Why Did We Draft Fred Davis?

[itvnetop]

Originally Posted by fd86bro

1st off i dont know really why u draft a te so high when u have cooley 2nd to all the ppl thats disappointed im telling u right now- my bro will make his mark on this team WATCHHHHHHH

Welcome to the board, fdbro... you're on the Wearesc board too, right? Tell your brother that skins' fans are a fickle bunch, but we've got his back... as a Trojan, I saw Fred struggle his frosh year and become the best TE in the nation a few seasons later.

Guys, this is really Fred's brother (if it's the same guy).

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by itvnetop

Welcome to the board, fdbro... you're on the Wearesc board too, right? Tell your brother that skins' fans are a fickle bunch, but we've got his back... as a Trojan, I saw Fred struggle his frosh year and become the best TE in the nation a few seasons later.

Guys, this is really Fred's brother (if it's the same guy).

I'm almost positive it is, so with that in mind I wonder if Fred had the same thought his brother had, which is "Why'd you all draft me when you already have Cooley?"

[Beemnseven]

Again, I don't have a problem with the idea of drafting Fred Davis per se, I just think it was a really high price to pay for what this year is a #3 tight end. Now, Yoder is probably gone after this season, and Davis will move into the backup role behind Cooley. I also like the idea of 2 TE sets which hopefully adds a dimension to our offense that opponents will have a lot of trouble with. It's also an advantage to have someone of similar talents as Cooley in case he misses time to injury.

So maybe the more appropriate question is why we drafted Malcolm Kelly. At this site we've all been saying that restocking at the offensive line has to be a priority. Guess what? WE WERE RIGHT. The front office was WRONG. They didn't see it as a priority and now this offense is paying for it royally. And, we pissed away a 2nd round pick for that washed up has-been, Jason Taylor. That puts us even further behind in our ability to upgrade the line for the future.

So the problem isn't really with Fred Davis. The blame, as usual, lies with Vinney Cerrato who looks as though he's F'ed up this draft too. I tried to play along this time, to give him the benefit of the doubt. But his neglect of both offensive and defensive lines will be the downfall of this team.

And most of us here saw it coming.

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

Again, I don't have a problem with the idea of drafting Fred Davis per se, I just think it was a really high price to pay for what this year is a #3 tight end. Now, Yoder is probably gone after this season, and Davis will move into the backup role behind Cooley. I also like the idea of 2 TE sets which hopefully adds a dimension to our offense that opponents will have a lot of trouble with. It's also an advantage to have someone of similar talents as Cooley in case he misses time to injury.

So maybe the more appropriate question is why we drafted Malcolm Kelly. At this site we've all been saying that restocking at the offensive line has to be a priority. Guess what? WE WERE RIGHT. The front office was WRONG. They didn't see it as a priority and now this offense is paying for it royally. And, we pissed away a 2nd round pick for that washed up has-been, Jason Taylor. That puts us even further behind in our ability to upgrade the line for the future.

So the problem isn't really with Fred Davis. The blame, as usual, lies with Vinney Cerrato who looks as though he's F'ed up this draft too. I tried to play along this time, to give him the benefit of the doubt. But his neglect of both offensive and defensive lines will be the downfall of this team.

And most of us here saw it coming.

Beemer, my sentiments exactly. Great teams are built from the inside out. The Skins will not threaten the upper echelon until they get stronger in the trenches.

[fd86bro]

he's the fastest te on the team most athletic, watchhhhhhh

[PennSkinsFan]

Originally Posted by fd86bro

he's the fastest te on the team most athletic, watchhhhhhh

Never doubted that for a moment. He just needs to grasp the mental part of professional football, including managing and understanding the offense. According to Zorn, this is one of his issues.

Lots of players are fast and speedy, but if you can't grasp the play book and fit into the offense, the speed means nothing. Taylor Jacobs was fast too.

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by PennSkinsFanhR

Never doubted that for a moment. He just needs to grasp the mental part of professional football, including managing and understanding the offense. According to Zorn, this is one of his issues.

Lots of players are fast and speedy, but if you can't grasp the play book and fit into the offense, the speed means nothing. Taylor Jacobs was fast too.

And we passed on Anquan Boldin (4.7 at the combine) for Taylor Jacob's speed (4.4). That worked out well. Hopefully Davis gets it together soon. One aspect that made trading up for Cooley so desirable to Gibbs was Cooley's intelligence. I recall hearing that Cooley had one of the better scores on the Wonderlic test. He went on to lead the team with 6 receiving TDs as a rookie, and never looked back. Athletic ability is great, but we all want to see Davis combine that with intelligent play that wins the coaches' trust.

[Beemnseven]

Martellus Bennett numbers:

12 catches, 206 yards, 2 touchdowns

Thomas, Davis and Kelly numbers combined:

13 catches, 89 yards

Kelly has been injured, so I'll give him a pass. But the front office has to be scrutinized for taking a player with known knee issues. And I'm not saying they should be world-beaters out of the gate, but by now, we should be seeing something.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Troy Williamson. Worst fast guy. Ever.

