Shanahan's first year in Washington is beginning to look like a continuation of Gibbs II. The discipline and order is back. The players for the most part are giving 100% effort. But the decisions taken on the personnel side continue to hinder the longer term recovery of the franchise. Most of the wounds here are self-inflicted.
Starting off with the McNabb controversy, I just don't understand what has taken place. Donovan McNabb has been in the NFL for 10 plus years. There are scouting books on him in 31 other cities that are updated annually.
And yet the Redskins, installing a new offense, went out and traded two draft picks for McNabb and after 8 games are ready to admit that his skill set perhaps doesn't fit what the team is trying to accomplish.
This is the same kind of kick in the gut we got in 1994 when a new coach named Norv Turner drafted Heath Shuler and talked about him growing into a second Troy Aikman. Joe Theismann and then Lawrence Taylor did double takes after watching the kid throw the ball.
What information was not available on McNabb or was missed during the due diligence process? McNabb has a strong arm and is a playmaker - completing throws on the run and extending drives with his feet. He is not a timing passer in the mold of Phillip Rivers or Peyton Manning. Kyle Shanahan seemingly wants a clone of Matt Schaub but who in their right minds would look at Donovan and Matt and start to write down similarities in their style of play?
On defense, the club has been able to get turnovers. And that as much as anything has contributed to the 4-4 start. Notice in the Lions game how a neutral or negative edge in the turnover count leads to a double digit loss for this team.
But what it hasn't done is match scheme to personnel any better than has been done on the other side of the ball. Orakpo is playing well but he is versatile enough to be effective in either a 4-3 or 3-4. Landry is a natural strong safety and Haslett did put him back there but then again so would most defensive coordinators in the NFL not named Greg Blache.
Once again, I am mystified how Shanahan could look at offseason film of teams like NE and Pittsburgh and then decide whenever he gets his next coaching gig he is going to run a 3-4.
That decision marginalized the Redskins two best defensive linemen, Albert Haynesworth and Andre Carter. Haynesworth got paid for either sitting in the press box or on the bench for the first month of the season and Carter looked really out of place as a stand up OLB.
Now both players are situation substitutes based on down and yardage.
And in those packages the defense morphs back into a more traditional front in re the responsibilities of both palyers.
In terms of some of the other spots on the roster, the Redskins took a gamble on guys that were injured in 2009 and were hoping to bounce back in 2010 with a new team.
In a year with limited free agency, it was a decent gamble.
Ryan Torain and Adam Carriker are both contributors now and add much needed youth at RB and DE.
The club seems to have missed however on Maake Kemoeatu, Jammal Brown and Josh Bidwell. Bidwell is on IR. Kemoeatu has been on the field less and less each week as Haslett has gone to other looks. Brown is sharing the RT job with Stephon Heyer.
All of this leads me back to the argument made over the years as to whether a team can win with the Head Coach being responsible for both personnel and coaching.
George Allen is here and while I don't see him as being a 'dupe' or straw man the way that Vinny was for years it does seem clear that the major decisions are being made by Shanahan.
Allen's footprints may be on the signing of Buchanon as the #3 corner or in concert with Haslett the trade for Carriker, but the McNabb decision and the decisions that were made on Haynesworth, etc. seem programmed by the coach.
On an aging team rebounding from 4-12 one has to question whether those picks traded for veterans in retrospect might have been better used on younger players. Trent Williams as I have posted before was a great START on the OL. Carriker may be a piece on the DL. But given the state of the other 4 positions on the OL and the move to the 3-4 on the DL, this club needed to find 5 or perhaps even 6 new performers. That wasn't going to happen in one year.
At 4-4 and with the second best turnover ratio in the league, my concern is that over the last 8 games this team could finish with a thud, especially if as in the Lions game the Redskins end up committing more turnovers and face defensive and offensive lines that are simply bigger and/or more talented.
The acquisition of McNabb was key in my mind for the rebuilding process because if the club could get him on the field, enjoy some success in the passing game in 2010 and then resign him for the next 3 years, then in 2011 the front office and staff could focus more narrowly on the OL/DL and RB/WR positions in free agency and the draft.
