Redskins need a GM badly

Last year when I heard Joe Gibbs was coming back and bringing back almost all of the old boys back with him, visions of sugarplums danced in my head. This was the prayer that I have been praying since shortly after Pettibon’s first season. I had given up hope as he looked rested and relaxed in Nascar and even became a part owner of the Falcons. I spent the next few weeks intensely following all the coverage, taking off of work to watch the first Press Conference, convincing my then fiancé’ now wife to try and encompass going to a Redskin game on our Honeymoon (It worked by the way I went to the Giants game and what a game).

Something though this year was not right and questions kept lurking in the back of my mind. I remember certain ESPN writers at the beginning of the year stating that Gibbs had been gone so long that perhaps the game has passed him by. I remember my immediate reaction was outrage and sending out emails that I am sure are against a provision in the Patriot Act. How dare they say that the best offensive mind that ever played the game could ever be passed by? Who the hell are these hacks to question my Hero? How many rings do they have?

And I still believe those writers were wrong despite the offensive woes this year. We lost Jansen for the whole year on the eve of training camp. Sure we got Clinton Portis but he had to adjust to a new offensive system and we had to adjust to him. The wide receivers never got separation all year. Brunell never materialized into a starting quarterback despite a large contract and everyone’s assurances. Ramsey’s confidence was shattered and took a few starts to get back to respectable level. And the offensive line, even without Jansen, never got the push off the ball to establish anything.

But alas there’s the rub. And if those writers were right about any part of the game at least temporarily passing Gibbs and Bugel by it may be this. Talent Evaluation. I point to the offensive line as a prime example of this. Remember before this year how Buges was talking about the line? He even gave them a nickname, the Dirt bags. Not quite spoken with the reverence of the Hogs but up there. The name itself evoked visions of rough and tumble grisly scrappers. But what we got were a few shining moment and mostly people eating dirt. Raymer was a major disappointment, Friedman was not much better, and the Jansen injury hurt but we never recovered. I thought Molinaro and Wilson were eventual stars in this league according to Bugel but most NFL talent evaluators are calling them journeymen at best. Kenyatta Jones had a whole pre-season and never panned out. The best we could do is go to the ancient Ray Brown who was adequate at best.

I think the old boys got lost in the immense physical specimens that most NFL players, even bad ones are these days. The Hogs never had a lineman over 300 pounds. Being away from the game for ten years perhaps Gibbs and Bugel looked at those men and thought “yeah we can go to war with that” forgetting that the other teams had Guys just as big who could actually do the job. This is the same for Brunell. I am sure Gibbs looked at Brunell and saw another Theisman waiting to be molded. But the arm Brunell had could not compete with the overwhelming speed of the game.

I don’t think that this is a permanent thing. By the end of the year Gibbs woke up and dumped Brunell. Bugel stuck with Ray Brown but what choice did he have. They know they need to look at the Oline especially at center. They need to add more zone blocking and stretch plays for Portis. They are the best coaching minds the game has ever seen. I know that they have adjusted and next year will be better.

However just in case get a GM or some external talent evaluators for the draft this year and Free Agency. Gibbs has never been a great Talent Evaluator (Desmond Howard anyone?) and excelled when Beatherd was helping him. Cerrato is no Beathard and much more of a salary cap specialist finding ways to fill the wishes of Snyder and Gibbs. They need someone to say “Maybe we don’t need this guy but here, this kid is available for less and a better talent”.

Playoff Recap

Well I went 2-0 yesterday. new England looks dominating. They were overlooked with the high flying offense of Indianapolis and the Defense of Pittsburgh. All New England does is play football on both sides of the ball and play it well. Philadelphia finally got that monkey off it's back and if it is any indication by TO's dancing on the sideline he will be back from the Superbowl. You know I really hate these two week breaks. My record stands at 10-8 for the playoffs and now I am assured a winning playoff prediction record, measily as it is.