Age a factor going into 2009

[BeastsoftheNFCeast]

IMO, the Redskins are not looking too good going into next season and will need some young guys to step up.
OL-Pete Kendall is a FA and we prolly won't resign him because he will be 36...and on that note all our other starting OL will be 33/32 next season. Im not too optimistic that this group will preform well next season. As their age goes up, their skill and durability have seemed to go down.
DT-Im not sold on these guys to begin with, but on top of that, Griffin, our best DT, has been noticably getting worse year after year and will be 33 next season. Montgomery and Golston are both FAs this season...I wonder who will still be here in 09
DE-Do I really need to voice my concerns about this group? Our 9 million dollar man Jason Taylor is going to be 35, but at 34 he looked like my grandpa out there...Carter isnt producing. Our run stuffer and interior pass rusher Phillip Daniels is going to be 36 and coming off season ending surgery. We dont have any depth here.
WR-This group was very disapointing this past year to begin with. Santana Moss and Randle El will be 30, which I know normally isn't something to get worked up about. But they are both small quick speedsters, and will greatly suffer if they lose a step.
LB-Fletcher will be 34, I know he has defeyed his age up untill now, but who knows when it will catch up with him. Washington will be 32, injuries have already started to get him in recent years, Im doubtful that he will be able to produce like he used to.

The question is, how will the Redskins compensate for all these old guys? The traditional way is to use our draft picks, but since we traded all thoes away in past years, we don't have any young talent to fall back on. I know that age won't be too much of a factor for all the guys I listed. But the list is long and I feel like alot of guys will hit a wall that will negatively impact the team. And even if its not a significant decrease in skill or durability, 10 small decreases ends up to be a large impact. On the OL I feel like we will have to rely on Heyer and Reinhart...Im not confident in either, especially not Reinhart. On the DL I feel like we are obligated to resign both Golston and Montgomery and hope they both step up, which isnt very likely, but still possible. As far as WR's go, I feel like we need to pray that Thomas and Kelly pan out, and hope that this season was due to injuries. We have only one first day draft pick going into next year, so we can't rely on the draft to save us. Im just very pessamistic heading into next year. I feel like we werent good this year, and it will only get worse due to most of our key players being old.

[PennSkinsFan]

Age is a huge factor on the OLINE and at LB.

[dmek25]

start drafting guys that you expect to play. not lineman like Rinehart

[irish]

Originally Posted by dmek25

start drafting guys that you expect to play. not lineman like Rinehart

I agree, they need to start drafting guys that can step in and play quickly instaed of drafting guys that need 4 years to maybe or maybe not develop into players.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by irish

I agree, they need to start drafting guys that can step in and play quickly instaed of drafting guys that need 4 years to maybe or maybe not develop into players.

Not to defend what the team has done with the rooks (not playing them) but teams like Denver (E. Royal) and Philly (D. Jackson) had to play their rooks b/c of injuries. I don't think that situation ever materialized in our team.

[remarkable62]

We actually have the opportunity to address out lines in free agency and get younger. No not Haynesworth but quality blue collar inexpensive lineman are out there.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Ruhskins:

You can delude yourself into believing that the only reason Eddie Royal and Desean Jackson - - and Jordy Nelson and Donnie Avery and Davone Bess - - made contributions to their teams at WR this year was due to injuries that forced them in the lineup. Actually, those guys played their way onto the field for their teams.

It is too much trouble to go and look up all of their stats for the year but I seriously believe that all of them had more catches and yards than did Kelly and Thomas added together. Then again, that would not be difficult. Let me review the facts for you:

Malcom Kelly: 5 games 3 catches 18 yards 0 TDs (Long gain = 7 yards)

Devin Thomas:16 games 15 catches 120 yards 0 TDs


Please note that Devin Thomas was active for every game and got on the field in every game. Now look at those stats again. Depressing...


Now looking at those numbers - and working on the assumption that the coaches didn't keep these players off the field in order to try to lose games - tell me which of the following is most likely correct:

1. Neither of these guys is not as good as the five rookie WRs I listed above. If that is the case, why did we pick these two so high? Who thought they were better WRs?


2. Both of these guys suffered from having to learn a new system. Really, which of the players I named above played in "the same system" in college? So, are these two guys "not as bright" as the five rookie WRs I listed above?

No one conspired to keep Kelly or Thomas on the sidelines this year. Zorn said they both showed up for camp "unprepared"; Kelly reinjured his knee and dropped passes that hit him in the hands during the season; Thomas scored a TD on a reverse one day. That is the succinct version of their rookie seasons...


Here is another fact to consider. The FO obviously thought that improving the WR corps and the pass-catching cadre was an important thing to do between the 2007 and the 2008 season. That's why they spent the 3 top draft picks on pass-catchers. Nevertheless, neither Thomas nor Kelly could manage to replace the same 3 guys who were deemed to need upgrading at the end of 2007. It sure looked to me like Moss, Randle-El and Thrash got the snaps in 08 just like they did in 07.


Might Kelly/Thomas develop? Sure they might. But don't delude yourself into believing that all they need is an injury to a starter to show the world what stud wide receivers they are. If they had shown anything near that ability in practice - - from July through December - - they would have been on the field a lot more.

