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Note to Zorn: Use The Roster

Bulldog

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In watching the first two games, Zorn appears be falling back into the old, familiar patterns of the Gibbs II administration.

Depend upon Portis and Cooley to the point they are taken out of the game, try a trick play or two and then fold up the tent and try and prevent a loss by limiting turnovers and going ultra-conservative.

If he is going to succeed here IMO Zorn needs to embrace and yes, depend upon, some of the younger players to add the missing ingredients. And that means taking some chances up front. So far Zorn has not seemed willing to take any of chances with his younger players. But the fact we can all see on Sunday is without using Kelly, Thomas, Davis, etc. the offense simply lacks the variety and depth to be effective.

All the talk about Malcolm Kelly improving and being the No. 2 receiver has to stop. PROVE IT.

Prove it by USING Kelly on critical plays to make first downs and let him use his height, size and hands to pull down the ball in the end zone when the team moves into plus territory.

Naming Kelly the No. 2 receiver is a joke when ARE, Cooley get 10 passes thrown their way and Kelly gets 1 catch for 6 yards......................

How about Fred Davis in the red zone?

I would much rather see Zorn use Fred Davis or even Todd Yoder to catch the ball in the red zone than depend upon fullback Mike Sellers.

First, it allows Sellers to remain in the backfield or tag-teaming to help the line in protection.

Second, Davis is a lot more athletic player than Sellers. He is capable of running with the ball after the catch and operating in open space. Sellers is not going to outrun a linebacker or safety.

Finally, the team is starting to use Devin Thomas on kickoffs. I think this is a step in the right direction. While Devin still seems to be a work in progress at WR he brings undeniable physical skills that translate well into the return game. This must continue on a full-time basis to open things up and provide the offense with better field position.

My apologies to Rock Cartwright but I am not seeing the 60-70 yard returns from him and at 30 is getting a bit long in the tooth to be a primary returner.

Even though my comments are mainly about using the skill position resources better on the club, I would extend that to the RG position.

For now, forget about signing Pete Kendall.

Let's see what we have in Will Montgomery and Chad Rinehart.

Montgomery played almost 3 quarters against the Rams and to tell the truth I really didn't notice any difference in the play of the OL. That may change against a better DL, but given all the injuries Randy Thomas was rehabbing from in the offseason it is hard to believe that Thomas playing at perhaps 75% at age 33 is better than Montgomery playing at 100% at age 25.

I want to win games. But I want to do it in a way in which the overall capabilities of the team to be more of a true contender show through.

It's not enough to sign Pete Kendall and continue to depend upon ARE and Cooley to pick up all the slack when Moss is double-covered.

We did that for 2 years under Gibbs and had trouble scoring points.

Let's not repeat that mistake a second time.

Oh, and most importantly, please let Campbell win or lose his job based upon his ability to attack defenses and make a case for himself and not by watching Portis or ARE throwing passes out of the backfield in critical situations.

I think we have seen enough razzle/dazzle turn into fizzle at this point to let that go for the forseeable future :eclipsee_Victoria:
 
I couldn't agree more. And while I think it was wishful thinking sending Pete Kendall packing (bad knees or not), ultimately you're right. He's not the future and would at best be a bandaid solution.

As to your overall point, about giving young guys at key positions the opportunity to prove who they are, all you have to do is look to NY/NJ for ample evidence how much that approach can payoff. Look at the Jets and how they're giving their youth the chance to shine. Similarly, the Giants, who are starting Larry, Curly, and Moe at the WR spot, are flourishing. That's not to oversimplify things - youth and inexperience isn't necessarily a recipe for success. But at some point, you have to find out what you've got. You may not lose every game keeping them on a short leash or on the bench, but you won't have the chance to win every one either.

Nice writeup Bulldog.

And, I'll keep saying it, another great blog entry :new_idea:
 
And now it is another great blog entry. :D
 
Bulldog rarely wears underwear, but when he does, it's usually something pretty exciting.

Or something like that.
 
Well, I guess an argument could be made that it's precisely because Kelly, and Moss, are garnering extra attention on the outside, that Cooley and ARE have been the early open receivers in the middle. The fact that we aren't yet putting TD's on the board hasn't forced teams to alter that setup.

And even though the numbers are still small, I like that we are at least attempting to spread the ball around. It will be nice if we can get to the point where every guy is a possible target in the redzone.

We'll never know, until it happens, what we could do with a 14 point lead vs a 6 point lead. You can take more risks, both offensively and defensively, and maybe start getting some of those big plays that put a team away before the 4th quarter comes around.

I will however make one little request of the coach.

Would you please, PLEASE, try a goddamn fade/jump ball in the endzone with Kelly, or Marko?

Please?

Purty please?

With sugar on top?

Check that...Splenda, on top?
 
Problems are solved, Alridge has been signed to the active roster.

But isn't he just another player Zorn won't use?
Posted via BGO Mobile Device
 
I will however make one little request of the coach.

Would you please, PLEASE, try a goddamn fade/jump ball in the endzone with Kelly, or Marko?

I've been screaming for this for the past 2 seasons. Seems like Zorn is anti fade-route for some reason. Maybe a fade route ran over his dog.
 
Problems are solved, Alridge has been signed to the active roster.

But isn't he just another player Zorn won't use?
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

I would think so. If he's not using Mason, why should we expect Alridge to get any carries?

I too would like to see some of these younger players get some action. We can always hope; it's what we fans do best.
 
This may be a bit too soon to say, and maybe a bit crazy, but are we heading down the road to "just blow up the team" ?

We have a lot of aging veterans and a lot of younger guys who aren't doing much on the bench.

STARTERS ON THEIR LAST LEGS?: Santana Moss, Clinton Portis, Chris Samuels, Randy Thomas, Casey Rabach, London Fletcher, Phillip Daniels, Cornelius Griffin, Andre Carter.

That seems like a lot of talent to replace in a relatively short amount of time.

And if Campbell doesn't impress this year, and isn't re-signed?

It's probably too early in the year to bring this us. But, it was on my mind after reading the posts above.
 
Rock Cartwright doesn't seem like he is long for the Redskins. His performance has really fallen off and attitude wise I think he and the team had a split over the role Marcus Mason was going to play and he has not recovered from that.

He might be cut during the season if Thomas shows he can do a credible job returning kicks.
 

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