Kerrigan continues to make plays.....

[moondog]

He's still improving and an immediate impact player in his second year. He's not JJ Watt at this point but who's to say he won't be as good or even better within 3 years?

I'm not doubting that or taking anything away from Kerrigan - that's what I was trying to convey in my post. Basically I'm agreeing with exactly what you're saying. He's on pace for 16 sacks and I'm pretty sure that would ultimately land him top 5 in the league. But as much as everyone here seems to think just about every player on our team is easily replaceable, especially Orakpo (lunacy), thinking about a defensive front that included Bowen and Watt with Orakpo and Jackson or Wilson outside of them is pretty enticing.

THAT being said, the grass always sounds greener and I absolutely love the players we have (at least in our front 7). Kerrigan is the man and I could not be happier with him and Orakpo and Jackson. Hopefully Orakpo makes a full recovery and takes his time to get right and really 100% this time (Jackson said Rak was NEVER "right" since originally injuring it last year...disappointing because Dr. Andrews is a great surgeon). With the way our offense is performing we can definitely spend all our efforts next offseason solely on the secondary and O-line. I think we have a great (near) future.

---------- Post added October-1st-2012 at 09:09 PM ----------

stopped reading at post #3...this about sums it up,

lol Thanks man. It is the truth though and it feels good to have such success in the draft the past few years with Shanahan.

---------- Post added October-1st-2012 at 09:11 PM ----------

Knees are never the same until the second year. This is true 100% of the time, sort of unbelievable the hype Jenkins was getting coming into this year by Redskin fans

Completely agree with this whole post. But with all the fanfare he was getting from the coaches and media last year (up to and including people saying he looked like our best draft pick even over Kerrigan!) I think everybody just overlooked common sense and wanted to believe we were getting that caliber player "right now." I think he's been solid but I'm hoping he remains healthy with the bigger role after Carriker's injury so that he can continue to gain experience this year and come back fully confident and 100% next year.

[windsofcreation]

With the way our offense is performing we can definitely spend all our efforts next offseason solely on the secondary and O-line. I think we have a great (near) future.

Don't forget to mention WR. Moss is done after this year and we don't have a true #2 after Pierre. Not to mention he doesn't really qualify as a #1 in most regards. Morgan and Hank are solid but are they really the answer? Remains to be seen.

D-Line depth is still an issue to me too. Barry Cofield...who? Has he many ANY plays this year? Name one.

Edit: I hate to be pessimistic but I just try to compare our roster to the standard of excellence that has been established thus far.

[moondog]

Don't forget to mention WR. Moss is done after this year and we don't have a true #2 after Pierre. Not to mention he doesn't really qualify as a #1 in most regards. Morgan and Hank are solid but are they really the answer? Remains to be seen.

D-Line depth is still an issue to me too. Barry Cofield...who? Has he many ANY plays this year? Name one.

I could not disagree more with your assessment of WR and D-line. Moss may be done, at least for us, next year. But Pierre absolutely qualifies as a #1 in all regards. He's a deep threat, he's can make the short/intermediate catches and is a threat to take it to the house every time. He can play the screen game. He's outstanding after the catch and is a physical blocking receiver. He's also a great athlete that can go up and catch the ball over a corner. I'm failing to see any way he is not a #1 other than the fact that he has not been healthy since week 1. Morgan is an excellent #2 and Hankerson is still catching on - I don't think he looks the same as before his hip, but just as with any serious injury, players do not usually reach their peak within 6-7 months after injury.

Do not think purely of receiving yards for a receiver on this team as the marker of whether or not they are solid receivers. Rather, consider this: RG3 is on pace for over 4,000 passing yards this year. We have 6 players with 100 yards receiving (for the sake of argument, allow me to include Moss' 97 yards as 100), 5 of which are receivers. RG3 is spreading the ball around as well as any QB in the league right now and as a result, no one receiver has an insane amount of yards. That is incomparable across the league where teams like the Falcons or Dolphins have one receiver with a ton of yards but nobody else behind them. We have basically rotated starters every week and yet not skipped a beat on offense.

