Was Stephen Davis the heart of our "O"???

[Redskinmayhem]

Hey guys just wondering what you think about this: My uncle claims that Big country was the heart of our offense... the engine that turned the wheels. He thinks w/o him we're in major trouble. I argued that Davis' talents are not conducive to Spurrier's system but he thinks we may be in for a long season. I loved Stephen Davis while he was here but I think we can still do big things w/o him. what do you guys think?

Man we wanted a homerun hitter...It looks like Davis hit a few HR's on us!!!:banghead:

[TexSkin]

He was right when it came to other seasons...We might have one more games last year if Davis would have gotten the rock more. Davis is 29 though and has a history of coming up limp even though most the time he tries to tough it out. It was a hard decision but I think the FO made the right one.

[Joe a Cowboys f]

Davis worked in Marty's system, he worked in Norvals system and I think he could have worked in SOS system. I don't think he was any less a pass catcher than Kenny Watson is. Sometimes you just need a yard and Davis was better at that than any of the current backs (except Watson or maybe Cartwright). Water under the bridge now except Steve said he would only keep 4 RBs. Canidate, Morton and Betts are locks due to trading for the first two and a second rounder in the last case. If you guys cut Kenny I hope Bill and JJ are all over him.

[TexSkin]

Welcome aboard, Joe a Cowboys f..hope you stay

whats the F stand for ? :D :dalassuk:

[Spence]

Stephen Davis was the heart of the Redskins offense. From 1999-2001 he was the straw that stirred the drink. Whether he should have continued in that capacity is largely an academic question. Considering his cap value and salary demands, he was not going to play for Washington this season.

[Redskinmayhem]

Originally posted by Joe a Cowboys f
If you guys cut Kenny I hope Bill and JJ are all over him.

OK, then maybe he can bobble a dump pass on the one yard line and let us intercept it and roll into the endzone for an easy TD.

Remember Thanksgiving?

I just don't like KW. He also bobbled/dropped a pass one sat night. I'd rather keep Sultan than him.

[PennSkinsFan]

The offense has progressed past the need of a power runner. This offense requires speed and a good receiving back. Davis is not a receiving back at all.

[Skins57]

Welcome aboard Joe, glad you joined us here at hR.


Betts had better get onthe field or he might not be sucjh a lock. We saw Trung could not get a yard the other night when we needed it. Davis was the heart of this team. He is tough tried to play through injuries etc. remember he was a seldom used player for a few years before he became a workhorse so the age may not be that big a deal. Like I said a while back, I would not be surprised to see him get 1500 yards and 15 TDs

[LadyNRedskinsfan]

yes he was the heart of our offenses with marty and norv but in an offense when you pass more then you run, he wasnt the right guy. he doesnt have the speed or then hands that SS needs in a RB.

[Joe a Cowboys f]

"Remember Thanksgiving?

I just don't like KW. He also bobbled/dropped a pass one sat night. I'd rather keep Sultan than him.
Redskinmayhem

The offense has progressed past the need of a power runner. This offense requires speed and a good receiving back. Davis is not a receiving back at all.

PennSkinsFan

Maybe and maybe guys, I happen to like power backs myself, I even admired Riggo purely in the abstract as he was the enemy #1 of the Gibbs era.

I think, and I do not mean this in a malicious way, this release was more salary cap related. BDW was cut and immediately contract extensions talks were announced for Champ Bailey. On top of that next year Lavar's dollars will be 6 million something for the next three years. Extending Champ and hanging on with both hands to Lavar makes good sence. But the money has got to come from somewhere. Davis and BDW are two examples to me of economizing. Next year you guys should have a full slate of draft picks (under a rookie pool allotment) and this years FAs were younger guys on the cusp for the most part the expence will not be bad. Lets see what FAs the Skins will look at next year, play makers or journeymen.

But I am here to tell you eventually all the big dollar guys will add up. We were in cap heck for the last three years, this year we paid 2/3rds on Emmitt and will pay another 1/3 next year and may have a FA bonanza next year. I want another LaRoi and Haley myself. (%

[Green-Is-Good]

don't forget about davis' mileage. he has carried the ball 1383 times for his career.

[hail2skins]

Davis was our offense and who knows whether or not he could fit in Spurrier's offense. I believe he could have but wasn't given the opportunity. Yes, he fumbled at some inopportune times but I would rather have him on my team then most of the other backs in the league. I agree JCF, I'm a power runner fan as well and you need one in our division. Spurrier is here in Washington DC where the weather in November and December isn't perfect for pitch'n and catch'n.

