offseason analysis thus far

[Rymanofthenorth]

Let me say, I liked how active we were early in the draft, but after the 3rd round, I think that we should have just taken draft needs rather than styaing fancy.

Ryan Kerrigan- I think he will be very solid but not spectacular, he is hard working, and has low bust potential AS A DEFENSIVE END, as an OLB it remains to be seen. we already have a slightly stiff in the hips oversized hard working pass rusher at OLB who converted from college DE and looks uncomfortable in space, his name is Rak. having two guys like that on the field at the same time could be ugly. If we run more 40 fronts it could be ok even great.

I am Ok with this pick, if for no other reason than its going to mean anyone with a brain will run more 4 man fronts and the kid is a character guy and we need that.

jarvis Jenkins
this was a huge wtf pick for me, yeah he has good size but a combine low 17 reps on the bench and questionable all around skills make me shake my head at how early we took him. he will start by default but I doubt it will be at nose, if it is, we are in deep crap. there were better DT/DE players and even a nose tackle who were still available when we reached here. He does have explosivness and is good at shooting gaps, but he is not a stack and shed type player.

I was NOT ok with this pick when starting calibre players at several need spots were still available, he will probably start but thats because our Dline may have been the most pathetic area short of OL and QB on the team. he is however by all accounts a hard worker, which makes his lack of strength problematic to me.

Hankerson
Not gonna lie, I love hated this pick, Love because we need a big target with some speed and Kelly isnt gonna be that guy, hated it because we have such huge holes on the O and Dlines and at LB. however it was a huge value pick , unless the reason he fell was someone saw something we dont. he is inconsistent and wont have a HOF player throwing to him but he could develop, after all the leading rec in Miami history should be at least decent in the NFL.

Helu- he was the best one cut runner in the draft and I had him on my late round list, I see shanny concurred, of he can develop some toughness he will be the next "shanny back". I cant argue this pick, in a roatation he should be very good, but like any back he will need at least a crease and the oline we have right now? blech.

Gomes
wasted pick, he was not good in coverage but was solid as a strong safety/backer tweener at Nebraska, he isnt very fast, nor is he very big, he might be great on specials but you dont draft guys to be the gunner on the punt team. we have needs at FS, and CB, neither spot is gonna fit this guy, we already have a couple slow smart safeties who tackle well. I hope this doesnt mean that landry is slow recovering.

Niles Paul
I think he was a steal, but again I dont know that WR is where we needed to be spending picks, with the lines is such a state, even if think he will eventually be our slot guy and may even be our #2 or 3 guy this season I am still wary of our big people.

Royster
I think this was a wasted pick but then again the one thing Shanny never screws up is running back (aside from clarett) but we have torain, williams and helu, I would have thought that was good enough and went with some Oline, but maybe shanny sees something we dont.

robinson
this is where you start looking at guys who play specials, we have a special teams guy already but this kid may also be a big play wr, im ok with this pick because of where he was picked more than anything, he could be a sleeper.

thompsyn
this guy may make the team simply because we have noone better, he was decent in college, but unless he steps up in a big way? he will be another tryon.

Hurt
I was hurt that we didnt draft an Olineman until the seventh round ffs he is versatile but never stood out at any position, although he played against good competition in college. I think he will be a pr guy who might make the team based on depth again (I hate that)

white
pr guy, who has a shot because we have no real Olbs, but he lacks explosion and reminds way too much of andre carter.

Neild
no explosion, no crazy size but works hard and takes up space. I can see him making the team and maybe being rotated in, but again, no competition. could be cut if we find even a decent FA NT.

I liked that we were active trading, but I am not jumping around saying "look at all our starters" because some of these guys will start by default.

Im also pretty choked still that we just burned year twos draft on defence when 2 years ago the defence was solid and the offence was terrible and last year our D was horrific because of the scheme, I think we now HAVE to go all out after some oline in free agency, because if we dont we will be brutal, and we still need some linebackers and a nose.

I will reserve overall judgement until after the offseason but for now its still a wash, some very good moves with bad(trading down balanced by drafting another convert then wasting a pick on a guy who was a serious reach instead of a surefire starter.)

at least there appears to be a plan, although the fact that it took almost 2 full seasons to implement doesnt speak highly of shanny.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

so what does this mean in the grand scheme of things?

