Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft

-Om- · 03-05-2009, 03:42 PM

Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft
March 6, 2009

"Jason Taylor was going to play [strong-side] linebacker,
we were still going to have to fill the left end spot."

- Vinny Cerrato
(Wash. Post, 3/4/09)

Lost in the news and opinion blitz of the past few days was this quick quote from Redskins Executive VP of Football Operations Vinny Cerrato. It appeared in an unrelated piece discussing the free agent acquisition of OG Derrick Dockery and re-signing of CB DeAngelo Hall. I read it, stopped, then went back and read it again to be sure I’d read it right.

Huh.

Over the past week, everyone with an opinion about the Washington Redskins signing of free agent big fish DT Albert Haynesworth had Jason Taylor lining up off Big Albert’s shoulder, taking advantage of one-on-one blocking caused by AH’s presence inside. Maybe the team would have stood Taylor up once in a while, but he was going to be an end. He was going to come off the edge all year and either take down QB’s himself or drive them up into the pocket into AH’s waiting arms.

Except that he wasn’t. Apparently, the Redskins were planning to turn him into a strong-side linebacker. A 34-year-old, 6'6", 240 lb. speed-rushing right defensive end was going to be the strong side linebacker.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m surprised this particular nugget hasn't scared up a whole lot more attention. Maybe I'm just over-reacting to this one bit of news. But I have to tell you, this one sent a bit of a chill up my spine ...

CLICK HERE after putting on a sweater

BigHairedAristocrat · 03-05-2009, 04:05 PM

NIce article. Based on previous comments Cerrato and Blache had made, alot of us here were expecting Taylor to play SLB in 2009 and only move to DE on 3rd downs, so it wasnt really news that Cerrato implicitly stated that yesterday. I actually thought it would be a good idea and make better use for him than keeping him at RDE but thats just my opinion.

Either way, as you showed, the skins havent done much to address the front 7 or offensive line through high round draft picks in recent years. Obviously, the team has favored drafting skill position players with those picks and filling the lines and defensive front 7 in free agency... a strategy that hasnt worked out well for them.

We are mostly "set" at the skill positions this year, so hopefully we will see the lines addressed more in the draft in 2009 and 2010.

53Fan · 03-05-2009, 10:05 PM

Nice piece OM. I personally think the deal for JT was screwed from the beginning but that is neither here nor there. To your point, I am hoping the FO (slowly to be sure) is learning from the mistakes they've made in the past and will start addressing the positions that are the foundation of a good team. It is time. It is past time.

an23dy · 03-05-2009, 11:15 PM

Interesting, it makes more sense that they would want him to show up and workout here this summer if he were going to be at a new position. Also we could evaluate him at LB over a little bit of time and then decide whether or not we wanted to keep him so that before the draft we would know what holes we really needed to fill.

tryfuhl · 03-06-2009, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by an23dy

Interesting, it makes more sense that they would want him to show up and workout here this summer if he were going to be at a new position. Also we could evaluate him at LB over a little bit of time and then decide whether or not we wanted to keep him so that before the draft we would know what holes we really needed to fill.

those workouts aren't really designed for that

that'd be the ota's and forward on

Ruhskins · 03-06-2009, 02:11 AM

No offense, but all these pieces about the FOs past mistakes are getting old, and I mean by telling me something I already know and I don't want to be reminded of. But I guess things like this get people's attention. Can the season start already?

53Fan · 03-06-2009, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

No offense, but all these pieces about the FOs past mistakes are getting old, and I mean by telling me something I already know and I don't want to be reminded of. But I guess things like this get people's attention. Can the season start already?

Apparently you missed the point which was that they are LEARNING from past mistakes. If you read his complete post he talks of them NOT addressing needs in the past. You might want to check post #166 on 'Update: Evans signs with Niners' to put how I feel in perspective. If you don't understand a post, maybe you'd be better off not commenting on it. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with this quote to avoid future misunderstandings - "Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln- You're Welcome.

