SI: MMQB Mailbag: WAS THE JASON TAYLOR TRADE REALLY SO SMART?

[bubba9497]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/07/22/mailbag/


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• WAS THE JASON TAYLOR TRADE REALLY SO SMART?
From Daniel Cayou, of Columbia, Mo.:

"If the Taylor deal was such a great deal for Washington, why did they only make it with their back against the wall? It is not like Phillip Daniels was particularly good or had potential -- he was slightly above average but did play left defensive end. Taylor is light and plays right. I think he will have problems with the offensive right tackles of the NFC East (Jon Runyan, Kareem McKenzie, and Marc Columbo) as they are just maulers/thugs who will beat the hell out of Taylor. I think it's an interesting story, but unless Washington finds someone to play left end to allow Taylor to play right, I see a lot of off-tackle runs by Brandon Jacobs, Marion Barber and Brian Westbrook.''

Very interesting letter, Daniel. Good thoughts. I'm not sure he'd be much better speed-rushing against Flozell Adams, William Thomas and David Diehl, quite frankly. But you can be sure the 'Skins will do a lot to make sure he's not caught up in the kind of traffic that a bigger end like Daniels would be

[IbleedBnG83]

JT has been going up against left tackles most of his career. I'm sure he will be fine going up against lesser right tackles. I'm not really concerned, it is a watch and wait situation.

[LadySkinsFan]

Just goes to show those who have no idea about the Redskins make comments. No mention of Andre Carter staying at right with JT moving to left. And during draft, we did talk to the Dolphins and thought a 2nd rounder was too much, because we HAD Philip Daniels. Well, when PD was lost to us, we ended up paying a higher price, but that's the way it goes. Our need became greater also.

Where else would we get a world class player? Wait until some team cuts someone and pick up someone's leavings?

I like this deal, period. It's good for us and will make the NFC East respect us more. I think we have a great team this year. Remember, the Giants were not well thought of last year, were a wild card team like us, but gutted it out, won on the road all the way and beat an 18-0 team.

[Cooley4President]

It's a fair question, but I don't think the deal is looked at like the question asserts. I think people think it was a great deal considering the fact that we had a DE to replace. The deal would not have been viewed as positively if we had made it with Daniels healthy, but once we lose him (and Buzbee for good measure), being able to trade for Taylor and get him under the cap with no needed restructuring looked pretty good.

[superozman]

People over analyze EVERYTHING in the NFL. Thank God I LOVE BASEBALL SEASON! :)

Taylor was a GREAT acquisition, anytime you can UPGRADE a spot, it's fantastic.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I'm impressed with King. An outside letter would have given him the perfect opportunity to flip back against the move, but he stood up and gave the counter point. Nice.

[Truant]

JT has been too good for too long to worry about who he is matching up against now.

Is he an upgrade over Daniels? Yes.

Was it a good trade? That is debatable but we'll be a better team with JT in the lineup, that's for sure.

[zyvo23]

He seems to do fine against the Pats every year. I'm sure he'll be fine in the NFC east.

[BALLz]

Put it this way...

AndreCarter did well against Left Tackles last.

Left Tackles are typically better than right tackles.

Jason Taylor is better than Andre Carter.

[tml6157]

Runyan is is a bit iffy but McKenzie and Colombo are straight up laughable :laugh:

[HigSkin]

Seems like Mr. Daniel Cayou, of Columbia, Mo is a fan of some other team in the NFCE. It's not like JT hasn't ever played good/great tackles before.


:2cents:

[AKM311]

Put it this way...

AndreCarter did well against Left Tackles last.

Left Tackles are typically better than right tackles.

Jason Taylor is better than Andre Carter.

Sorry Bud, but this only applies to pass rushing.

Both are not strong in run stopping, which is what PD excelled in. We are going to have to rely on our LBs bigtime to make sure our run defense is on par. Otherwise we will fail, like most people are saying.

I cannot find one LE who is under 270lbs, that is good. This is going to be a wait and see, but I do think that we have the right LBs to contain the run.

What people need to understand is that JT has enough smart and ability to push the tackle up field to make the RB cut back into the middle. This is where Fletcher and Washington will eat people up. Also don't discount that Landry/Schwiegert/Doughty are all very good tacklers and should be able to handle that load as well.

Blache is a smart guy and will figure this out. Anyone else think that maybe Evans will be put in on all those run situations and we may just drop back JT into space? Guys think this is Madden and we can't get creative with personel.

[Majormajor00]

Nice final comment, especially from a dbag like Peter King:

• BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT. From JJ, of Louisville: "It will be good to see a Redskins jersey with "Taylor" on it running around and making plays again.''

