Football Outsiders: Redskins dead last in under-25 talent

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by GMScud

I'd be interested to hear GTripp's thoughts on this. There was so much discussion on FBO predicting the Skins to make the playoffs. Now they're trashing our "youth." Hmmmm.

I have plenty of thoughts on this, but since I'd just be parroting myself from yesterday, this is easier for me:

Washington Ranks 32nd in the NFL in Football Outsiders' "Under 25" Organizational Talent

The crux of the argument is that even the Redskins' cheap developmental talent is either in it's prime or on the downside of their careers. The cost-structure of this team is very, very good. There are no dead weight contracts anymore, and a lot of our very best contributors are making very little money.

But even those players (Lorenzo Alexander, Justin Tryon, Chris Wilson, Carlos Rogers, Rocky McIntosh, Derrick Dockery) are older than you'd think and most are due gigantic raises or will walk in free agency. Either way, the production from that group isn't sustainable over a two to three year period (think about Lemar Marshall or Joe Saleve'a). The type of player whose declines from our 2005 playoff year derailed our 2006 season are the real motor of the 2010 team. So, we have precious few draft picks, and will have to replace both our contributors and our non-contributors over the next few years.

Free agency will be a viable resource for us in the future because we don't have many of Vinnys terrible contract dollars outstanding. We're just unlikely to get a significant contribution from our recent or impending drafts.