Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth wants to be traded because he doesn’t want to play nose tackle in Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett’s 3-4 scheme.
See the article I wrote a while back saying the Redskins should trade Haynesworth for kick returner Joshua Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns in examiner.com here.
The problem is now that the Skins probably can’t get equal value for Haynesworth because teams know the Skins want to trade him and he wants to go.
The Redskins should sign former Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook to fill the team’s greatest need – a third down running back. Westbrook, when healthy, is not only one of the best pass catching running backs in the NFL, he’s one of the best in NFL history.
Westbrook, who was cut by the Eagles in February, visited with the Redskins and the Denver Broncos last week, and the St. Louis Rams have also shown interest.
The Redskins already have three running backs in Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson and Willie Parker who are, like Westbrook, close to 30 years old. But more importantly, they are primarily runners who aren’t nearly as adept at Westbrook at catching passes. Westbrook has 29 career receiving touchdowns. Johnson has six, and Portis and Parker have five each.
To see the rest of my article on examiner.com, please click here.
By trading quarterback Donovan McNabb to Washington, the Philadelphia Eagles just made themselves much worse, and made one of their greatest rivals, the Redskins, much better overnight.
New Redskins coach Mike Shanahan gets a quarterback with a strong arm, good mobility, great experience, and excellent leadership skills.
Meanwhile Eagles coach Andy Reid has given the keys to the offense to Kevin Kolb, a quarterback who has thrown four touchdowns and seven interceptions in his career.
McNabb could mean the difference between six wins and nine wins. And nine wins can make the playoffs. Heck, nine wins can even make the Super Bowl – see the Cardinals from two seasons ago.
Ok, let’s not get too excited. Nobody expects that to happen, but it has been said that the NFL stands for “not for long.” These days, teams get better – or worse – fast.
Look no further than last year’s Super Bowl champs, the New Orleans Saints, who finished 8-8 the previous year.
When Redskins general manager Bruce Allen made this move, he could have quoted a phrase made popular by his late father George, the Redskins Hall of Fame coach from 1971-77: “the future is now.”
But those who think that McNabb is part of a new “Over the Hill Gang” should look at Brett Favre. If Favre can play past the age of 40, then McNabb at 33 may have several good seasons left.
Also remember that McNabb has become the Eagles all-time leading passer in victories, completions, yards, and touchdowns despite only twice having a great receiver.
The first time was when the Eagles had Terrell Owens and they made the Super Bowl, losing to the New England Patriots 24-21 in 2005.
The second time the Eagles had a great receiver during McNabb’s tenure was last season when DeSean Jackson came into his prime and the Eagles ended up with 11 wins.
The Redskins now have a franchise QB and depth at running back with Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, and Willie Parker. One of those three may go. All four of these players have something in common, though – they have something to prove.
Obviously the Redskins need to address the offensive line through the draft. They also need a third-down running back who can catch the ball. Another receiver or two would be nice to complement starters Santana Moss and Devin Thomas. McNabb and Chris Cooley should connect for at least 70 passes. The defense is already solid.
But quarterback is the most important position on the field. And the Redskins finally have a great one.
McNabb is the best Redskins quarterback since Joe Theismann, and yes, it has been 25 years since Theismann’s last season. Mark Rypien was the Super Bowl MVP after the 1991 season, but Ryp had a relatively short career.
It’s not out of the question that the Redskins will still take a quarterback in the draft. McNabb could leave after the season.
Or, McNabb could be the Skins’ starter for the next five years.
Don’t underestimate the power of motivation. It can go a long way. McNabb will be pumped to play against the Eagles and to prove that Philly was wrong.
As for the Eagles, they will now likely be a few games worse than the 10 or 11 wins they usually get.
McNabb is not Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees. But he’s clearly a top ten quarterback, and he’s a top five QB when he’s at his best. The only knock on McNabb is that is accuracy is sometimes a little off.
But overall, McNabb is a franchise quarterback – a sure thing. If history shows us anything, it’s that playing an unproven quarterback is a crapshoot.
For every Manning, there has been a Ryan Leaf. For every McNabb, there has been an Akili Smith (drafted one spot after McNabb in 1999).
Don’t forget, Heath Shuler, Patrick Ramsey, and Jason Campbell were all first round picks, and only Campbell has become a regular starter, and a mediocre one at that.
Campbell, who started three and a half seasons for the Redskins but struggled with different systems and shaky offenses, will likely go to another team. Newly signed Rex Grossman should be the backup. Colt Brennan, who was on injured reserve last year, may also be headed elsewhere.
Kolb did play well last year while filling in for McNabb for two games, throwing for over 300 yards each game and going 1-1.
But with McNabb, the Eagles were always on the verge of getting to the Super Bowl. How often does a quarterback lead a team to a Super Bowl in his first year as a starter? Hardly ever, except for Brady.
The Eagles also let a top ten running back, Brian Westbrook, depart this year although Westbrook had a couple of concussions last season.
Did Reid outsmart himself? Is he trying to prove he can win with a new quarterback? Is it ego, or is the economy so bad that the Eagles were trying to save the money from McNabb’s salary? Did the decision come from the owner’s box?
