OffSeason Team Needs???

[ChounsMan]

Lets hear what everyone thinks The Skins need to improve upon from last seasons progess & this offseasons moves.

In my opinion I'd like to see the Skins bolster their D with another CB & DT/DE. Whether that's from FA or the Draft, I'll let the front office figure that out.

I know the Skins are weak at WR, but I'd rather see the strengthen the O-line first.

What do you all think.....?

[ST21]

I agree

[Riggo44]

I really just hope we can sign Smoot!!!

[skinsfanthru&thru]

I agree we need a cb and a de either cheap through FA or the draft and we definitely need someone with some height and bulk to add to our group of wrs. If we don't draft a wr or pick up someone like boston or taylor, expect thrash and cooley to be our main possesion type threats to help move the sticks while givens, moss, and jacobs are used to stretch the field.At DT and oline I think we r good for this year. maybe also draft another saftey for GW to groom into a combination of clark and bowen so we have someone young who can cover as well as blitz effectively. anyone know how much that other cb that got cut from the titans is looking for? andre dyson I think.

[Daseal]

Maybe it's me but I really like our offensive line. The only glaring hole last year was center. With Jansen back it really helps our line. Jansen, Thomas, Rabauch (still can't spell it!), Dockery, Samuels is NOT a bad line at all. Dockery is young, give him a chance to develop!

I think WR is important. Patten still hasn't proved to me he can be a real starter in this league, I like jacobs but he's also unproven, and Moss is a maybe for me too! Patten/Thrash don't have much longer left in the league, if we start drafting replacements soon we should have a great group of receivers in 3-4 years!

[jermus22]

I like everybody's comments. I agree with daseal: the o-line is good to go. It would be great if we re-signed Ray Brown to mentor the other guys and possibly challenge Dockery.
Offensive needs: we need a good blocking TE, preferably a mid-round pickup in the draft. We should get the biggest, meanest shmuck on the market, somebody who can block like old Don Warren from the days of the hogs. Warren was our starting TE in '91, the year we beat the Bills, and he had only 5 receptions all year, so we don't need a receiver at that position.
Cooley looks good at H-B, and I like Royal at TE, though only as a receiver (kind of a Terry Orr sort of role). But I think we need a sturdier blocker at TE for first and second down.
Our top pick should either be a DE or WR. A big wideout would help in the intermediate zone (like Art Monk), while speedy outside dudes like Moss and Patten provide the one-two punch we need in the vertical passing game (remember Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders?). I don't want us getting Boston from the Dolphins. The guy is a complete ASS CLOWN (pardon my French), definitely not a Gibbs kind of guy.
At DE we don't necessarily need a top draft pick, although it's been a long time since we had a guy like Charles Mann on our side of the line. All we really need is someone who can provide a rush off the edge on third and long. We already have two solid run stoppers in Wynn and Daniels, and the re-signing of Demetric Evans would provide insurance. What we DO need is a Dexter Manley type, someone who may not have bulk or great run-stuffing ability, but who nevertheless has speed and quickness off the edge and a non-stop motor. A guy like that would take a lot of pressure off the linebackers and defensive backs to help with blitzing.
Other needs: another backup LB (unless Clifton Smith and Chris Clemons prove adequate), another backup TE/H-B (unless we re-sign Brian Kozlowski), a third running back for short yardage situations (however, I'd prefer to see Rock Cartwright in that role), and a defensive back or linebacker for depth and special teams.
Other than that, trade Rod Gardner and Chad Morton; we don't need their help.

[gortiz]

Maybe we need to get away from the players and focus on the philosophy and playcalling of the offense. I am starting to think this is the heart of our problems. We should be talking about what in the hell is St. Joe going to do regarding playcalling. You got a solid D, decent/average offensive players, and an offense that runs the ball and limits turnovers and your good to go come Dec and Jan....ask the Patriots and Steelers.

[Daseal]

Because he shakes at the knees when he thinks there's some sort of chance we could have a turnover. With a defense like ours you can afford to take chances. In the league... you can't afford NOT to take chances.

[Daseal]

Jermus - they plan on putting Arrigton in as a DE on most pass rushing situations, we could also try Chris Clemons at that position. Just my two cents.

[Schneed10]

Clemons has great speed on a pass rush. I like him in that role.

In a perfect world, I'd add a DE, a CB, a WR, a MLB, and a blocking TE. But it's not a perfect world and we don't have nearly enough salary cap room to handle that.

Given our salary cap constraints, we have to pick the positions where we need the most help, and then make do at the others. I think we need to draft a CB, but he doesn't need to be a starter, I'm satisfied with Harris there given our cap situation. I think we can make do at DE with Wynn and Daniels, and then mixing in LaVar and Clemons for speed rushing. I think we can make do with Barrow or Lemar Marshall at MLB. I think adding a blocking TE is pretty important, Rasby sucked at that last year and guys like Kozlowski and Sellers only seemed mediocre. I'd find cap room for Anthony Becht, personally. I'd draft Mike Williams at WR with the 9th pick, because we need a bruiser there. Plus the dude is just a great guy and has a lot of star quality, a Gibbs guy thru and thru.

[That Guy]

williams and a blocking TE gives us the best of putting up 21 points a game... our other needs on D would be DE, (CB if smoot leaves), MLB, SS in that order, BUT we'd need a playmaker in any of those slots to provide an upgrade. We have plenty of unheralded but very competent defensive players already lined up to fill out those positions and do an alright job. If smoot leaves we may have to look for a backup CB at the very least since that'd leave our depth a bit low for GW's defensive scheme, or test some of our safeties as emergency CBs.