QB- We have Beck, and Grossman, I think Grossman resigns and beats out Beck, this is not great but it does mean we will be in the hunt for a QB with our likely top 5 draft pick next year. I have heard we might go after Alex smith but I dont want yet another retread, id rather let one of these two take the beating as an obviously revamped Oline learns to play together.

RB- this went from being thin and weak to being solid, I will miss portis's pass pro but helu will give us that home run one cut running we need and used with Torain and Williams and maybe even royster we have a solid rotation and a mix of skillsets.

OL. we have a left tackle everything else could be replaced with little notice, however I think we will keep lich even though he showed very little at G, if we dont replace rabach I will be disgusted he was the obvious weak spot, montgomery would be solid depth but struggles as a starter and maybe Jammal will improve as he gets healthier. Hurt wont give us much and I dont see either of last years draftees doing much unless Capers added some strength in which case he could fight for a sopt at rt. I am hoping we are seriously active in FA here, we need at the very least a guard and center, and at best a complete interior revamp, BMW if he didnt gain weight while off, could be a dark horse as he is light on his feet for a huge guy. the only free agents I could see at OT would be Clabo or gaither, either would be a solid pick up but im not sure clabo is better than brown and gaither wants LT money. the problem is that most of the FA linemen arent ZBS types.

rec-I think we resign moss and unless somehow a great FA wideout signs here I think we might sign some vets for camp bodies but hopefully we give reps to our young guys, Hankerson should be starting by midseason if he applies himself and learns the plays.
not a need spot anymore as long as the guys we have actually show up and stay healthy.

TE- we are set here.



DL- despite the draft, this is still a weakness we have numbers but not much talent if we run a 3-4, Carriker is decent but not a play maker although he improved towards the end of the season. Ive been reading that Jarmon has gained weight but playing on the line in a 3-4 is not just about weight, his skillset is more upfield and i think he will struggle in the 3-4. at nose Kemo is another year back from that achilles but who knows what we have there? Bryant came on at the end of the year but is a rotational guy at best. Gholston is ok in spurts but again better at being a 4-3 rotation guy. Jarvis Jenkins is a bad fit in a 3-4 as he is very weak in the upper body but he does have explosion so he could play a 5 tech role. I dont think we spend the money on Aubrayo Franklin after the AH debacle and Cullen jenkins would fit the scheme but not what we are doing in regards to character rebuild on this team. Maybe Barry cofield would be an option. I think we keep Daniels, but let Holliday go and we will be watching carefully for wide bodies who get cut. I think neild has a shot to make the team nased on depth and hard work.

LB-I do not believe we solved our woes here. I think kerrigan is a great kid but we already have one LB who is a dedicated rush guy, when i watched film on kerrigan I saw a guy who was pretty much Rak but with a more varied toolbox of passrush moves, I think if he went to a team that didnt have rak he would have more impact but his deficiencies are the same as raks pretty much. the rookie out of FLA state looks like an andre carter clone I dont see much coming out of him. so even if we get best case, and kerrigan is decent, that leaves ILB, I think we keep fletch and i think we move LA to play beside him to cover up fletches lack of size and LA's lack of speed, but we still need players here. we lack depth and nobody at linebacker really stood out last year and in a defence based on linebacker play, thats bad. I think some big names may get cut this year if they do, we better grab them because this part of our team is still bad.

DB
this is gonna be interesting, we signed atogwe who should pair up well with landry, gomes could back up LL with some of the guys from last year.
Corner is gonna be interesting though, Hall is overrated, we should trade him now while he has value, Clos might get big money or at least he will be trying to and Barnes was decent but nothing great, buchanon? just a guy. we could use a great corner, and perhaps even 2, it all depends on who shakes loose in free agency. I doubt we get asomugha but that would be huge, he would be a great match up with clos but terrible for hall lol.

I think we end up with a worse record this year, BUT we see marginal improvments stats wise, and huge improvements in that our depth guys aren't other teams rejects that we recycle every season but OUR youth who will get better with time rather than worse. I think we get better towards the end of the season and if we actually rebuild the Oline, we could see a contending team built here in 2-3 seasons, and I dont mean a one and done team but a team built like the patsies. we just wont see much this year, still too many holes.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

and yes I am aware that I said nothing about AH, unless we run a lot of 4-3 packages I think he will just be the most rested and best nickel DT in the league.

my Line up would be to run a 4-3 with rak and kerrigan at DE,Jarmon subbing in on run downs and moving Rak to sam, Ah and JJ at DT with gholston subbing in fletch at mac rocky at will and "somebody" at sam for passing downs. ahhh what could have been....

 

[Henry]

Good stuff, Ry. I don't have your eye for the details but I do agree with you overall evaluation.
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

 

[Boone]

Another 'Blog it' - worthy post. 'Blog it' people, blog it

 

[Elephant]

Glad to have you back around Ryman.

 

[Sarge]

I'm deeply disappointed with the lack of O-Line picks.................once again. I'm hoping we have some kind of plan wenever free agency fires up

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

el- thanks
Sarge. if we dont do something major in free agency vis a vis the Oline I think that will say a lot about this team and where we will be in a few seasons. I was shocked that we didnt pick Oline because Olines take time as units to gel and this would have been the perfect season to do that. there arent a lot of zbs capable players in free agency this year.

 

[Boone]

You honed in on my issue as well Ryman...I was pretty stunned that when we acquired all those extra picks, we ended up using them on later round offensive skill position players. Between our obvious needs on the offensive line, and the value that we could have found in those rounds, I found it a puzzing strategy.

In short, I loved the approach, I'm just not as sure as some that we found as many long-term contributors as we could have.

 

[Sarge]

el- thanks
Sarge. if we dont do something major in free agency vis a vis the Oline I think that will say a lot about this team and where we will be in a few seasons. I was shocked that we didnt pick Oline because Olines take time as units to gel and this would have been the perfect season to do that. there arent a lot of zbs capable players in free agency this year.

Prechin' the the choir bro, preachin' to the choir. I think we're going to have a suck year anyway, as in maybe 6 wins, so why not get your linemen (and I mean high quality linemen) and give them a year or so to gel? We could have done tha tthis year and gone after a QB in next years draft

 

[Boone]

I think one thing to consider is that they either have an entire FA plan mapped out for the O-line needs, or they felt there weren't enough gems in this year's draft to focus on that need and are waiting for next year's draft where perhaps there are more guys they really like. Just guessing.

I think what we all pray and hope is that their inactivity and lack of interest in filling needs on the o-line isn't an indication that they think we are fine there

 

[Elephant]

http://www.footballsfuture.com/2011/fa/ol.html



Of this free agent O-line list, who should we look at? I remember Ryan Kalil was a player you like Ryman, but he has been tendered by Carolina. Would Nicks from NO be a player that could fit the ZBS. As for RT, would we be wise to sign a player like Clabo? I cannot believe we would be interested in actually re-signing Brown at this point.

 

[Henry]

I agree with the rest of you about the OL. The only thing I can think of is that they just went BPA because there were so many holes any position they took would fill one.

That would make sense, but I'd still prefer to build the lines first. Overall I guess I can't complain about the approach.

 

[Elephant]

I agree with the rest of you about the OL. The only thing I can think of is that they just went BPA because there were so many holes any position they took would fill one.

That would make sense, but I'd still prefer to build the lines first. Overall I guess I can't complain about the approach.

Many have touched on it and have accepted that character is a huge reason he may have been selected, but the Jenkins pick at #2 was questionable with the amount of talent still out there, especially the O-line. We could have had a new center for years to come, Wisniewski or a RG, Hudson. I would suggest they were better players at their position than Jenkins is at his. But I am no expert so who really knows? I suggest it was more about the need to upgrade the defense first since they were as bad as it gets in the NFL.


I will also mention the pick of Kerrigan over Cameron Jordon. I was surprised we passed on Jordon in favor of Kerrigan since from everything I read he was a better fit in our defense than Kerrigan. Not gonna complain about Kerrigan, nor Jenkins...the coaches made the picks so I am going to hope they are correct. Time will tell.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

I wanted Cameron Jordan over Kerrigan as well, but Coach Shanahan said early on that a pass rushing OLB was THE priority in this draft. He stayed true to his word and I'm thinking this will pay dividends many times over. We didn't reach for him and we got five additional picks by choosing the player that the coaches targeted - an incredible bonus.

About Hankerson. Each day, I become more convinced that this was a huge steal for the Redskins. He never had the luxury of having a top notch QB throwing his way. However, he set many records at Miami - records that were held by the likes of Michael Irvin and other greats. That's why I'm thinking he will start sooner than many expect and will have a huge impact for many years. And his attitude is great.