[SBXVII]

I don't have a problem with the Davis signing. They wanted a 2 TE set. Yoder keeps getting brougt back. I'm sure Davis will surpass Yoder as a younger Cooley when he gets the mental side of the game. Which is god knows what?.....route running?- I blame the TE coach for not teaching the routes better. or is it learning the plays/play calls? If he is having trouble don't throw the kitchen sink at him...give him some good plays that involve 2 TE's and have him work in each week more and more.

Now we are going to blame the front office for not drafting O-linemen again. You must have been one of the O-linemen touters. "We need to upgrade/back up our O-line." We need a lot of things. You know why....cause they draft for best player vs. need. We still needed a WR. If we only picked up Thomas look where we would be. Another 5-10 yrd wonder. I'll agree we had protection problems the last two games. I'll also admit we ran up against the probably the two toughest defenses the last two games. but now your going to say we should have drafted an O-linemen ("which he probably would have had problems with the mental game. " Zorn's famous last words.) when you have to admit our offense played lights out for 8 games not allowing a sack and giving the best protection in the league? Hmm. I say our offense needs to get back on track and bring in a deep threat to push more defensive players out of the box. JC has to learn to throw a deep pass once and a while even if it's nothing but a ploy to show we might do it. Instead of throwing 5-10 yarders waiting for a 20 yarder plus to never develope.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by SBXVII

......I'll agree we had protection problems the last two games. I'll also admit we ran up against the probably the two toughest defenses the last two games. but now your going to say we should have drafted an O-linemen ("which he probably would have had problems with the mental game. " Zorn's famous last words.) when you have to admit our offense played lights out for 8 games not allowing a sack and giving the best protection in the league? Hmm. I say our offense needs to get back on track and bring in a deep threat to push more defensive players out of the box. JC has to learn to throw a deep pass once and a while even if it's nothing but a ploy to show we might do it. Instead of throwing 5-10 yarders waiting for a 20 yarder plus to never develope.

In the first 8 games in which you say our offense "played light outs and we had the best protection in the league", we played against 4 of the worst defenses in the NFL.

1) Detroit Lions (0-8) 31st ranked defense
2) Cleveland Browns 26th ranked deense
3) St. Louis Rams 30th ranked defense
4) New Orleans Saints 24th ranked defense


Not exactly great defenses. These defenses do not scare anyone. If you are going to want the OL to play at your "lights out" level, we will need to play crappy teams like we played back then.
The problem is down the stretch we play:
1) Giants
2) Eagles
3) Ravens

You are only good as the teams you play against. Our OL usually plays well against the weak/crappy defenses and usually plays poorly against the best defenses. That means our OL is OK, but not good. We do not have a very good OL. The good defenses are making OL look like shit.
The NY Giants offensive line plays well against good and bad teams. That is why they are currently better than us. Manning has time to look down field and Brandon Jacobs, Derek Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw are running well against every team. Kind of reminds me of our old Hog Days in the 80's and 90's.
Campbell does not have the time to throw deep. It is not the play calling. Zorn does not feel confidant enough in our OL to give Campbell the time to throw down field, so they are forced to keep it short.

[wilsowilso]

Hey Fred Davis brother can you ask Fred to study more so we can actually see the guy kick ass on the field. The coach basically said Fred does not have the mental aspect down so the next time you see him playing xbox maybe you could suggest he picks up the playbook.

[wilsowilso]

Yeah maybe it's politics. Zorn seems to have very little patience for rookies. On the other hand he has plenty of patience for our crappy oline play.

[A10sROCK]

I think we need to give the rookies a chance. He and Kelly & Thomas haven't done much so far. However, if by next season they aren't producing - then we can start giving them the bust label.

Certainly Vinny and Zorn have got to think about picking some OL and DL players early in the next draft. Without good line play you can't reach the next level in the NFL.

One thing is certain: rookies who come to the Redskins will know that they better be in shape and mentally ready for this team. Zorn is going to give them no free passes and newbies will know that coming here.

[ethat001]

What ever happened to Fred Davis?
By Jason Reid

Through nine games, second-year tight end Fred Davis has only nine receptions for 133 yards, with no touchdowns.

During the offseason, Redskins coaches said the team planned to use more two-tight end sets, so Davis and tight end Chris Cooley were both expected to have big seasons. Cooley quickly emerged as one of quarterback Donovan McNabb's favorite targets and is among the league leaders at his position, with 39 receptions for 440 yards and two touchdowns.

What's happened to Davis?

"I guess that's a good question," Davis said. "I mean, that's hard, I don't really know the answer to that question, because I don't really question anything that they [the coaches] do. I just roll with it and try to stay positive. It's a business. I don't understand what it is. ... I guess they want to see other looks or do other things.

click for rest of article

By Jason Reid | November 10, 2010; 1:45 PM ET

Again, a wasted 2nd round pick. Just like we all said 2 years ago -- we did NOT need another pass-catching TE when we had a ProBowl Chris Cooley. If anything, we needed a blocking TE, but not one in the 2nd round.

Hindsight is always 20/20 - but how awesome would it have been to draft ONE WR that year, and then two offensive linemen (-- not named Rhinehart)...