Say what you will about Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, but he will pay to put a winner on the field.
Ever since Eagles fans booed McNabb when Philadelphia drafted him second overall in 1999 instead of Ricky Williams, McNabb has never been fully accepted in Philadelphia.
But those fans miss the point. The object is to put your team in a position to win, which McNabb has done year after year.
We’re talking about a city that booed the greatest third-baseman of all time, Mike Schmidt.
These are fans who booed Santa Claus.
McNabb is too good for Philadelphia.
Welcome to Washington, Donovan.
To see my article on examiner.com, click here.
I’m not thrilled with the Skins’ signing of running back Larry Johnson. It’s not that he doesn’t have a lot left in the tank, it’s just that now we have two running backs in Johnson and Clinton Portis who are not only near 30, but more importantly are primarily runners who aren’t that adept at catching passes.
Let’s face it – the NFL is a passing league now and it helps a lot – in fact, it’s practically a must – that your running backs need to be excellent at catching passes out of the backfield. (That is a cliche and redundant – where else are they going to catch passes from?)
Both players’ best years had them catching over 40 passes in a season. Not much if you consider that’s about 2.5 per game. Let’s hope the Redskins have plans to draft at least one running back who can catch the ball. At least Portis can block.
I think the Skins should have gone after LaDanian Tomlinson who would have been more of a complement to Portis. Or Brian Westbrook, who if healthy is still one of the best running backs in the NFL. If you’re going to add another running back, why not Thomas Jones? Because he’s better than Johnson? That makes no sense. You go for the best players. Plus Johnson has a reputation as somewhat of a malcontent at times so that makes two with Portis.
The move improves the Redskins but I just think L.J. is too much like Portis. Then again, you can’t have too many running backs and Shanahan likes to spread it around. Now the Skins need some offensive linemen and a third down running back.
The Redskins should definitely sign Brian Westbrook, who was cut by the Eagles yesterday. When healthy he’s still one of the best running backs in the NFL. He’d be a perfect complement to Clinton Portis, who is one of the worst pass catching running backs in the NFL. The Skins would immediately get much better by signing him. Don’t worry about the criticism of signing a big-name player at a skill position who is past his prime. He may have a few good years left — even if he only has one good year left, everything in the NFL nowadays is year to year. The Saints went from 8-8 to winning the Super Bowl. The Cardinals were in the Super Bowl two years ago with a 9-7 record.
Congratulations to Russ “The Flea” Grimm on making the Pro Football Hall of Fame!!! It was long overdue. Here’s the article I wrote for Examiner.com:
Former Washington Redskins guard Russ Grimm was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today. Grimm, a member of the “Hogs,” the Redskins legendary offensive line, played in four Pro Bowls and four Super Bowls, including three wins. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team of the 1980s.
Former Redskins Guard Russ Grimm
Grimm anchored one of the greatest offensive lines in NFL history, alongside players such as Joe Jacoby, Jeff Bostic, George Starke, Mark May, Raleigh McKenzie, and Jim Lachey.
Grimm anchored the line as the Redskins won Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks and three different primary running backs. Six different running backs led the Redskins in rushing during Grimm’s 11 seasons but the offensive line was the constant along with wide receiver Art Monk.
The Redskins often featured Grimm in a “counter-trey” play in which he and left tackle Jacoby would pull from the left side to the right side to lead running plays.
Grimm becomes the fourth Redskins player during the Joe Gibbs era to make the Hall of Fame. Monk and cornerback Darrell Green were inducted into the Hall in 2008. Running back John Riggins was inducted in 1992. Gibbs is also in the Hall of Fame.
Grimm was selected in the third round of the 1981 draft out of the University of Pittsburgh. He has been an assistant coach in the NFL since 1992 and currently coaches the offensive line of the Arizona Cardinals.
Jerry Rice, Rickey Jackson, Dick LeBeau, Floyd Little and John Randle and Emmitt Smith were also selected.
The full article can be seen at:
Future Hall of Famer Russ Grimm should be the new coach of the Redskins. Bring back the glory days. The Arizona Cardinals Offensive Line Coach played in four Super Bowls for the Skins, winning three, and coached in two, winning with Pittsburgh in ‘05 and losing with Arizona in ‘08. The Skins’ biggest deficiency is the offensive line.
Bring back former Skins Assistant Dan Henning of Miami to be Offensive Coordinator. Keep Greg Blache as Defensive Coordinator or bring in former Skin Greg Manusky, the Defensive Coordinator of the 49ers, who played linebacker (mostly special teams) for the Skins from ’88-’91 and won a Super Bowl with the Skins in ’91. Most head coaches nowadays just oversee everything.
Former Guard Grimm has been an assistant coach for 18 years, ever since 1992, believe it or not. See his Wikipedia entry to see that he almost got the Bears job in ’04 and the Steelers job in ’05. In fact, there was a report, believed to be accurate at the time, that Grimm was named the Steelers coach just before Mike Tomlin actually got the job.
