Excited about the direction, but not expecting a lot of wins

I'm as psyched as anyone that the team is finally going to rebuild, and don't kid yourselves, this is a rebuild. The team is putting the old horses out to pasture, and shipping out the problem children like DMac, Clinton, and Albert. So I'm happy.

The only problem is, my guts are telling me the Redskins aren't going to be good this year, as in they could be worse than last year. Nearly half of the starters will be new, and many of them are young, somewhat inexperienced players. On top of that, we have a much shortened off-season due to the lock out. Free agents that normally would have been here months ago have to learn the systems, find a place to live, ect ect in a very short period of time. Oh and I almost forgot our QB is 29 and has only played in 5 games back in 2007, and he lost all of those.

If Philly is the new Dream Team, it's possible that the Redskins could be the Bad Dream Team this season. For a year I've been saying I could deal with a year or 2 of serious losing to get a total rebuild from the ground up. Something tells me I'm going to get that opportunity.

At this point i'm just hoping for a young, spirited team that plays hard and gets better as the season goes on. am I setting my expectations to low? Someone convince me this team will win more than 6 games.

Yep. I agree. Shedding all those 'old players' also meant shedding plenty of talent and a lot of the experience. I saw a nice write-up by Art over at ES expressing some of the same sentiments. It could be hard to watch for awhile. I think some of what will happen will depend on how solid Shsnahan's 'system' really is, and how well he can get this younger version of the Redskins to buy into it and carry it through.

I could see it as bad as a 3 or 4 win season, and as good as .500. And Beck/Grossman may have a lot to do with where we fall in that range. We'll see if we fans have the stomach for a real 'rebuild'

Yep. I've been saying all along the plan is to get a high draft pick next year and take Andrew Luck (or Landry Jones) to solve the team's long-term QB issues. This is met with all kinds of resistance, I'm told its "flat-out stupid," etc. etc. because no team would ever intentionally tank a season.

Who said intentionally?

I expect this team to fight hard, probably harder than most teams in the NFL will fight this season. It will be enough to win a few games, maybe steal a couple that they have no business winning, however its not gonna be a fun season to watch.

Think about the Lions - there can't be much argument that they have been heading in the right direction the past few years (except Matt Stafford, not sure if he can play a full season at this point) - but they've won 8 games the past three seasons...ouch! 2 were stolen by the refs last season (and consequently gave the Bears a 1st-round bye), but that's another point. Anyway, watching their games its clear they fight to the bitter end. Welcome to your 2011 and probably 2012 Redskins...its gonna be ugly.

I don't think its gonna be 0-16 ugly, as the 2008 Lions were - but if the Redskins win more than 5 games, I will be very surprised. And, its a win-win situation; if Rex or Beck turns the corner and becomes awesome, then we have a QB! If not, we have a QB!

Welcome to Washington, Mr. Luck!

After reading tweets over the weekend and today about camp - John Beck is gonna make Danny Wuerffel look like Danny Marino. Yikes.

Lanky Livingston said:

After reading tweets over the weekend and today about camp - John Beck is gonna make Danny Wuerffel look like Danny Marino. Yikes.

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Good idea not to take too much from the first week of practice, but what I've been seeing on the Twitters, yikes.

The Eagles are better. The Giants may be better. Dallas will likely tread water unless they are able to add talent between now and the opener.

So an improved Redskins team could still finish in fourth place or third if Dallas falters again.

Yes, a 6-10 record is possible again even if the team is more competitive in each game and we don't have any 49-0 deficits to face on Monday Night Football.

That's one reason I started a thread about Kyle Orton. I still think Washington could be markedly better in 2011 and there is still time to make this move.

Bulldog's Twin said:

The Eagles are better. The Giants may be better. Dallas will likely tread water unless they are able to add talent between now and the opener.

So an improved Redskins team could still finish in fourth place or third if Dallas falters again.

Yes, a 6-10 record is possible again even if the team is more competitive in each game and we don't have any 49-0 deficits to face on Monday Night Football.

That's one reason I started a thread about Kyle Orton. I still think Washington could be markedly better in 2011 and there is still time to make this move.

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I agree on the 6-10 not being unrealistic, but I'm at least partially basing that on our Week 7 through Week 12 stretch in the schedule.

Panthers
Bills
49ers
Dolphins
Cowboys
Seahawks

All teams that have major not-completely-resolved issues that lead to their being vulnerable if we're any kind of good at all.

I'm still prepared to accept a 4-12 with not too much effort or discomfort.

8-8 would likely give me a coronary.

Thanks for all replies.

Bulldog, i don't want Orton if it means trading picks for him to be a stop gap. No, I think I'm ready to take the medicine, no matter how bitter it's going to be.

GSF said:

Thanks for all replies.

Bulldog, i don't want Orton if it means trading picks for him to be a stop gap. No, I think I'm ready to take the medicine, no matter how bitter it's going to be.

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That's how I feel about it also. Broncos allegedly want a 3rd round pick - that's Leonard Hankerson!!

I expect no more than 6-10, maybe worse.

I'm happy with the rebusld for the most part, I'm just hoping we have some kind of plan to get a decent QB next year,because the answer to the position isn't on the team right now

Its funny how violently some fans react to the Suck for Luck campaign - finally the team is doing things the right way: shedding vets, getting younger, stockpiling draft picks; and they're upset by the fact that they might not be very good. Its a natural result of rebuilding; a team just isn't very good!

Lanky Livingston said:

Its funny how violently some fans react to the Suck for Luck campaign - finally the team is doing things the right way: shedding vets, getting younger, stockpiling draft picks; and they're upset by the fact that they might not be very good. Its a natural result of rebuilding; a team just isn't very good!

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It is rather ridiculous. I feel like this fan base is okay with being perpetually unhappy. I was listening to ESPN 980 earlier and there was a caller who said: "I preferred when the Redskins were paying a lot of money for the big names because at least I knew who they were. I mean, it didn't work, but they just seem to be going the cheap route now."

Another caller said: "Look at our O-line I haven't heard of most of these guys, and that's who we're going into the season with?"

I called in and tried to remind them that the same thing all of them are currently complaining about, is the same thing they hated Vinny and Dan for doing.

Either way, I'm excited about what's going on with this team because I see us making smarter moves, signing young contributors who aren't big names but are hard working. Even our draft picks, look at the scouting report on just about every guy we've drafted since Shanny and Allen took over, most are hard working, smart players who are coachable and will work to get better.

On another note, Shanahan's insistence on competition makes me very happy too. No one's spot on the team is guaranteed, and that will only make this team better.

While I'm not expecting big things from the Skins this year, I feel like this is the first time, in a long time, that we've had true professionals running the team with an actual plan for long-term success. My biggest concern isn't Dan Snyder's patience, it's the fans who don't know what they want and if they start to get extremely impatient if Dan will buckle under the pressure.