The Arguement for Signing Peyton Manning

Let's assume for now that Peyton Manning will be fully recovered and ready to go for the 2012 season and that he is released by the Indianapolis Colts.  Should the Redskins try to sign him?


THE POSITIVE

SHORT-TERM:  Realistically, I  think we could plan on 2 or maybe 3 years out of a healthy Peyton Manning.  So in the short term, we could not have a better leader on the field in 2012 and 2013.

WIDE RECEIVERS:  If we signed Peyton Manning, that may give us an inside edge to sign an elite level free agent Wide Receiver to go with him.  If we also signed WR Reggie Wayne, Peyton's longtime teammate, or Vincent Jackson, Santana Moss could move to the #2 slot where he is best suited and could thrive.  That would leave Jabar Gaffney as a solid #3 and Anthony Armstrong along with the two young up-and-comers, Leonard Hankerson and Niles Paul, to fill out the squad.  That would be the best overall group of wide receivers the Redskins have fielded in over a decade.

DRAFT PICKS:  Another big advantage to signing Peyton would be saving our draft picks and using them to fill out several other big areas of need.  The Redskins could stay at pick #6 and select someone like CB Morris Claiborne, which would certainly make sense.  They could also follow last year's plan and trade back in the draft to accumulate picks.  If they were able to trade back to the 12-15 range, they could add badly needed help to their interior offensive line by selecting either of the available Guards, David DeCastro or G Cordy Glenn, and hopefully pick up an additional second round pick in the process.

WINNING:  Most importantly for fans, we could have a legitimate chance of going from worst to first in the NFC East.  Last year, we all saw how much better Peyton Manning single-handedly made the Colts and he could do the same thing for the Redskins.  He could instantly transform our anemic offense with no big play ability into a feared unit with a realistic chance at the playoffs and more.


THE NEGATIVE

There are always upsides and downsides to every free agent and Peyton Manning is no different.

MONEY:  The first obstacle the team will have to overcome will be the mountain of cash they will be giving away.  Obviously Peyton Manning himself will not come cheap, but that is not the only check we will have to write.  In addition to Peyton's contract, we will have no choice but to dole out a second big contract for an elite free agent wide receiver.  Then, there is the offensive line.  Assuming G Kory Lichtensteiger returns and is healthy, the Redskins would need to add at least one free agent Guard to the offensive line.  And, since we are protecting a fairly fragile Peyton Manning, we should probably invest in one of the best free agent Guards that are available like Ben Grubbs or Carl Nicks, rather than selecting an unproven lineman out of the draft and expecting him to perform at an elite level right out of the gate.

FREE AGENTS:  If the Redskins sign Peyton Manning, they are officially going into Win-Now mode for the next two years.  That means you cannot necessarily use last year's strategy of selecting key players to build the team for the long-term.  Instead, we will have to go for broke and sign the best free agents available to plug the many remaining holes on the team as quickly as possible, regardless of their age.

LONG-TERM:  Of course, Peyton is not a long-term solution for us at quarterback.  While we should be covered for the next two seasons, we should immediately invest an early round 2012 draft pick in a young quarterback that can begin developing and learning from the absolute best and groom him to take over the reigns when Peyton ultimately retires.


LOGIC

There is no easy answer.  We could sign Peyton Manning and catch lightning in a bottle for the 2-3 years and have a shot not just to get into the playoffs, but make a legitimate push for the Super Bowl.

However, there is no way fans can possibly block out what Dan Snyder has done to the Redskins over the last miserable decade.  The team could dish out huge contracts to not only Peyton Manning, but several other 30+ veterans.  Peyton could get badly hurt in the very first game and have no choice other than to retire.  Then, we will have missed out on quarterbacks Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Matt Flynn and be staring at yet another season long nightmare dreaming about picking USC Quarterback Matt Barkley in next year's draft.

All in all, logic tells us to pass on signing Peyton Manning and, instead, to continue last offseason's smart approach of building the team for the long haul with high quality, young players that best fit our system.  If we follow logic, we should select a young quarterback in the upcoming draft or try to sign the younger free agent quarterback with upside, Matt Flynn.