Wow. Touching sentiment. That's nice.

[CM916]

Got a better idea? The only other option was to throw some kid out there to get slaughtered or just settle for Demetric Evans. Instead, we seem to have gotten an upgrade.

[bulldog]

So, Thomas and Runyan in their mid-30's haven't slowed down a bit, huh? :)

Donovan McNabb didn't face a pass rush last year either, right :laugh:

Marc Columbo? Even the Cowboys admit he is the weak link on their OL.

[Morneblade]

Sorry Bud, but this only applies to pass rushing.

Both are not strong in run stopping, which is what PD excelled in. We are going to have to rely on our LBs bigtime to make sure our run defense is on par. Otherwise we will fail, like most people are saying.


Actually Taylor has been good against the run for his entire career. And been playing LDE quite a bit for the last 3 years.

So.............it doesnt apply to only pass rushing.

[skins2victory]

Ya it was smart, There was no other choice. Daniels went down, and there is nothing you can do about that. JT is odveously the best replacement we could have gotten hands down. I would have picked him over any other DE in the league. He stated that he is going to play more than 1 year, and if he stays heathly we increased out team sack cout by probably 10-20, who knows, he could have his best year in him yet.

Go skins

[wrecker]

I think we are in for a treat this year, It will be the best bookend tandem we've had since Mann and Manley. Long long time since we will see a show of dominance like this, especially with LL covering center field picking off all the rushed passes. Our LB's are more than capable of assisting with stuffing the run. London will be an animal this year scoring two to three touchdowns from stripped balls in the backfield.

[ouvan59]

Bingo ... I thought I was the only one to complain that Taylor was too light to play the run in the NFCEast .

Why would he be too light to play the run in the NFC East? The only true good power running team that we play in the division is the Giants. The Eagles don't have a power running game and the Cowboys running game is average. And Taylor has always been good against the run. It was never a knock on him until we traded for him. Are we just making up excuses to dislike things now?

[commyderm2]

Bingo ... I thought I was the only one to complain that Taylor was too light to play the run in the NFCEast ... he will not be the superstar everyone here expects ... get ready to be disappointed ... There are no short cuts or free lunches in the NFL. You get what you pay for ... sadly sometimes you overpay. I would paly Evans at LDE and bring Taylor in only on third and long ... but I'm sure that is not politically correct.


Get with the times, these days there are very good NFL DEs that weigh 240. In the history of the NFL you never had to weigh 300 lbs to be a great DE.. By the way, is this Jason Taylor's first hoorah? I could have sworn that this guy has been great for a while..

Another thing is that what is with this whole Political correct stigma? Way to throw out campaign slogans from the mid-nineties..

[AzSkinsFan63]

Easy Answer..

Because If they had signed him early it would have been business as per usual at Redskin park wit hall the usual skepticism.

Now it fits like a glove except for the usual 100% Skin hating mediots.

[ThePreciating]

Umm who's right behind Jason Taylor?

Marcus F. Washington, that's who.

Don't worry about our run stopping.

[zallera]

Sorry Bud, but this only applies to pass rushing.

Both are not strong in run stopping, which is what PD excelled in. We are going to have to rely on our LBs bigtime to make sure our run defense is on par. Otherwise we will fail, like most people are saying.

I cannot find one LE who is under 270lbs, that is good. This is going to be a wait and see, but I do think that we have the right LBs to contain the run.


Actually, Strahan was only 255 lbs. and Robert Mathis of Indy is only 245 lbs., and both have excelled at the LDE spot.

[Morneblade]

Bingo ... I thought I was the only one to complain that Taylor was too light to play the run in the NFCEast ... he will not be the superstar everyone here expects ... get ready to be disappointed ... There are no short cuts or free lunches in the NFL. You get what you pay for ... sadly sometimes you overpay. I would paly Evans at LDE and bring Taylor in only on third and long ... but I'm sure that is not politically correct.

Peck, I think that if someone agrees with you regarding football, then it's almost a lock that they are wrong. Which I find very comforting. :laugh:

[fansince62]

It's a fair question, but I don't think the deal is looked at like the question asserts. I think people think it was a great deal considering the fact that we had a DE to replace. The deal would not have been viewed as positively if we had made it with Daniels healthy, but once we lose him (and Buzbee for good measure), being able to trade for Taylor and get him under the cap with no needed restructuring looked pretty good.

cmon...no one is stating the obvious.....folks like this deal because JT strikes them as a definite upgrade when it comes to pass rush....something generally perceived as a weakness for the D-line as a unit.

the deal clearly has a cost. what needs to be established are the criteria for assessing whether the deal was a success once all the facts are in. I can see the positives in the short-run. no so sure about the long-run. some of one's conclusions ride on whether one believes the team is currently rebuilding or Championship material.

