Akh’s Thoughts: Post Mortem

Posted by: Akhhorus on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Needless to say, this has been one of the worst seasons for the Redskins in the modern era. Despite relatively low expectations from the majority of fans/pundits, the 2009 Redskins found new ways to disappoint those expectations, not just with a poor overall record, but also with very embarrassing performances in prime time games(3 losses with an aggregate score of 89-29) and an 0-6 NFC east record. The season became so embarrassing that Dan Snyder fired his long time lackey/squash partner/acting coach in Vinny Cerrato and replaced him with Bruce Allen(and most probably, Mike Shanahan). This shift represents the start of a change in culture in DC(hopefully), but the skins probably won’t be a playoff contender until 2011 unless the new personnel gels quickly(the Skins will still get Detroit, St Louis and Tampa on the schedule next year, and that helps).

There is a temptation to blame this season on a galaxy of injuries all throughout the roster, but even at the beginning of the season, this team didn’t turn in great performances—even against piss poor franchises. The most disturbing thing about this season was that out of the Skins’ 4 wins on the season: they just couldn’t beat a starting caliber QB. Josh Johnson, Marc Bulger, Chris Simms and JaMarcus Russell are the Qbs the Skins beat this year. Not that impressive and says a lot about the quality of the skins team this year. Also disturbing was the sheer number of late game losses where the Skins gave up late scores(less than 7.5 minutes left in the 4^th) that cost them the game. I count 5 of these games: Saints, Bolts, 2^nd Philly, 1^st Dallas and KC. This shows the total lack of heart that the skins played with all season long.

What this team needs is someone who puts the fear of God into the dead wood on the roster and has the mandate to cut/trade anyone off this roster. Fortunately, I think someone is coming with that mandate and with an uncapped 2010, it’s very possible that this roster will be unrecognizable when training camp begins in July. And after this nightmare of a season, that’s probably not a bad thing.

Offensive MVP: Tie between Jason Campbell and Derrick Dockery. Both of them never quit on the season despite the ever growing nightmare that was the skins offense(and team). Campbell posted 3600+ yards and 20 TDs(best since Brad Johnson in 1999) this year, while Dockery came back from Buffalo as more polished player who made far less mental errors than he did in his first tour of duty in DC.

Defensive MVP: Albert Haynesworth. The Redskins defense was night and day with him in/out of the lineup.

Play that summed up the season: That fake fecking field goal. A call like that is a questionable one to begin with, especially since the skins have already run 2 fake FGs earlier in the season and teams will be watching for it. But to run that play after New York calls a timeout to get ready for it is just a micro-chasm of a poor season full of confusion in the coaching staff.

Letter Grades of regular starters:

Jason Campbell: B-/C+. Up and down season, which will almost certainly be his last in DC.

Derrick Dockery: B/B-. The rock of the Oline, and showed some improvement in mental errorst.

Stephon Heyer: F. Has no business in the NFL.

Casey Rabach: D+. Very inconsistent, but his blocking is getting progressively worse.

Santana Moss: C-. I count 6 TEs(Witten, Celek, Clark, Gates, KWII and Vernon Davis) who put up better stats than Moss did and Tony Gonzalez was the closest player receiving stat wise to Moss.

Antwaan Randle El: D+ 500 yards receiving, but he was probably the worst punt returner in the NFL.

Fred Davis: B+ Breakout year. They need to find a way to get him on the field with Cooley

Malcolm Kelly: C. He gets one more year to show something imo.

Devin Thomas: B. He’s starting to show that he’s fulfilling his potential

Andre Carter: B+. Good push at DE when Haynesworth was in.

Brian Orakpo: B. Good sack total, but disappeared against good OTs.

Albert Haynesworth: A-. Missed too much time, but was a force when in.

Kedric Golston: C-. Showed occasional bursts of ability, but still a major liability against the run.

Cornie Griffin: C-. A backup at this point in his career.

Philip Daniels: F. I wonder about him and Blache’s relationship.

