ESPN: Shanahan was ready to quit in '12

[Bulldog]

But again to play devil's advocate, if Shanahan graded Cousins out as a first round talent you could build a team around then why did he give up three years worth if high picks for Griffin?

Roethlisberger and Flacco were mid first rounders. Brees was a second round pick. Rodgers went 24th. Brady was a sixth rounder.

It is not required to have Peyton Manning's pedigree to win a Super Bowl.

Using Shanny logic wouldn't Cousins and FOUR high picks that could be turned into OL and DBs have set this team up better than just having the one player in Griffin?

 

[Om]

I don't think Shanahan had Cousins rated high enough to sit tight and either 1) take him at #6, or 2) trade down hoping he'd still be there later in the round. I think that after he'd secured his as-close-to-a-sure-thing-as-you're-gonna-see-coming-outta-college franchise QB with the trade up to #2, he saw a guy he liked still on the board when the Cousins pick came up, had a vision of Rex Grossman and John Beck and Donovan NcNabb waving and jumping up and down and saying "pick me! pick me!," and Shanahan shuddered, blinked twice, and said "No ****ing way. Gimme Kirk."

 

[Boone]

Hindsight logic again. Honestly, I'll bet 3/4ths of Redskins fans, upon hearing of the Cousins pick said 'who?'. Selecting a QB is a crap shoot even when looking at the top 2 or 3 in a given draft. Recent years have had more than their share of exceptions, but generally your best bet when looking for a franchise QB is to draft guys who grade out as franchise QBs. Yeah, Cousins looks promising now but he's not proven a thing yet and there was even less evidence he was a potential starter when we drafted him. Everyone talks about the surprise QBs drafted beyond round 1 who turn out to be hidden gems, but we never talk about the Weedens, Gabberts, and Ponders and many others who turn out to be exactly what folks should've expected them to be based on where they were drafted.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

the reason I strongly believe in building a team from lines out, is simple, your franchise qb will have a much better shot at achieving his potential if he isnt getting sacked 24 times in 4 games. if hes not rushed constantly and has decent receovers to throw to, he will develop much better as well. and if you build your team to have a strong Oline, and a stout defence, you have to remember that those things arent usually one year wonders, your window for success is much longer than if you try to just grab a qb.

I look at all the failed young qbs, and a lot of them were simply thrown to the wolves, some guys respond well to that but most dont. I also believe a QB coach is imperative.

 

[tshile]

you're completely discounting The Football Gods' sense of humor.

Yes, Cousins will make the defense and special teams play lights out, because the Redskins are going to win 35+ to like 17, with a great performance from cousins.

We're going for Maximum Drama here in DC, it can't be any other way.

 

[CounterTrey]

I think we're gonna get worked the rest of the year and those who are optimistic are delusional. This line will get anyone killed and changing the QB won't do squat for the D and ST.

 

[tshile]

Optimistic?

Who the hell is optimistic around here?

There is literally no way this season gets better. Unless someone invents a time machine and we can skip the next 8 months. Otherwise buckle up, this shit shows just getting started.

 

[CounterTrey]

Thinking that this team will even show up to compete the last 3 games let alone that Cousins will light up any of them is optimistic to me.

 

[DieselPwr44]

I think we're gonna get worked the rest of the year and those who are optimistic are delusional. This line will get anyone killed and changing the QB won't do squat for the D and ST.

Chris Russell @russellmania980
When Griffin III has 2.6 or more secs, his accuracy drops to a mind boggling 51.3% on 193 attempts with 266 dropbacks per @pff. #Redskins

Chris Russell @russellmania980
Also @pff says Grffin has been sacked ALL 38 times when his pocket time is greater than or equal to 2.6 seconds. That suggests ...not OL.

Maybe it's not all on the OL? Maybe?

 

[tshile]

That's what we're going to find out today.

Rhythm and timing could make a big difference.

The takeaway if cousins lights it up is not what Cousins can do, but how Griffin should have been doing it.

Also, how many #1s are people going to give us for Cousins. MAKE IT RAIN COUSINS. RAIN #1 DRAFT PICKS ON THE REDSKINS

 

[Lanky Livingston]

2.6 second is not a long time.

