Sign Jeff Garcia

October 19, 2009

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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Redskins, Zorn, and Trying Hard

October 19, 2009

So obviously the Skins are going to fire Jim Zorn.  If they can bring in next year’s coach now that would be a good thing because they could get a head start on things.  Even if Zorn was going to be a good coach he doesn’t have the support of Dan Snyder and then you have no chance.  It’s looking a little like Jon Gruden is the likely choice, however, and it’s doubtful he’d leave Monday Night Football in the middle of the season, so it looks like the Skins may have an interim head coach – Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache?

I just hope the organization and team tries their hardest to win during the rest of the year because I hate the philosophy of doing badly on purpose to get a high draft pick for the next season.  The Washington Wizards did it last year and I think they’re going to pay for it this year even though they’re talking big, because you can’t build a winning philosophy by turning if on and off like that.  The word is that Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren would want total authority, which they wouldn’t get.  Bill Cowher would probably want more authority too and he’ll probably go to Carolina.

I’d love to see Russ Grimm as the head coach but Snyder wouldn’t do that.  He wants a big name.  Gruden would inject some enthusiasm and he is a very good offensive coach.  The defense is actually very solid and has some good young players.

The Redskins have gone through a lot of coaches but only two in the past six seasons – Joe Gibbs and Jim Zorn.  It doesn’t make sense the way the media and fans always count interim head coaches like Terry Robiskie who coached three games as one of the many coaches the Skins have had.  The Redskins’ moves haven’t been all bad lately too.

Chris Cooley was a great draft pick.  Getting Santana Moss in exchange for Laverneous Coles was a steal.  Carlos Rogers and Laron Landry are good starters in the secondary.  London Fletcher was a great free agent pickup.  Orakpo was a good draft pick.

Obviously they’ve made some bad moves too – WRs Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas have been busts, while TE Fred Davis is very slowly coming on.  You look at some of the later round picks of the team the last 5 years and many of them didn’t make the team.  They overpaid for DeAngelo Hall.  And the failure to upgrade the depth of the offensive line and running back positions have proven to be costly.

If everyone gets on the same page and works hard, the Skins can still finish at a semi-respectable 7-9 or so.  Not great but I believe in trying your best and not throwing in the towel.  They should play Jason Campbell, though, because he’s better than Todd Collins, period.

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Redskins: Checking Pre-Season Predictions

October 19, 2009

Ok, now it’s time to see how my pre-season predictions have come out so far now that the season is more than a third over.

What I said

What has happened
DT Albert Haynesworth will help the Skins a lot, but the move was a little risky to put so much money in one position when he has a history of missing a few games each year due to injury. He has helped but he has been nicked up a bit.  Tennessee is 0-6 after being 13-3 a year ago so you can see he is valuable – some of that can be attributed to Haynesworth being gone.  He hasn’t justified the money, though.
The addition of first round DE/LB Brian Orakpo helps the Skins at a position where they haven’t had a Pro Bowler since Charles Mann in 1991. Orakpo has helped but struggled when not rushing the passer.  He was a good draft pick.
So the Redskins improved their defensive line a lot but it makes you wonder if they could have spent money on several good players to provide depth at other positions such as the offensive line and running back instead of getting Haynesworth. True.  The OL has been a disaster because of lack of depth, and Portis looks old and we need a better backup than Betts.
It’s not as if Randle El had a terrible year last season.  He had 53 receptions and 4 TDs, so we’ll see if Kelly’s production is any better. Kelly has been a bust and Randle El is producing more.  Randle El has 18 catches for 209 yards.  Kelly has 7 catches for 73 yards.  Neither has a TD.
What is striking is that Randle El only had one carry last year.  For a fast WR, he should be running a lot more reverses.  Randle El has 436 career rushing yards for 5.6 yards a carry, yet only had one attempt last year?  In fact, Jim Zorn didn’t do a good job last year of using either Santana Moss or Randle El running reverses, and he also missed the boat in not using Randle El as a wildcat QB.  The former college QB has thrown 25 passes in the NFL, completing 20, for 281 yards and 4 TDs.   They need to use Randle El in the Wildcat. Randle El hasn’t had a carry yet.  Neither has Moss.  Zorn hasn’t used the wildcat though Randle El would be perfect for it.
Clinton Portis is ok but he’s getting older and losing speed, and has never been a very good receiver out of the backfield.  We (yes, I will sometimes say “we” don’t have much depth at RB. TE Chris Cooley is a bright spot. Safeties and LBs look solid. True
Back to money, I think the Skins may have overpaid for CB DeAngelo Hall, who hasn’t lived up to his draft status as a high first round pick, so again, the Skins could have gotten some lesser known players who didn’t have the big names. True
Our kicker and punter are again average.  Our kickoff and punt return teams and coverage has been below average for the last 15 years.  When was the last time the Skins blocked a punt? True
The offensive line has gotten a lot of criticism, but this unit has actually been together for several years, so they should do ok, although they sometimes lose ground to bigger lines.  The big problem is the lack of depth, unless there are some diamonds in the rough that we don’t know about. Yes and no.  The line’s lack of depth proved to be a big problem, but the line didn’t do that well in the first place even when healthy.
As for QB, Jason Campbell should have a decent year.  He needs to improve his accuracy on the deep pass. Campbell hasn’t played that well but he’s getting too much criticism.  He doesn’t have a lot of talent to work with.  He’s completing 65% of his passes (a career high), has 6 TDs and 6 INTs – not enough TDs, and a QB rating of 84.3, tied for a career high.
I have a problem with the Skins putting Colt Brennan on IR for the whole season when it appears that his injuries weren’t that severe. True.  It’d be nice to see what he can do now instead of Collins.  It’s a wasted season for him.
The Skins should pick up Jeff Garcia. True.  They’d do much better with him, though it wouldn’t be building for the future.
I also told someone that in a weird way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dan Snyder almost wants the Skins to have a mediocre season…Why?  So that he can hire Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, or John Gruden next year.  Of course, he’d love a Super Bowl win, but since it probably won’t happen, look for Snyder to hire one of those guys, most likely Cowher, Shanahan, or Gruden. True.
What the Skins should really do, though, is hire an experienced NFL GM. True.
Back to the Skins:  my prediction is that they will finish 9-7, which usually results in about a 50% chance of making the playoffs. This was obviously wrong – it looks like the Skins will go 5-11 or so.  But Snyder has completely undermined Zorn’s authority and if he hadn’t done that, the Skins might be 4-2 instead of 2-4.  In fact, yesterday’s 8-point loss to the Chiefs was the largest margin of defeat all year.  It sounds unbelievable, but with a few plays here and there, the Skins could be 5-1.  But they have played the easy stretch on the schedule so my prediction of 9-7 was definitely off.