Ruhskins · 03-06-2009, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 53Fan

Apparently you missed the point which was that they are LEARNING from past mistakes. If you read his complete post he talks of them NOT addressing needs in the past. You might want to check post #166 on 'Update: Evans signs with Niners' to put how I feel in perspective. If you don't understand a post, maybe you'd be better off not commenting on it. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with this quote to avoid future misunderstandings - "Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln- Your Welcome.

I knew my post would be misunderstood, that's my fault, so my bad. What I wanted to say that all these articles bring up past mistakes by the front office and I think all of us wince when we read them. Like when the Skins made their FA signings, all of the sports media kept bringing back that crazy signings like Archuleta, Lloyd, etc., etc. And as much as I am a positive person, I see those things and I'm like, ouch, yeah we f'ed up big time that time.

And I just realized that I quoted your post in my first post, my post was meant to be general.

53Fan · 03-06-2009, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I knew my post would be misunderstood, that's my fault, so my bad. What I wanted to say that all these articles bring up past mistakes by the front office and I think all of us wince when we read them. Like when the Skins made their FA signings, all of the sports media kept bringing back that crazy signings like Archuleta, Lloyd, etc., etc. And as much as I am a positive person, I see those things and I'm like, ouch, yeah we f'ed up big time that time.

And I just realized that I quoted your post....man, I'm messing up big time tonite.

I enjoy your posts Ruhskins. No problem.

44ever · 03-05-2009, 11:39 PM

Nice OM, I really was looking forward to tha AH/JT runtrap. I thought JT would play RDE and like you thought "He was going to come off the edge all year and either take down QB’s himself or drive them up into the pocket into AH’s waiting arms." I was disapointed I did'nt get a chance to see it happen. But I guess it was never going to happen anyway.
We have a way of not using our weapons correctly.

The Goat · 03-06-2009, 12:01 AM

No offense OM but this is the same (true) story of the last decade or so. The FO, now led by a General Manager who arguably wouldn't be hired by any other franchise in football (for any position), still does or tries to do really dumb things and we're a team that typically drafts poorly and usually can't develop it's own talent.

... i don't expect any of this to change in the foreseeable future, like while i'm still reasonably young, but i'm still a fan.

Pocket$ $traight · 03-06-2009, 12:06 AM

Playing Taylor as a full time SAM would have been idiotic. He probably agreed and that helped make it easier for him to jet.

The Goat · 03-06-2009, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pocket$ $traight

Playing Taylor as a full time SAM would have been idiotic. He probably agreed and that helped make it easier for him to jet.

My thoughts exactly and the more I heard this might actually happen the more worried i was about our defense seriously regressing in '09. I think Taylor may have done us an enormous favor in sort of saving the team from Vinny's absurd "Madden" approach to football... at least this time anyway LOL.

horse · 03-06-2009, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Goat

My thoughts exactly and the more I heard this might actually happen the more worried i was about our defense seriously regressing in '09. I think Taylor may have done us an enormous favor in sort of saving the team from Vinny's absurd "Madden" approach to football... at least this time anyway LOL.

Taylor played a whole lot of linebacker for miami the season he won defensive player of the year so, with someone like evans or daniels at DE, guys who are better against the run this would've worked well.

-Om- · 03-06-2009, 09:50 AM

Apologies for posting and running yesterday, got caught up in real-life "stuff."

As I was careful to note in the piece, I'm not professing to breaking any new ground here. The notion that the Redskins have badly mismanaged the draft for several years now is hardly new or original. So why write the piece? Two main reasons:

1) The finality of Vinny's statement caught me off guard. It probably shouldn't have, given that apparently there had been indicators I'd missed, but for me it crystallized the reality of what they were doing. In what smacked of desperation or just plain questionable judgment, they were going to move what I view as a fatally miscast player into a new position to cover up previous negligence.