London Fletcher: B+. Another solid year from him.

Rocky McIntosh: B-/C+. 87-88 tackles for the 3^rd straight season, but just too quiet on the field otherwise.

DeAngelo Hall: B. Some big turnovers, but some big plays given up also.

Fred Smoot: C-/D+. A big pile of Meh. He’s not a starter anymore and can’t play the slot. Maybe free safety is his future?

LaRon Landry: D. Disaster of a season for him.

Reed Doughty: C-/D+. Decent stats, but still can’t cover.

Carlos Rogers: D. The only time you noticed him this season was when he blew a coverage.

Hunter Smith: B+. Solid year with a TD pass and run!

Why did this team fail?

#1: The offensive line was a disaster. Even in the beginning of the season, when the unit was healthy, they couldn’t run block effectively and certainly couldn’t provide effective pass protection. Part of the problem was losing vets like Samuels and Thomas for the season(and maybe their careers), but it was pretty clear that Heyer and Rabach were incapable of doing their jobs with any consistency. When the injuries began, it became clear that the backups had no business playing in the NFL either. Some of them forgot to get out of their stances on time with regularity. No matter the debate over the offensive skill position talent, regardless of who the skins put out there were set up for failure with an Oline that couldn’t do their job and the rest of the league knew(and exploited) it.

#2: Coaching. As bad as the O-line was, the coaching staff from top to bottom was one of the worst staffs in the NFL. Until Sherman Lewis was brought in from the cold to reshuffle things, the offensive staff all looked like they should have been on the back of a milk carton. Zorn called an offense that would have been simplistic to run playing Madden, Bugel couldn’t do anything to fix the Oline to make them at least marginally competent and the rest of the position coaches looked helpless. On defense, no matter how much better Orakpo looked at DE and no matter how badly he was burned in pass coverage, Blache refused to bench Philip Daniels for the rookie at DE. The defensive coaches also refused to ever switch out of their big cushions, even after it became clear that a blind QB could adjust the routes to take advantage of them on 3^rd and short. Also opposing offenses appeared to have no trouble running the ball(especially wide) or throwing the ball deep on double moves on them all season long. No matter the talent holes on this team, the coaches didn’t seem able to do any staunching of the bleeding on the field.

In retrospect, the skins should have done the following last offseason:

1-Draft:

*Michael Oher over Brian Orakpo: Oher would have made the Oline much more of a strength going into the season and Oher could have been Samuels’ replacement if Big Chris still went down with a stinger.

*Lardarius Webb over Kevin Barnes. At least Webb contributed as a defensive player and showed a lot of potential.

*Duke Robinson or Macho Harris over Cody Glenn. How long did Glenn last with the Skins?

*Kevin Ellison, who’s been a solid starter for the Chargers over Robert “Twitter” Henson. Ellison is basically an undersized LB for the Bolts, but he’s been a good tackler/blitzer for them at SS.

2-FA

*Don’t sign DeAngelo Hall to that massive deal, and use the money on Michael Boley or Demorrio Williams(Williams quietly has had a good season in KC), Oline help and a cheaper vet CB(Leigh Bodden? Mike McKenzie?)

3-Coaching

While there was no realistic chance that the skins would have replaced the defensive staff during the last offseason, they certainly could have done more to fix the offensive coaches by bringing in a WCO veteran like Sherman Lewis to get things organized on that side of the ball. The difference in offensive results with Lewis in charge was night and day and if he(or someone like him) was in place from Day 1, who knows how much more efficient they could have been.

Akh’s mailbag:

From Chris(addressed to both Shally and myself):

“Do they think Snyder will allow Bruce Allen and respective Head Coach to finally run FULL control of football operations? Do they see a YOUTH movement/REBUILDING Project take place ?(i.e. Ted Leonsis/George MacPhee and the caps)

Who do they expect as next HC/Team President next season?”