We are much more similar to teams like the Saints and Packers where you never know which receiver is going to have a big game because they are all talented and can create mismatches - if we put 3 or 4 receivers on the field, our 3/4 guy is much better than the opposing team's player covering him a la guys like Lance Moore (Saints) and James Jones (Packers). Our receivers, with the exception of Moss, are all young and either in their prime or not even there yet. We really have no need to pursue receivers next year.

Cofield, Bowen, Jenkins, Baker. Carriker should be back next year ASSUMING he does not opt for the buy-out clause in his contract, which I think is unlikely - who wants to be a FA coming off a year in which you played 1 game? Bowen is playing at an elite level - yeah, I said it and I'll stand by it. Losing Carriker was a big blow but Jenkins, despite also being a guy coming back from a serious injury, has filled in very nicely. You say you have questions about Cofield - I have none. He has grown more accustomed to playing NT and is no longer constantly trying to swim past guys and therefore opening up holes in the running game. He has embraced his role and it has helped us remain a solid run defense. With a healthy Carriker, we have one of the deepest and best rotations in the league...without him, we have the depth to not drop off and we have evidence of that right now. With the exception of the Rams game, we have been outstanding against the run which shows me our front 7 is not only very good, but can make adjustments and improve, unlike our secondary so far.

Our secondary is likely to be a thorn in our side all year, which is unfortunate because to me, DHall and Wilson are certainly not the problem. To bring it all back, I think we desperately need to focus on secondary help next year with our limited money in FA and the draft, and continue to develop he young linemen we drafted this year and hopefully Shanny can find a few more in mid to late rounds.

[RandyHolt]

I don't know if it would help, but I think Kerrigan politely requesting the officials to watch for him being held as he closes in on the QB couldn't hurt.

We have all seen footage over the years of players asking refs to look for things, I think it plants the seed in the zebra's heads, whether they like it or not.

Maybe its up to Shanahan get on the refs. But I do think Kerrigan is literally and figuratively being held back from our D being the best it can be. He may be our best play maker, and its important he not be held uncalled.

I am not sure I have ever seen one of our DE\OLB's held so much. A tribute to Kerrigan, and what a STUD he is.

[BillyKilmer]

K-E-Double R-I-Gan spells Kerrigan... Sorry the chorus came to mind from a musical that Gilligan's Isle parodied.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

We are much more similar to teams like the Saints and Packers where you never know which receiver is going to have a big game because they are all talented and can create mismatches - if we put 3 or 4 receivers on the field, our 3/4 guy is much better than the opposing team's player covering him a la guys like Lance Moore (Saints) and James Jones (Packers). Our receivers, with the exception of Moss, are all young and either in their prime or not even there yet. We really have no need to pursue receivers next year.

Cofield, Bowen, Jenkins, Baker. Carriker should be back next year ASSUMING he does not opt for the buy-out clause in his contract, which I think is unlikely - who wants to be a FA coming off a year in which you played 1 game? Bowen is playing at an elite level - yeah, I said it and I'll stand by it. Losing Carriker was a big blow but Jenkins, despite also being a guy coming back from a serious injury, has filled in very nicely. You say you have questions about Cofield - I have none. He has grown more accustomed to playing NT and is no longer constantly trying to swim past guys and therefore opening up holes in the running game. He has embraced his role and it has helped us remain a solid run defense. With a healthy Carriker, we have one of the deepest and best rotations in the league...without him, we have the depth to not drop off and we have evidence of that right now. With the exception of the Rams game, we have been outstanding against the run which shows me our front 7 is not only very good, but can make adjustments and improve, unlike our secondary so far.

I agree with the whole post but I really wanted to highlight these two chunks. Even without Moss, I am really confident in our top 3 of Garcon, Morgan and Hankerson. Hankerson does need to continue to develop but as a number 3 I don't see him as a problem at all. Robinson in the slot as a 4 is a mismatch for any LB and alot of nickle or dime corners as well so I think we could be ok there. Hankerson and Aldrick will continue to get better with more experience. Briscoe has barely played too but could be something as well. I love how you used the Saints/Packers to compare because that is exactly it. Any of them could go off at any point.

