After all the issues that were raised about the head coach hiring process, I am actually pretty pleased with how things have shaken out. Zorn seems like a good coach. We'll see if he is a good HEAD coach but so far he seems to be doing the right things. As much as I admire Earnest Byner, I think it makes sense to bring in Stump Mitchell who is a good RBs coach in his own right and understands the West Coast offense and is comfortable with Zorn.
Also, it looks as though Sherman Smith is set to join as O coordinator. Again, I like the move as, like Mitchell, he understands the West Coast offense well and is comfortable with Zorn. Also, Smith should have good experience having spent the last dozen years with Jeff Fisher as the Asst. Head Coach in Tennessee. I think Fisher is one of the finer coaches in the league and hopefully Smith has picked up some good experience watching him.
In regards to this new offensive staff being put in place, Mitchell mentioned. "I knew what a tremendous job Jim would do bringing outstanding individuals to the staff. When you're talking about a staff, it all starts with mutual respect for one another," he said. "You have to be able to lean on one another and trust one another, that's the first thing you need, and I know that's what Jim wants."
It's a great point. The last couple of years, Gibbs and Saunders had philosophical differences on how to run the offense and I think that that hurt the offense. I don't think there was that trust. Now we should have guys that are all on the same page. There should be one single game plan that everyone is comfortable with and that is how it should be. I also like how Zorn has already seemed to delegate who will be doing what on the offense in terms of coaching responsibility. Again, Zorn seems to be doing the right things so far.
I must say that there seems to be a little bit of energy and excitement building with the new staff. The new coaches seem excited to get started. Right now, I think this might be able to all work out and it was a good thing for the 'Skins. We'll see how it comes into play when the season starts. I'm sure there will be some growing pains with Zorn getting comfortable in his role as head coach and the players learning the new system but I think once it settles down, we'll be alright.
HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!!
12 comments:
It may all work out in the long run, but this year will be a rebuilding year. You have new coaches and no one on the offensive staff has ever called plays. You have an all new offense that will require some new players that fit the system.
Fans should prepare for the realities of the coming season, but I suspect people won't be very patient.
I am okay as long as we make improvement. It's probably pretty safe to say that the season could very well start out rocky but hopefully things become easier for Zorn and the players working the new system as the season runs its course. I think the fans will be pretty patient as long as we don't get thrashed in games.
BTW - there is talk of Booker coming back to the Bears since there is a chance Berrian may leave and they don't seem thrilled with Muhammad getting up in age.
Make improvement? I think you should plan for a step back with the hope that you can take a step forward in the future.
Fans should prepare for the offense to be shaky. You have a new system, new coaches, and new terminology. On top of that you have a young, unproven QB who has to learn it and execute, and you will see some turnover of key players.
I'm not thrilled with Muhammad getting up in age, but I am quite comfortable with Muhammad being a productive player still. If Booker can still play that's great. But nothing will happen for the Bears offense if they don't fix their offensive line woes.
I just think it makes a WHOLE lot more sense to get guys (Zorn, Smith, and Mitchell) who all know each other, all know the same system, and have all worked together before than have the Gibbs and Saunders experiment. We should now have a synergistic and unified offensive system in place rather than one where Gibbs is preaching one philosophy and Saunders is preaching another. It was a system where Saunders wasn't invited to certain offensive meetings. It was a system where Gibbs called some plays and Saunders called other plays. It was fractured offense. Now, we got guys that can teach the same thing and each seems to understand their role in developing the offense. I think that is a good thing. Sure, it might take some time to mesh and teach to the players and stuff but hopefully it ultimately leads to better offensive production.
I think it should be better than what they had before, but they still need time to put in the new offense, terminology, and assignments.
It will take a year to gel and for the coaches to make some changes with personnel to better fit their system. The team was built for the Saunders-Gibbs hybrid system, not the WC offense.
The team was built for the Saunders-Gibbs hybrid system? It was a fractured and flawed system. An offense cannot operate effectively/efficiently when there is such differences in philosophy between the O coordinator and head coach. It cannot operate properly when the O coordinator is not attending key offensive meetings.
The offense may very well have been built for that "hybrid" system but it is not a good system. It only makes sense to have all the offensive head coaches on the same page so that they can teach the same thing. There are now fewer offensive coaches and they all know their specific roles. It is organized much better now. It may very well take a little time for the system to be taught but in the long run, it is the better organization.