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Trade for Joshua Cribbs

October 11, 2009

Ok, today’s loss to a winless team wasn’t good, but it wasn’t as bad as it seems.  It was on the road and last year the Panthers were 12-4 and 8-0 at home.  The Skins are what we thought they were, a mediocre team.  The defense was pretty good today, but Clinton Portis is getting up there in age, the offensive line was average to begin with without much depth, and we need another good receiver. Santana Moss is a good number one, Antwaan Randle El is a good third receiver, but Malcolm Kelly hasn’t done much and neither has Devin Thomas, and the Skins need a tall target.

In fact, Kelly and Thomas are typical Skins — underachievers. So I think the Skins should trade a draft pick for Cleveland Browns wide receiver Joshua Cribbs.  Cribbs is an amazing kick returner, and with his size and speed he should be a good receiver. He asked to be traded a while ago.  Our return game has been below average ever since Gibbs left the first time.  One of the things the old Redskins were great at was special teams.  Mark Moseley, Mike Nelms, Pete Cronan, Greg Williams, Greg Manusky…

Cribbs is only in his fifth year and he already has 7 returns for TDs, tying Eric Metcalf’s Browns record.  Cribbs, a former college quarterback, is the only player in NCAA history to lead his team in both rushing and passing in four different seasons.  I saw him play a game in college for Kent State against Ohio State, and he kept Kent State close for a half.  I thought he’d be a good pro QB then and might have been had he been given a chance.  He’s not getting a lot of playing time at WR for the Browns, plus they are awful — starting QB Derek Anderson completed two passes today.

Anyway, I think the Skins should trade for Cribbs.  Maybe give up Kelly or Thomas plus tight end Fred Davis and a draft pick. Cribbs could also be the emergency QB.  Cribbs is also local — he played high school football for Dunbar in DC.  I also didn’t know he was the nephew of former Bills 1,000-yard rusher Joe Cribbs.  Pretty cool.

As for the Skins, at this point, they can probably just hope to finish .500.  I don’t think much will save Jim Zorn’s job.  I hope the Skins get Mike Shanahan, or if not, maybe Bill Cowher or Mike Holmgren.  I think Jon Gruden is too arrogant.  I think Russ Grimm would make a great head coach and bring back some of the old Skins pride, but that would make too much sense.  Snyder will want a big name.  Tony Dungy would be great but I couldn’t see him coaching here because I don’t think he’d put up with Snyder.

By the way, in my last post, I defended Snyder somewhat by saying the Skins have been better under him than they were from 1993 to 1998, which is true.  But overall, there hasn’t been enough of a cogent plan.  The Skins draft picks underperform, and they tend to get big name free agents instead of unsung heroes like they used to have.

Make no mistake, the old Skins had tons of talent — Hall of Famers Art Monk, Darrell Green, and John Riggins, plus others who should be in like Gary Clark, Russ Grimm, and Joe Jacoby, not to mention great players like Charles Mann, Dave Butz, Dexter Manley, Joe Theismann, Wilber Marshall, and we could go on.  There were a lot of skill position guys who were there for a few years like Joe Washington, Charlie Brown, Kelvin Bryant, George Rogers, Gerald Riggs, and Earnest Byner.  But there were a lot of players who were free agents or late round picks who went on to be great, whereas now we have name players like Portis and DeAngelo Hall who are just average, and our high draft picks (Kelly, Thomas, and Davis) underperform.