Maybe five years ago I could have seen trying out JT as a SAM in the NFCE, with a Plan B in place in case he got run over a lot ... but at 34? Coming off serious injury? If there's ever been a 34 year old, 6'6", 240 lb, finesse edge pass rusher successfully transitioned to SAM in a smashmouth cold-weather division in NFL history ... I've missed it.

I'm the last guy to pretend he knows more about scouting than the professionals, but this one just sets off too many alarm bells in my head to ignore.

2) Because I plan to keep hammering the notion that the team needs to shift its draft focus for the forseeable future from skill position players to big men, until they either actually do it or I lose interest and take up nude ice body-surfing.

It kills me that my two favorite football teams, the Redskins and my alma mater VA Tech, have both adopted a philosophy of not drafting/recruiting big men in favor of drafting/recruiting "skill position" players to a noticeably disproportionate degree. Far as I'm concerned, the next 3-4 Redskins drafts, at least, need to be as lineman-heavy (allowing for LB's as well) as the past ten drafts have been on everything else.

I have no illusions about my voice making the slightest bit of difference in what the team actually does, but at least I'll feel better for having tried.

03-05-2009, 04:05 PM	#2
BigHairedAristocrat Playmaker Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4,712	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft NIce article. Based on previous comments Cerrato and Blache had made, alot of us here were expecting Taylor to play SLB in 2009 and only move to DE on 3rd downs, so it wasnt really news that Cerrato implicitly stated that yesterday. I actually thought it would be a good idea and make better use for him than keeping him at RDE but thats just my opinion. Either way, as you showed, the skins havent done much to address the front 7 or offensive line through high round draft picks in recent years. Obviously, the team has favored drafting skill position players with those picks and filling the lines and defensive front 7 in free agency... a strategy that hasnt worked out well for them. We are mostly "set" at the skill positions this year, so hopefully we will see the lines addressed more in the draft in 2009 and 2010. __________________ Dolphins get good press for saving drowning humans.But we only hear about the swimmers theyve pushed ashore.You know who we havent heard from: all the people theyve pushed out to sea.Dolphins dont know what theyre doing-they just like pushing things.

03-05-2009, 10:05 PM	#3
53Fan Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Posts: 7,570	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft Nice piece OM. I personally think the deal for JT was screwed from the beginning but that is neither here nor there. To your point, I am hoping the FO (slowly to be sure) is learning from the mistakes they've made in the past and will start addressing the positions that are the foundation of a good team. It is time. It is past time. __________________ Defense wins championships. Bring it!

03-05-2009, 11:15 PM	#4
an23dy Special Teams Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 162	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft Interesting, it makes more sense that they would want him to show up and workout here this summer if he were going to be at a new position. Also we could evaluate him at LB over a little bit of time and then decide whether or not we wanted to keep him so that before the draft we would know what holes we really needed to fill.

03-06-2009, 02:11 AM	#6
Ruhskins Living Legend Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 22,341	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft No offense, but all these pieces about the FOs past mistakes are getting old, and I mean by telling me something I already know and I don't want to be reminded of. But I guess things like this get people's attention. Can the season start already? __________________ R.I.P. #21 Last edited by Ruhskins; 03-06-2009 at 02:57 AM.

03-05-2009, 11:39 PM	#10
44ever Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The Fortune Teller Posts: 2,512	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft Nice OM, I really was looking forward to tha AH/JT runtrap. I thought JT would play RDE and like you thought "He was going to come off the edge all year and either take down QB’s himself or drive them up into the pocket into AH’s waiting arms." I was disapointed I did'nt get a chance to see it happen. But I guess it was never going to happen anyway. We have a way of not using our weapons correctly. Last edited by 44ever; 03-06-2009 at 12:28 AM.