[irish]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

Ruhskins:

You can delude yourself into believing that the only reason Eddie Royal and Desean Jackson - - and Jordy Nelson and Donnie Avery and Davone Bess - - made contributions to their teams at WR this year was due to injuries that forced them in the lineup. Actually, those guys played their way onto the field for their teams.

It is too much trouble to go and look up all of their stats for the year but I seriously believe that all of them had more catches and yards than did Kelly and Thomas added together. Then again, that would not be difficult. Let me review the facts for you:

Malcom Kelly: 5 games 3 catches 18 yards 0 TDs (Long gain = 7 yards)

Devin Thomas:16 games 15 catches 120 yards 0 TDs


Please note that Devin Thomas was active for every game and got on the field in every game. Now look at those stats again. Depressing...


Now looking at those numbers - and working on the assumption that the coaches didn't keep these players off the field in order to try to lose games - tell me which of the following is most likely correct:

1. Neither of these guys is not as good as the five rookie WRs I listed above. If that is the case, why did we pick these two so high? Who thought they were better WRs?


2. Both of these guys suffered from having to learn a new system. Really, which of the players I named above played in "the same system" in college? So, are these two guys "not as bright" as the five rookie WRs I listed above?

No one conspired to keep Kelly or Thomas on the sidelines this year. Zorn said they both showed up for camp "unprepared"; Kelly reinjured his knee and dropped passes that hit him in the hands during the season; Thomas scored a TD on a reverse one day. That is the succinct version of their rookie seasons...


Here is another fact to consider. The FO obviously thought that improving the WR corps and the pass-catching cadre was an important thing to do between the 2007 and the 2008 season. That's why they spent the 3 top draft picks on pass-catchers. Nevertheless, neither Thomas nor Kelly could manage to replace the same 3 guys who were deemed to need upgrading at the end of 2007. It sure looked to me like Moss, Randle-El and Thrash got the snaps in 08 just like they did in 07.


Might Kelly/Thomas develop? Sure they might. But don't delude yourself into believing that all they need is an injury to a starter to show the world what stud wide receivers they are. If they had shown anything near that ability in practice - - from July through December - - they would have been on the field a lot more.

That's the Redskins mentality when it comes to draft picks starting. They never seem to believe a rookie can just come in and start, but rather there has to be an injury are some other reason to "force" the rookie into playing.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

Ruhskins:

You can delude yourself into believing that the only reason Eddie Royal and Desean Jackson - - and Jordy Nelson and Donnie Avery and Davone Bess - - made contributions to their teams at WR this year was due to injuries that forced them in the lineup. Actually, those guys played their way onto the field for their teams.

It's not the only reason, but it is a major reason why these guys got to play. You don't think that if ARE and Moss had gone down with injuries, the team would have been forced to play at least Thomas? Well actually, the way our team is they would have traded picks for a WR.

We have two good examples here in our team of rookie players who were thrown into starting lineups b/c of injuries: Horton and Heyer. Horton showed flashes of being a good player during the preseason, but had Reed Doughty played a bit better and/or if he had not gotten injured, Horton would not have played much at all. The same with Horton, who was thrown into the lineup due to injuries to Jensen and Samuels

My point is that our situation in Washington was different. If you think that we needed some good play out rookie receivers right away, then the team should have gone after an experienced receiver in free agency instead of drafting them. The rooks are a hit or miss, you are only going to get a few Desean Jacksons or Eddie Royals who contribute a lot during their rookie year. On the other hand you are going to get a whole bunch of rooks that do not contribute much and need to develop.

Once again, I don't disagree with the rookies' lack of playing time, but I don't think they were in a situation as Royal or Jackson were to be forced to play more.

[over the mountain]

heard coach zorn speak on whether age would be a factor in the offseason discussion and evaluation of the O line. interviewer asked if they need to take 2 steps back to take a step forward. zorn said that guys like kendall and rabach really spent alot of the offseason learning the blocking and teaching the younger players and that he does not want to replace those guys with people who it would take 2-3 years to learn to be dedicated to studying and be prepared. and that in that regard, if they did bring in new guys, the 2 steps back would be waiting 2-3 years until they learn how to prepare like a professionals. i remember reading about how rogers said this year was the first time he really studied tape and prepared and it really paid off. so maybe it does take a few years to have a veteran approach to the game.

not my opinion or thought, just thought what zorn said was relevant to this thread topic. maybe he has this impression from the lack of "preparedness" the rookies showed this year?

go skins!!

[rbanerjee23]

great, great thread...thank you for pointing this out, age will be a huge issue going into next season. IMO, the Skins might have gone 10-6/11-5 if the average age of the starters was two, maybe three years younger. Given that the young guys still have to learn the system and Snyder's impatience, I don't know that Zorn will be given a fair shake and enough time to install the system in DC

[birdz4gibbs]

it should be addressed and you made a great point and it concerns me as well along with the guys who are injury prone...we need more youth....

great post..

[MTK]

We can get younger in a hurry with the release of just a few guys.

But it's not critical to get young just for the sake of getting younger. Fletcher for example is still a very capable starter and doesn't need to be replaced.

[SBXVII]

"Sounds like people are looking for an escape goat."

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by SBXVII

"Sounds like people are looking for an escape goat."

Not it.