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Dan Snyder’s Redskins: better than they were in the mid-90s

October 5, 2009

It’s fashionable to bash Daniel Snyder and say that the Redskins have been a bad team since he became owner in 1999, but the team has most often been mediocre rather than bad.  The Skins’ record under Snyder is 78-86, with a winning percentage of .476.  During the six seasons before Snyder arrived, the Skins were 36-59, with a winning percentage of .379.

So while I think Snyder and his personnel man Vinny Cerrato have done a below average job, the Redskins have improved a lot under Snyder from what they were from 1993 to 1998 when they never made the playoffs.  At least the Skins have made the playoffs three times in 10 years under Snyder – not great but better than 0 for 6.

Obviously in the early to mid 70s, and again from the early 80s to the early 90s the Skins were great, going to five Super Bowls and winning three.

But the Redskins are considerably better under Snyder than they were during the previous six seasons.

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Too Many Cowboys on TV – Sick of Them

September 13, 2009

I am so sick of getting either Troy Aikman or Daryl Johnston as our game color commentators.  It’s bad enough that for years we had to listen to Michael Irvin on ESPN, and then Emmitt Smith and now Keyshawn Johnson.  You can’t get away from them.

The former Skins are a lot better on the air — so much more intelligent — whether it’s Mark May or Trevor Matich for college football, or Rick “Doc” Walker or Brian Mitchell on the radio about the Redskins.  Jim Lachey does Ohio State broadcasts.  I would imagine he’s pretty good.  Joe Theismann was a great color commentator on NFL games.  Of course, Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff are great on the local radio broadcasts.

The fact is the Skins have been average for a long time so we always get the average announcers like Aikman and Johnson.  To prevent this the Skins will have to start playing a lot better.

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Redskins 2009 Season Preview

September 13, 2009

A few notes about the Redskins as the season is about to get underway:

DT Albert Haynesworth will help the Skins a lot, but the move was a little risky to put so much money in one position when he has a history of missing a few games each year due to injury.  The addition of first round DE/LB Brian Orakpo helps the Skins at a position where they haven’t had a Pro Bowler since Charles Mann in 1991.  At a position that is arguably the second most important in football after the QB, the Skins have been pretty bad for most of the last two decades.  So the Redskins improved their defensive line a lot but it makes you wonder if they could have spent money on several good players to provide depth at other positions such as the offensive line and running back instead of getting Haynesworth.  It reminds me of a couple of years ago when they acquired both Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd at WR, when only one of them was necessary, and they could have gotten someone else at another position.

Speaking of Randle El, he’s been demoted to number three or even number four  receiver, with Malcolm Kelly at number two.  Kelly seems ready, Randle El isn’t getting any younger, it’s tough when both starting WRs are short, and Randle El has a chance to be used in the Wildcat QB this year.  Still, it’s not as if Randle El had a terrible year last season.  He had 53 receptions and 4 TDs, so we’ll see if Kelly’s production is any better.  What is striking is that Randle El only had one carry last year.  For a fast WR, he should be running a lot more reverses.  Randle El has 436 career rushing yards for 5.6 yards a carry, yet only had one attempt last year?  In fact, Jim Zorn didn’t do a good job last year of using either Santana Moss or Randle El running reverses, and he also missed the boat in not using Randle El as a wildcat QB.  The former college QB has thrown 25 passes in the NFL, completing 20, for 281 yards and 4 TDs.   They need to use Randle El in the Wildcat.  He could have been very dangerous his whole career if teams had used him more.  It also makes you wonder how effective former Skins RB Brian Mitchell could have been as a Wildcat QB.  (Speaking of Mitchell, we all remember the punt and kickoff return records he set, but did you know that his career rushing average was 5.1 and he had 1967 rushing yards?  Now I’m getting back to Skins history again, but what about Kelvin Bryant, known more as a pass-catching RB, who averaged 4.6 yards per rush during his four-year NFL career?  He also tore up the USFL for a few years.)

Clinton Portis is ok but he’s getting older and losing speed, and has never been a very good receiver out of the backfield.  We (yes, I will sometimes say “we” don’t have much depth at RB.  TE Chris Cooley is a bright spot.  Safeties and LBs look solid.

Back to money, I think the Skins may have overpaid for CB DeAngelo Hall, who hasn’t lived up to his draft status as a high first round pick, so again, the Skins could have gotten some lesser known players who didn’t have the big names.  Reminds me of when the Skins acquired S Adam Archuleta and gave up Ryan Grant a few years back, but at least Hall can play.

Another point – the Skins during the last 15 years have had a lot of bad to mediocre kickers and punters, and in a league that is very evenly matched, special teams counts for a lot.  In fact, the Skins have had a lot of 8 or so win seasons in which if they had had one or two more wins they could have made the playoffs.  Our kicker and punter are again average.  Our kickoff and punt return teams and coverage has been below average for the last 15 years.  When was the last time the Skins blocked a punt?

The offensive line has gotten a lot of criticism, but this unit has actually been together for several years, so they should do ok, although they sometimes lose ground to bigger lines.  The big problem is the lack of depth, unless there are some diamonds in the rough that we don’t know about.

