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The Real Talent Gap

Bulldog

The All-Time Great
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The reason this team is 3-6 again for the third or fourth time is less about quarterbacks and the play of the ST, and more an indictment of the talent on the OL and DL.

We are really treading water with the current personnel and the FO seems incapable of finding upgrades if they don't have a top 5 pick (Trent Williams).

From left guard to right tackle we are starting players that would have a hard time finding regular jobs elsewhere. Lauvao, Lichtensteiger and Chester were castoffs. Compton is a former sixth round pick now starting for another former waiver wire pickup in Tyler Polumbus.

For all of the criticism of Shanahan they have kept most of his guys here.

On defense we lack a true NT, going with successive 4-3 DTs in Cofield and now Jason Hatcher by default. Hatcher can still be disruptive but at 6'6 and 308 he struggles to get leverage vs the run. Didn't we also try Haynesworth here?😁

Yeah, the personnel decisions have been great haven't they?

The rest of the defensive linemen are just 'guys'. Jenkins is a disappointing former second round pick. Bowen at 31 is past his prime and Golston is another fit for the 4-3.

Chris Baker seems to be the one guy with upside but he has never really broken out to be a consistent force on the defense. Perhaps he needs better coaching?
 
I was really hoping Baker was going to emerge when Hatcher didn't as the mean and nasty dude on the DL...but he hasn't really done anything since the Philly game.
 
Jansen - 2nd rd
Samuels - 1st rd
Williams - 1st rd

That's it on taking OL high over the last 15 yrs.

Is it any wonder that unit sucks?
 
Let's hope the reality of poor line play hits hard the next 2 years. I would not be opposed to 2 OL in the first 2 rounds this year. DL first to picks 2016. We can add a high quality CB in the free agency market.

We lose games in the trenches and that just continues to get lost in all of drama that surrounds this team.
 
I just don't get it. Teams have entire units built from late rounders, but the Skins' late rounders never seem to pan out. Look at the Steelers for instance. Stud wideouts. Antonio Brown was a 6th rounder, Wheaton a 3rd, and Martavis Bryant a 4th. They balled out last night.

Hopefully guys like Breeland break the trend for the Skins and the FO actually makes draft picks meaningful again...
 
yeah I think we should flip flop OLs and DLs in rounds 1 and 2 from now until Jesus returns.

I'm ok with mid and late round everything else. Here and there we could mix in a secondary player at a high round, but again that's here and there.

1st round OL allow a QB to have a half a second or longer to find the guy we constantly say our QB(RGlll) isn't finding.

1st round DL take away that half a second or longer and are proven to be more versatile.

There have been many busts in the 1st 2 rounds but in the long run it works out better for the team as a whole to have them.

I also believe that great linemen make your other players better by default.
 
I was really hoping Baker was going to emerge when Hatcher didn't as the mean and nasty dude on the DL...but he hasn't really done anything since the Philly game.

Dude's taking doubles on almost every snap at NT. He's been doing his job OK, just not with any flash
 
I really couldn't believe we drafted Trent Murphy with our top pick.

When you read his bio he seemed like an overachiever that got more out of just average athleticism.

At 6'5 and 248 he appeared to need time to build strength to play close to the line in the NFL.

To me that 'package' spelled late third or early fourth round pick.

Usually your second rounders are guys that have real athletic upside but may need a bit more polish to their game or fell out of the first round due to injuries their last year of college.

We have to go back to drafting athletes, guys with size and speed who can mature into elite performers.

You can't do that if the player doesn't have those tools in the toolbox.
 
OK, so who was there when we picked Murphy that you would have jumped at?

Not who has matured in to a start NOW...but then.
 
Well, first of all I don't know that I would have traded down with Dallas to take me out of the first few picks in the round.

Second I may have thought long and hard about adding another OLB with two #1 picks and $12M already invested in the position for 2014.

As I indicated in the previous post I would have been looking for a guy that was closer to getting on the field at a position of immediate need, while not dismissing the long-standing advice to draft for size and speed.

Murphy was labeled by some as a tweener, oo small at 6'5 and 250 to play on the line but not fast or athletic enough to be a top notch linebacker.
 
That means you assume they didn't talk to other teams about trading down and were told no.

Can I ask what other OLB you had in mind that you could have added?

This is all "if's" and "woulda shoulda coulda" to me. I do agree IF we could have done that it would have been a great idea. But honestly we don't know if they tried or didn't or what went on behind the draft room doors. And from what I saw on the board at the Murphy pick he was the best available at the moment. And it seems almost prophetic now that he has replaced Rak and is already outperforming him. The kid is less than 6 starts in to his first season and he is all over the place disrupting things.
 
Murphy was labeled by some as a tweener, oo small at 6'5 and 250 to play on the line but not fast or athletic enough to be a top notch linebacker.
The same "some" who thought Tom Brady was a 6th rounder, at best?
Or that London Fletcher didn't warrant being drafted at all?
 
Respect is earned. Right now I am still in 'show me' mode with this team's front office.

I see high picks in Moses and Long on the inactive list each week despite the fact you can't find anyone with credibility that says we have a solid starting 5 up front.

I see LeRibeus and Jenkins as high round disappointments.

Kerrigan, Robinson, Breeland bring some rays of hope but I need to see a lot more.

Remember the 1983 draft? The Redskins had just won the Super Bowl and were picking lastbin each round but their top two selections were HOFer Darrell Green and 4-time pro bowl DE Charles Mann.
 
Kerrigan has rays of hope? If that is your attitude towards the front office then they really stand no chance, brother. Kerrigan is the most solid player we have on the defense and he brings it every game. He has done everything hes been asked to do and not once wavered of complained.

Do I remember 31 years ago? Yes, I do. What does that have to do with the sport today that has a salary cap, free agency, and a total overhaul of the league itself?
 
Remember the 1983 draft? The Redskins had just won the Super Bowl and were picking lastbin each round but their top two selections were HOFer Darrell Green and 4-time pro bowl DE Charles Mann.
Yeah, I remember.

Remember "84 draft? Two #2's netted Bob Slater and Steve Hamilton. Was Vinny a candystriper?
 
As I recall, the team was interested in Bitonio, but the medical staff deemed him high risk. In hindsight he would've been a great pick, but if he ended up injured we'd all be slamming the FO for not learning anything from the Malcolm Kelly debacle.
 
Incognito is interviewing right now with teams...but not us?
 

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