WP:Mike Shanahan is forging a new identity for the Redskins: building through the dra

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...-the-draft/2011/12/14/gIQAnT1muO_story_1.html

It’s commonly parroted that Shanahan is a superior coach but some kind of dolt as a personnel evaluator. The facts contradict that, at least partially. In his 13 Denver drafts, Shanahan hoarded picks almost as much as the Patriots with a 12-15-14-19 distribution in those first four rounds. That’s 60 prime players rather than the normal allotment of 52 you might expect.

So, how good were the men Shanahan tabbed? In the first four rounds of the last 30 drafts, the Redskins have drafted only 15 players who reached a Pro Bowl. In 13 drafts, Shanahan nailed 12 future Pro Bowlers.

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And some around here lately think Shanny needs to go now??

Isn't this what we've been clamoring for....... A change in direction?

agree emphatically.

that said...he better put the ego aside next April and use the 1st pick on a QB!

Pretty decent article. I'm glad it showed that the trading away of our draft picks has been going on since the Allen, and then Beathard years, and not just something that started under Snyderatto.

Winning cures everything.

Yes, trading our picks away has been going for years. The difference is that Allen and Beathard had both regular and post season success doing it. Ceratto, not so much.

Bonus points for use of the word zeitgeist.

Neophyte said:

Yes, trading our picks away has been going for years. The difference is that Allen and Beathard had both regular and post season success doing it. Ceratto, not so much.

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Like I said, winning cures everything.

Some of the guys Beathard traded the following year's #1 or 2 for, were as bad as any pick Vinny ever made.

The "hits" Beathard did get were good enough to outshine his numerous reaches that never amounted to ****.

Beathard was the king of making deals to acquire more picks but in lower rounds.

The Redskins often didn't have a #1 pick as in 1982 because they traded it for other picks that turned out to be stars.

That 1982 pick was traded at the April 1981 draft so the Skins could go back into the third round and take Russ Grimm. We also netted two fifth round picks, one of which ended up being Dexter Manley.

Even though it's not strictly accurate, I would start judging Shanahan from this past April forward. He and the front office worked a full slate of draft picks and integrated younger players into the lineup a lot faster in 2011 than in 2010.

I am willing to give Shanahan a mulligan of sorts for the 2010 mistakes IF he bounces quickly off the mat and these later decisions in 2011 turn out to be the right ones.

The drive time trio over at ESPN 980, especially Andy Pollin, kept making snide remarks about Willie Smith starting against NE and noting he gave up a sack on his first play as evidence of the lack of talent.

This is complete BS. You don't learn ANYTHING about a rookie based on one play.

Smith settled down and had a solid game otherwise for a UDFA.

Perry Riley is out there going 110% and making his share of mistakes. But he has the talent to be a starter and there is no way he is going to progress until he gets reps on the field.

These media guys kept talking all these years about drafting players and then developing them under Snyder and yet they criticize the current coaching staff when the younger players get out there and make mistakes in their first few starts and the team 'gets close' but doesn't win against New England.

What a joke.

Is the outcome of a 4-9 season supposed to be winning the last 3-4 games?

It should be about developing players and giving guys a chance to see if they might be part of the solution going forward.

Not everyone has a relatively smooth transition to the NFL as Ryan Kerrigan did.

Then again, the Redskins can't build a roster if the strategy is to stock it soley with #1 draft choices.

We need to find undrafted rookies and lower round picks that make it.

Their learning process is often messy.

Get used to it.

And for Andy Pollin, the great negator on 980, deal with the fact that the team is now doing what you have been preaching and stop being such a d-bag.

Lanky Livingston said:

Bonus points for use of the word zeitgeist.

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Zeitgeist?!?

Oh, yeah...that's some sorta ghost, isn't it? The poltergeist's cousin, or sumpin like 'at?

I heard a them -