Playing Dan Snyder

[brandies]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11970375




"Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on." --Bob Newhart

On Thursday, we did just what Bob Newhart suggested. We took a step back and had a few laughs (at least some of us did). Today, we make a final decision on which unemployed Super Bowl coach the Redskins should hire. A friendly reminder to all: We are pretending to be owner Daniel Snyder as he makes this very important decision.

On a side note, do you remember going to the doctor's office as a kid? You had to wait in a lame waiting room that never had any sports magazines -- nothing that appealed to kids who were sports enthusiasts, at least not in my doctor's office. Since I couldn't find any pictures of my favorite sports heroes, I always gravitated to the Highlights magazine to work on the missing-picture puzzle (I still do today). You know the one where they had a list of things you had to find somewhere in the picture, hidden behind a rock or alongside the page. Well, Thursday's column was meant to poke fun at the Redskins' situation, a la Bob Newhart above, but there was a ton of truth on the page -- you just had to find it. I guess you could say that was our attempt to make our first Highlights puzzle.

OK, back to the Redskins. Now, when hiring a head coach, you must have a "Come to Jesus" meeting with yourself. In the case of the 'Skins, Snyder is Snyder. He's not going to change how he operates -- for anyone. He didn't pay all this money for an NFL team just to sit idly by on the sidelines as a spectator. He thinks he can run a team, he thinks he can build a team, he thinks he can general manage a team -- and that's not going to change. Not now, not after breakfast, not tomorrow, not two weeks from now, not a month from now, not ever.

A perfect example was Thursday's supplemental draft. The 'Skins once again mortgaged their future, using a 2010 pick for defensive lineman Jeremy Jarmon. I have nothing against Jarmon as a player; I'm more in the Wes Bunting camp, believing he can be a good player for the 'Skins next year. He can play all three downs and will provide depth along the line.

However, it's the plan on how to build the team that bothers me most. As long as Snyder is the owner, he's going to manage each player personnel situation as an independent item. He will never put to paper a business model of how he wants to build the 'Skins for today, for tomorrow and for the next three years. This behavior always amazes me -- a man makes billions of dollars in one business, then comes into the NFL and forgets all the good business methods that allowed him to make his fortune. Insane, right?

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[Bulldog]

Agree with the premise that Snyder has taken the Redskins in what are sometimes contradictory directions at times.

Can't agree however that the selection of Jarmon is in any way evidence of that.

The writer indicates that the Redskins 'mortgaged their future' by selecting Jarmon who he admits may be a starting caliber lineman for the team.

So, how does selecting a 21 year old two way DE 'mortgage the future'?

Is the writer implying that you have to use a draft pick in April ONLY to have it count as 'money' well spent?

It's just that kind of misplaced example or analogy that reverberates through pieces on the Redskins.

 

[Hog Fever]

I agree with you BD. Dan has certainly made some mistakes over the years but I don’t have a problem with this pick-up at all. Jeremy Jarmon was all ALL-SEC defensive end who, from what I’ve read, made a honest mistake with supplements while trying to cut weight. By most accounts he probably would have gone in the 4th round had he been eligible. Getting him in the 3rd is not too much of a reach knowing the lions were going to get him at the top of the 4th if we waited.

Yes, it pains me to see draft picks squandered, but that doesn’t seem to be what we did here. He adds youth and depth to a position of need. He may or may not work out, like any other draft pick, but he seems to have all the tools. We shall see.

One thing for certain, Dan will get none of the credit if he makes the team and plays well.

 

[Neophyte]

This is not the same as giving up a 2nd and 6th for a 34 year old guy who is going to play out of position. This is a kid who might have gone as high as the second round in next year's draft if he just had an average year by his own standards. This is a kid who has been playing the same position the Skins want him to play. This is a kid who both the Chiefs and Pats put up 4th round picks for and I don't see anyone slamming Pioli or Belichick for bad personnel decisions.

When will the media types figure out that slamming someone is ok but only when you are right? Slamming for the sake of slamming, even when someone is doing it right, only screws up your own credibility?

I'm not a Snyder/Cerrato fan in the least but I think they got it right this time.

 

[The Burgundy Ghost]

Getting a guy to be on the opposite side of Orakpo (who I hope will eventually be mostly a DE) is key to the Redskins future, not now, which is a change in the Snyder Redskins philosophy.

And frankly I'm glad to see it.

Daniels may or may not be the LDE in 2009. I say the may not b/c despite being a excellent run stuffing end who will give you a sack here or there, he has a history of injury issues and I can' remember the last time he got through an entire season without an injury that cost him a game or two.

Both he and Wynn have one year deals and may not be back in 2010. I have a theory about Andre Carter as well not being back in 2010. If he has a bad year and there's no new CBA (thus, no cap in 2010) I think the Skins will release him.

Rob Jackson and Alex Buzbee haven't shown enough to prove that they could be great starters.

The move makes a great deal of sense as they grab a player who they can use sparingly in 2009 and develop him for 2010.

Plus, if there's some freak injuries again like last year....the Skins haven enough depth to not have to be desperate and waste picks to get a vet who will only give you a year.