Since Dan Snyder has followed anything but logic since he bought the team, who knows what will happen.  Decisions, decisions.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Post NFL Draft Review

Well, for Redskins' fans, this NFL draft was a very different experience as we watched the Redskins brain trust take a very different approach.  The Redskins' brain trust traded back in the draft multiple times to obtain additional picks in the later rounds in order to fill a long list of needs on the roster. The team needed an infusion of both depth and youth at almost every position and Mike Shanahan and company did accomplish several of the team's goals.

Surprisingly, Shanahan and Bruce Allen focused on the defense early, which struggled mightily last year with the switch to a 3-4 defense.  While first round pick Ryan Kerrigan is not generally considered an elite level player, he should be a very good player for the team and an excellent fit in the 3-4 defense at Outside Linebacker and, possibly, Defensive End in certain situations.  With London Flether getting close to retirement and Rocky McIntosh set to be a free agent, the Redskins needed to add help at Linebacker and this was a solid move.

Another glaring need was depth on the Defensive Line and the Redskins helped address that need by selecting Jarvis Jenkins.  Some analysts consider Jenkins a bit of a reach in the 2nd round, but the team believes he has potential and flexibility playing defensive end and some defensive tackle.

Once again, the Redskins also continued their tradition of drafting Wide Receivers beginning with Leonard Hankerson, a good size wideout with potential, in the 3rd round.  But that was not enough for Mike Shanahan so he added Niles Paul in the 5th round and Aldrick Robinson in the 6th round.  This may mark the end of the road for Wide Receiver, and former 2nd round pick, Malcolm Kelly, who has been a huge disappointment to put it politely.

With Clinton Portis gone and Ryan Torain still an injury risk, the Redskins also needed to add depth to the running back corps.  After all the excitement last preseason when the Redskins had 3 aging veterans in Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson and Willy Parker on the roster, the Redskins went with the youth movement this year and drafted Running Back Roy Helu in the 4th round and Evan Royster in the 6th round.  Helu is thought to be a good fit in coach Shanahan's  running scheme, but Royster is most likely an emergency back and special team's player.

The team also added more help to the defensive side of ball by selecting Safety Dejon Gomes, Cornerback Brandyn Thompson, Defensive End Markus White, and Defensive Tackle Christopher Neild.  Shanahan also selected Offensive Guard Maurice Hurt to round out the draft.

It was a welcome change to see the Redskins trade down in the draft and accumulate picks in the later rounds.  One of the questions now is, did they use those additional picks wisely?  Several of the later round picks, like Dejon Gomes, were considered reaches and some of them may have a difficult time making the team.  It is clear that this is a team in transition and there is no way to fill all of the team's needs in one draft so Mike Shanahan and company chose to focus on improving the team's defense and it appears they have accomplished that.

Of course, it would not be Dan Snyder's Redskins if there wasn't some type of controversy.  As every Redskins' fan knows all to well, the team's biggest need is at Quarterback and that position was completely ignored.  Most fans thought the team would use their 1st round pick, or at least, their 2nd round pick on a Quarterback and it did not happen.

QB Blaine Gabbert was available when the Redskins selected their 1st round pick at number 10, but the team passed on him along with everyone else.  If Mike Shanahan did not think Gabbert or any of the other available Quarterbacks were potential franchise Quarterbacks, it is understandable that they did not draft one in the 1st round.  However, what does not make sense is that they did not draft any Quarterback at all even for developmental purposes.  While the Redskins need a starting Quarterback, the team should also be looking for a young backup Quarterback they can develop over time.  Surely, one of the many Quarterbacks selected in this year's draft could have fit the bill.

After painfully watching Shanahan ignore the Quarterback and Offensive Line positions, where the team needs help at both Guard and Center, we can't help but think Shanahan is planning a run at next year's projected #1 draft pick, Quarterback Andrew Luck.  Unfortunately, that could mean a brutal season for the team in 2011.  They have some pieces in place on the defense now.  Perhaps, they will focus on the offense when the free agent period begins.  We can only hope.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

2011 Redskins NFL Draft Preview

At long last, the draft is here.  After all the negative talk about the lockout and worrying about what free agents may be available, we can finally sit down and add some much needed players to our team.