I don't disagree with your last post. I completely agree. There is no reason to argue on the issue. But the fact is that they brought in players that fit the hybrid system that they had.
It is also a fact that it will take a year (at least) to get players up to speed on the new system and to bring in more players who fit the WC offense. Do you agree?
It is not like the Redskins will all of a sudden be an offensive juggernaut. They will be a middle of the road offense at best.
I don't doubt it will take time to understand the system. I actually think the offensive guys fit pretty well with the system though. The west coast offense is built off of timing and rhythm. Guys like Moss and Randle El seem like they could do well in the system. Those guys rely on their speed and quickness and they make plays after the catch so they seem like they could do well. You need a good TE and Cooley is one of the best. Campbell is somewhat of a question mark as he has a bigger/longer release so we'll see if he can adjust. Portis I think is fine in that system.
I think there will also be an adjustment for Zorn in being the head coach and having to call the plays. So I certainly expect some growing pains next year. Lets see how it works out.
I agree, but again it takes time, so Redskin fans who just think the offense is going to be better just like that are fooling themselves.
They were a middle of the road offense last year (even with all of their injuries) and at best this year they are going to be a middle of the road offense.
The problem I see for the Redskins is that JC is going to make mistakes as he learns the new system, they are not going to be as good on D (age and change in DC), and the Eagles, Giants, and Dallas all have significant cap room to improve while the Redskins don't.
If the offense can be middle of the pack in their first year with Zorn, I would be okay with that.
As far as the defense, the new DC is not that relevant. Everyone on defense is comfortable with Blache and he has held the role before. He already has said that he doesn't plan on changing things so there won't be much of an impact in terms of preparation, schemes, etc. As far as the personnel, the secondary is not old at all with Landry, Doughty, Rogers, and Smoot/Springs. Age won't play a factor there. At LB, McIntosh is young, Fletcher has only proven to get better with age. Washington is a concern. At D line, Carter is fine. Montgomery and Golston are both young. Griffin, if he is with the team, can get a few plays in. The question mark is Daniels. He is older and slower and we need an upgrade there. There was talk of Daniels moving to D-line. I don't think that would be all bad. He has the body of a D Tackle now. Chris Wilson is a promising DE but needs to put on some weight to become an every down DE. He is a good pass rushing specialist. We need to draft a good DE to complement Carter.
Middle of the pack is the best they are going to be. If they are then great, but we'll have to see how many, and how bad the mistakes are that JC is going to make (you have to accept that he will make some mistakes).
On the defensive side of the ball, LaRon is the only solid guy in the secondary. Doughty is still a question mark. Rogers has to show he can recover from 2 torn ligaments (usually takes a full year to recover). Smoot may be OK, but Springs may not even be on the team given his cap number.
The linebacking corps is going to drop off. Marcus may not make the team given his high cap number and age. Fletcher is old and will drop off. Rocky also has to come back from a serious knee injury.
D-line is OK - nothing special.
Blache is fine, but he will be different then GG. But they don't really have any depth and it will show this year.
Every QB makes mistakes. I feel sorry for JC in that he has been twisted and turned so many times with these new systems his head is probably spinning. Still, he seems like a smart guy that will roll with the punches. I also like that Zorn pretty much said that he doesn't care about what has happened to JC in the past. He only cares about what he is going to learn. That's the right attitude. I'm sure JC will have his growing pains but I think he will be okay.
Doughty played well last year. In some ways, Landry being FS and Doughty being the SS works better. Sure, I would love to have Sean Taylor but I think the Landry/Doughty combo is solid. We'll have to see about Rogers. Apparently his rehab isn't going as fast as McIntosh's. Smoot was good last year. We'll see what happens to Springs.
LBs: You said the same thing about Fletcher last year and he had a Pro Bowl caliber season. He has shown that he is only getting better with age. I expect Fletcher to again be solid this year. McIntosh should be back as he is already jogging and his rehab is coming along very well. We'll see about Washington. I don't mind him leaving as he has had a number of injuries and we've seen the best of him and he probably makes too much money at this point.
D-line: Carter has been good. Montgomery/Golston/Griffin have been okay. Again, we need another good DE on the opposite side of Carter. We get that, we have a very solid D line.
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