Paging the Invisible Man

[GSF]

I am relatively confident about the game tonight against the Vikes, but I keep having this terrible vision of AP running all over the Redskins. At 1-7, the Vikes and AP are going to be super hungry in their house on national tv.

London Fletcher has been a fantastic Redskin for a lot of years now, but I can barely remember seeing him make a play this season. Fletch needs to get it going in a big way tonight. He needs to be all over AP and get back to making the kind of tackles he's been so well known for making over their years. Fletch needs to put the defense on his shoulders and take this game over. Fletch is the key to this game imo, and this game is going to be a critical juncture for this season. A win tonight and the Skins are right in the thick of the race. A loss will not be a season ender(we know this from last year), but it sure will make it tough to get to the playoffs, especially when you look at the rest of the schedule.

Go Skins!

 

[Miles Monroe]

Hope it happens, but in all honestly, I think Fletch has hit that wall. We need our young guys to step up, because it looks like it will be sooner rather then later with Fletcher.

 

[GSF]

So far, Fletch has been even more invisible than usual. Is he even playing?

 

[Miles Monroe]

Saw an article that pretty much said the same thing, he was invisible last night.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Through 9 games last year, London was pretty terrible also. It was around now he turned it on and started playing MVP-caliber football. Can he do it again? I don't know, but I sure hope so.

 

[tshile]

Even if he does it again is that the kind of guy we want?

I hope some notion of loyalty or respect doesn't prevent this staff from replacing him when the time comes (I have no idea when that is, some would argue it's already passed.) I'd like to think we're finally beyond that sort of management.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Even if he does it again is that the kind of guy we want?

I hope some notion of loyalty or respect doesn't prevent this staff from replacing him when the time comes (I have no idea when that is, some would argue it's already passed.) I'd like to think we're finally beyond that sort of management.

For the last 7 games...yes. But I agree, I think the coaching staff needs to look elsewhere for an MLB come next season. I'd like to see him brought on as LB coach, and finally see Slowik fired.

 

[tshile]

I don't know. Having your on-field coach for your defense take off the first 9 games doesn't sound like a good idea :\

I'm pretty sure it's going to be an ugly breakup, one way or the other. He'll stay long past due (again, some would argue he already has) or we'll cut him loose and he'll get all bitter and talk crap and go play out his career somewhere else.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

I don't know. Having your on-field coach for your defense take off the first 9 games doesn't sound like a good idea :\

I'm pretty sure it's going to be an ugly breakup, one way or the other. He'll stay long past due (again, some would argue he already has) or we'll cut him loose and he'll get all bitter and talk crap and go play out his career somewhere else.

I don't think he is taking the games off...I think he's just at that age where he can't perform for a full 16-game season. He has no choice. It takes him this long to recover from last season...or even longer, since he's a year-older. There's a reason why most guys stop playing in their early 30s.

 

[tshile]

I don't care what the reason is, I just don't like not having an effective middle linebacker that's supposed to be an extension of the coaching staff on the field for 9 games.

 

[Ax]

Fletch is in his last season as an NFL player. I'm sure we all hope he can even partially repeat his second half season performance of last year.

As we do not yet have his replacement ready, it makes it necessary to use his experience, for the rest of this season, getting our guys lined up. Even with whatever slippage he shows, he's still one of our best defenders on the field. Doesn't say much for the talent we have around him.

My hope, is that next season, he will still be with the team. As the new LB coach. And hope further, that he's as good a coach, as he is/was a player.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Even with whatever slippage he shows, he's still one of our best defenders on the field. Doesn't say much for the talent we have around him.

He is no longer one of our best defenders, IMO. I would also submit that we don't know if his replacements are ready, because we haven't put them out there as his replacement yet. He's literally never missed a game since becoming a starter; how would we know if his replacements are ready if he's never been replaced? Baptism by fire; throw Riley out there as the QB of the D, and see what happens.