This year, the Redskins have 4 Primary Needs (not necessarily in order):

1. Quarterback
2. Offensive Line
3. Defensive Line
4. Linebacker

Here are the Secondary Needs:

1. Cornerback
2. Safety - Thanks to Oshiomogho Atogwe
3. Runningback
4. Wide Receiver

Let's take a look at this year's positional needs.

Quarterback - This is a major priority.  Rex Grossman is a free agent.  Donovan McNabb, one way or another, is gone.  That leaves John Beck as the only QB on the roster, not a good situation.  Make that, a very bad situation.


Offensive Line - The Redskins must resign Right Tackle Jammal Brown.  Then, they must upgrade the interior of the line.  The Redskins could not run the ball up the middle much at all in 2010.  Guard is a glaring weak spot and Casey Rabach is a serviceable Center at best at this stage of his career.


Wide Receiver - Santana Moss and Anthony Armstrong, who was a lucky find, must both be resigned.  At this point, the best option would be to pursue a WR in free agency.  Given the horrible history the Redskins have had drafting WR's and the fact that they have no one to throw the ball to them, this should not be the focus of the draft.

Runningback - Ryan Torain may be a legitmate starter, but the team must add depth due to his injury history.

Defensive Line - In the 3-4 defense, you must have an anchor in the middle at Nose Tackle and the Redskins did not have one in the 2010 season.  Hopefully, Ma'ake Kemoeatu can continue his comeback from his previous achilles injury and be at least a part-time force in the middle.  Albert Haynesworth is a complete loss and will not be with the team in 2011.  If Jeremy Jarmon is not ready to step up, depth at Defensive End is needed as well.


Linebacker - Brian Orakpo is the young star of the defense and somehow London Fletcher continues to play at a high level, but at 35 we must plan for the future.  Rocky Macintosh was solid in the 4-3 defense, but does not seem well suited for the 3-4.


Cornerback - DeAngelo Hall is solid on one side, but Carlos Rogers has never lived up to his high draft pick status.  He is not a bad coverage corner, but his inability to get any turnovers at all is a major negative.  There may be too many other needs to address cornerback this offseason.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Jeremy Jarmon Selected in Third Round of NFL Supplemental Draft

Fresh off the 2009 NFL draft, the Redskins went ahead and began their 2010 draft early by selecting Jeremy Jarmon in the third round of the supplemental draft. Jarmon is a big boy at 6-3 and 277 pounds. He played defensive end at Kentucky for three years and he will play on the left side behind Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn.

Jarmon will be a project for this year and probably will see most of his playing time on special teams. He is only 21 years old so he is still a little raw and reportedly needs to get significantly stronger in order to hold up against NFL pros. The good news is that he will spend all year with Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn who are consummate professionals and should be excellent mentors for him.

This was a good move for the Redskins. The team could not make it through a full season with only Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn. Both players are past their prime and Daniels missed all of last season due to injury. Selecting a young defensive end with good long-term potential is a better option than signing an older veteran stop gap for one year or during midseason. Vinny Cerato believes Jarmon was projected to be a second round pick in 2010, which of course means he would have actually been a third round pick. Nevertheless, several teams had placed fourth round claims on Jarmon in the supplemental draft so he was a wanted player. Had the Redskins not used their third round pick on him, they would have lost him to another team in the fourth round.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Redskins 2009 Post-Draft Analysis

Thank you New York Jets!, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for moving up in the draft to select Mark Sanchez so that we could actually use our few draft picks to select players we need, rather than the ones our owner Daniel Snyder lusts after.

Sure, I would have loved to have Mark Sanchez on our team, but had we traded the players or draft picks necessary to move up to draft him, boy would we have been bad this season. By sticking with our few draft picks and selecting players that will fill very real needs on our team, we have a much better chance of winning this year.