Regarding the Dline I agree but I would add that we do need to continue to build it in the sense that if there is great value to and a player we think can be dominant I would draft him even if he plays DL. You can never have too many and I do think we are still missing that ELITE DL player right now that would really help put this D and pass rush over the top. Maybe Jenkins is that player once he gets his legs back from under him. Who knows.

[Teller]

I love London with every pump of my burgundy and gold heart, but Kerrigan is our best defensive player.

[SamoaSkinz]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't JJ Watt picked right before our pick (10 or 12th???) which we traded to Jags so they can take Gabbert. So Watt was outta of our hands.

[IrepDC]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't JJ Watt picked right before our pick (10 or 12th???) which we traded to Jags so they can take Gabbert. So Watt was outta of our hands.

The pick we traded away was the 10th overall. Watt was selected with the 11th overall pick.

[NewCliche21]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't JJ Watt picked right before our pick (10 or 12th???) which we traded to Jags so they can take Gabbert. So Watt was outta of our hands.

Also, we moved down to 16 to get Kerrigan, so adding 50% more picks (sounds like I'm making it seem like more than it was, but that's a crap ton of more opportunities to grab him/Watt) between our original and final spots was a lot.

I'm also wondering if we got other offers for the 10th from teams intending to get Watt that weren't as good as Jacksonville's for Gabbert.

[wilco_holland]

I knew Kerrigan had a high motor and some abilitie to rush. But I never expected him to be this great, this fast. I think no-one expected this.

[moondog]

Regarding the Dline I agree but I would add that we do need to continue to build it in the sense that if there is great value to and a player we think can be dominant I would draft him even if he plays DL. You can never have too many and I do think we are still missing that ELITE DL player right now that would really help put this D and pass rush over the top. Maybe Jenkins is that player once he gets his legs back from under him. Who knows.

I think that is always the case. Since we're all talking about the J.J. Watt scenario: We really need to improve our secondary, specifically safety in my opinion. Let's say next year we're sitting at 16 (middle of the pack just for jumping point of argument) which unfortunately is pick 48 for us. If the next best safety is ranked in the 65ish range and we have a trade offer to move back in that range, but their is a very coveted D-linemen available at our pick, what do we do?

I think the predicament in this case for our team is made easier by the fact we don't have a 1st round pick. I would argue for trading back in this scenario, BUT, given the exact same situation and difference in draft spots except in the first round rather than the second, I would say it may be worth it to take the lineman. I agree with you on the importance of the position and the talent available at your slot, regardless of position, must always be a consideration. But if you get fair compensation or feel you can fleece another team and have pretty good depth, you may have to go in that direction, take the extra picks and take your position of need.

Fortunately we have two things working for us: I think it is much more common to find good safeties (starting caliber, of which we have none, let's say about the talent level of a DAWAN Landry) in the 2nd or 3rd round then many other positions. The other thing we have working for us is Shanahan's penchant for drafting players. I mean, honestly, look at his drafts just since he's been here. I have complete faith in him picking players that both fill a need AND are successful (and no, I am not just talking about RB). He's done an excellent job adding solid safety depth in the late rounds that I think if he finds a guy earlier, that player will be what we need. I would kill for a guy like Harrison Smith in our secondary right now.

[flexxskins]

great pick, I'll admit I didnt like it a year ago. Glad im wrong.


He better than Orakpo too

Makes way more plays than Orakpo on a consistent basis.

Hold on guys, Orakpo hasn't exactly exceeded my expectations either. He's actually frustrating the hell out of me by doing a damn good imitation of a one trick pony.

However, you do realize that being the ROLB Orakpo is going up against the better quality of o-linemen on a more consistant basis than Kerrigan. Right? Not to say that the young boy hasn't gotten his on that side also.

[redskindan07]

Wouldn't Kerrigan be the early choice for Redskin defensive player of the year?

[Dukes and Skins]

Fixed that for you

Him and Fletch right KDawg?