The rest of the season

[irish]

What I really think Gibbs will try to do with the rest of the season is identify the 15 or so players that he will keep as a "core" while cutting the rest of the players loose. Essentially the rest of the season will be an on the job try-out.

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by irish

What I really think Gibbs will try to do with the rest of the season is identify the 15 or so players that he will keep as a "core" while cutting the rest of the players loose. Essentially the rest of the season will be an on the job try-out.

That's probably what Gibbs has started doing since he put Ramsey in at quarterback, but I think he also tries to keep that objective in line with the overall and ultimate goal of winning every game. I think he's playing Ramsey now because he feels Ramsey gives the team a better opportunity to win, and I think we've seen more opportunities for McCants and Jacobs and Cooley because he feels those guys are simply performing as well or better than their teammates, and they also give the team a chance to win.

Gibbs will never knowingly tank games for the sake of better draft picks or "looking to next year". But he will play the best guys that give the team the best chance to win, and he will get what he can for the guys that don't fit that bill. I think we'll see some trades this offseason, and I think guys like McCants, Jacobs and Cooley could become a part of that long-term core of players that Gibbs will lean on in the future, as long as they perform well in these last games of the season.

This is definitely try-out time for everybody on the roster, but looking for Redskins players means looking for winners, and winning will always be goal number one with Joe Gibbs, no matter what the record or the draft stakes.