As for QB, Jason Campbell should have a decent year.  He needs to improve his accuracy on the deep pass.  In the NFL, first round QBs like Campbell usually get handed jobs without having to earn them, but after just a few seasons, they get thrown to the side if they don’t produce, and the time to produce for Campbell is now.  I have a problem with the Skins putting Colt Brennan on IR for the whole season when it appears that his injuries weren’t that severe.  If I were him I’d be very upset.  He’s already 26, though he’s only in his second season.  He should get a chance to not only play but to be the backup QB.  Todd Collins has played 16 games in the last 6 years.  Don’t tell me he’s that good.  He’s a statue.  When I run I feel like I’m running in quicksand, and I don’t think Collins is much faster.  Now that Brennan is on IR, though, the Skins should pick up Jeff Garcia.  He would be a great backup, and realistically, is probably better than Campbell in the short run.  I’m not saying he should start, but you make your team a lot better by getting an experienced player who has started for most of the last 12 years in the league and has had success.

I also told someone that in a weird way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dan Snyder almost wants the Skins to have a mediocre season.  Since they’re probably not going to win the Super Bowl, Snyder probably doesn’t want the Skins to be better than making the playoffs with 10 wins and win maybe one playoff game.  Why?  So that he can hire Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, or John Gruden next year.  Of course, he’d love a Super Bowl win, but since it probably won’t happen, look for Snyder to hire one of those guys, most likely Cowher, Shanahan, or Gruden.

What the Skins should really do, though, is hire an experienced NFL GM.  I think Pat Kirwan, currently an NFL analyst for Sirius NFL Radio, NFL.com, and CBS’ NFL Today, would be a great GM.  Kirwan was the Jets’ director of player administration in the mid-1990s to 1997.  From 1997 to 2002 the Jets never had a losing season, and Kirwan helped build the foundation for those teams.  You always have to look at a few years after a personnel person leaves a team to judge the players they bring in, since many of the new players are rookies.  Kirwan’s radio show is very informative, and he brings great insight about the NFL.  There is no shtick on the show.  In fact, I’m going to use this show on my other blog at www.mikefrandsen.org as an example to show that sportsradio has surpassed newsradio in pure analysis – accuracy of information without any bias.

Back to the Skins:  my prediction is that they will finish 9-7, which usually results in about a 50% chance of making the playoffs.

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Free Mike Vick

July 29, 2009

I think Michael Vick deserves a chance to play the entire season.  I also hope it’s with the Washington Redskins, and I think there’s a pretty good chance of that.

Let Vick Play

First, what Vick did to those dogs was obviously terrible.  I like dogs, and they like me.  But Vick paid a huge price, spending two years in prison, missing two full NFL seasons, and losing all of his money.  The whole idea that the NFL is suspending Vick on top of the jail sentence doesn’t make sense to me.  The NFL suspended Vick two years ago, so he has already been suspended for two full seasons.

The NFL has left the door open for Vick to come back right away, with its ambiguous ruling, but Vick may also have to wait until week 6 to play.  The NFL wants Vick to miss the opening week of the season so the story doesn’t dominate the headlines.  They also are concerned with reaction from extreme animal groups as well as a society that seems to place more value on the lives of animals than people.  Other players did worse and got lesser punishments.

  • Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice in a murder trial in 2000.  Lewis was originally accused of having a role in the deaths of two people but he never received even a fraction of the vilification that Vick did.  In fact, he became a hero.  Lewis was not suspended by the NFL but was fined $250,000.  The next season, Lewis led the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory.  Lewis has consistently been one of the most praised players in the NFL since the incident.
  • St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little was suspended for only 8 games by the NFL after he was convicted of manslaughter in 1998, killing a woman while driving drunk.  Vick has already missed four times as many games as Little.  (Little spent 90 days in jail).  In 2004, Little was arrested again on charges of driving drunk.
  • Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth is on indefinite suspension from the NFL after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in April after killing a man while driving drunk.  Stallworth only spent one month in jail and will likely be reinstated to the NFL after this season.

Vick is a Quarterback

One of the problems with 24-hour sports talk, ESPN, and the sports blogosphere is that people don’t do much thinking for themselves.  They just repeat back what everybody else says (It’s the same with news).  I’d say 90% of the so-called NFL experts have said over the last two years that when Vick comes back, he will come back not as a quarterback, but as a wide receiver, kick returner, or situational quarterback.  The thinking goes that Vick wasn’t that good of a quarterback in the first place, and two years away from the game would not enable him to recover and play the complex position of quarterback.

Here’s why all those people are wrong.  Vick may have been one of the fastest players in the league during his first few years, but after 6 years of playing QB in the NFL, the wear and tear on Vick probably left his speed at merely faster than average for an NFL wide receiver.  Now after two years of inactivity, he may be just middle of the road as far as speed for NFL receivers.  Plus, he has never played receiver.  If you have Vick at wildcat QB, ok, then he can throw the ball, run with it, catch it, or be a decoy.  But he’s too talented to just play 10 plays a game long-term.

