Young Redskins' Players

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Your position assumes that the young players were just as capable and ready to play in the past as they were on the day that Shanahan actually played them.

Riley, for one, was deemed not ready at the beginning of this season. Lack of OTAs were blamed on his not understanding the assignments well enough. What evidence do you have that says Riley was ready before Shanahan put him in?

My position is that the young players who finally made the field - - too often because of injuries to veteran starters and not merely the incompetence of veteran starters (Galloway) - - did not have some kind of football epiphany two weeks before they saw the field on Sundays. They developed; they improved. However, they were not "bumbling incompetents" three weeks before they played on Sunday and miraculously found themselves able to play football.

By the way, if they had been "bumbling incompetents" the question shifts to why the coaches kept them anywhere near Ashburn VA if that is what they saw in the players...

Riley was "ready enough" to play a defensive series for a team that was not going to the playoffs. Remember, the Redskins over the past two seasons have not been fighting tooth-and-nail to see if they can get a bye-week in the playoffs; this is a team that has to build itself up to be competitive. Let me ask your question in reverse:

What more evidence would you need to see to determine that Rocky McIntosh (the guy playing ahead of Riley) was not going to be one of the pillars of your defense once the team was good enough to make the playoffs?