freakofthesouth
March-8th-2005, 07:15 PM
Here’s my perspective on the recent ‘big names’ that we lost in FA:
The two major ones, Pierce and Smoot, are obviously defensive movements- and Greg Williams allowed this to happen KNOWING that he can deal w/ it..
After an intense training camp last year, and an injury-prone defensive roster, we still ended up w/ the 3rd ranked defense in the league. And that’s w/ a terrible offense.
Moreover, I have to believe that the Coles movement was for a very, very good reason if we decided to absorb 9 million in cap penalties.
We can blame the lack of offensive attack on many things: the QB carousel, the offensive line injuries and woes…the list goes on. We do have to add to this list, however, the notion of a ‘locker room cancer’. We’ve all seen it w/ teams before. And there is a lot of action that happens behind the scenes, that we don’t read about, or hear about. Therefore, I have to believe that Coles was doing something that was affecting the team. Where was our team weakest last season? The passing game. It all starts w/ your #1 guy, IMO.
So, to weigh it out:
We lost:
-a disgruntled malcontent receiver that cancered our passing game…and he had a bad toe.
-a great MLB in Pierce that Williams basically gave birth to; who’s to say we don’t have another in our roster (cough! Marshall! Cough, cough!) that can fill these shows at a much lower price.
-a solid team player that played w/ heart as a smallish cornerback…again, we have depth here, and w/ Williams focusing on utilizing each players’ strengths, there is no real need here.
We gained/still have:
-a speedy, young receiver that could spark not only the aerial attack, but also our special teams…
-an older, wiser, vet of a receiver that is fresh from 3 rings in four years. Way to bring in the winning attitude there, Gibbs.
-an offensive line that recently resigned an amazing talent in Samuels, who is sure to improve in year two; a returning-from-injury complimentary bookend tackle that would have been the leader of the line last season; and a fantastic talent now in the center of the line w/ Rabach, who will surely anchor the interior protection.
-we also have this running back named Clinton Portis. If there is any doubting him, simply go back to some game film (Zebfilm) and watch some of the runs he created form nothing last season. This guy is gonna be the beneficiary of the restored offensive line.
-lastly, Joe Gibbs is our head coach folks. Joe Gibbs. Not Dan Snyder. These moves, and these things are all happening for a reason. Everyone is freaking out this offseason, and rightly so, because we aren’t making splashes this year. We’re almost draining the water from that pool, if you can imagine the metaphor. This media backlash is absolutely ridiculous: when the Skins pick up big names, the papers say, ‘here we go again. Snyder tries to buy another championship.’ And now, that we are establishing continuity, they papers are even angrier. It’s quite a distraction. And the Skins’ organization thinks so, too, revoking all of those season tickets.
Joe Gibbs is finding ‘core players’. This team improved dramatically last season; I’m not sure if anyone remembers this or not. We will have a great team next season. All this is the way it is supposed to be.
~Freak
The two major ones, Pierce and Smoot, are obviously defensive movements- and Greg Williams allowed this to happen KNOWING that he can deal w/ it..
After an intense training camp last year, and an injury-prone defensive roster, we still ended up w/ the 3rd ranked defense in the league. And that’s w/ a terrible offense.
Moreover, I have to believe that the Coles movement was for a very, very good reason if we decided to absorb 9 million in cap penalties.
We can blame the lack of offensive attack on many things: the QB carousel, the offensive line injuries and woes…the list goes on. We do have to add to this list, however, the notion of a ‘locker room cancer’. We’ve all seen it w/ teams before. And there is a lot of action that happens behind the scenes, that we don’t read about, or hear about. Therefore, I have to believe that Coles was doing something that was affecting the team. Where was our team weakest last season? The passing game. It all starts w/ your #1 guy, IMO.
So, to weigh it out:
We lost:
-a disgruntled malcontent receiver that cancered our passing game…and he had a bad toe.
-a great MLB in Pierce that Williams basically gave birth to; who’s to say we don’t have another in our roster (cough! Marshall! Cough, cough!) that can fill these shows at a much lower price.
-a solid team player that played w/ heart as a smallish cornerback…again, we have depth here, and w/ Williams focusing on utilizing each players’ strengths, there is no real need here.
We gained/still have:
-a speedy, young receiver that could spark not only the aerial attack, but also our special teams…
-an older, wiser, vet of a receiver that is fresh from 3 rings in four years. Way to bring in the winning attitude there, Gibbs.
-an offensive line that recently resigned an amazing talent in Samuels, who is sure to improve in year two; a returning-from-injury complimentary bookend tackle that would have been the leader of the line last season; and a fantastic talent now in the center of the line w/ Rabach, who will surely anchor the interior protection.
-we also have this running back named Clinton Portis. If there is any doubting him, simply go back to some game film (Zebfilm) and watch some of the runs he created form nothing last season. This guy is gonna be the beneficiary of the restored offensive line.
-lastly, Joe Gibbs is our head coach folks. Joe Gibbs. Not Dan Snyder. These moves, and these things are all happening for a reason. Everyone is freaking out this offseason, and rightly so, because we aren’t making splashes this year. We’re almost draining the water from that pool, if you can imagine the metaphor. This media backlash is absolutely ridiculous: when the Skins pick up big names, the papers say, ‘here we go again. Snyder tries to buy another championship.’ And now, that we are establishing continuity, they papers are even angrier. It’s quite a distraction. And the Skins’ organization thinks so, too, revoking all of those season tickets.
Joe Gibbs is finding ‘core players’. This team improved dramatically last season; I’m not sure if anyone remembers this or not. We will have a great team next season. All this is the way it is supposed to be.
~Freak