Maybe It's Not Just The O-Line

[dgack]

Schneed, I wasn't making any "points" with comparisons to those teams, just seeing what fell out of the stats. The Buffalo comparison was an attempt to see what team is closest to us in terms of play selection and rushing effectiveness.

To me what these numbers mean are one of three things:

1 -- We are not calling plays that are suited to the strengths of the personnel we have (healthy)

2 -- Different personnel could be more effective running behind the line we're currently fielding (this one seems the most contentious issues)

3 -- We are simply so injury depleted that we can't run effectively.

It seems like many are firmly behind #3. I can accept that run blocking and pass blocking are not the same thing, but I question whether they are so night-and-day different that we are basically without hope until our line "heals" or we upgrade there.

SGG, I had much of the same thoughts when I looked at KC, St. Louis, and Seattle -- though Alexander has also been injured a lot and is on the downside of an extremely prolific career. LJ and Jackson are legitimate comparisons, but Jones is also a pretty tired journeyman back.

Again, I'm not trashing the effort the dude gives. Nor am I saying that the line is doing a great job making holes for dudes to hit. But I don't think that we can rely on the same "classic Redskins" gameplan that we employ with a healthy O-Line anymore. Why aren't we running more screens, for example? This discussion about CP's effectiveness is not all about him breaking down (though I think that's a legitimate concern). It's also about how he's being misused in this offense right now.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by dgack

SGG, I had much of the same thoughts when I looked at KC, St. Louis, and Seattle -- though Alexander has also been injured a lot and is on the downside of an extremely prolific career. LJ and Jackson are legitimate comparisons, but Jones is also a pretty tired journeyman back.

Again, I'm not trashing the effort the dude gives. Nor am I saying that the line is doing a great job making holes for dudes to hit. But I don't think that we can rely on the same "classic Redskins" gameplan that we employ with a healthy O-Line anymore. Why aren't we running more screens, for example? This discussion about CP's effectiveness is not all about him breaking down (though I think that's a legitimate concern). It's also about how he's being misused in this offense right now.

Fair enough. But I do think that Thomas Jones is a legit back. He had several bad years in Arizona (which, prior to Grimm's arrival, didn't have a running game), but he was also a bona fide stud in Chicago. He had over 2,500 rushing yards and about 2,800 total yards in 2 seasons. Not to mention the fact that for much of that time he was playing in an offense that everyone knew ran, ran, and ran the ball.

[warriorzpath]

I'll state the obvious - a good offense starts with a good offensive line. There are no exceptions to that rule that I can think of. A promising redskins offense has not been good mainly because of injuries to the offensive linemen. Without these injuries, the team would have a much different outlook.

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by warriorzpath

I'll state the obvious - a good offense starts with a good offensive line. There are no exceptions to that rule that I can think of. A promising redskins offense has not been good mainly because of injuries to the offensive linemen. Without these injuries, the team would have a much different outlook.

I totally agree that a good line almost always equates to good offensive play. Our starting line on paper looked solid, and it's just extremely bad luck that any team would lose one side of their O-Line by week two. The backups we have are decent fill-ins for a game or two. The FO must add higher quality depth during the offseason, especially since most of our starting O-linemen are around 30 or older.

[dgack]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

Fair enough. But I do think that Thomas Jones is a legit back. He had several bad years in Arizona (which, prior to Grimm's arrival, didn't have a running game), but he was also a bona fide stud in Chicago. He had over 2,500 rushing yards and about 2,800 total yards in 2 seasons. Not to mention the fact that for much of that time he was playing in an offense that everyone knew ran, ran, and ran the ball.

Sure, didn't mean to imply that he sucked, just that he's at the end of his career (though he doesn't have a lot of miles on his tires -- his average carries per game is well below 20, and he's only broken 300 carries in a season once). That said, the guy is 29, and will never be in the same class as a Shaun Alexander or Larry Johnson. Or even a Clinton Portis on an off-year quite honestly.

I'd say he's an above average, productive NFL RB, but by no means a feature/franchise back or a stud.