Washington Redskins 2009

[Spence]

I'm creating this thread so those of us who are Redskins fans as well as Wizards fans can begin our mourning and bitching early. Dan Snyder still owns the team so we'll be doing plenty of both.

I've just started the Training Camp Position Battles previews over at DC Pro Sports Report, so have a look and tell me how wrong I am about your favorite player[s].

Quarterback Training Camp Battle

Tailback Training Camp Battle

[fishercob]

Spence, I've missed you. But why did you have to muck up our wonderful board with football on July 23?

[LyricalRico]

And don't forget you can also post here:

viewforum.php?f=182

Definitely go there for game threads once preseason starts. That's also where I'll be putting the link to the Skins Fans Fantasy Football league. Go Skins!

[Spence]

Spence, I've missed you. But why did you have to muck up our wonderful board with football on July 23?

I've missed you, too, Fisher. I promise I'll keep the Redskins stuff to this thread. Also, I'll try to come around more often. I get so distracted but every time I return I'm reminded of why I liked this forum in the first place.

[fishercob]

Spence, I've missed you. But why did you have to muck up our wonderful board with football on July 23?

I've missed you, too, Fisher. I promise I'll keep the Redskins stuff to this thread. Also, I'll try to come around more often. I get so distracted but every time I return I'm reminded of why I liked this forum in the first place.

Your absence has made me try to fill the obnoxious smart guy role, and I don't do either as well as you do.

[Spence]

News update: Redskins sign 3rd round pick CB Kevin Barnes. Read about it. [I've included bonus video of Barnes hitting Cal running back Jahvid Best so hard that Best puked up his Gatorade on the field. Enjoy!]

[Spence]

Your absence has made me try to fill the obnoxious smart guy role, and I don't do either as well as you do.

Thanks, Fisher. This is the first time anyone's called me an "obnoxious smart guy" as opposed to an "obnoxious smart ass."

[Ruzious]

A couple of comments on Spence's articles:

I don't think Campbell is going to end up being the starting QB. We've seen that he's a great guy - but not the answer as a starting QB. They're going to give Brennan a long look this preseason, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him starting at some point - early in the season.

Betts didn't have 2 straight bad years because he didn't get enough playing time. He had 2 straight bad years because he played poorly. If he's in better shape this year - fine, maybe he should get more carries, but if he's the same guy he was the last 2 years, forget it. He's pretty much worthless. I'd like to see Aldridge get a lot of those carries. There have been a few smaller RBs the last couple of years that have made impacts (Ahmad Bradshaw and the speedster on San Diego come to mind), and I'd like to see that here simply because we lack guys with homerun speed. Those guys create problems for defenses and open up things for the other skill players.

I'm not so down on the receiving corps. Not many rookie receivers make an impact - this is the year for the 3 2nd rounders to start making an impact - hopefully with a QB who can get the ball to them much quicker and with better touch than Campbell could.

[REDardWIZskin]

A couple of comments on Spence's articles:

I don't think Campbell is going to end up being the starting QB. We've seen that he's a great guy - but not the answer as a starting QB. They're going to give Brennan a long look this preseason, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him starting at some point - early in the season.
Not many rookie receivers make an impact - this is the year for the 3 2nd rounders to start making an impact - hopefully with a QB who can get the ball to them much quicker and with better touch than Campbell could.

Your kidding right?

JC has had a diff playbook to learn each of his 4 seasons (one of which is notoriously difficult in saunders) in the NFL no other quarterback has had to go through that and is still playing. I think exactly the opposite of what u just said. He's actually been resilient in terms of all of he offensive changes and has been one of the most sacked quarterbacks in the NFL. some of which is attributed to holding on to the ball too long but most of it was the O-line, which was horrible last yr. And he has still managed to improve his passer rating each season. He doesn't make alot of mistakes he had 7 turnovers last yr. And you jus said it the receivers need to step up, Moss has been the only consistent one and Randle El is out of his true position at slot. And Brennan played a spread offense for four years in college and had a few good games against 3rd string Defenses in the preseason last yr. HELL, I DONT EVEN THINK HE'S BEEN SACKED IN THE NFL YET! and definitely didnt get hit alot in college, and we saw what happened in the sugar bowl against Georgia when he finally did get hit...nothing he did nothing. JC just broke the record (yes the one Joe Theisman the Hall of Famer had) for most passes without an interception and posted career highs in completions and passing yards and you dont think he a capable starter? Fans are funny they get amnesia so fast...