As I’ve said before in my other blog (www.mikefrandsen.org – click “Quarterbacks”), people don’t place a high enough value on quarterbacks who win.  It’s why quarterbacks like Vick (38-28-1 record as a starter) and Vince Young (18-11) get underrated, while quarterbacks like Jay Cutler (17-20) get overrated – because people care more about stats than wins.  Gee, I wonder what else it could be? The way the talking heads talk about Vick and Young makes you wonder if they have an axe to grind – as if they actually dislike them.

Vick’s 71-52 touchdown to interception ratio isn’t that bad despite the fact that he never had good wide receivers, and his WRs dropped a lot of passes his final two years.  Vick also led the Falcons to a 27-7 victory over Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field in 2003, at a time when the Packers had never lost a home playoff game.  The media constantly harps on Vick’s low completion percentage, (53.8%) as evidence that he is a bad QB, but you could take every player’s worst stat out of context if you ignore his good stats.  Who would you rather have, Vick, or a one-dimensional immobile QB with a high completion percentage?  They talk about Vick’s low passer rating, but quarterback ratings don’t take into consideration how well QBs avoid sacks and how many yards they gain on the ground.

Also, it’s not as if the Falcons from 2001 to 2006 were known for having great defense, or great anything, really.  What could Vick have accomplished on a good team?  Vick has 3859 career rushing yards and averaged 7.3 yards a carry.  In 2006, Vick rushed for over 1000 yards and had 8.4 yards a carry, an NFL record!  Great rushing quarterbacks have succeeded — look at Steve Young and Steve McNair.  The dimension that Vick has of running with the ball scares a defense a lot more than overrated quarterbacks who throw tons of interceptions.  Vick has never thrown more than 13 interceptions in a season.  Again, that’s not spectacular, but it’s not as bad as the so-called experts would have you believe.

The fact is that Vick is better than just about all of the backup quarterbacks in the NFL, and better than a lot of starters.  Maybe not this minute, but after he’s spent the month of August and the early part of the season practicing with a team he will be.  At the absolute worst, in my opinion, these are the only quarterbacks who are better than Vick (I put them in order of where I believe they rank).  And within a year, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Vick ends up starting somewhere and moves up to Tier 4, and maybe even up to Tier 3 after a couple of years if he gets into the right situation.  So that means that right now, or by the early part of the season, Vick would be better than nearly a third of the starting quarterbacks in the league.

Tier 1

Peyton Manning

Tom Brady

Tier 2

Drew Brees

Kurt Warner

Donovan McNabb

Ben Roethlisberger

Carson Palmer

Eli Manning

Philip Rivers

Tier 3

Aaron Rodgers

Tony Romo

Matt Ryan

Jay Cutler

Matt Hasselbeck

Chad Pennington

Kerry Collins

Tier 4

Jake Delhomme

Matt Schaub

Matt Cassel

Marc Bulger

Joe Flacco

Vick to the Redskins?

I believe that the Redskins should sign Vick.  They are the perfect team for him.  The team is already established and will have a huge fan base no matter what.  The higher than usual minority population will support Vick more than in other cities, and Vick is also somewhat local, as he is from southern Virginia.

Dan Snyder will get a lot of criticism if he signs Vick, but Snyder should not let that bother him.  People will talk about Snyder’s past signings of “fantasy” players, but those decisions are a sunk cost.  You can’t ignore Vick’s upside.

The Redskins have an established starter in Jason Campbell, but he still hasn’t proven that he is here to stay.  This is Campbell’s fifth season, so he will need to produce.  He has only been on average teams and has had several coaching changes in terms of offensive systems, but the time has come to be more consistent.  He has poise and a strong arm, but we’re still waiting for him to live up to his first round draft selection.

The Skins have two relatively weak backups.  Todd Collins is 37 and has started 3 games in the last 11 seasons.  Colt Brennan is a second year QB and former 6th round draft choice who played great in the preseason last year, but is unproven.   I actually think he has great potential, but it’s still too early to tell for sure.  The other QB on the Skins roster is Chase Daniel, a winner out of Missouri but a rookie who went undrafted.

Ironically, even though Vick is a huge name, the expectations are low for him – a lot of people are assuming he won’t play QB or if he will then he will only be a backup or a situational player.  Take away the off the field problems Vick had and there is no way the Redskins can afford not to sign Vick.  The upside that Vick has compared with the Redskins backups is much greater.  Expect the Redskins to sign Vick and for him to possibly play occasional series once the middle of the season gets here.

Again, obviously what Vick did with dogfighting was terrible, but he paid his debt to society and deserves a second chance.  That chance may be with the Washington Redskins.

***

Update August 8 – It appears unlikely that the Skins will sign Vick.  The league probably wants him to go to a small market like Green Bay, Kansas City, or St. Louis.  That way, the animal protest groups will have a harder time getting out there, whereas in DC they would have an easier time protesting.  Secondly, I have a feeling Snyder may be sensitive to the criticism of him signing big name players.  But those signings – and some worked out okay – are a sunk cost and Snyder or any other owner would be wise to consider someone like Vick who is likely better than their backup QBs and may eventually challenge for the starting job.  I think Minnesota makes sense.