Unfortunately, it’ll never happen, though. It’ll be Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, or Jon Gruden. Most likely Gruden. Jeff Fisher of Tennessee would be a good choice if he’s available after the season, but he’s not a big enough of a name for Snyder. Any of them would be solid but I still think they should hire Grimm. What an insult it was to hire Jim Zorn over Grimm two years ago. Snyder considers himself a true Skins fan, so I think he should go back to the Skins’ roots.
They could also hire Gary Clark to work with the receivers, Earnest Byner to work with the running backs, Joe Theismann to work with the QBs, and Don Warren to work with the tight ends. Jeff Bostic could work with the offensive line, Neal Olkewicz could work with the linebackers, Darrell Green could coach the secondary, and Charles Mann could coach the defensive line. Ok, maybe I’m getting a little carried away about the others but Grimm has 18 years of experience as an assistant coach, he’s well-respected, and should be the Redskins new head coach.
It’s sad that the media in this town is no different than the media anywhere in the country. They don’t investigate and don’t find any news — all they do is repeat the same names over and over instead of finding things out for themselves. Of course, Mike Wise and Tracee Hamilton weren’t here during the Redskins’ glory days, and Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon don’t really report on the news anymore, they just comment on it. Somebody like Tom Boswell or one of the writers for the Washington Times needs to bring this up.
This is a message to all the media and fans about the Redskins situation. This includes those on TV and radio, newspaper writers, bloggers, and just regular fans.
We know that the Redskins haven’t been very good under Dan Snyder. We know that he has gone through a lot of coaches. We know that the personnel decisions made by Snyder and Vinny Cerrato haven’t been very good overall and that it would be great to get a good General Manager. We know that it is a dysfunctional organization. We know the team didn’t address the offensive line problems in the offseason, and we know that Jason Campbell hasn’t become a great quarterback, though I think he’s getting too much criticism. We know that Jim Zorn is not a great coach and that it was odd the way the Skins hired him two years ago as an offensive coordinator and then promoted him to head coach. We know that it is bizarre to have hired Sherman Lewis out of a bingo parlor to call the plays starting this Monday night.
Can we come up with something else, though? I’ve been a little bit guilty of it myself. But when you’re a sportsradio station and you have a lot of time to fill, you really should go more into details and specifics. Come on, people. Let’s come up with some better stuff. Break some stories – don’t just repeat what everybody else says. Analyze the players, the games and the plays. Come up with some solutions. If my full-time or even part-time job was to do this I’d come up with more stuff. Don’t keep saying the same stuff over and over.
|
Completion % |
Yards |
TD passing |
INTs |
Rating |
|
| Carson Palmer | 59.1% | 1375 | 8 | 7 | 78.3 |
| Jason Campbell | 65.6% | 1197 | 6 | 6 | 84.3 |
You can see that stats-wise, Jason Campbell is doing just about as well as Carson Palmer. The fact is, though, that Palmer has had some incredible game-winning drives, and his is better than Campbell and has played better.
But Palmer also has a much better offense at every position except tight end.
The point is that while Campbell hasn’t played great this year, he hasn’t been any worse than he was last year, and he’s getting too much blame.
Starting him against the Eagles is the right decision, and after the year, he’ll go somewhere else and have a chance to start.
I just wish the Skins hadn’t put Colt Brennan on injured reserve. It’d be nice to see what he can do.
The Redskins should absolutely sign quarterback Jeff Garcia. He could step in and after less than two weeks, be better than any of the Redskins’ quarterbacks. Garcia is a winner and would provide a spark to the offense, and he’s good at avoiding the rush, which would be important with the offensive line the way it is right now. Critics will say he’s 39 so he’s obviously not the future, but Jason Campbell most likely won’t be here after next season.
Assuming the Redskins draft a quarterback in the first round such as Colt McCoy or Sam Bradford, he probably won’t be able to start right away despite the success of players like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco. So Garcia could start next year, at least the first part of the season. There have been a lot of great quarterbacks who have struggled in their first seasons — Peyton Manning, John Elway, Troy Aikman, etc., and others whose time on the bench early on — Carson Palmer, Tom Brady, and Steve McNair — benefitted them. Garcia knows the west coast offense and he used to play for Jon Gruden. Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren each run the west coast offense.
You need to try to win as may games as possible. You never know what might happen. What if the Skins ride their defense to a 9-7 record and make the playoffs? When you try to be bad on purpose to get high draft picks or to play too many young players, you create a losing atmosphere. Like a couple of years ago when the Miami Heat tried to get a high draft pick. Where did it get them? They finished a little bit over .500, just like the Wizards will this year after going in the tank last year. You can’t turn it on and off like that. The Skins need to go all out now and play every play like it is their last. When your boss doesn’t support you and doesn’t want you to succeed, it can get ugly as it has with Daniel Snyder and Jim Zorn. Taking away Zorn’s play-calling duties — that’s just insulting.
So the Skins should sign Garcia. It also is too bad they put Colt Brennan on injured reserve. If I were Colt I’d want to go to another team next year that would give me a fair chance to compete for the job. But the season can still be salvaged and even if it isn’t, I’d rather be 8-8 than 4-12.
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