[FreeBalling]

I'm an outsider looking in, (Silver&Black) maybe the reason JC keeps getting a new playbook is b/c he can't play well enough to keep the coach around.

A good sales rep makes the sales manager look real good.

I'm all for Colt, he has IT, I'm not sure what IT is, but he has IT.

[Ruzious]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the JC apologists. It would literally take a decade of losing with him before these people could see the reality of the situation. He's not good... and the offense stinks with him. Old QBs that were has-beens and never-was's cleaned up his messes and won with the Skins - while he lost with the same teams.

Here are his problems:
1. Extraordinarily slow wind up and delivery.
2. Terrible down-field passer. He's got the arm, but he throws line drives that have no touch - that receivers can't run under.
3. Lack of leadership - He's too quiet to lead most teams, and he rarely shows that sense of urgency that the top QBs do.
4. Lack of mobility - While he's a good runner, he doesn't move well in the pocket and doesn't consistenly show the insincts to avoid the rush.
5. Mediocre accuracy in all types of passes.
6. Mediocre reading of defenses
7. Slow decision-making

The Skins offense has been horrible with him at the realm - much worse than with extremely limited guys like Brunell and Collins. And he didn't improve; he got much worse as the year wore on. How many years does it take to understand this.

I don't know if Brennan is the answer, but I do know that there's no reason to believe the offense can run with JC, and to base his pro ability on 1 college game is... really stupid. Brennan has similar tools to what Tony Romo had when he was given a shot - after not being drafted. He gets the ball to receivers much quicker, because he's got a much quicker release and makes decisions much quicker. Anyone who's watched him can see that. He's a play-maker. And he's a leader. He's the only QB on the roster that gives the team a chance to be good offensively.

[Soup's Uncle]

I wanna see Colt slinging it this preseason...I'm siked.

[pancakes3]

I'm an outsider looking in, (Silver&Black) maybe the reason JC keeps getting a new playbook is b/c he can't play well enough to keep the coach around.

A good sales rep makes the sales manager look real good.

I'm all for Colt, he has IT, I'm not sure what IT is, but he has IT.

yikes. you're a tortured soul cheering for both the raiders and the wiz.

as for colt? sidearm, sidearm, sidearm. it just won't fly. i'm dying for him to prove me wrong though.

[REDardWIZskin]

I'm an outsider looking in, (Silver&Black) maybe the reason JC keeps getting a new playbook is b/c he can't play well enough to keep the coach around.

A good sales rep makes the sales manager look real good.

I'm all for Colt, he has IT, I'm not sure what IT is, but he has IT.

Actually its been two head coaches but four different offenses because our owner insists that he can put together a super bowl team in one year and has try to bring in formerly successful offenses in an attempt. In the last two off seasons he seems to be trying to build a team progressively.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Our defense will keep us in games all year long. If Campbell can stop being Brunell v2.0 then we have a chance to win the division because I don't think any other team is that much better than us.

[yungal07]

I can understand if someone doesn't like Campbell...but to badmouth Campbell while hyping of Colt freakin' Brenan? What a joke. That guy throws a hideous sidearm, and according to the coaching staff, during practice he makes some of the most boneheaded decisions a quarterback could make. Maybe Brenan does throw for 20 TDs in a season -- he's probably throwing 35 picks to go along with it. The guy has very little in the way of field awareness, and has yet to determine what a risky vs. non-risky throw is.

I wouldn't be surprised if Chase or whatever that guys name is beats Brenan out, and Brenan is released.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Yungal, you've barely seen Brennan play just like the rest of us and I have never read anywhere that the coaching staff said that he makes boneheaded throws. The closest thing is a Stan Hixon interview in which he mentioned that they had to stop Brennan from making a lot of college type throws, but that's true for mostly every QB that comes out of college.

Passing such hateful judgement on someone who you've barely ever seen in practice or on the field is pretty lame.

[REDardWIZskin]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the JC apologists. It would literally take a decade of losing with him before these people could see the reality of the situation. He's not good... and the offense stinks with him. Old QBs that were has-beens and never-was's cleaned up his messes and won with the Skins - while he lost with the same teams.


The Skins offense has been horrible with him at the realm - much worse than with extremely limited guys like Brunell and Collins. And he didn't improve; he got much worse as the year wore on. How many years does it take to understand this.

I don't know if Brennan is the answer, but I do know that there's no reason to believe the offense can run with JC, and to base his pro ability on 1 college game is... really stupid. Brennan has similar tools to what Tony Romo had when he was given a shot - after not being drafted. He gets the ball to receivers much quicker, because he's got a much quicker release and makes decisions much quicker. Anyone who's watched him can see that. He's a play-maker. And he's a leader. He's the only QB on the roster that gives the team a chance to be good offensively.

Like i said Fans get amnesia quickly, lets address the Old QBs first, are you talking about Brunell in 05? The same yr that Portis broke the franchise rushing record and the Defense was 7th in the league? thats the most ideal situation for a Quarterback to step into who had 10 yrs of experience and a quarterback coach he's familiar with coming from Jacksonville to assist him, and that just happened to be JC's rookie yr also. And Brunell had just received one of Snyder's handouts worth Millions to join the skins, he was going to play. As for Collins, he played in Saunders system for his whole career (about 10 yrs) in Kansas City, he new the offense so that not comparable to JC learning the 700 play offense that season. What has Collins done since the Redskins have been without his familiar offense.

And i offered statistics and facts of the things that JC has done to improve since his career began in 05. you are offering some type of pre draft analysis of his passing mechanics and why he cant succeed, so i guess the success he's had has just been luck. If the guy was that bad of a QB he wouldn't be here trust me the Skins organization doesn't feel that they owe anyone anything, you saw how Arrington was ousted after his stint with the team.

That 1 one college game is part of the reason the Brennan's draft status dropped so low, He played his entire career against WAC conference or (WACK) opponents, the game against Georgia was against more superior talent in an elite conference. My intent of bringing this up was not to say he wouldn't be a good pro but just bringing light to the fact that he is not accustomed to being hit because of the style of offense he played in college. In a NFC east with D. Ware, J. Tuck, Umenyiora, and the eagles blitzes you will be hit..a lot, doesn't matter what kind of O'line you have. I agree that he showed promise in the preseason last year, but those were against third stringers, most of whom are most likely not even in the league right now. But he is a gunslinger. I just want to see how he will do against competitive talent, we haven't seen it since the sugar bowl against Georgia so thats all I have to go by at this point. With that being said i hope he does get a chance to start a preseason game because thats how this could be settled.

I never said that JC was going to be a great quaterback but i think that we can win with him given the right circumstances (Eli manning won a super bowl in a season with a 73 rating, Brad Johnson as well with a 81 rating, And Tent Dilfer with a 76 rating). Last yr JC was 84. His numbers dropped as the season progressed but so did Portis numbers, because the mileage began to show on an old offensive line with Pete Kendell's bad knees and Jansen (who's now with 0-16 Detroit).

And JC only has one more yr on his contract so WE apologists wont have to wait 10 yrs, but when we are 11-5 atop the NFC east next yr under JC... we may end up waiting...

[closg00]

Hey Spence, are you writing for DC Pro Sports?

Edit: DOH! I saw Spences sig. Congrats Spence.

[wermolwermol777]

I'm very excited about the upcoming season. If AH is anywhere close to as good as he was in Tennessee it should make the rest of the defense better also.
Also very excited about picking Orakpo in the draft and Jarmon in the supplemental draft. Especially going after Jarmon - I felt it was a great move by the front office.

The defense was solid already last year, now we've just added to it. I'm pumped.

I am worried about our offense, though. While I do believe that it will help JC to be familiar with the playbook for once, I just can't see it turning him into a completely different (better) player. This is THE defining season for his career because if it isn't working this year he will have lost perhaps the biggest "excuse". The pressure is on - please prove me wrong.

The progression of Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas will also be a key to our success this season. Perhaps even a bigger key than what (if anything) can JC do better.

Despite the number of carries last year I believe Portis will still get at least his. It might be a little less than last year, but I am hoping if thats the case it'll be because our receivers will be that much improved as an option.
I'm concerned about the O-Line, especially the depth and I am worried about what would happen if we ran into injuries.

Our schedule is favorable to say the least and I believe the Giants and the Cowboys will struggle more than expected this year. I actually think that it is the Eagles that will be the biggest threat within the division.
I believe 11-5 will be the absolute maximum we can squeeze out, but 10-6, 9-7 will be more likely. I'm going with 10-6 and IN the play-offs. And there - anything can happen.