Thanks for the email Chris, my answers to your questions:

*I think Shanny and Allen would only take a job where they had total control. This is not to say that Snyder won’t be hanging around the draft war room and meetings, but until I see otherwise, I’m going to assume that Shanny/Allen are making every decision.

*I don’t know if a youth movement is coming, but rebuilding year or two is. If there’s no cap in 2010, then the rebuilding is coming then. If there is a new labor deal, and the cap is in place for 2010(and beyond), then its probably a 2 year rebuilding project.

*I think barring some surprise, it will be Mike Shanahan.

From Jimmy in Lubbock(from earlier in the season):

““I am so glad I found you your writings are right on the mark thank you for speaking for me and all my friends I live in Lubbock Tx and have a small but die hard group over every sun to watch on the sunday ticket I forward this to each friend and we discuss each article during the week I love the Redskins dearly as I think you do but “come on man” I look forward to each game and your email Thanks Jimmy

Hail to the Redskins”

Thanks Jimmy for your email and keeping the faith in the middle of Cowgirls country.

Remember if you want to email in during the season, send all comments, baking recipes and hate mail to: bidenj@whitehouse.gov thanks.

All-Akh Team 2009:

WR: Wes Welker New England

WR: Andre Johnson Houston

LT: Ryan Clady Denver

OG: Steve Hutchison Minny

OC: Nick Mangold New York Jets

OG: Carl Nicks New Orleans

RT: Ryan Diem Indy

TE: Dallas Clark Indy

QB: Peyton Manning Indy

RB: Chris Johnson Tennessee

RB: Maurice Jones-Drew Jacksonville

PK: Nate Kaeding San Diego

Defense:

DE: Jared Allen Minny

DT: Vince Wilfolk New England

DT: Darnell Dockett Arizona

DE: Julius Peppers Carolina

OLB: Elvis Dumervil Denver

MLB: Patrick Willis San Fran

OLB: Brian Cushing Houston

CB: Charles Woodson Green Bay

CB: Darrelle Revis New York Jets

FS: Darren Sharper New Orleans

SS: Brian Dawkins Denver

Special Teams:

P: Shane Lechler Oakland

ST: Kassim Osgood San Diego

Returner: Josh Cribbs Cleveland

Coach of the year: Marvin Lewis

Offensive MVP: Peyton Manning

Defensive MVP: Charles Woodson

Offensive rookie of the year: Michael Oher OT Baltimore

Defensive rookie of the year: Brian Cushing OLB Houston

Alright, enough with this disaster of a season. Moving on….

Skins offseason track, no cap:

Some assumptions:

1-Shanny is hired as head coach

2-Basically the Houston offensive staff is brought in as the offensive staff in DC. It looks like Kubiak will stay in Houston, but Kyle Shanahan and some of the Gibbs disciples could be headed to DC as part of the change.

3-Shanny brings in a 3-4 LeBeau disciple. It is possible that they stay with the 4-3, only a different version of it than the skins have been running, I think they’re going 3-4 but have included a speculative 4-3 one-off for the uncapped year track.

4-Shanny is given carte blanche to remake the roster

Following players cut:

Chris Samuels(retires), Randy Thomas, ARE(option declined, then cut), Todd Collins, Ladell Betts, Mike Sellers, Cornie Griffin(option declined, then cut), Philip Daniels(If he’s a free agent, sign him then cut him lol), Fred Smoot, DeAngelo Hall, Chris Horton, Derrick Dockery, Andre Carter(option declined, but kept for a year)

Trades:

Santana Moss(option declined) and dealt to St Louis for a 4^th round pick in 2010 and a conditional pick in 2011

RFA rights to Carlos Rogers to Baltimore for a 3^rd round pick in 2010

RFA rights to Jason Campbell to Buffalo for a 2^nd round pick in 2010

RFA rights to Rocky McIntosh to Denver for the RFA rights to OG Chris Kuper(who gets a 3 year, 15 million dollar deal)

LaRon Landry to San Francisco who sends a 3^rd round pick in 2010 and conditional 2011 2^nd round pick to New England who sends Matt Light to Washington.

