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It starts with Daniel Snyder. The media hates him as an NFL owner. To be honest, I'm not sure how well received he is with the other owners in the league, other than Jerry Jones. Interestingly, they both seem to be very good friends and often see things eye to eye. With Snyder's media war he's had going on throughout the years, the war he's had with a local newspaper, the Washington Post, and then the whole Redskins name controversy, anything or anyone who doesn't seem to be "progressive" enough is often looked down upon. So, the sports media, in general, has a disdain for the Redskins. Remember the whole Phil Simms thing where he said he'd no longer use the name, Redskins when he called their games? Of course, after he said that and then called on the games, I remember him using the name several times in the broadcast anyway. But, in general, I happen to believe that the franchise is not looked upon in a very positive light, so it's customary for the media to assume the 'skins are a bad franchise, bad team.
I'm hoping Guice is going to be that "Zeke" type of player that can carry the team. He has really impressed folks in training camp and OTAs. I can't wait to see him in action. If he is everything as advertised, and Thompson remains healthy, that could be a pretty deadly combination coming out of the backfield. Could really help cover up any issues that we may have at wide receiver.
Snyder is still taking lumps from his first few years. His attitude of being able to buy a Super Bowl from 2000 to around 2009 or so is still what he's remembered, and hated, for. Not to mention some of the other dumb ideas he had when he first took over. And let's not forget a few other questionable (aka stupid) things that he has done.. Charging for practice, which allowed other teams to watch said practices.. Suing season ticket holders who could no longer afford to renew.. Sherman Lewis. The business practices are still questionable at times, but since the separation from Cerrato, at least the football side has been better.
Guice is certainly a key this year. A breakout year from him gets them into the playoffs. If he's average.. Probably another 8-8 range. He can impress in camp all he wants.. What happens when he hits the field for real?
Remember, Ki-Jana Carter impressed folks at camp. Then the third time he touched the ball in a preseason game.. There went the knee.
Snyder is still taking lumps from his first few years. His attitude of being able to buy a Super Bowl from 2000 to around 2009 or so is still what he's remembered, and hated, for. Not to mention some of the other dumb ideas he had when he first took over. And let's not forget a few other questionable (aka stupid) things that he has done.. Charging for practice, which allowed other teams to watch said practices.. Suing season ticket holders who could no longer afford to renew.. Sherman Lewis. The business practices are still questionable at times, but since the separation from Cerrato, at least the football side has been better.
Guice is certainly a key this year. A breakout year from him gets them into the playoffs. If he's average.. Probably another 8-8 range. He can impress in camp all he wants.. What happens when he hits the field for real?
Remember, Ki-Jana Carter impressed folks at camp. Then the third time he touched the ball in a preseason game.. There went the knee.
Yeah, the regular season is when the rubber meets the road, so that's where I want Guice to impress. I have a feeling that Fat Rob, Perine, and Bibbs might be used a little more in preseason to determine which one of those guys sticks with the 'skins. I think Fat Rob is out, although Perine didn't really show us much last year. Right now, if I had to guess, your backs are Guice, Thompson, and Perine. Maybe they keep four backs, but I can see these three guys getting the most touches.
Ki-Jana Carter, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time!
The funny about how Snyder tried to buy a Super Bowl, we're seeing the very same thing with other teams. The Giants spent a lot of money trying to revamp their defense last year. We see other teams during free agency just go crazy, and I thought how interesting it was that nothing is ever said about these teams going crazy during free agency, but yet every year, all eyes are on the Redskins. The Redskins really haven't had a spending spree during free agency in a long time. I've felt free agency has been handle much better in recent years. Yes, the whole Kirk Cousins debacle probably undermines that theory, but I don't believe for one second Kirk Cousins ever wanted to stay in Washington to begin with, so I felt that the door had closed on that relationship even before last season.
Anything less than 8-8 would surely get Jay Gruden fired, but I think even at 8-8, that's probably not good enough. If Gruden gets the 'skins in the playoffs and actually manages to win a playoff game, you'll see him stick around for a few more seasons, even if he has another 8-8 season down the road. Right now, Gruden has been the longest tenured coach since Norv Turner. I don't know if that's progress or if that's just a testament of better coaches not wanting to come to Washington. Either way, I do like continuity and do feel it means something to a team that is going to be successful.
I'm with you on Guice, I still can't believe we traded back and still got him. I also agree about the Snyder sentiment and who can blame them? The SM and Cousin fiascoes were just more of the same nonsense and the sign of a dysfunctional organization. The fact that nobody knows who is actually making the final call on player personal is also very troubling, when has any team had that situation?
I'm with you on Guice, I still can't believe we traded back and still got him. I also agree about the Snyder sentiment and who can blame them? The SM and Cousin fiascoes were just more of the same nonsense and the sign of a dysfunctional organization. The fact that nobody knows who is actually making the final call on player personal is also very troubling, when has any team had that situation?