03-05-2009, 03:42 PM	#1
-Om- Special Teams Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 112	Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft March 6, 2009 "Jason Taylor was going to play [strong-side] linebacker, we were still going to have to fill the left end spot." - Vinny Cerrato (Wash. Post, 3/4/09) Lost in the news and opinion blitz of the past few days was this quick quote from Redskins Executive VP of Football Operations Vinny Cerrato. It appeared in an unrelated piece discussing the free agent acquisition of OG Derrick Dockery and re-signing of CB DeAngelo Hall. I read it, stopped, then went back and read it again to be sure I’d read it right. Huh. Over the past week, everyone with an opinion about the Washington Redskins signing of free agent big fish DT Albert Haynesworth had Jason Taylor lining up off Big Albert’s shoulder, taking advantage of one-on-one blocking caused by AH’s presence inside. Maybe the team would have stood Taylor up once in a while, but he was going to be an end. He was going to come off the edge all year and either take down QB’s himself or drive them up into the pocket into AH’s waiting arms. Except that he wasn’t. Apparently, the Redskins were planning to turn him into a strong-side linebacker. A 34-year-old, 6'6", 240 lb. speed-rushing right defensive end was going to be the strong side linebacker. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m surprised this particular nugget hasn't scared up a whole lot more attention. Maybe I'm just over-reacting to this one bit of news. But I have to tell you, this one sent a bit of a chill up my spine ... CLICK HERE after putting on a sweater

03-06-2009, 12:01 AM	#11
The Goat Pro Bowl Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 5,662	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft No offense OM but this is the same (true) story of the last decade or so. The FO, now led by a General Manager who arguably wouldn't be hired by any other franchise in football (for any position), still does or tries to do really dumb things and we're a team that typically drafts poorly and usually can't develop it's own talent. ... i don't expect any of this to change in the foreseeable future, like while i'm still reasonably young, but i'm still a fan. __________________ 24-34

03-06-2009, 12:06 AM	#12
Pocket$ $traight Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Fairfax, VA Age: 48 Posts: 4,261	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft Playing Taylor as a full time SAM would have been idiotic. He probably agreed and that helped make it easier for him to jet.

03-06-2009, 09:50 AM	#15
-Om- Special Teams Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 112	Re: Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft Apologies for posting and running yesterday, got caught up in real-life "stuff." As I was careful to note in the piece, I'm not professing to breaking any new ground here. The notion that the Redskins have badly mismanaged the draft for several years now is hardly new or original. So why write the piece? Two main reasons: 1) The finality of Vinny's statement caught me off guard. It probably shouldn't have, given that apparently there had been indicators I'd missed, but for me it crystallized the reality of what they were doing. In what smacked of desperation or just plain questionable judgment, they were going to move what I view as a fatally miscast player into a new position to cover up previous negligence. Maybe five years ago I could have seen trying out JT as a SAM in the NFCE, with a Plan B in place in case he got run over a lot ... but at 34? Coming off serious injury? If there's ever been a 34 year old, 6'6", 240 lb, finesse edge pass rusher successfully transitioned to SAM in a smashmouth cold-weather division in NFL history ... I've missed it. I'm the last guy to pretend he knows more about scouting than the professionals, but this one just sets off too many alarm bells in my head to ignore. 2) Because I plan to keep hammering the notion that the team needs to shift its draft focus for the forseeable future from skill position players to big men, until they either actually do it or I lose interest and take up nude ice body-surfing. It kills me that my two favorite football teams, the Redskins and my alma mater VA Tech, have both adopted a philosophy of not drafting/recruiting big men in favor of drafting/recruiting "skill position" players to a noticeably disproportionate degree. Far as I'm concerned, the next 3-4 Redskins drafts, at least, need to be as lineman-heavy (allowing for LB's as well) as the past ten drafts have been on everything else. I have no illusions about my voice making the slightest bit of difference in what the team actually does, but at least I'll feel better for having tried.

Om Field: Redskins Feeling a Cold Draft

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