Signings:

Ben Hamilton OG Denver 4 years, 17 million

Dre Bly CB San Fran: 1 year, 2 million

Leigh Bodden CB New England: 3 years, 11 million

Bob Sanders(a cap casualty) SS Indy : 3 years, 17 million with team options afterwards

Kirk Morrison ILB/MLB Oakland 4 years, 28 million

Payton Hillis RB/FB Denver: 2 years, 2 million

Jon Kitna QB Detroit 2 years, 5 million

(Resign) Chris Wilson 2 years, 3 million

Draft:

1^st round: Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma

2^nd round(natural): Stefen Wisniewski OC PSU

2^nd round(from Buffalo): Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin

3^rd round(from Balto): Justin Woodall S Alabama

4^th round(from St Louis): DeMarco Murray RB/WR Oklahoma

4^th round(natural): Vince Oghobaase DL Duke

5^th round: Joe Thomas OL Pittsburgh

6^th round: Jermaine Cunningham OLB Florida

7^th round: Brett Swenson K MSU

Starting lineup:

WR: Devin Thomas

WR: Malcolm Kelly/Marko Mitchell

TE: Chris Cooley

LT: Matt Light

LG: Ben Hamilton

OC: Stefen Wisniewski

RG: Chris Kuper

RT: Gabe Karimi

QB: Jon Kitna/Sam Bradford

FB/Hback/TE: Fred Davis/Payton Hillis

RB: Clinton Portis

Elephant OLB: Brian Orakpo

DE: Vince Oghobaase

NT: Albert Haynesworth

DE: Jeremy Jarmon

OLB: Chris Wilson/Jermaine Cunningham

ILB: London Fletcher

ILB: Kirk Morrison

CB: Leigh Bodden

CB: Bly/Barnes

FS: Justin Woodall

SS: Bob Sanders(and Kareem Moore when Sanders inevitably gets hurt)

The 4-3 track, uncapped year:

The only differences would be:

*Kirk Morrison wouldn’t be targeted, swap that signing for SLB Rashad Jeanty 3 years, 7 million

*Domata Peko DT Cincy 3 years, 11 million

*Gabe Watson DT Arizona 2 years, 4.5 million

*Drafting Vince Oghobaase in the 4^th round with Stevenson Sylvester OLB Utah

*Drafting Jermaine Cunningham in the 6^th round with Brandon Brinkley CB Houston

So, the defense would look like this in this track

DE: Andre Carter/Jarmon

DT: Domata Peko

DT: Albert Haynesworth

DE: Brian Orakpo

SLB: Rashad Jeanty

MLB: London Fletcher

WLB: Stevenson Sylvester

CB: Leigh Bodden

CB: Bly/Barnes

FS: Justin Woodall

SS: Bob Sanders

Offseason track with the same assumptions, new labor deal assumed also(with anywhere from 10-20 million in extra cap space thanks to the reformulating of the cap revenue streams):

Following players cut:

Chris Samuels(retires), Randy Thomas(retired/cut), ARE(option declined, then cut), Todd Collins, Ladell Betts, Mike Sellers, Chris Horton, Cornie Griffin(option declined, then cut), Fred Smoot, Santana Moss(option declined, then is offered a choice: sign this new deal so we can cut you now or enjoy the bench)

Trades:

Andre Carter(option declined first) traded to St Louis for their 3^rd round pick in 2009

Signings:

Ben Hamilton OG Denver 4 years, 14 million

Dre Bly CB San Fran: 1 year, 2 million

Jeremy Trueblood OT Tampa: 5 years, 20 million

Payton Hillis Rb/FB Denver: 2 years, 2 million

Jon Kitna QB Dallas 2 years, 5 million

Shawne Merriman OLB San Diego 4 years, 22 million(probably with 2-3 cosmetic years to make it look bigger attached)

Sean Jones FS Philly 2 years, 6 million

Jarvis Green DE New England 3 years, 11 million

Draft: