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Is Year 3 for Shanahan Really Like Year 2 In A Regular Coaching Cycle?

Bulldog

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It used to be that a coach had to win by Year 5 to keep his job. Those were in the pre-internet, max-media days when a Tom Landry or Joe Gibbs could go 0-5 or 0-9 and not be fired after that first season amid a chorus of blogs and ESPN shots.

Now it seems to be Year 1 or 2 in most cases before the pressure starts to mount.Do we have an exception here?

Points in mitigation for Shanahan include the overall age of the team in 2010 (oldest in NFL), the number of draft choices on the club (among fewest in the NFL), and the reality of two mega-contracts for Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall, the ramifications of which the club is still dealing with in re the out years of all those bonus dollars against the cap.

A final point and perhaps the most important would be the lockout-induced poor free agent offseason in 2010 where fourth and fifth year starters were extended with their current clubs for another season and not made available. For first year coaches that meant not being able to fill major holes with players age-wise you felt you could build with long-term.

On the other side of the ledger is the failed attempt to bring in Donovan McNabb to skip a year in the rebuilding process (with a younger passer) and a continued dependence upon injured players to return to the field such as Jammal Brown and LaRon Landry, both of whom could have been released after 2010 with a small hit on the cap (and in Brown’s case no 5 year extension).

In going around and around on this, one thing that keeps sticking in my mind is the fact that few of the quarterbacks available to the Redskins in 2010 and 2011 have been successful in the NFL. The trade for McNabb was a mistake, but so would have been drafting Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder, Colt McCoy or dealing for a guy like Kevin Kolb or Carson Palmer. The team could have signed Matt Hasselbeck but he is 36 years old and immobile and didn’t really fit this offense.

Other than Andy Dalton there didn’t appear to be any bargains out there. Would you prefer to see Ike Skelton or Tim Tebow rather than Robert Griffin under center? Cam Newton is excellent but as a first overall choice should have been and there was no way Carolina was trading that pick at the time.
So, with the construction of a defense in 2011 (which should have started in 2010 with a regular free agent offseason) and the drafting of Griffin and Cousins in 2012, I am willing to see this as a do-over Year 2 for Shanahan and Allen.

While saying that I am really looking now at the OL and how the front office and coaching staff are managing the personnel. Shanahan drafts and signs players that other teams tend to pass on due to size or strength issues, all in the name of fielding a quick, flexible front. We will see if the bets on LeRibeus, Gettis, Chester, etc. and some of the returning depth players pan out. Trent Williams by all indications was having an outstanding camp before the bone bruise put him on the sidelines. But for a #4 overall pick, showing dominance and true athleticism in Year 3 at age 25 is expected now as he enters his prime in the NFL. If you are drafting correctly, his performance should not be a surprise.
 
I don't think the importance of the BS cap penalties can be overstated here. Given the cap hell situation, I think Mike thought he could cobble together a makeshift line. Things don't look good after two preseason games, but they are after all, preseason games. I am willing to wait a few regular season games before starting a riot.

Having said all that, I think you are right. For some reason Shanny is getting a pass, because I don't think he is as far along as he should be. Perhaps it is because fans have been clammoring for a HH movement for years? Not sure, but he is definitely getting younger, which is a good thing.
 
we have our QB now!

while I agree the management of the o-line has been less than stellar....well....we have our QB now! it's all gonna work out just fine....just a sked slide, however frustrating, to the right as we deal with the barriers erected by the Mara XXXXXXXs up North.
 
Shanny gets a pass from many fans despite some massively epic fails because we are so desperate to believe that we wont suck soon.
Has nothing to do with actual reality though,huh?

And fans using the benefit of hindsight can usually tell you all the moves he should've made.

How novel........
 
Shanny gets a pass from many fans despite some massively epic fails because we are so desperate to believe that we wont suck soon.


lighten up Francis! not as fast as any of us would prefer....but we have the key ingredient (maybe even two of em!). now it's a question of building around him - and keeping him in one piece! this year and next will be frustrating - or we will find out just how good a challenged personnel dept can be.
 
Shanahan inherited a team full of crap, mismatched pieces, projects that never panned out and older vets leftover from prior regimes, oh, and with little or no depth to boot due to a decade of mortgaging the future. Given that, he's probably been lucky to get as many wins as he has.

The first year was about evaluating what was in the cupboard, only to find that it was indeed as bare as it looked. The second year brought increased quantity of picks over quality in order to build depth and get the bodies needed to run the defensive scheme he wanted. This year we grabbed our franchise QB while he was in reach rather than build the OL and hope that we could get one next year after living through another hopelessly lost season.

We can get a RT in the 2nd next year plus some interior OL help and additional depth and we should be in fair shape for the future. We'll still need to shore up the secondary but at that point the rest of the team should be in decent shape barring significant injuries and F.A. losses.

Overall I think it's been a systematic and well thought out rebuild, not without hiccups, but with an overall upward trend. I fully expect the on-field results to start finally reflecting our personnel improvements toward the end of this season or early next season. So I think we're reaching a point of critical mass. If the improvements don't start showing up by the end of the next season, it's will probably be time to let Shanny go. However I could certainly see the premise of the OP and give him one more season after that assuming the team doesn't quit on him, wheels don't completely pop off the wagon, etc.
 
and that was the point in my post.

despite some obvious failures in McNabb and Jammal Brown, Shanahan has acquired solid talent at other spots - younger players that look to be here well into the future.

and as indicated the kitchen table was bare when he came here.

London Fletcher and Brian Orakpo were really the only standout players that could be counted on as building blocks. The roster was old and entitled players like Haynesworth and Hall dominated the dialogue surrounding the club.

But yes, the OL bears watching because that original line Shanahan had in Denver WAS an excellent group of players - Gary Zimmermann is in the Hall of Fame. Neil was a pro bowl center and Mark Schlereth made the pro bowl here in Washington as well as Denver.

So, it was not a collection of odds and ends as some have portrayed it.
 
The obvious failures arent as important as WHAT the obvious failures were.

The Mcrapp thing? was Shanny trying to force a square peg into a round hole and overpaid to do it.
The haynesworth thing? ditto, yeah the guy was a headcase and a moron but Shanny couldnt have played it worse had he tried.
the Jammal brown thing? we needed a RT/lt but lets be honest, a guy coming off a serious injury whose team didnt even try to keep him sent up warning signs.

and the defence, we were sold the BS that it would mean immediate and vast improvement, instead it was a huge decline and then a massive investment (which was needed anyway) all so that we could be..... about the same with the same holes almost as when we began the change, we still are lacking at DE, lacking at NT and lacking at LB, as well as CB and safety. we have solid but not spectacular DE's, no NT, thin at ILB and depending on Rak at OLB (Wilson looks great against second team Olinemen), we lack a game breaker cover guy at CB and we still lack playmakers at safety although Gomes looks better than I thought he would.

We still have a junk Oline, and what annoys me is that you see flashes of what this offense could be if we JUST HAD A BETTER OLINE. WE LOOKED GREAT AGAINST A TERRIBLE COLTS DEFENCE because we could run and pass.
 

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