Fletcher & Smoot Are Worth More To Redskins

[bulldog]

because both players know this defensive system and Gregg Williams their transition in DC compared to a lot of the other free agents is going to be smoother and their impact more immediate. that's why the Redskins refused the Denver trade that would have netted Al Wilson instead of Fletcher.

inside linebackers are not shot at 30. there seems to be an opinion here that all players at all positions can be lumped in together and that magic age of 30 comes equally into play when evaluating each FA. not true.

running backs age quickly due to the weekly pounding they take. rarely do you see runners productive into their 30's. often what you see is a guy like Corey Dillon that has a big season at 28/29 and then starts to break down and fails to get back to 1,000 yards in subsequent seasons.

cornerback is another position where it is the rare player that is able to keep up with the speed of the game at 33 or 34.

but quarterbacks, linemen and inside linebackers from what I have seen often have a longer shelf life in the NFL.

Fletcher's 31 is not the same then IMO as Corey Dillon's 31.

that is the false correlation that Pete Prisco tried to make this week in evaluating the free agent signings.

he focused on Fletcher's age and not his record of durability and continued productivity.

[Santana_Fan]

Fletcher will lift the whole defense up. We now have a MLB with leadership skills, and that can do alot. I just cant wait for this upcoming season.


And on Dillon's part, it was crazy...in one game he ran out of stamina very fast, he had a wide open field in front of him, with nobody to tackle him, and after a long run, he just ran out of bounds. I forgot what game that was though.

[pjfootballer]

Seau is over 35 and still playing well (injured alot, but plays well when not), Donnie Edwards and Zach Thomas are over 32 now and still playing well.

[Genghis Khan]

Smoot is good at getting players pumped up as well so if you look at it we signed two motivators.

[worstSeat]

Seau is over 35 and still playing well (injured alot, but plays well when not), Donnie Edwards and Zach Thomas are over 32 now and still playing well.

Surely you don't mean Junior Seau, do you? The NFL website suggests you are. That man playing is as bad an idea as Pippen playing for anyone but the Lakers. Washed up.

Fletcher should be much better than that.

[FuriousD]

Let's hope Fletcher works out better than Barrow; another older FA, MLB coming of some solid seasons when he was picked up by the Skins. How many tackles did he rack up again?

Smoot? This one kills me. What the hell is a prototypical Williams corner these days. Time was, it was big and strong enough to support with the run game. Now we have picked up the very unstrong and oft nicked Smuut and are supposedly very enamored with the midget Dre Bly. What gives? Int's probably. Last year we couldn't stop the run or get picks. If these guys can at least get a few each they don't have to stop the run and it will still be a 100% improvement over last year.

[redman]

Let's hope Fletcher works out better than Barrow; another older FA, MLB coming of some solid seasons when he was picked up by the Skins. How many tackles did he rack up again?

Smoot? This one kills me. What the hell is a prototypical Williams corner these days. Time was, it was big and strong enough to support with the run game. Now we have picked up the very unstrong and oft nicked Smuut and are supposedly very enamored with the midget Dre Bly. What gives? Int's probably. Last year we couldn't stop the run or get picks. If these guys can at least get a few each they don't have to stop the run and it will still be a 100% improvement over last year.

Barrow's issue was that he had a chronic knee problem. Everything else was there but his knee was a show-stopper because he couldn't move around with it. That looks to be what will end Lavar's career.

I'm as excited about the Fletcher signing for his character and leadership as I am about his individual skills as a player. He really was a smart signing for us.

[deejaydana]

how can either one of these guys be a bad pick up? both of them have a lot of heart and at least, this time anyway, we didn't pay top dollar.

[Siven]

I read something on Foxsports.com about the 5 best signings of the offseason, ranked in no particular order, other then Adalius Thomas being the top signing.

"There are three gurantees in life, Death - Taxes - and London Fletcher accumulating over 100 tackles in a season"

the guy is good, and he will excell here if we can fix our dline.

[jimster]

One of Fletchers qualities is going to be that he understands what calls to make and where everyone is supposed to be lined up. Something Pierce was good at because he had Barrow coaching him up on it. Something Marshall wasn't so good at according to some players comments.

[str8jacket]

Fletcher is a good player and i think came at a pretty fair price, though i was hoping for some younger players. Smoot i like depending on if he is the 2nd or 3rd corner, was still hoping for someone else to come in, but money is tight so i guess its a good pickup and the thing i like most about Freddie is that he plays for the ball alot and we need someone, dear God anyone to create some turnovers, and return some to the house.

[Smurf85]

Redskins | Contract update: Smoot
Thu, 8 Mar 2007 20:50:43 -0800

Jason La Canfora, of the Washington Post, reports Washington Redskins CB Fred Smoot signed a five-year contract worth a maximum of $21 million and not $25 million as previous reported, according to sources. Smoot received $7 million to sign.

http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nfl

[akorn22]

SMoot was a wonderful pickup. Feltcher on the other hand...well....we'll have to see. i like AL WIlson and would love to have seen him in a redskins uni. THe one thing I like though, is that GW is realizing that his system isn;t good enough to get rid of all our good players. He remembered that a good system needs good players to be a good system. He forgot that last year.

[SkinsFTW]

Fletcher is a great signing like Marcus Washington was. Both were very underrated but Fletcher has been the better of the 2 over the years.

If 31 is old then why not bash the Pats too since Adalius Thomas will be 30 before the season starts and he got an even larger longer term contract.

Hell, the 49ers just gave the largest contract ever to a corner who will turn 28 this year. And Clements is overrated, unlike Fletcher.

[WorldBFree76]

I love both the signings.

Players who will bring experience in the system, talent, and fill need positions. Plus they came at a relatively decent price compared to the market...I think both were good upgrades.