 

[tshile]

not to mention everyone we've brought in has suffered injuries so we can't even spell fletcher to get other guys reps.

if we keep losing i would hope he'll be the first to be benched to give people reps. i'm sure that messing with his starting record is going to cause problems.

 

[Bulldog]

We lost Keenan Robinson at the beginning of the season. We signed Nick Barnett but he seems to still be limited by that knee injury from a couple of years ago.

We really don't have anyone else to throw in there. The other linebackers like Jackson and Jenkins are strictly OLBs in this defense.

 

[Miles Monroe]

Not sure if I'm on board with the switch from player to coach thing. People seem to think it's a gimmie, and it's not always the case.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Not sure if I'm on board with the switch from player to coach thing. People seem to think it's a gimmie, and it's not always the case.

It doesn't seem to happen that frequently, that's for sure. I've always thought it was more of a coaching fraternity/wait your turn in line kind of thing, rather than an its tough to pull off kind of thing. London seems like a natural to coach.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[KDawg]

I wonder how Jackson would fare at ILB, to be honest. I think he's heady enough to make it work. But, I also have to assume that Haslett has had that idea and it didn't work out as we would hope. We don't really have a replacement for Fletcher at the moment. Robinson was taking strides, but he now has the "injury prone" tag that he'll have to work off of him. Riley is playing the other spot at the moment, and he hasn't been stellar, either.

Riley has flashes of brilliance and moments of total poor play. The thing I love from him is that he is all over the field.

I still wonder what a dominant nose would do for our defense, especially because it allows Cofield to play an end.

Carriker being out has effected us, too.

Barnett has been slowed by a knee injury and Kehl is on IR. We don't have much in the way of ILBs, so London is still our best option.

 

[SilentThreat]

My hope, is that next season, he will still be with the team. As the new LB coach. And hope further, that he's as good a coach, as he is/was a player.

I'm with you on your whole post but on this particular point... In a perfect world, I agree with you whole heartedly. I'd love for him to trade his helmet for a ball cap and lead these guys. The thing is, I cant ever remember a player going from player to coach in 1 offseason. Usually they take time off, they go coach a lower level of the sport in college or something, and make their way back up. Maybe I'm wrong but I cant think of any player that went from playing one season, to coaching in the NFL in 1 offseason.

 

[Ax]

I'm with you on your whole post but on this particular point... In a perfect world, I agree with you whole heartedly. I'd love for him to trade his helmet for a ball cap and lead these guys. The thing is, I cant ever remember a player going from player to coach in 1 offseason. Usually they take time off, they go coach a lower level of the sport in college or something, and make their way back up. Maybe I'm wrong but I cant think of any player that went from playing one season, to coaching in the NFL in 1 offseason.

Agreed. But, this is London Fletcher. UDFA who has been defying the odds since he joined the league. Maybe he doesn't get the official title next year. Maybe he starts out down the ladder a few rungs. But he's the kind of guy, that if he can coach, will be a huge benefit to the organization. It keeps continuity, while at the same time, promotes getting new blood on the field.

Win, win.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

I'm with you on your whole post but on this particular point... In a perfect world, I agree with you whole heartedly. I'd love for him to trade his helmet for a ball cap and lead these guys. The thing is, I cant ever remember a player going from player to coach in 1 offseason. Usually they take time off, they go coach a lower level of the sport in college or something, and make their way back up. Maybe I'm wrong but I cant think of any player that went from playing one season, to coaching in the NFL in 1 offseason.

Agreed. But, this is London Fletcher. UDFA who has been defying the odds since he joined the league. Maybe he doesn't get the official title next year. Maybe he starts out down the ladder a few rungs. But he's the kind of guy, that if he can coach, will be a huge benefit to the organization. It keeps continuity, while at the same time, promotes getting new blood on the field.

Win, win.

As I said earlier, I think its a coaching fraternity/old boys club kind of thing. Its the same reason Bob Slowik still has a job in the NFL...if London were named LB coach, he'd be "cutting" in front of a bunch of other candidates. Its stupid, but I think that's just the way it goes.