I have been one of the early supporters of Helu, even before it was known that we would select him. Glad to see that many of you support this draftee - he will be a good one. As for Royster - don't underestimate him. In the BGO draft game, I had us taking him in the late rounds (and Helu too) for a reason. He will thrive in this system. The four headed monster of Helu-Royster-Torain-Williams will be a thing of beauty.

Gomes. He may never be a starter for the Redskins, but I believe he will take the place of Chris Horton and prove to be even better than the rookie that we saw a couple of seasons ago. Gomes has this uncanny ability to separate the football from an opposing offensive player.

I agree that Niles Paul could be a steal in the 5th round. Much like Hankerson, he had no-name QBs throwing passes at him and was in a run-heavy offense. We may have a second round talent who fell into our laps in the later rounds.

I still think we will end up with two FAs along the OL. Ryan Harris and Davin Joseph are good bets at this point. Don't rule out a couple of UDFAs at center and guard. We could get the center from USC or TCU and the guard from UConn. Let's be patient and see what happens with the OL.

Don't fret over Jarvis Jenkins. With Cullen Jenkins probably on his way, the law office of Jenkins, Carriker, and Jenkins will be a much better lineup along the defensive front than last year. And we could sign a very good DT when FA finally opens.

As for the overall draft and the lack of investing along the OL, don't be too worried. We needed some versatile players for depth and special teams duty. In several cases, the team was able to address these concerns.

Keep the faith my friends. The draft itself should be an encouraging sign that the change at Redskins Park is beginning to take hold in a positive way. FA will be upon us soon and we will feel even better about our propects for 2011 and beyond.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

http://www.footballsfuture.com/2011/fa/ol.html



Of this free agent O-line list, who should we look at? I remember Ryan Kalil was a player you like Ryman, but he has been tendered by Carolina. Would Nicks from NO be a player that could fit the ZBS. As for RT, would we be wise to sign a player like Clabo? I cannot believe we would be interested in actually re-signing Brown at this point.

I really wanted kalil I think he has hof potential in the right system, bah.


at tackle I could see us targeting Harris and obviously trying to bring brown back, Gaither would be a good fit at RT if his back is ok, he has good feet and great size, but this years pickings at tackle are slim, no way to doug free.

at guard Nicks is a power run type and im not sure he would be better here than dock was and he wont be worth what he will want. Mankins would be a great fit but his price will be high, im not sure we will want to pay it but he would be an awesome fit from a skill and leadership standpoint I would pull the trigger on that in a second. Davin joseph doesnt fit the zbs , he is more of a straight up mauler as is harvey dahl.

at center the pickings are really slim, so a one and done vet would probably have to be the guy so Kreutz or weigman or maybe chris chester or chris spencer, both of whom played center before, I would go with a combo of kreutz and spencer, to hedge my bets, then next year draft a center as my priority on the Oline.

bottom line Jenkins is a good guy but limited, and he doesnt fit what we want to do on defence, he was easily my biggest wtf of the whole weekend. especially when as some of you said, guys who would have started and been solid were still available. one of my good buddies thought that picking jarvis was a " slap AH in the face" pick by grabbing an obvious 5tech player but im hoping that wasnt the case.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

BB- I am hoping like hell that we dont bring in Cullen jenkins, if we went with jarvis as our second pick because of character, why would we bring in cullen? I like Cullen as a player and he is a proven 3-4 de, but bad fit culture wise.

The Kerrigan pick confused me, honestly I thought it might signify that Shanny was willing to concede the 3-4 was a mistake, why would we draft Rak part two? I was torn because I really like Kerrigan as a player and a person he will be a great kid to have i think, BUT he has THE EXACT SAME LIMITATIONS that rak has , he just has abetter toolbox of moves and perhaps is a bit less explosive as an athlete. I think if we were running a 4-3 it would have been an outstanding value pick, running the 3-4 its risky especially with Cam jordan still available. contrary to what Shanny believed, I dont think pass rushing LB was our biggest weakness on defence, I think our total lack of anything resembling a decent Dline that was able to hold ground was what killed us and not having an attacking ILB who made tackles for losses without having to blitz also hurt a lot, we didnt address either of those things imho.

I didnt mind the strategy of trading down and targeting scheme specific players, but I am very leery on the ability to scheme and the ability to judge defencive players to fit that scheme, I think with very good reason. and I am less likely to give Shanny a pass on O than I was previously when i would have given him carte blache to pick whoever he wanted to run his stuff. lol