Kyle Shanahan Emerges From His Father's Shadow

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by backrow

GWilliams had the next HC Clause, and where did that get him?

that report was false.. at least in terms of the compensation part

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

Exactly, too many folks here are saying how frigging great our WR corp is going to be, which is contrast to the reality of the play we have seen thus far. Last year the preview mags all pegged Thomas as having a breakout year only to see him have a mediocre year for us. Kelly had flashes of greatness towards the end, but the season was already lost. Mitchell did great in the preseason, but what does that count for? Can they break out this season? Of course they can, and I hope they do, but so far the only one that has showed potential is really Kelly.

Kelly has done nothing in two years. IMO he might not even make the team. I remember reading an artice a while back and it quoted an NFC East scout mentioning that Kelly simply can't seperate from DB's. We'll see if the new staff can put him in positions to catch more balls.

[MTK]

Thomas has clearly shown more than Kelly at this point, not sure how that's even debateable honestly.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

given the kindergarden offense that zorn ran and his hesitance to let our younger guys actually get on the field, i don't think its fair to judge any of the 2008 2nd rounders on what they've done so far. i'd go so far as to say that kelly, thomas, and davis performed as they did in 2009 in spite of zorn. we all thought Davis was a bust until Cooley got hurt and we actually got to see what he could do when given a chance. i'm honestly very optimistic about our receiving corps under a REAL head coach. at the very least, kelly will actually be put in games in our red zone offense.

last year, it infuriated me to no end to see moss and ARE as the only two WRs in the red zone most of the time. i even remember several occasions where cooley wasnt on the field. no excuse for any of that. zorn was in way over his head and our entire offense hurt because of it.

[dblanch66]

Originally Posted by backrow

GWilliams had the next HC Clause, and where did that get him?

A championship in New Orleans.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Thomas has clearly shown more than Kelly at this point, not sure how that's even debateable honestly.

Based on 2009, Kelly has pretty much a clean sweep on the relative statistics. Any advantage for Thomas goes back to a disappointing 2008 where Kelly was just unable to get on the field, for whatever reason.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Based on 2009, Kelly has pretty much a clean sweep on the relative statistics. Any advantage for Thomas goes back to a disappointing 2008 where Kelly was just unable to get on the field, for whatever reason.

The receiving stats are about even.

Thomas 25-325-3
Kelly 25-347-0

Thomas has the advantage to me simply because he also contributes on returns.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

The receiving stats are about even.

Thomas 25-325-3
Kelly 25-347-0

Thomas has the advantage to me simply because he also contributes on returns.

Which is fair, I think.

I do think a large number of people are overestimating how much Devin is just going to get handed to him in this offense, and I think we've seen that, when his opportunities are limited, Devin tends to not be willing to execute the small things in order to make himself successful.

To me, Kelly's greatest failing is that he hasn't separated himself from Thomas in this regard. There really is no reason he shouldn't have gone for 600 yards last year. I don't necessarily think it's too late to make the adjustments, but I do think Shanahan will cut bait after the 2010 season if we get more of the same.

[SmootSmack]

Redskins Insider - Other voices weigh in on Kyle Shanahan

[Dirtbag59]

Eh it's a moot point. Mitchell will pass both of them with ease. The question will then become can he step up as a quality receiver. Also do we have a spot open in our receiving corps, at least on paper? By my count I see with Moss, Thomas, Kelly,and Mitchell leaving room for one more guy.

[SirClintonPortis]

Unlike all previous head coaches hired in the first decade, there is no "gap" for the Shanahans to implement a good offense for the modern NFL. Norv had a good O, but he sucked as a head coach. Marty...let's say O wasn't really his specialty. Spurrier played to "hope" that his O would translate to success in the NFL. Gibbs...folks forgot he was human and was out of the game for a long time; and his talent-acquisition philosophy cost the team in the long term. Zorn was all "hope" that he actually had the human capital to do what it takes to be a successful head coach.

