If our defense is so great......

[Jimbo]

I'm a little concerned we didn't address the secondary, especially CB, earlier in the draft. I was one who dismissed Assante Samuel because of his age, expecting us to address the spot either in the 3rd or 4th round or via FA.

Cedric Griffin is more of a tweener CB/S and probably shouldn't EVER be starting at CB. The fact that we waited so late in the draft to pick one coupled with the fact that we won't be getting any of that cap money back and, therefore, won't be trading for one or signing one in FA tells me it will be more of the same as last year.

We'll give up big plays on occasion or play off and give up a lot of stuff underneath, a la the old bend-don't-break defense.

It looks as though we only upgraded one Safety spot in our secondary and that's probably not enough. I was torn between thinking this was simply a learning year for RG3 and we'd be lucky to get 7 wins and thinking we might be capable of making the playoffs. In hindsight, not acquiring Samuel just might be the difference between the two......IF Griffin can tear it up to any extent this year.

 

[InsaneBoost]

Minnifield was a huge steal for the Redskins, easily 2nd / 3rd rounder. All we can hope is his injury was just a fluke and he'll be good to go because he was one hell of a player at UVA and I would have to think he'd be a good #2 corner.

 

[Henry]

Our defense will improve simply because of the absence of LaRon.

The mere absense of a non-factor is hardly a basis for assuming any improvement.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

 

[Fear The Spear]

The mere absense of a non-factor is hardly a basis for assuming any improvement.

Yes, that type of logic only applies to Rex

 

[fansince62]

well...the Skins pass defense surrendered fewer passing yards per game than 20 other teams. they ranked 12th in overall pass defense measured by passing yards per game.

not sure I agree on the priority some of you assign. I'd just assume a dominant pass blocking line with so much wrapped up in our franchise QB - minor stuff like right tackle and up the middle. I make my investment there first given cap restrictions and then work the secondary.

 

[Fear The Spear]

While I still think our secondary is sub-par, I definitely agree in prioritizing a D-line over the secondary. A very good D-line can make a poor secondary look a lot better. And a weak D-line, can cause even a good secondary to break down frequently. Not to mention, at the very least, the opponent can simply run the ball down your throat all day, against that weak D-line.

 

[Henry]

Vet player in the locker room who doesnt do what coaches tell him and refuses to play smart. Thats going to hurt us no matter how few snaps he gets. Laron talked so much **** but took horrible angles, was slow in coverage and got ran over all the time. Just getting rid if him gets rid of all that.
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Look, I like the way our defense is shaping up, and as many have said with a halfway decent offense that doesn't turn the ball over 3 times a game it should be even better, but Laron was just not that big a deal last year. He was hardly on the field and when he was he was ok. Having a guy like that leave the team just doesn't matter unless you replace him with someone who's actually pretty good. I don't think we've done that. We've replaced Landry the head case with Meriweather the head case.

'Upgrade by subtraction' is something lots of fans say about their teams all the time. It's rarely true. What we need to be able to say 'Meriweather is a big upgrade at SS and that's going to make all the difference on this defense!' And I'm not sure I'd agree with that.

 

[fansince62]

Look, I like the way our defense is shaping up, and as many have said with a halfway decent offense that doesn't turn the ball over 3 times a game it should be even better, but Laron was just not that big a deal last year. He was hardly on the field and when he was he was ok. Having a guy like that leave the team just doesn't matter unless you replace him with someone who's actually pretty good. I don't think we've done that. We've replaced Landry the head case with Meriweather the head case.

'Upgrade by subtraction' is something lots of fans say about their teams all the time. It's rarely true. What we need to be able to say 'Meriweather is a big upgrade at SS and that's going to make all the difference on this defense!' And I'm not sure I'd agree with that.

one qualifier Henry: this is a first round pick where the Skins aren't getting long term value. serendipity may have played a hand, but in the end it means more resources have to be allocated to solvng the same problem...with costs down the line elsewhere.

 

[Henry]

one qualifier Henry: this is a first round pick where the Skins aren't getting long term value. serendipity may have played a hand, but in the end it means more resources have to be allocated to solvng the same problem...with costs down the line elsewhere.

We'll see. One thing I didn't add in my post is that one could also say 'Gomes could continue to develop and become a bonafide starting safety for this team, and an eventual upgrade over Landry.'

That's certainly not something to EXPECT but it's possible, and if it does happen our 'down the line' costs are significantly mitigated.

But you have a good point.

 

[fansince62]

We'll see. One thing I didn't add in my post is that one could also say 'Gomes could continue to develop and become a bonafide starting safety for this team, and an eventual upgrade over Landry.'

That's certainly not something to EXPECT but it's possible, and if it does happen our 'down the line' costs are significantly mitigated.

But you have a good point.

good point H.....Gomes can fill the void.

Just wish Landry wasn't a spent 1st rndr we didn't get 6 to 10 out of.....

 

[Lanky Livingston]

We should have never drafted Landry. Adrian Peterson, Amobi Okoye, Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, Dwayne Bowe, Darrelle Revis, Aaron Ross - all were on the board and all would have addressed much more pressing needs. Landry was the epitome of the Snyderatto administration in DC.

EDIT: Well, Landry & Zorn.

 

[Henry]

We should have never drafted Landry. Adrian Peterson, Amobi Okoye, Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, Dwayne Bowe, Darrelle Revis, Aaron Ross - all were on the board and all would have addressed much more pressing needs. Landry was the epitome of the Snyderatto administration in DC.