[themurf]

Because Phillip Daniels doesn't get a ton of sacks, some people just assume he brings nothing to the table. We don't even need to mention his veteran presence in the locker room. Instead, I'll simply mention that he was among the league leaders in batted balls last year. Being 6'5" and having the wingspan of a Buick allows him to disrupt passes and make life more difficult for QBs.

But I guess it's a better story (especially if you're Pro Football Talk) to just say, "Daniels was old and might not have made the team anyways. He got hurt, the team panicked and since Bruce Smith wasn't available, The Danny stocked his fantasy football team with John Travolta ... I mean ... Jason Taylor." It's easier to take potshots from West Virginia or wherever than to actually do a little homework, I guess.

Just makes you wonder how people actually watched football when the sack wasn't even an official stat ...

[CPortJGibbs89]

Instead, I'll simply mention that he was among the league leaders in batted balls last year. Being 6'5" and having the wingspan of a Buick allows him to disrupt passes and make life more difficult for QBs.

That was one thing I was thinking about what we will miss alot from PD, he was always batting down passes. Two years ago in the Tampa Bay playoff game he had a few batted balls and was really messing with Simms head because he was always worrying about the ball being tipped. That was a huge part of his game.

[darkhorse472]

Don't know if anything saw the last mail piece in the article:

BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT. From JJ, of Louisville: "It will be good to see a Redskins jersey with "Taylor" on it running around and making plays again.''

Wow. Touching sentiment. That's nice.

[turbodiesel#44]

JT's biggest test will probably be Westbrook. But really, can he do any worse than anybody else we have put there? Relax, we'll be fine.

[techboy]

In terms of deflected passes, Taylor is actually an inch taller and, I believe, also known for batting down balls (and the occasional interception). I don't think there will be a loss there. Run stopping is the issue, if one exists.

[hfmonk]

With JT in the lineup, the LB's will be able to do their job better in stopping the run and be free to cover and rush the passer better on pass plays, the corners will be able to spread out on the field and defend their assignments better. Hmmm.....I guess this was a bad trade....LOL

Name our secondary and LB's.....I think you will see that with those names backing up JT that it is silly to worry about the run or the pass....Smoot, Doughty, Landry, Rogers, Springs, Fletcher, Rocky, Blades, Washington, etc. With 2 speed rushers like Carter and JT and talented blitzers in the secondary and LB corp, many opponent players are going to find themselves buried in backfields under piles of Skins players.....alot.

[scruffylookin]

Andre Carter played in the pansy NFC West. He comes to the "rugged" NFC East and after a slow start, has played pretty damn well from the last 4 or 5 games of 06 and all of 07.

Jason Taylor is a better player. So why wouldn't he do just as well? Especially playing against the mediocre players that the email listed on the right side of our NFC East foe's lines.

That email makes no sense whatsoever.

It's fair to question the Skins philosophy regarding the draft and the Dline.
It's fair to question giving up a 2nd round pick for a 34 year old player.
It's idiotic to question the skills or abilities of that 34 year old player.
Jason Taylor is still a great player with a high motor.
Those right ends are in for some long long afternoons this fall against the Skins.

[bootzilla]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/07/22/mailbag/


Click link for entire article



• WAS THE JASON TAYLOR TRADE REALLY SO SMART?
From Daniel Cayou, of Columbia, Mo.:

"If the Taylor deal was such a great deal for Washington, why did they only make it with their back against the wall? It is not like Phillip Daniels was particularly good or had potential -- he was slightly above average but did play left defensive end. Taylor is light and plays right. I think he will have problems with the offensive right tackles of the NFC East (Jon Runyan, Kareem McKenzie, and Marc Columbo) as they are just maulers/thugs who will beat the hell out of Taylor. I think it's an interesting story, but unless Washington finds someone to play left end to allow Taylor to play right, I see a lot of off-tackle runs by Brandon Jacobs, Marion Barber and Brian Westbrook.''

Very interesting letter, Daniel. Good thoughts. I'm not sure he'd be much better speed-rushing against Flozell Adams, William Thomas and David Diehl, quite frankly. But you can be sure the 'Skins will do a lot to make sure he's not caught up in the kind of traffic that a bigger end like Daniels would be


Hater on Deck, up to bat: Hater on deck:2cents: