you can run fast, you're Shanahan's guy! In terms of quantity, you can clearly see his tendency to draft DBs, WRs and RBs more than any other position.

In terms of the positions we're interested in (QB and OT), neither were particularly popular. In 13 drafts, only six QBs and five OTs were drafted by Shanahan. Not really the compelling statistical argument I was looking for.

Ah, but what about where they were drafted? After all, quality matters more than quantity in this case, especially when talking about the first pick. Curious to see how Shanahan valued certain positions, I assigned each of those draft picks their appropriate point total from Jimmy's Johnson's dreaded Draft Day Chart.

And that exercise proved to be much more interesting.



So although he rarely drafted a tackle, when he did, he drafted one pretty high. On average, he drafted tackles higher on the board than any other position. Quarterbacks, on the other hand, were middle-of-the-road when compared to other positions.

And how does this translate into Jimmy's draft chart?



Looking at that, one could conclude, without a crystal ball, that Mike Shanahan puts more draft value on tackle than any other position. On average, when he drafts a tackle, he's using 470 points (most out of any position), which equates to roughly the 11th pick of the 2nd round. Conversely, he spends only 248 points on average when selecting a quarterback. And where does 248 come in the draft? The 4th pick of the 3rd round. Hmmmm......

Om recently provided us with a nice summary of Nighthawks's "The Shanahan QBs", outlining the QBs that Shanahan drafted or traded for in his career.

While my scope just covers his time at Denver, here are "The Shanahan Tackles":

1995, Jamie Brown, 4th round (121st)
1996, Leslie Ratliffe, 7th round (213th)
2003, George Foster, 1st round (20th)
2007, Ryan Harris, 3rd round (70th)
2008, Ryan Clady, 1st round (12th)

It should also be noted that Jamie Brown was the Broncos 1st pick in that 1995 draft. Not sure what happened to their first 3 picks, maybe Vinny was interning for them at the time. :)

So, what does all this mean? In all honestly, probably nothing. Each draft is unique, each year presents its own needs and directions, not to mention that every one of those draft picks were the result of the collective minds of many, not just Shanahan. Take into account that Bruce Allen is in the mix as well, and all of this draft history in Denver could be completely irrelevant.

But what fun is that? So instead of rationalizing back to the fact that I have absolutely no clue what's going to happen, I have a better idea.

ASTON'S 2010 REDSKINS MOCK DRAFT

Round 1: Russell Okung, OT
Round 2: Colt McCoy, QB
Round 3: <n/a>
Round 4: Eric Norwood, OLB
Round 5: Jeff Byers, C
Round 6: <n/a>
Round 7: Devin Ross, CB

You heard it here first.

He’s not a genius Southie janitor at MIT, solving quantum physics equations on his lunch breaks, but there is no doubt that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is Good Will Hunting.

You have to give Mr. Snyder some credit. I know you don’t want to. But you must.

Crazy talk you say? Bear with me.

Our beleaguered owner has spent a couple of years being brought to his billionaire knees by organizational failure (both on and off the field) of near epic proportions. League laughingstock, Captain of the NFL’s new HMS Titanic, mocked even by *gasp* Raiders fans, pilloried by his previous supporters, few have experienced as powerful a reputational fall as Daniel Snyder.

We fans are a particularly vicious sort. If the best comedy always has its roots in pain, suffering Redskins fans could get their own HBO special.

‘Little Nicky’.
‘Napoleon’.
‘Lord Farquaad’.

Nicknames that draw blood. Ouch.

Not that Snyder didn’t have his detractors before, but the truth is, prior to the rambling wreck of a 2009 season, most Redskins fans were inclined to give their owner the benefit of the doubt. He was ‘learning’ they said. Sure, he was an owner, but above all things he was a ‘fan’. He wore a ‘Pat Fisher belt buckle as a kid for God’s sake’. He’d ‘spend whatever it took’ to win. And hadn’t he brought back the legendary Joe Gibbs? If Gibbs was okay with Daniel Snyder, how could adoring Redskins fans not be?

But the post-Gibbs façade soon developed cracks. Gibbs sudden departure, the inability to attract a big-name or experienced successor, the beyond goofy hire of an unknown in Jim Zorn, the seeming ascendance of ‘ol’ bug eyes’, Vinny Cerrato to key power-broker status. Despite Zorn’s initial swoon of success, Skins fans were worried. In a woeful 4-12 2009 campaign, Chicken Little turned out not to be some dumb cluck, but the smartest bird in the room.

And suddenly, Daniel Snyder, stood alone to shoulder the blame.

It must’ve been a tough couple of years for Snyder. Standing by his wife Tanya who was battling breast cancer, having a HOF coach depart, watching the team he almost unquestionably loves fall from grace. If the Redskins franchise were a theme park, we’d call them ‘Six Flags Over Futility’. But we’re guessing one of the most startling revelations of a difficult period was the realization that something previously thought impossible could happen. This franchise could lose its fans. I believe it is that which got Snyder’s undivided attention.

We don’t know Snyder. His Howard Hughes-like penchant for intense privacy makes it impossible to know him. That’s too bad. But we know a few things about him. He hates to lose. He possesses a damn the torpedoes, ignore the critics style that has served him well, to the tune of billions. He’s a self-made man, and you don’t get to be one of those without some serious smarts, toughness, and courage of your own convictions. Redskins fans have, at times, been willing to believe there’s another side to Dan Snyder. They’ve noted his generosity, both to his friends, and charitably. No Redskins fan missed the genuine sadness, kindness, and grace Snyder demonstrated when Sean Taylor was tragically slain. Redskins fans want to believe in that part of the guy. But it’s not been easy.

After a 2009 season full of miserable predictability, Snyder has surprised. Adrift in a sea of angry fans squeezed of all generosity of spirit, mocked and eviscerated by fans and media alike on TV, radio, and the internet, Snyder could’ve lashed out. He could’ve laid the blame elsewhere. He could’ve hardened his position, fortified and armed the castle walls, could’ve embraced bitterness. But he did none of those things.

First things first, he made a tough decision. He cut lifelong friend Vinny Cerrato loose. It’s difficult to know how big a part of the Redskins on-the-field failures Cerrato was, but one thing was sure – it wasn’t working, and sometimes you just have to start fresh. Firing a friend? There’s probably no tougher job an executive will ever face. Snyder did what he needed to do. And he did what he couldn’t do after the 2007 season – he found himself a capable, proven, experienced coach. And to make that happen, he did something else he was ill-inclined to do, he gave up control to a true GM, one he wasn’t drinking buddies or racquetball partners with, Bruce Allen.

And in the aftermath of disaster, Snyder has gone Good Will Hunting.

And he’s not done yet. In addition to resetting the table with a coaching staff believed to be far more promising and capable than the one that preceded it, Snyder is luring fans back with real change. Former season ticket holders are being offered their relinquished seats back. The oft mocked ‘jumbotron’ currently showing Papajohn’s commercials at Fed Ex Field is being replaced by a massive state-of-the-art version. New GM Bruce Allen has declared a new era in Redskins franchise history. ‘The Future is Now’.

I don’t know if I believe it, but I’ll confess, I’m starting to want to.

The position Redskins now find themselves in, a mere month after our team’s season came to a creakingly merciful halt, is undeniably more promising than anything we could’ve imagined then. All credit to Mr. Snyder for helping give back to fans the only thing they’ve ever really needed.

Hope.