[Schneed10]

As for play calling, some change is definitely necessary. We have the speed now in Patten and Moss to use some serious go-routes. We've got to threaten with those type of routes, we can't just run WR screens, slants, and quick outs or else safeties will just creep up towards the line and stuff Portis. Deep passes, even if they're way over the heads of our WRs and fall incomplete, will keep the safeties deep as they're forced to respect the speed of Moss & Patten. That in turn can open up the middle for Cooley and open up running lanes for Portis.

Speaking of Portis, more of the zone-blocking schemes like he ran in Denver would be good. The old Gibbs plays that Riggins ran involved a lot of lineman pulling and hitting the point of attack. When Portis tries to run behind and in the middle of all those bodies, he just gets bounced around too easily cause he's smaller. In a zone blocking scheme, he can pick a hole and dart up into it real quickly, which allows him to get the momentum to squeak through holes for a few extra yards. Let Betts run 50-gut and the counter trey, and let Portis run the zone-blocking stretch plays.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by jermus22

Other needs: another backup LB (unless Clifton Smith and Chris Clemons prove adequate), another backup TE/H-B (unless we re-sign Brian Kozlowski), a third running back for short yardage situations (however, I'd prefer to see Rock Cartwright in that role), and a defensive back or linebacker for depth and special teams.
Other than that, trade Rod Gardner and Chad Morton; we don't need their help.

backup HB is thrash or mike sellers, we still have lots of LB backups (khary campbell, clemons, barnes, lemons, barrow, smith, tuipala, and jones) with campbell and clemons (pass rush) being the first backups followed by barnes (GW likes barness) and lemons (barrow excluded, cause he might be retired before being able to play).

we actually have goodspeed whos a 6'6" 315lb TE on the roster... but i've never heard of him... he's bigger than most of the O-line.

[Daseal]

Schneed - I agree 100% with what you posted. We need some changes in the passing games, which will lead to a better running game, and zone blocking really lets Portis use the talents he has!

[FRPLG]

I will list areas of potential improvement (Iguess every position could conceivably be improvable but I am talking about what is not out totoally ridiculous). In no particular order.

Defense (assuming we don't sign Smooty Flakes)
DT
LDE
RDE
MLB
FS
CB
NB
Looks like our biggest need would be at CB. A signing or draft pick there would of course improve us at NB too so those two go hand in hand. We also have a potential need at MLB if Marshall can't cut it. Marshall comes across similar to Pierce in that he wasn't even going to make this team potentially last year and ended up contributing. Not sure if he is the answer but I am thinking he can be serviceable. Especially if Arrington is back. Our line needs should be secondary here as we should have the same guys or better (if Daniels can stay healthy) and they were successful enough last year. Nothing spectacular outside of Griffin but absolutely did what we needed them to. A pash rushing DE would have to be considered a luxury when taking into consideration our other needs but one would be nice. A more complete DT to go with Griffin would be a super luxury. I think the rotation of guys we use there gives us good well balanced play from that position which again was good enough last year.


Offense
RG
TE
WR1
WR2
WR3

Our O-line looks as set as can be right now with the possible exception of Dockery at RG. I think more is expected of him this year than in years past. He seems to have the size and athletic abaility to be a premier type guard but hasn't had that special "it" to actually get there. He is better than servicable though and upgrading here is a luxury. A blocking TE is a must for this team. A quality blocking TE would make our passing game much more complete. Imagine actually having TWO receivers on the field rather than one because we kept an extra TE in to help block. I think this is a major need and can be easily and(key) cheaply solved. Our main need is a WR that can get open. Too much last year our WRs just weren't open. Now part of that was the conservative play calling and part was Coles' inabaility to cut and be quick but that goes to the point that Coles and Gardner just didn't get it done last year. Patten can extend the field but he is not a premier guy. Nor is Thrash of course. What Jacobs can do remains to be seen. Moss looks like Patten in Jets clothing to me basically. None of them is a premier guy. Now the Pats had success with this model but... they have Tom Brady and Charlie Weis. Not saying Charlie Weis is better than Gibbs and comp. but he is at least current in offense strategy. I think they'll be better this year but who knows when they'll finally get caught up. I think a premier type guy who can do all the things you need a WR would have the greatest impact on this team next year and for years to come. Not necessarily a burner and not necessarily a huge guy but someone who makes plays. A guy who can use his body to get open and is fast in pads. A guy who is just plain hard to cover. Both Edwards and Williams fit the bill well. I think Williamson is more of a burner type in the mold of say Torry Holt and if Williams and Edwards are gone at 9 I still think we trade down and get Williamson but he is not as sure fire as Edwards and Williams. I don't care which we get becasue either one at 9 is a steal.

So basically our needs that absolutly need addressing our CB and WR. Everything else is luxury. Between the two I think I like WR the most at 9. G Williams seems to have a knack for getting the most out of players and I am not overly enamroed with any of the CB prospects this year. I think both Edwards and Williams are better prospects and since they fit a huge need we should go that direction. I think if we get Williams that gives us a receiving corps of Williams/Moss/Patten/Jacobs/Thrash. That is a fine WR corp really. There probably wouldn't be too many better in the league from 1 to 5.