ESPN: Nate Clements in Redskins' plans?

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I don't know the answer at this point - Rogers has quietly had a much better second half of the season.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Springs has played much of the second half of the season. I also imagine benching Archuleta factored into helping Rogers

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

I don't think it's a coincidence that Springs has played much of the second half of the season. I also imagine benching Archuleta factored into helping Rogers

Yeah this is a good point. The safeties have gotten their act together once Archuleta was benched and Taylor and Fox/Vincent had some time to get on the same page.

You wonder if GW and Jerry Gray were instructing Rogers to give a big cushion early on in the season because they knew with Prioleau out and Archuleta so crappy, they needed Carlos to guard against the deep ball. I certainly never saw GW get all pissed at Rogers on the sideline for giving a huge cushion. That's the great thing about football, it's such a team sport. When one link is weak (ahem, Archuleta) it makes the rest of the links look bad. Would Rogers have needed to give the huge cushion if Ryan Clark were retained? Would Rogers have looked that bad?

Of course that doesn't explain why Rogers would bite on all those double moves earlier in the year. And with Springs out, regardless of cushions, he did show that he can't cover a #1 WR yet. He did need to improve on some things, and I think he has to some extent. Plus the safeties are now playing better.

I can see Matty's point, I don't think we can be completely confident with just him and Springs. We need to bring someone in who can compete at the same level, if not better. Fox and Vincent have done an admirable fill-in job, but what we really need to focus on is improving the SS position. I'll bet Rogers and Springs will both look a ton better with a better SS in the fold with some range and the ability to communicate with ST. So maybe like Matty said, you bring in that new CB and let Springs play SS. That strengthens all the links in the secondary's chain, and all of a sudden they may all look better.

Or maybe you get serious about a SS in the draft, or poaching Michael Lewis from the Eagles.

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Yeah this is a good point. The safeties have gotten their act together once Archuleta was benched and Taylor and Fox/Vincent had some time to get on the same page.

You wonder if GW and Jerry Gray were instructing Rogers to give a big cushion early on in the season because they knew with Prioleau out and Archuleta so crappy, they needed Carlos to guard against the deep ball. I certainly never saw GW get all pissed at Rogers on the sideline for giving a huge cushion. That's the great thing about football, it's such a team sport. When one link is weak (ahem, Archuleta) it makes the rest of the links look bad. Would Rogers have needed to give the huge cushion if Ryan Clark were retained? Would Rogers have looked that bad?

Of course that doesn't explain why Rogers would bite on all those double moves earlier in the year. And with Springs out, regardless of cushions, he did show that he can't cover a #1 WR yet. He did need to improve on some things, and I think he has to some extent. Plus the safeties are now playing better.

I can see Matty's point, I don't think we can be completely confident with just him and Springs. We need to bring someone in who can compete at the same level, if not better. Fox and Vincent have done an admirable fill-in job, but what we really need to focus on is improving the SS position. I'll bet Rogers and Springs will both look a ton better with a better SS in the fold with some range and the ability to communicate with ST. So maybe like Matty said, you bring in that new CB and let Springs play SS. That strengthens all the links in the secondary's chain, and all of a sudden they may all look better.

Or maybe you get serious about a SS in the draft, or poaching Michael Lewis from the Eagles.

A move like getting Lewis reminds me of the Giants getting Pierce - making our backfeild better while dealing a blow to one of division rivals. Although how much is Lewis going to cost?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Bill B

A move like getting Lewis reminds me of the Giants getting Pierce - making our backfeild better while dealing a blow to one of division rivals. Although how much is Lewis going to cost?

Well Archuleta's deal kind of blew the whole safety scale out of whack. He was given the biggest deal in history to a safety, but he was obviously a huge mistake.

I can see teams making the argument that Archuleta's contract should be thrown out the window in terms of setting precedent. I can also see agents making the argument that every safety in the NFL is better than Adam Archuleta, so they should get more than him.

I don't see every safety getting huge raises because of Archuleta, but there's sure to be some inflation. I'd think Lewis would be worth something like a $8 million signing bonus, maybe $25 million over 5 years. Affordable if we wanted him.

But that's the thing, I threw out his name on wild speculation only. I've got no idea if his skill set translates well to a GW defense. Who knows if the Skins want him.