If I had to wager a guess, judging by how much better the drafts have seemed to be in recent years, I'd say it's probably more Doug Williams and Kyle Smith making the calls on that than Bruce Allen. Jay Gruden is also involved. However, I think Bruce Allen is still heavily involved in free agency, but I'm sure Doug Williams, Eric Schaffer, and Jay Gruden have some input as well. At the very least, I don't believe Allen is as much involved in player personnel as he was in the past, but he's involved enough to influence decisions, most definitely.
Looking back on the Scot McCloughan thing, I'm thinking the 'skins probably should have went with A.J. Smith as the General Manager - it seemed like the job was there for the taking, but Allen went the McCloughan route. There's enough talent in the front office now to where Allen doesn't need to be involved in player personnel. If he stays with the team (I've heard rumblings about him going back to the Raiders), he needs to just focus on high end business like the future stadium and other team business.
If I had to wager a guess, judging by how much better the drafts have seemed to be in recent years, I'd say it's probably more Doug Williams and Kyle Smith making the calls on that than Bruce Allen. Jay Gruden is also involved. However, I think Bruce Allen is still heavily involved in free agency, but I'm sure Doug Williams, Eric Schaffer, and Jay Gruden have some input as well. At the very least, I don't believe Allen is as much involved in player personnel as he was in the past, but he's involved enough to influence decisions, most definitely.
The draft is.. Another thing that the Redskins take hits for that they probably shouldn't.
In the 80's, they only had like 3 first round draft choices.. And they were all home runs.. Art Monk, Mark May and Darrell Green.
They had NO other first round draft choices in the 80's.
The 90's.. That's when they decided to start using their first rounders.. And that's where things went off the rails. Bobby Wilson, Desmond Howard, Tom Carter, Heath Shuler, Michael Westbrook, Andre Johnson, Kenard Lang and Champ Bailey.. Now, not all of those are a giant pile of suck.. Westbrook, Lang and Carter were serviceable players.. They weren't what you expect from a first round pick, tho. Bailey probably being the only one there that would qualify as a good first round pick, but he was only there for 4 years.
Since 2000.. Very, very few misses. Arrington, Samuels, Gardner, Ramsey, Taylor, Rogers, Campbell, Landry, Orakpo, Trent Williams, Kerrigan, Griffin, Scherff, Doctson, Allen and Payne.
I'd say Doctson through Payne, too early to tell.
The hits there.. Arrington. Very good, but just not enough to move up to the next level. Too short a career.
The home runs.. Taylor, Rogers, Orakpo, Trent Williams, Kerrigan, Scherff and I'm putting Samuels here.
The.. Not worth a first round pick, but not a bust.. Campbell, Landry
"Oops" - Gardner, Ramsey, Griffin
And, look.. Gardner is really the only BAD one there and the only reason he's BAD is by comparison. He's the worst of this list. Well, Griffin. That's.. Too involved to get into.
I know this is a very unpopular opinion but I'm pretty convinced there were several backs in the league at the time who could have done what Riggo did behind that line. Don't get me wrong, he was a great back and will always be one of my favorites. But he benefited greatly from his situation, had he stayed with the Jets I'm not sure he is a Hall of Famer.
You could say that about any player. Sure, Walter Payton would have been even more spectacular behind a line like that.
Riggo was also very powerful and durable. He did not really get hurt until his twilight.
He would often run right over defenders. Don McNeal said it "hurt to tackle him". Harry Carson said the dizzy spells he experiences can be traced to when he tried to tackle Riggo. It was like trying to stop a freight train of solid iron.
And for a big back, Riggo had pretty good speed once he got moving.
All the Jet fans I knew were sorry he left.
The photo of him running towards the end zone while stiff arming Don McNeal is iconic. John Riggins was a great Redskin and is justly enshrined in the HOF.
So now that our, potential, star rookie running back is out for the season, I guess all eyes will be on Fat Rob, Chris Thompson, and Samjae Perine. Same group we had going into last season. All the more importance of Chris Thompson staying healthy and Perine taking the next step. I doubt the 'skins will try to go out and get Adrian Peterson or DeMarco Murray. Not even sure if Murray is available or not. I think the 'skins will try to roll with who they have and hope everyone steps up. If you're Jay Gruden, the Guice injury has to make you sick. But, at least it's happening now as opposed to happening in the middle of the season and jeopardizing two seasons.
Maybe I'm just now paying more attention to it, but in years past, I don't remember there being so many cases of ACL tears. Then again, my it's my conspiracy theorist in me that says DG was marked to be taken out. Either way, there needs to be something done to reduce the cases of ACL tears. I don't know what it would be, but it seems like there has to be something the league could look into to help prevent that injury.
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