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[Boone]

Thinking that this team will even show up to compete the last 3 games let alone that Cousins will light up any of them is optimistic to me.

Ding. I expect to get our asses kicked by one the other candidates for worst team in the NFL.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Hindsight logic again. Honestly, I'll bet 3/4ths of Redskins fans, upon hearing of the Cousins pick said 'who?'. Selecting a QB is a crap shoot even when looking at the top 2 or 3 in a given draft. Recent years have had more than their share of exceptions, but generally your best bet when looking for a franchise QB is to draft guys who grade out as franchise QBs. Yeah, Cousins looks promising now but he's not proven a thing yet and there was even less evidence he was a potential starter when we drafted him. Everyone talks about the surprise QBs drafted beyond round 1 who turn out to be hidden gems, but we never talk about the Weedens, Gabberts, and Ponders and many others who turn out to be exactly what folks should've expected them to be based on where they were drafted.

I think more than 3/4ths of fans follow college football and knew who Cousins was. He was also talked about in a lot of pre-draft analysis, he was generally expected to go in the 2nd or 3rd round, it was surprising that he dropped to the 4th. That was the impetus behind his selection after all, that Shanny couldn't pass him up that late.

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[Boone]

I think more than 3/4ths of fans follow college football and knew who Cousins was. He was also talked about in a lot of pre-draft analysis, he was generally expected to go in the 2nd or 3rd round, it was surprising that he dropped to the 4th. That was the impetus behind his selection after all, that Shanny couldn't pass him up that late.

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Maybe 3/4 of Redskins fans on messageboards - but those aren't typical fans LL. There are far more casual fans (even those that have season tickets) who don't follow football closely and couldn't have told you who the other potential QBs in that draft were beyond Luck and Griffin. It doesn't really matter - the point still stands. Criticizing the front office AFTER later round QBs have proven to be potential franchise guys because we didn't keep those picks and grab someone less costly than Griffin - it's a pretty questionable argument. And it blows my mind that many seem to be writing Griffin off after a subpar year coming off a total knee rebuild. Tough crowd. I think the bigger question down the road won't be if the Redskins blew the Griffin pick, it will be 'why would Griffin want to stay in DC?'. Unless there's a sea change, I think he'll take his talents elsewhere.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Maybe 3/4 of Redskins fans on messageboards - but those aren't typical fans LL. There are far more casual fans (even those that have season tickets) who don't follow football closely and couldn't have told you who the other potential QBs in that draft were beyond Luck and Griffin. It doesn't really matter - the point still stands. Criticizing the front office AFTER later round QBs have proven to be potential franchise guys because we didn't keep those picks and grab someone less costly than Griffin - it's a pretty questionable argument. And it blows my mind that many seem to be writing Griffin off after a subpar year coming off a total knee rebuild. Tough crowd. I think the bigger question down the road won't be if the Redskins blew the Griffin pick, it will be 'why would Griffin want to stay in DC?'. Unless there's a sea change, I think he'll take his talents elsewhere.

Oh I agree...those writing off Griffin already are incredibly short-sighted.

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[GSF]

Ding. I expect to get our asses kicked by one the other candidates for worst team in the NFL.

That may turn out to be the case, but right now Cousins is looking very good. Cousins should have been the starter week 1, and until RG3 was completely 100% healthy.

 

[SkinsFTW]

That may turn out to be the case, but right now Cousins is looking very good. Cousins should have been the starter week 1, and until RG3 was completely 100% healthy.

We'd be in the playoffs if he had been but who wants a QB controversy?

Franchise Player>The Team

 

[Henry]

We'd be in the playoffs if he had been but who wants a QB controversy?

Franchise Player>The Team

My sarcasm meter is a little off today. I can't tell which part of this post is serious.

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[Lanky Livingston]

My sarcasm meter is a little off today. I can't tell which part of this post is serious.

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I don't know, but I'm still LOLing at playoffs if Cousins started week one.

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[GSF]

I don't know, but I'm still LOLing at playoffs if Cousins started week one.

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I don't know about playoffs, but I believe the season would have been very different. I think special teams and defense would have probably kept us out of the playoffs anyways.

There's no doubt though that starting RG3 week 1 was a huge mistake in many ways.