EDIT: Well, Landry & Zorn.

While I agree that looking back it was a bad pick, had Taylor not been murdered the Landry pick might have looked better.

 

[Goaldeje]

I hate (no offense LL) going back and looking at who we could have had with a draft pick. The problem I had with the LL pick was and is that we just picked a Safety with a top 10 pick. 2 picks on safety with top 10 picks in four years is crazy, imo.

That is emblematic of the Snyderatto years, and actually Henry, imo, the only way it would have been defensible is if the pick had been made after the ST tradegy.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

While I agree that looking back it was a bad pick, had Taylor not been murdered the Landry pick might have looked better.

I hate (no offense LL) going back and looking at who we could have had with a draft pick. The problem I had with the LL pick was and is that we just picked a Safety with a top 10 pick. 2 picks on safety with top 10 picks in four years is crazy, imo.

That is emblematic of the Snyderatto years, and actually Henry, imo, the only way it would have been defensible is if the pick had been made after the ST tradegy.

While I see Henry's point, I agree with Goaldie more on this. I think the whole "Area 51" thing was awesome, but ST with any other player would have been really good as well. ST + Adrian Peterson on offense would have been REALLY good.

 

[ntotoro]

While I see Henry's point, I agree with Goaldie more on this. I think the whole "Area 51" thing was awesome, but ST with any other player would have been really good as well.

People wonder how LL suddenly fell off the face of the earth? Combine the lack of ST with his consistent injuries and there you have it. Not that LL lacks talent, but it took ST really buckling down to go from a few seasons of awesome to (unfortunately only) a partial season of damn near greatness. Anyone that year paired with ST would have been the recipient of his play. LL hasn't shown anywhere near the dedication to anything outside the weight room.

Nick

 

[Elephant]

While I see Henry's point, I agree with Goaldie more on this. I think the whole "Area 51" thing was awesome, but ST with any other player would have been really good as well. ST + Adrian Peterson on offense would have been REALLY good.

Yeah, I agree the idea of Area 51 was something we all greatly anticipated, but we need to take this move one step further. ST partnered with Ryan Clark was a damn good safety corps and we traded Ryan Clark for Adam Archuleta (Figuratively). Thank you Snyderrato and to a lesser degree our beloved Coach Gibbs. Had we stuck with Ryan, they would have been just fine.

With that said, our defense is not my concern...not even the secondary.

Wilson and MeAngelo are starters, Barnes likely sticks around with Minnifield and Crawford pushing Thompson for the 5th and final CB slot.

Tanard Jackson and Dejon Gomes are likely starters. Meriweather backs up Jackson and Madieu Williams backs up Gomes.

I think they likely keep another DB somewhere and it is probably going to be Griffin since he is versatile. Yes, even with his fantastic work ethic I think Reed Doughty is gone.

If we get all we should from these players, we should have a solid DB corps, nothing special...solid. I wish we would have gone after a CB earlier, but as long as our pass rush continues to improve I am comfortable with our secondary.

It is the offense that has me concerned. Our offensive line showed promise last year with players that should be solid backups, Hurt, Smith. Hopefully TW sees the writing on the wall. I would love to see LaRiebus push Chester for the starting RT spot if Licht is up to par. And it will be interesting to see just how much of a steal Compton is. That is a lot of young lineman without any real veteran leadership. I hope Jamaal Brown is healthy, but how much can he lead that line from the RT position. Hopefully Monty can do it from the C position because we have a rookie QB.

And while Griff is probably going to be a great one, he is still a rookie. Just about everybody expects him to be better than Rex, and while I do too...he is going to have his share of mistakes. Those mistakes are going to be the same mistakes Grossman made, rookie mistakes. We have an almost entirely new receiving corps and the RB's are still young and have not proven they can maintain their bursts of great play for an entire season.

Will they be better than last year? Yeah, I think Griff is going to be the key factor there, but I am not entirely confident our O-line is going to be good enough to help our rookie QB. I think our rookie QB is going to have to make up for the O-line and that is a tall order for a young QB.

 

[Henry]

People wonder how LL suddenly fell off the face of the earth? Combine the lack of ST with his consistent injuries and there you have it. Not that LL lacks talent, but it took ST really buckling down to go from a few seasons of awesome to (unfortunately only) a partial season of damn near greatness. Anyone that year paired with ST would have been the recipient of his play. LL hasn't shown anywhere near the dedication to anything outside the weight room.

Nick

Let's not forget that our front office, in it's infinite wisdom, tried LL at free safety for a season, which was a complete disaster. The next year he moved back to SS and looked awesome ... until he got hurt.

I dunno. Had LL been able to stay at his natural position the entire time things might have been different. That's all I'm saying.

I guess that's neither here nor there at this point.

 

[Neophyte]

Don't blame Gibbs or Syneratto for the moves at Safety. That was all Gregg Williams. Don't kid yourselves, my brothers, and don't fall into the trap of blaming the easy choice. Williams made the personnel decisions for the defensive side of the ball.

 

[Fear The Spear]

LL hasn't shown anywhere near the dedication to anything outside the weight room.

I think he's dedicated to at least one other thing that made him bulk up, besides the weight room

 

[Elephant]

Don't blame Gibbs or Syneratto for the moves at Safety. That was all Gregg Williams. Don't kid yourselves, my brothers, and don't fall into the trap of blaming the easy choice. Williams made the personnel decisions for the defensive side of the ball.

That's when the GM or Head Coach step in and say no...so it is on them too Neo.