BRIAN ORAKPO is obviously a great talent and an enormous boost to our defense. However, there is one mild concern. We desperately need Brian at DE and there are already rumors circulating that he may be playing SLB for us. We have great potential to use Brian as a flex player playing mainly DE and occasionally SLB, but we need him much more at DE. Either way, getting him on the field is a big upgrade. Philip Daniels will be a great mentor for him this year, not to mention Renaldo Wynn.

KEVIN BARNES has potential to be a starting CB for the team and with oft-injured Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot manning the position, we need as many bodies as possible. However, it is disappointing that we did not use this pick to draft a second DE, SLB or OT. If the team expects Brian Orakpo to play SLB, they should have selected another DE to sure up the front seven on defence. Likewise, if he does play DE, they should have drafted some badly needed depth at SLB or at least at OT.

The CODY GLENN and ROBERT HENSON picks in the 5th and 6th rounds were wasted picks. Cody Glenn may have some potential upside because he only played OLB for one year at Nebraska and may develop. With that said, has anyone ever said the words "Daniel Snyder" and "player development" in the same sentence before? There were better options available at LB and OG/OT available.

EDDIE WILLIAMS is a decent pick and a guy who could fill a need as a pass catching FB, but again, this is not a big need for us. Anyone who loves the Redskins, loves FB Mike Sellers. Truth be told, he is probably due for some competition this offseason. May the best man win.

MARKO MITCHELL is a darkhorse WR and was a good final draft pick for us. He is a big target at 6'3" and he should send a clear message to WR Malcolm Kelly, who appears to be unable to get out of the trainers office and on to the field for the second straight season since being drafted. Malcolm better find a way to get healthy and on the field fast or Marko could be moving into his locker in a couple months from now.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Redskins 2009 Pre-Draft Analysis

It's time to start holding our collective breath again while the dynamic duo decide how to make a mess of our upcoming draft.

What will Danny and Vinny do?

Scenario #1 - QB Mark Sanchez falls to #8 and the Redskins trade up with Jacksonville to pick Sanchez. Since Danny boy needs to be over the top with everything, Lord only knows what they would give up to move up for the pick. After watching Danny for what seems like an eternity, my guess would be our first and third round picks this year and probably a second round pick next year.

Result - We get yet another QB of the future and he sits on the bench for a year do nothing and watches Jason Campbell run our pop-warnerish looking offense that to average 10 points per game for yet anther year. Meanwhile, our defense is absolutely run over because we have second stringers and retirees playing linebacker and defensive end. Of course, every game teams gang up on new high priced DT Albert Haynesworth and he gets injured mid-season and needs major surgery that will sideline him for a year and he is never the same player again.


Scenario #2 - QB Mark Sanchez gets picked early by another team so we don't have to worry about moving to pick him. Instead, we simply stay at pick # 13 and select either DE Aaron Maybin or DE Robert Ayers depending who is available and then we wait until the third round.

Result - We only get help at one position in the first two rounds, but boy do we need it. We could go for a SLB, but at least H.B. Blades(the most likely starter right now) is young. There is just no way the old and injury prone Philip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn can hold up for a whole season at DE. It just will not happen. They could also pick a RT, but again, at least we have Stephen Heyer who is young and still has a chance to improve.


What would be best for our team?

Scenario #3 - QB Mark Sanchez somehow still falls to pick #13 and we trade down with the New York Jets to pick allowing them to pick Sanchez. In exchange, we get the Jets' pick #17 and their second round pick. Hopefully, DE Robert Ayers falls to pick # 17 and we select him as well as the best LB available in the second round.

Result - We get some desperately needed help and youth on defense at two positions so that Andre Carter and Albert Haynesworth do not have to play 2 against 5 all season.


Scenario #4 - If Danny and Vinny are hellbent on picking another QB, here is the best we can hope for. Again, Sanchez falls to pick #13 and we trade down with the Jets. At pick # 17, we pick QB Josh Freeman(who a couple analysts have as the best QB prospect in the draft) and use our second round pick on the best DE available.

Result - Hopefully, we get a long-term QB of the future and we get some badly needed help on the defensive line.


With all that said, of course, this is Danny boy we're talking about so all this silly logical stuff could go right out the window. Seattle is also rumored to be considering taking Sanchez at pick #4. I don't know why they would take Sanchez so high because he will sit behind Matt Hasselbeck for the next 3 years and they have several other needs, but after living with Danny for a decade, nothing is a shock anymore. Needless to say, it would not be surprising if Danny boy traded away our entire 2009 draft to move up to #4 to drat Sanchez either. Result - I pretend NFL players are on strike this year and are not playing football and I do not watch ESPN from September 2009 through February 2010.

Time will tell, 48 hours and counting.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

A Look Back at the Redskins 2008 Draft

Well, the damage has been done. The only question now is how long will the Redskins suffer from their 2008 draft. When we look back at the draft now, the Redskins did do a good job of trading their first round pick and accumulating 3 second round picks. At first, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when I watched Chris Burman announce that Daniel "The Big Splash" Snyder had allowed his team to strategically drop back in the draft and add more picks. How painful that must have been for him not to make an uproar in the first round. Since our aging team had so many needs, it was a perfect scenario.

Of course, it was too good to be true and "The Big Splash" just had to go overboard. The Redskins had 2 priority needs going into the draft being a big WR and a pass rushing DE, not to mention some badly needed depth and youth on the entire offensive line, LB and CB. So what did "The Big Splash" do? He used all 3 picks on receivers. He drafted 2 young raw WR's and an unnecessary TE despite having perennial pro-bowler TE Chris Cooley. It made no sense then and now looking back, it was downright awful.

Just since 2000, there are a plethora of top of the draft WR's that were all out busts such as Mike Williams, Charles Rogers, Jerry Porter just to name a few. Forget other teams, look at the Redskins' history of top WR's draftees: Taylor Jacobs, Rod Gardner, Michael Westbrook. Of course, there is my personal favorite, Desmond Howard, selected 4th in the 1992 draft when the Redskins long hard fall from grace began.

The point is that selecting WR's can be largely hit and miss. The Redskins desperately needed a big WR so, of course, they should have selected at least one WR in the second round and you could at least argue that maybe they should even select 2. However, the Redskins were supposedly high on WR Anthony Mix, who was a special teams player for the Redskins in 2007. Mix measured a whopping 6'5", 243 lbs. You can't get much bigger than that for a WR or a TE for that matter. If they truly believed in Mix, they should only have selected one WR in the second round of the 2008 draft. At any rate, Mix did not make the team in 2008 so we have to assume the Redskins were just hyping him up at the time.

Even if the Redskins took 2 WR's in the second round, there is absolutely no way they should have also selected TE Fred Davis given their dire need for a young pash rushing DE. With the uncertainty of highly drafted WR's and their multiple needs along the defensive line, there is no excuse for the team not selecting a DE. What's even worse is they avoided the defensive line through the entire draft before finally wasting their final 7th round pick on DE Rob Jackson who collected all of 1 tackle all season. The Redskins' pass rush only mustered a pathetic 24 sacks this season and DE Andre Carter lead the team with an embarrassing 4.

It wouldn't be so bad if these 3 receivers made an impact and helped offset the team's poor pass rush. So how did they do? Aside from showing up at training camp out of shape and missing most of the pre-season, you be the judge:

Devin Thomas - 15 REC, 120 YDS, 0 TD
Malcolm Kelly - 3 REC, 18 YDS, 0 TD
Fred Davis - 3 REC, 27 YDS, 0 TD

Enough said.

For the teams third and fourth round picks, Chad Rinehart and Justin Tryon, the jury is still out as they both played sparingly and it will probably take another season or two to find out if they will be substantial contributors. The ONLY bright spot out of this draft is an obvious one, 7th round pick SS Chris Horton. Horton stepped up and made numerous big plays in the first half of the season and unexpectedly took over the starting job 5 games into the season. He is far and away the Redskins rookie of the year and looks like he could be a solid contributor for years to come.

All in all, I gave the Redskins an F when the draft completed in April and I will keep that grade and add a little bold to it "F" now that the season is over. Even with the positive impact of Chris Horton could not save this draft. Maybe three years from now will resemble Jerry Rice, Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe, but I highly doubt it.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog