Ok, so you "freaked out" when the Redskins selected a tight end, USC's Fred Davis. And then absolutely "flipped your lid" when they selected a second WR, Oklahoma's Malcom Kelly. As many Redskins fans blogged about how bad the Redskins President of Football Operations Vinny Cerrato and owner Daniel Snyder had screwed up the 2008 draft, I tried to understand what they were doing. And I think I do.
As incredible as it is, the Redskins actually made some pretty good decisions on Day 1 of the draft. What? You say. The made selections based on a simple enough theory that is really quite sound. They selected the best players available with each opportunity they had. One can argue that perhaps they simply should have selected Celmson's DE Phillip Merling with the 21st selection rather than making the trade with the Atlanta Falcons. However, when your team has so many holes to fill, none of which would be properly considered "dire", the opportunity to acquire aditional quallity talent must be taken.
We must keep in mind that the Redskins signed Reche Caldwell and longtime veteran Keenan McKardell two weeks prior and 2 weeks after the start of the season respectively last year. And the Redskins still didn't have a wideout with touchdown until James Thrash would catch two in week 13. The Redskins finished the 2007 regular season with a total of 18 passing touchdowns. Only seven to wide receivers. Not good numbers. The Redskins needed youth, and talent at wide receiver. They got 2 legitimate first rounders in Devin Thomas and Malcom Kelly.
How about tight end? you say. Simple, Pro-Bowler Chis Cooley caught 8 touchdowns in 2007, with 66 receptions for 786 yards. The next tight end, Todd Yoder, caught SEVEN passes, that's right, SEVEN, with only one touchdown. Do you think the defense knew what the Redskins were going to do when Yoder entered the game? In order for an offense to be truly dynamic, they must be able to mix up thier personel groupings such that the defense cannot get a read on what they intend to do just based on who is on the field. Redskins' quarterback Jason Campbell must be licking his chops thinking of all the weapons he has now. And so am I.
So I give the Redskins only a B- for day 1. Not because they did a poor job in the draft, but because things didn't go exactly as they had hoped. When the Miami Dolphins selected Phillip Merling(DE from Clemson) the draft falling together perfectly was no longer an option. Ideally, Merling would have still been on the board when the Redskins selected in the second round, enabling them to a get solid defensive end, and a top rated WR in the second. But it didn't work out that way. So the Redskins made the best of it.
Redskins fans rejoice, this is a new era in Redskins football. Hopefully, two or three years from now, we can all look back at this draft, and say this was the beginning of a long run of intelligent drafts that rebuilt our football team with high quality, high VALUE talent from the draft.
11 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
PaT Gesuale about 1 year ago
and now Colt Brennan?..6th round...deja vu?
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Craig Garrison Sr about 1 year ago
You know, I think this is also a good pick. I will be surprised if he ever plays much for us, but if he can light it up in the preseason the next 2 or 3 years, he could easily end up being worth a second round pick or so after giving us solid depth over that span. I also think the kid has gotten a bad rap. Only time will tell.
Do you think Walsh would be proud of our man Vinnie?
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PaT Gesuale about 1 year ago
Craig, These are quotes I found w/ links...
"The Redskins' offense has played without a tall, rangy wide receiver for several years. With head coach Jim Zorn installing the West Coast offense this year, it's thought that a big receiver is needed to run specific routes in that scheme."
http://www.redskins.com/news/draftCentralDetail.jsp?id=34543
Jim Zorn liked all the intangibles ... leadership on the field," Vinnie Cerrato, vice president of player operations said on ESPN. "The guy has had a ton of success." .... "Cerrato added that Brennan is in a good situation because they were "looking for a guy we can develop ... there's no pressure, we got a starting quarterback (Jason Campbell)." The backup is veteran Todd Collins."
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/BREAKING02/80427044
I think Walsh would say your man Vinnie (Vinny?) is thinking big-picture, long term-- and yes, he'd be proud of him. One of the things most people (mainlanders) don't know about Colt Brennan is that he is an amazing leader. You can't tell from his "surfer-boy" style, and his confidence in his ability that comes across in interviews, but Brennan is really a team player-- he gives his all for his team.his fans, and his community. I hope the Redskins fans give him a chance--he is a talented and exciting player, and believe me-- if Brennan were a jerk, the Hawaiian fans would have hated him, no matter how good he was. Character and humility are important in the islands.
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Craig Garrison Sr about 1 year ago
Thanks for inside info Pat, I expect Brennan will be an ideal fit for our backup job in a year or 2. And hopefully for the Skins and for Brennan, he'll be worth a high pick or 2 in a trade later on.
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Craig Garrison Sr about 1 year ago
I appreciate the "inside" info on Brennan. I expect Skins fans will warm up to him once they see that he is not quite the guy the media has portrayed him to be.
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jared blake about 1 year ago
There's two sides to football our defense wasnt exactly perfect. 5 capable WRs is over kill (Moss, Randle El, Thomas, Kelly, and Keenan). i miss the Gibbs style of offense but his time has passed so here comes the new redskins like it or not........trades maybe??
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jared blake about 1 year ago
o yea and Thrash
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Christopher Owen about 1 year ago
I find what the Redskins did hardly surprising-it has been said, and is well known that Zorn brings with him big changes-one of those is a West-Coast inspired offence, and with the WR numbers the 'Skins put up last year, it was pretty clear that change was going to come from somewhere.
That somewhere has turned out to be the draft-another change Zorn has brought with him. Any previous year would have seen those needs 'filled' by free agency signings, most of which cost the earth and flopped dramatically (I'm not being exclusive to WR here).
Maybe it's not the dream draft for them, but it's not bad by any means. The defence is still quite capable, even with the gaps and a better (if not brilliant offence) should hopefully make up for any shortcomings.
Mind you, saying that, I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed come this season.
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Craig Garrison Sr about 1 year ago
Generally agree Christopher. My fingers are also crossed in regards to maintaining the "new" way of doing things. I hope this draft served as a bit of a lesson to Snyder and Cerrato that free agency can be useful, but the draft can be MUCH more profitable. Think if the Chad Johnson trade had gone through, we would have had Chad, a new $30 million man, no pick in the first round, no pick in the first round next year, and maybe we would have gotten Fred Davis this year. I like where we ended up much better.
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Craig Garrison Sr about 1 year ago
Don't forget that our running game has suffered from our lack of a passing game. Quality, reliable wide outs should open up the running game dramatically. Keep an eye out for my full draft breakdown, I will have a few points in that should help you feel a bit better about this draft.
And thanks for the comment!
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jhack08 hackworth about 1 year ago
The Patriots have kept several good tight ends over the past few years. Where would the Giants be without Kevin Boss? You need several recievers to keep them fresh and to help create mismatches. I think we did the right thing by getting the offense in now to try to establish some continuity with Campbell over the next few years. Look at Manning/Harrison. They've been doing this so long they could hook up in the dark. Manning has a nice gun....Who would have thought Marvin did too?
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