Mini camp news

[JoeRedskin]

At LB, we still have Jarmon, Wilson, Alexander, Blades, Orakpo. Sure, MacIntosh would seem to be an upgrade but Carter really is a straight up 4-3 end (based on his performance in SanFran). With Blades and Jarmon inside, along with possibly Henson, I think LB is one of our positions of depth this year. Truthfully, I think, w/ or w/o AH, our front defensive front seven is pretty deep and gives us a lot of flexibility.

I will be disappointed if any of our four current draft picks are used on the front seven. If we get picks by trading away some of these guys, well then maybe we spend a low pick on a body. Even if Carter and McIntosh get traded, I would rather us throw more draft darts at O lineman. We have zilcho there.

[SFREDSKIN]

Jason Jean-Pierre, this guy is a hell of an athlete. I wouldn't mind seeing Orakpo on one side and Jean-Pierre on the other.

[CRedskinsRule]

LaRon and Chris Horton

[Pocket$ $traight]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

LaRon and Chris Horton

Laron looks like a comic book character! Obviously he hasn't been sitting on his ass like most of the people who want to dump him for a bag of peanuts...

[SBXVII]

Originally Posted by Pocket$ $traight

Laron looks like a comic book character! Obviously he hasn't been sitting on his ass like most of the people who want to dump him for a bag of peanuts...

Well if the peanuts can atleast cover a WR and they come cheap I'm on board.

[SBXVII]

Joe, I'm sure you know it but 3 of your 5 supposed LB's are DE's or so we picked them up as such. Only Wilson and Blades are true LB's. Jarmon is a DE, kinda small but they were supposed to beef him up in the off season. Alexander was a DE turned OL only to be returned to DE. Orakpo was a DE whom they are trying to convert to a tweener. Last yr for Orakpo was not bad so he might work out.

In a nut shell though it doesn't seem like the front office or HC is panicking about OL or LB so I'm not worried. They either have a plan or like what they already have. I said it once and will say it again, I don't think our problem was personel we had...especially on OL. I think our major problem was scheme and blocking for that scheme. When finally other teams figured out what we were doing we got dominated. Which was after game 6 of the first yr of Zorn.

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by SBXVII

Joe, I'm sure you know it but 3 of your 5 supposed LB's are DE's or so we picked them up as such. Only Wilson and Blades are true LB's. Jarmon is a DE, kinda small but they were supposed to beef him up in the off season. Alexander was a DE turned OL only to be returned to DE. Orakpo was a DE whom they are trying to convert to a tweener. Last yr for Orakpo was not bad so he might work out.

In a nut shell though it doesn't seem like the front office or HC is panicking about OL or LB so I'm not worried. They either have a plan or like what they already have. I said it once and will say it again, I don't think our problem was personel we had...especially on OL. I think our major problem was scheme and blocking for that scheme. When finally other teams figured out what we were doing we got dominated. Which was after game 6 of the first yr of Zorn.

Wilson is originally a DE as well.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by SBXVII

Joe, I'm sure you know it but 3 of your 5 supposed LB's are DE's or so we picked them up as such. Only Wilson and Blades are true LB's. Jarmon is a DE, kinda small but they were supposed to beef him up in the off season. Alexander was a DE turned OL only to be returned to DE. Orakpo was a DE whom they are trying to convert to a tweener. Last yr for Orakpo was not bad so he might work out.

In a nut shell though it doesn't seem like the front office or HC is panicking about OL or LB so I'm not worried. They either have a plan or like what they already have. I said it once and will say it again, I don't think our problem was personel we had...especially on OL. I think our major problem was scheme and blocking for that scheme. When finally other teams figured out what we were doing we got dominated. Which was after game 6 of the first yr of Zorn.

Actually, only two are career LB's - Wilson is also a converted 4-3 DE.

Jarmon, Orakpo, Alexander and Wilson are all guys who seem to have talent to play with the big boys. Yes, there is the conversion issue. Orakpo seems to be making a rough but solid transition. Hopefully Jarmon & Wilson can do the same. As for Alexander, the man is a beast and a workaholic with enough talent to play in this league - the LB position requires some versitility and he has shown that in spades. Plus, as I said, these converted DE's give us a lot of flexibility to rush the passer from a variety of places and to switch into and out of a 4-3 almost at will. Hell, with a creative DC, we may just play a "Front 7" defense and let the other side try and figure out who's doing what.

Bottom line, I can understand the FO's confidence in the LB depth b/c of the raw talent that the roster seems to possess there. I simply don't see much talent, raw or otherwise, along the OLine.

[tryfuhl]

“I think, so far, there has been a ‘Let’s get this thing right’ attitude,’" Hicks, one of the Redskins’ free agent pickups, said. "Phillip Daniels’ locker is right next to mine and the first thing he said to me when I introduced myself to him was, ‘It’s time to get this thing right.’

Daniels has become one of my fave Skins over the past few years.

[Pocket$ $traight]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

“I think, so far, there has been a ‘Let’s get this thing right’ attitude,’" Hicks, one of the Redskins’ free agent pickups, said. "Phillip Daniels’ locker is right next to mine and the first thing he said to me when I introduced myself to him was, ‘It’s time to get this thing right.’

Daniels has become one of my fave Skins over the past few years.

Daniels is a beast.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

He's got to be more inventive than Blache, but I don't think anyone would rank Haslett among the more creative DC's in the league. Hopefully i'm wrong, but I expect our defense to pretty much be a disaster.

[joethiesmanfan]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

He's got to be more inventive than Blache, but I don't think anyone would rank Haslett among the more creative DC's in the league. Hopefully i'm wrong, but I expect our defense to pretty much be a disaster.

I agree with the BigheadDemocrat.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

He's got to be more inventive than Blache, but I don't think anyone would rank Haslett among the more creative DC's in the league. Hopefully i'm wrong, but I expect our defense to pretty much be a disaster.

I am concerned as well. I feel like this change is being made to suit the DC and his scheme more than what is best for the team. Plus Haslett has never really impressed me. If this were some stud DC coming in I would say do whatever you want. But he is not a stud DC.
Our team roster is built to play the 4-3 and we play it well. This change seems forced.
This reminds me of Gibbs arrival back in 81. After going 0-5 Gibbs made the smart move of changing his scheme from Air-Coryell pass happy to a power running game when he saw his O-line and Rb's were the strength of his roster. That took some humility to do that.
Does Haslett and Shanahan have that in them?

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

I am concerned as well. I feel like this change is being made to suit the DC and his scheme more than what is best for the team. Plus Haslett has never really impressed me. If this were some stud DC coming in I would say do whatever you want. But he is not a stud DC.
Our team roster is built to play the 4-3 and we play it well. This change seems forced.
This reminds me of Gibbs arrival back in 81. After going 0-5 Gibbs made the smart move of changing his scheme from Air-Coryell pass happy to a power running game when he saw his O-line and Rb's were the strength of his roster. That took some humility to do that.
Does Haslett and Shanahan have that in them?

I've been trying to understand the fascination with the 3-4. It was my hope we would improve on what we had as opposed to implementing an entire new scheme without the personnel to make it work. It may not be a bad idea to incooperate some 3-4 concepts, but as a staple the pieces are not there.

[JoeRedskin]

I agree, Haslett doesn't scream "Innovator" to me - but I am willing to wait and see. I think he's got a good track record as a D-Coord.

Let's face it. 4-12 is 4-12. Not only that, I don't think we can say, without just guessing, what the real talent level of our team is. Under Zorn/Cerrato/Blache, I think we can all agree that the teams' talent was not maximized and, as such, it's really hard to say if some of these guys have the talent to succeed at this level. I guess I just feel from what I saw, guys playing pretty well in a vanilla defense, that with any type of scheming or flexibility, the defense will be fine.