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Art Monk and Darrell Green inducted in Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2008

July 29, 2009

By Mike Frandsen

A year ago I went up to Canton, Ohio to see former Washington Redskins wide receiver Art Monk inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  It was a long wait – eight  years after Monk was first eligible, he got in.  The good side of that is that Art learned how much the Redskins fans really supported him.  In fact, the support Monk garnered was unprecedented as far as athletes getting into a Hall of Fame.  I wrote an article stating that Art was truly worthy of being in the Hall of Fame at http://www.coachmike.net/artmonk.php.   There were many other articles, emails – even a highlight film.  All along, the vast majority of voters were for Monk – it was just a couple of influential voters who held him back, and they finally admitted they were wrong.

Darrell Green and Art MonkOf course, Darrell Green also made it.  He was a great cornerback for 20 years – a shut-down corner, and could have played even longer if he had wanted to, but I write this mainly about Monk, because he was my favorite player, and because he had to wait so long.  Monk was such a great team player, with a legendary work ethic, and was so humble, that sometimes it gets lost on people that he was simply one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play the game.

Monk held three NFL records at one time – most receptions in a career, most catches in a season, and most consecutive games with a catch.  He had seven playoff touchdowns for an amazing average of 25.5 yards per catch for those TDs, and the Skins were 4-1 in those games.  He had a game-changing 40-yard catch vs. the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII when the Skins were down 10-0 that helped change the course of the game, even though he was coming off an injury.  He had at least 38 catches of 40 yards or more.  He had the ultimate respect of his teammates and the players he played against.

Art Monk and his son James
Art Monk and his son James

The induction ceremony itself was amazing, and it was highlighted by Monk’s speech.  There was an unbelievable amount of electricity in the air when it came time for Monk’s speech.  The moment was finally here.  I snuck forward and stood right next to former Skins receivers Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders, who were there cheering on Monk. Monk was presented by his son. Monk’s standing ovation lasted more than five minutes and surely would have lasted longer had he allowed it to continue.  It was the greatest standing ovation I’ve ever seen.

“The reality of getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame didn’t really hit me till a few days ago,” Monk said.  “And then to see the magnitude of all of this, and all of you, it’s been something amazing.”

I felt a little bad for some of the other inductees – Gary Zimmerman, offensive lineman for the Broncos and Vikings; Fred Dean, defensive end for the Chargers and 49ers; Andre Tippett, linebacker for the Patriots; and Emmitt Thomas, cornerback for the Chiefs (and former Skins Assistant Coach) – because almost all the fans there were Redskins fans cheering for Monk and Green.HOF 093

Clark actually deserves to be in as well but the committee would never put another Redskins wide receiver in who played with Monk, although there is precedent as both Lynn Swann and John Stallworth of the Steelers are in.  In my previous blog entry, I note that Clark’s statistics were nearly identical to Michael Irvin’s, and Irvin got in several years ago.  In fact, it was insulting to see Irvin get in ahead of Monk, especially since Monk had more yards, catches, and touchdowns than Irvin, and Monk didn’t get to play with a Hall of Fame quarterback.  Anyway, it was great to see Clark, along with Sanders, cheering on Monk.

Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders Cheer on Monk
Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders Cheer on Monk

A bunch of former Redskins players and coaches made it to cheer on Monk and Green.  Here’s my unofficial list:

  • Gary Clark, Wide Receiver
  • Joe Gibbs, Coach
  • Tim Johnson, Defensive Tackle
  • Jim Lachey, Offensive Tackle
  • Charles Mann, Defensive End
  • Mark Moseley, Kicker
  • Mike Nelms, Kick Returner
  • Ricky Sanders, Wide Receiver
  • Joe Theismann, Quarterback
  • Rick “Doc” Walker, Tight End
  • Don Warren, Tight End

Two of the original Hogs, Tight Ends Don Warren and Rick "Doc" Walker
Two of the original Hogs, Tight Ends Don Warren and Rick “Doc” Walker

I’m sure there were a bunch of other players who were there that I didn’t see.  I was a little disappointed that John Riggins didn’t show up from the standpoint that he was the only other Redskins player in the Hall of Fame from those teams.  It’s pretty amazing that until last year, no other Redskins from those teams that went to four Super Bowls and won three between the 1982 and 1991 seasons made it in.  Especially because that 1991 team, though underappreciated by the national media, was one of the greatest teams of all time.  Excuse me while I sprain my arm patting myself on the back here:  On January 1, 2008, after the Patriots had completed their regular season undefeated, I wrote on www.coachmike.net, “The 1991 Redskins only outscored their opponents by 17 points a game, better than every team in history except for the 2007 Patriots and the 1985 Bears. (It’s unfair to compare the 2007 Patriots to the 1991 Redskins, though, because the Skins were so much better.”)

Me with former Skins Kick Returner Mike Nelms
Me with former Skins Kick Returner Mike Nelms

Anyway, it was cool seeing some of the former Redskins.  I saw former Skins kick returner Mike Nelms and got a photo with him.  I told him I remembered a punt he returned against the Eagles.  He didn’t score on the play but it was an unbelievable run.  He ran into a pack of defenders, it looked like he was down, and with just about the entire Eagles special teams surrounding him, he broke out of the pack and got an extra 20 yards.  Maybe it was my imagination, but mark Moseley had a look on his face like, “Why is he getting a photo with Nelms instead of me?”