To have to start over at quarterback in 2011 will have meant largely wasting Year 1. That #2 pick coming early at #37 overall could have been another OL or DL starter for us. Ditto for the #3 pick in 2011.
Starting off with the McNabb controversy, I just don't understand what has taken place. Donovan McNabb has been in the NFL for 10 plus years. There are scouting books on him in 31 other cities that are updated annually.
And yet the Redskins, installing a new offense, went out and traded two draft picks for McNabb and after 8 games are ready to admit that his skill set perhaps doesn't fit what the team is trying to accomplish.
This is the same kind of kick in the gut we got in 1994 when a new coach named Norv Turner drafted Heath Shuler and talked about him growing into a second Troy Aikman. Joe Theismann and then Lawrence Taylor did double takes after watching the kid throw the ball.
What information was not available on McNabb or was missed during the due diligence process? McNabb has a strong arm and is a playmaker - completing throws on the run and extending drives with his feet. He is not a timing passer in the mold of Phillip Rivers or Peyton Manning. Kyle Shanahan seemingly wants a clone of Matt Schaub but who in their right minds would look at Donovan and Matt and start to write down similarities in their style of play?
On defense, the club has been able to get turnovers. And that as much as anything has contributed to the 4-4 start. Notice in the Lions game how a neutral or negative edge in the turnover count leads to a double digit loss for this team.
But what it hasn't done is match scheme to personnel any better than has been done on the other side of the ball. Orakpo is playing well but he is versatile enough to be effective in either a 4-3 or 3-4. Landry is a natural strong safety and Haslett did put him back there but then again so would most defensive coordinators in the NFL not named Greg Blache.
Once again, I am mystified how Shanahan could look at offseason film of teams like NE and Pittsburgh and then decide whenever he gets his next coaching gig he is going to run a 3-4.
That decision marginalized the Redskins two best defensive linemen, Albert Haynesworth and Andre Carter. Haynesworth got paid for either sitting in the press box or on the bench for the first month of the season and Carter looked really out of place as a stand up OLB.
Now both players are situation substitutes based on down and yardage.
And in those packages the defense morphs back into a more traditional front in re the responsibilities of both palyers.
In terms of some of the other spots on the roster, the Redskins took a gamble on guys that were injured in 2009 and were hoping to bounce back in 2010 with a new team.
In a year with limited free agency, it was a decent gamble.
Ryan Torain and Adam Carriker are both contributors now and add much needed youth at RB and DE.
The club seems to have missed however on Maake Kemoeatu, Jammal Brown and Josh Bidwell. Bidwell is on IR. Kemoeatu has been on the field less and less each week as Haslett has gone to other looks. Brown is sharing the RT job with Stephon Heyer.
All of this leads me back to the argument made over the years as to whether a team can win with the Head Coach being responsible for both personnel and coaching.
George Allen is here and while I don't see him as being a 'dupe' or straw man the way that Vinny was for years it does seem clear that the major decisions are being made by Shanahan.
Allen's footprints may be on the signing of Buchanon as the #3 corner or in concert with Haslett the trade for Carriker, but the McNabb decision and the decisions that were made on Haynesworth, etc. seem programmed by the coach.
On an aging team rebounding from 4-12 one has to question whether those picks traded for veterans in retrospect might have been better used on younger players. Trent Williams as I have posted before was a great START on the OL. Carriker may be a piece on the DL. But given the state of the other 4 positions on the OL and the move to the 3-4 on the DL, this club needed to find 5 or perhaps even 6 new performers. That wasn't going to happen in one year.
At 4-4 and with the second best turnover ratio in the league, my concern is that over the last 8 games this team could finish with a thud, especially if as in the Lions game the Redskins end up committing more turnovers and face defensive and offensive lines that are simply bigger and/or more talented.
The acquisition of McNabb was key in my mind for the rebuilding process because if the club could get him on the field, enjoy some success in the passing game in 2010 and then resign him for the next 3 years, then in 2011 the front office and staff could focus more narrowly on the OL/DL and RB/WR positions in free agency and the draft.
To have to start over at quarterback in 2011 will have meant largely wasting Year 1. That #2 pick coming early at #37 overall could have been another OL or DL starter for us. Ditto for the #3 pick in 2011.
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Nothing can be as bad as the last 2 seasons