Neither of the Shanahans worry me about lacking the knowledge or work ethic to implement a successful offense. The main problem is whether the O has enough talent at certain positions for it(OL, QB. cough...cough) to work all the way up to the Super Bowl.

[redsk1]

Very excited about Kyle and Mike. We've got some guys who can really do some brilliant offensive scheming. It's really been quite a while since we've had someone of this caliber.

[ethat001]

Is Kyle Shanahan the Skins' x-factor?
August, 12, 2010 3:46 PM ET

By Matt Mosley
When I arrived at Redskins Park last Thursday, I expected all the players to be talking about Mike Shanahan. But what I quickly realized is that Shanahan's son, Kyle, is being embraced just as much as the head coach. The 30-year-old former Texas Longhorn is on the fast track to be a head coach in the NFL, according to the Post. Some folks already think Shanahan could succeed his father in Washington, but I'd like to see the offense play a couple games before jumping on that bandwagon.

On Thursday, Kyle talked to reporters about how difficult it is to be "better" than other offenses. Check out the following quote:

"Better is really your results," Shanahan said. "If you think you're a guru and you try to draw up a ton of stuff, and do all this stuff and you're punting all the time, you're not a very good coach. And it's hard in this day and age to have a team that's just absolutely better than the next team.

"Usually it's pretty even, so you've got to help give [players] advantages. If you go back to the days when you had those Cowboy teams, they just kept it simple because [their guys were] going to win every time. Their guys were just better than the guys they were going against. But with all the competition now, if you can change things up, I think that's a huge advantage."

So by my count, Kyle Shanahan was about 12 when the Cowboys started winning those Super Bowls in the 90s. I'm not so sure Norv Turner or Troy Aikman would agree with how "simple" the offense was at that point. But I understand Shanahan's point. With as much talent as you'll find on every NFL roster (including the Rams), it's important to provide your players with every little advantage.

Kyle did a nice job with the Texans, but let's give it a little while before we bring out the anointing oil, as Bill Parcells might say.

Is Kyle Shanahan the Skins' x-factor? - NFC East Blog - ESPN

Amazing that a 30 year old guy is now our offensive "genius", and talked about as a potential head coach. On the practice field he looked like one of my friends out there -- goofy, wearing a t-shirt and shorts in the middle of guys 3 times his size. This guy is 8 years younger than our starting WR (and making millions of dollars). I buy the kool-aid, so I have high hopes for us, but it's very interesting. As far as I can see -- he's only had ONE year as the offensive coach calling plays, right? Don't people start to figure you out after 1-2 years?

Kyle's resume:
- Bucs - "quality control" x 2 years
- Texans WR coach x 1 year
- Texans QB coach x 1 year
- Texans offensive coordinator x 1 year
- Texans offensive coordinator + calling plays - ONE YEAR

Not to mention the Texans had a ProBowl QB Matt Shaub and WR Andre Johnson during this period. Anyway, he could be great, but with ONE YEAR experience calling plays, that sounds awfully familiar to two years ago. Zorn's first year of calling plays actually went decently well. It was only the second year when people figured him out: always running left on goal lines and calling Swinging Gates. Twice.

Anyway, every year about this time there is a HUGE unbreakable optimism for the regular season. Every coach, every new player and every 35 year old player is going to the ProBowl. This year once again, I hope it is true.

I'd love for this 30 year old dude to be our head coach in 10 years --> that would mean we finally had a good decade.

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by backrow

GWilliams had the next HC Clause, and where did that get him?

It got him a Superbowl (as defensive coordinator) !!!

I think we're jumping the gun on Kyle becoming HC. Mike wants another ring. I mean there's really no other reason to keep coaching after you've got one right (let along two)? That probably takes a few years, after which maybe Kyle gets the nod if he's still here. Or Mike can't make it happen again and then all bets are off, as I could see Snyder go a completely different direction.

...does anyone else ever wonder if Vinny will return someday? Sometimes I wake up from a dead sleep screaming...