Jim Lachey Redskins
With former Redskin Jim Lachey

I saw Redskins left tackle Jim Lachey after the ceremony and told him that he should be in the HOF too and he would be in a few years.  He thanked me and seemed like he genuinely appreciated it.  He was definitely good enough – anyone who is good enough to move Joe Jacoby from left tackle to right tackle was good enough – and Lachey had the athleticism to go along with size – he was the prototypical left tackle.  He helped QB Mark Rypien have a great season in 1991 that resulted in Rypien being Super Bowl MVP.  But in reality, Lachey probably won’t get in because his career was cut a little short because of injuries, and if any Hogs get in it’ll be Russ Grimm or Joe Jacoby.  I definitely think the Skins should have at least one representative from the Hogs – one of those three, maybe two.

After the ceremony, Skins fans went to the NFL Network set to support Monk and Green as they were interviewed along with Gibbs live on TV.  Art Monk on NFL Network SetFormer NFL Coach Steve Mariucci was there along with Michael Irvin for the NFL Network.  Mariucci seemed to be marveling at the fact that so many people were singing “Hail to the Redskins.”  The crowd was pretty hostile toward Irvin, but he took it in stride.   John Elway was there to support Gary Zimmerman – a few fans reminded Elway of the Skins win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

Gary Clark watches Art Monk's Hall of Fame Induction Speech
Gary Clark watches Art Monk’s Hall of Fame Induction Speech

So the long wait is over.  Art Monk is in the Hall of Fame.  As I said when I finally finished my MBA to a few classmates, “Now what?”  What do we do now?  Even if the Skins get back to the Super Bowl several times like they did in the 80s and early 90s, it’ll never be the same because of free agency as well as the type of players the Skins had back then.

I think everyone should try to be more like Art Monk.  Great, but humble.Art Monk NFL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

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NFL Hall of Famer Art Monk

January 30, 2009

Now is a good time to reflect on former Washington Redskins receiver Art Monk making it to the NFL Hall of Fame last year after an 8-year wait. He should have been in on the first ballot, but it was better late than never. The majority of the voters supported him all along, making him a finalist for so many years.

Monk’s numbers stack up favorably against all the wide receivers in the Hall of Fame, he was a crucial part of four Super Bowl teams, and the Skins haven’t been the same since he left. Monk was nicknamed “Big Money” for his ability to make the critical catches in big games.(See http://www.coachmike.net/artmonk.php for the article I wrote a year ago).

Art Monk makes his speech at the NFL Hall of Fame, 2008
Art Monk makes his speech at the NFL Hall of Fame, 2008

The NFL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony last summer was a great time for Redskin fans. One of the greatest teams of all-time, the 1991 Washington Redskins, who went 17-2 and won the Super Bowl, didn’t have any Hall of Famers until Monk and Darrell Green made it last summer. Those Skins outscored their opponents by a greater margin than any team except the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 2007 New England Patriots, but those were incomplete teams. I’m going to write about that Hall of Fame ceremony in another blog entry and include some great photos, but for now, let me say that the standing ovation Monk got – 5 minutes long (and would’ve been longer had he not ended it), was the greatest ovation I’ve ever seen.

One stat that jumps out at me is the 7 touchdowns Monk had in the playoffs for a 25.5-yard average for those TDs. The longest of his playoff TDs was 40 yards; the shortest was 16. The long distance from the goal line on those receptions says to me that without those TDs the Skins might have had to settle for field goals or possibly even come away empty on some of those drives. Plus, the Skins won all but one of those games. Two of those TDs were against the Bears a year after they had the greatest defense ever. Another was against Buddy Ryan’s Eagles, one of the best defenses of the ‘90s.

Other highlights from Monk’s stellar career:

  • Monk had 3 NFL records at one time – most catches in a career, most in a season, and most consecutive games with a catch.
  • Monk had more catches, yards, and TDs than Michael Irvin.
  • Monk averaged 15.4 yards a catch in the playoffs.
  • Monk had at least 38 catches of 40 yards or more.
  • In 1990, with the Skins at 6-5, the normally reserved Monk called a legendary team meeting, asking the Skins to rededicate themselves.The Skins finished 10-6 and made the playoffs, and went 17-2 in 1991 and won the Super Bowl.
  • Monk got the tough yards over the middle – he dished out a lot of hits too as his blocks sprang some big runs. Monk still averaged more yards per catch than Marvin Harrison or Cris Carter. In fact, as I write this, I’m looking at the list of the AFC’s top receivers (ranked by number of catches) for the 2008 season. Monk’s career average was better than the average of any of the top 14 receivers in the AFC this year except for Reggie Wayne. This despite the fact that receiving stats are way, way up in 2008 as opposed to where they were in the 1980s.
  • If the 1980 draft were done over again, Monk probably would have been selected first overall. Or third at the worst if you want to argue for Anthony Munoz or Dwight Stephenson, but almost all would say a HOF wide receiver is more valuable than a HOF offensive lineman.
  • Monk did it all without a HOF quarterback, with Joe Theismann, Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien throwing to him.Imagine what Monk’s numbers would have been if he had had a HOF QB (like Montana, Young, Aikman, Bradshaw, or Kelly) for his whole career, or even part of it. (In fairness, Theismann was the NFL MVP in 1983).
  • He did it on a team that ran the ball a lot with a conservative coach.At the end of games the Skins were killing the clock, not padding WR stats. He did it during an era in which receiving stats were much less prolific than they are today (there were 3 individual 100-reception seasons from 1980-1993; there were 50 from 1994 to 2007).
  • In 1985, of Monk’s 91 catches, 32 occurred on 3rd down. 31 of those 32 went for first downs. Think about that.
  • Miscellaneous excerpt from the Redskins 1987 Press Guide: “Art exploded in Week 3 (of the 1986 season) in San Diego. He exploded for catches of 58, 41, and 38 yards. All three plays set up a score.” So for those people who say Monk should have had more TDs, keep in mind that he also set up a lot of TDs.
  • Here’s something that I missed in my 10,000 word article last year about Monk. In 1984, with the Redskins down 27-26 to the St. Louis Cardinals late in the final regular season game, Monk converted a reception on a 3rd and 19 play, setting up a game winning field goal that put the Redskins into the playoffs. Monk had 2 TDs in the game along with 11 catches and 136 yards in the game.
  • In 1985, first year starting quarterback Jay Schroeder completed 6 passes over 40 yards, all to Monk.

All the grass roots support for Monk by fans was a true phenomenon. I don’t think we’ll ever see anything like it again. I wrote my article atwww.coachmike.net January 1, 2008. But many people had been sending letters and emails to the voters for years. Along the way, there was occasionally a little bit of bad blood from some of the fans aimed at some of the voters.

I’ve never communicated with Monk, but I’m certain that he was embarrassed by all the attention, and didn’t approve of any of the negativity. (Monk’s foundation is the Good Samaritan Foundation). To show how modest Monk is, on his bio on the website it doesn’t even mention that he is in the Hall of Fame (elsewhere on the site there is one mention of it). The fact is, Monk should have been in on the first ballot, and none of the extra stuff should have been necessary. But the outpouring of support says a lot for him.

Art Monk’s playoff touchdowns

Season

Opponent

Yards

Result

1983

L.A. Rams

40

51-7 victory

1983

L.A. Rams

21

1986

Chicago

28

27-13 victory

1986

Chicago

21

1990

Philadelphia

16

20-6 victory

1990

San Francisco

31

28-10 loss

1991

Detroit

21

41-10 victory

Finally, I don’t want to sprain my arm by patting myself on the back here, but a year ago, on January 1, 2008, I wrote:

“The 1991 Redskins only outscored their opponents by 17 points a game, better than every team in history except for the 2007 Patriots and the 1985 Bears. (It’s unfair to compare the 2007 Patriots to the 1991 Redskins, though, because the Skins were so much better. They had one of the best running attacks in the NFL while the Pats have one of the worst). Those Redskins took teams that spread the field with multiple wide receivers – the Atlanta Falcons and the Buffalo Bills – and shredded them. The average score of the two playoff games and the Super Bowl that year was Redskins 34, opponents 14. And that team doesn’t have one Hall of Famer.”

With former Redskins receiver Gary Clark

With former Redskins receiver Gary Clark

Gary Clark was a great receiver, and deserves to be in the Hall as well, and if he played for the Steelers or the Cowboys, he’d be in. He doesn’t stand a chance, though, but to his credit he was Monk’s most vocal supporter to get into the Hall. Take a look how similar Clark’s stats were to Irvin’s:

Catches per Year

Yards per Year

Total TDs

Years
Clark

64

962

65

11
Irvin

63

992

65

12

One final note – the Redskins, who won three Super Bowls and went to a fourth, helped make offensive linemen famous with the Hogs. They won Super Bowls with three different QBs, and three different running backs gained more than 1000 yards. The Hogs were known as devastating blockers. They should have at least one offensive lineman represented in the Hall of Fame.

Joe Jacoby was one of the first of the mammoth offensive tackles at 6-6, 315. He set a trend for left tackles that size. Russ Grimm was also there for all the Super Bowls, and he and Jacoby would pull toward the opposite side of the field, another trend that changed the game. Then later, Jim Lachey took over at left tackle and had the size of Jacoby and also possessed ridiculous athleticism, a precursor to players like Tony Boselli.

(And how come nobody talks about Russ Grimm, the Cardinals offensive line coach, as a possible NFL head coach? He almost got the Bears job in 2004, and was a candidate for the Steelers coaching job in 2007. Then he helps the Cards to the Super Bowl and no one talks about him as a potential head coach?Just another example of anti-Redskins bias by the media).

Anyway, it’s fitting that Monk is now in the HOF alongside former Redskins great Charley Taylor. Congrats to Darrell Green too.

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