Has our offense really progressed? Maybe I don't know what you mean by progressed PSF.

[CarMike]

Was anyone else surprised on the first play of the game that the Panthers had Davis line up as a Wide Out? Then he made the 13 yard reception on the play?

Davis may be a better receiver than he ever go credit for in DC.

[Spence]

I think in the regular season opener last year Davis caught seven passes. He can catch the ball just fine. He's not the niftiest runner after the catch, but he doesn't drop many.

[BigCountry]

Davis carried the team for 3 years, Spurrier is an idiot and should have adjusted himself. (Billick did it and won a superbowl)

To me the biggest idiot is Snyder for firing Shottenheimer.

[rskinsfan10]

Spurrier IMO refused to adapt to what he had in Davis. No one can truly say if Davis would have worked here because the coach decided that he didn't want to find out. The notion that he couldn't catch the ball of the backfield was and still is proposterous.

Of course, I shouldn't even be commenting on this topic. Homerism at its finest will only follow.....

[CarMike]

I've been waiting to hear your thoughts on this Kenny.

Homerisms are allowed here. :)

[BigCountry]

I'm as big a Davis backer as Kenny and I'll tell you it's more logics then it is homerism. If Spurrier is so attatched to his little system then he should be a cordenator and not a head coach. Not that he shouldn't coach his way but you have to addapt and he didn't. Hopefully he's learned.

I still think Marty should be here but oh well...

[CarMike]

I agree to a point with you BC. But, Davis wasn't worth the money that he was going to be making. I believe over 11 million dollars.

Davis thought he'd get a lot of money from being released. When he realized he wasn't that wanted by teams, he settled with the team that best fit his running.

[rskinsfan10]

I'll agree that he wasn't worth the hit (his actual salary would have been far from that 11mil figure), but I don't think that the FO wanted to do a new deal. I remember Davis saying that he wanted to stay, but the FO never approached him after the season to work it out. There was talk of them asking during the season to which Davis received some critisism for not doing, but why would you need him to re-do a deal while the season has started?

My point is, they could have talked and tried to work it out but they simply didn't want to. I honestly believe that the FO looked forward to clearing his cap hit off the books to go on the shopping spree that they did. Vinny and Dan steadfastly maintain that they had a plan in place, and this was clearly part of said plan.

[Brokenstriker]

Originally posted by hail2skins
Davis was our offense and who knows whether or not he could fit in Spurrier's offense. I believe he could have but wasn't given the opportunity. Yes, he fumbled at some inopportune times but I would rather have him on my team then most of the other backs in the league. I agree JCF, I'm a power runner fan as well and you need one in our division. Spurrier is here in Washington DC where the weather in November and December isn't perfect for pitch'n and catch'n.

Has our offense really progressed? Maybe I don't know what you mean by progressed PSF.

Key word here is "was" I think Penn hit it on the nose that Davis was the straw that stirred the drink ... right through 2001 ... *but not 2002 and if I remember right Stephens mileage started to catch up with him even in 2001 ... he didn't play the last game (or two or much of them).

WAS ...

Riggo was better than Davis ... but you wouldnt sign him to a long term platinum golden-parachute contract to play in 2003 would you? I loved Davis ... but if it was me paying the players, I wouldn't want to pay him for this season ... maybe I'd pay by the game ... *cause I do not beleive that he will play 16 games in 2003 ... I figure the odds are he plays about 12 - 14 tops ... his injuries are adding up ... and with that in mind ... I wouldnt be surprised if he is a road-hard put away wet cut in 2004, 2005 at the latest with no takers ...

these guys can't play forever ... the only one I can think of who left before he was sliding down the slippery hill of too-old, too-slow, too-injured .... is Jim Brown

face it Davis might have a great season left if he avoids another major injury, but he doesnt have 2 great seasons left ... certainly not 3

[hail2skins]

It took Marty how long to figure out that Davis was his offense? 5 games. Alot of us were screaming for him to give Davis the ball. Even back in the Norv days Davis would catch balls out of the backfield. Now we have Spurrier who believes in sending 6 players out into routes. I don't think Davis had a chance with SS and I agree with Kenny that the FO wanted his numbers off the book. That's fine. The question WAS "Was Stephen Davis the heart of the offense" and I say yes he was and could still be IMO.

[Hailyeah]

I'll throw this observation out there. Prior to the Carolina game, opinions by most regulars in here was that Davis's departure was necessary. Period. Except for Kenny, he may actually be related to SD though. Now, there appears to be alot of wavering in here (except PSF).

I think all of us knew that Davis was definitely gone in December of last year and convinced ourselves then and throughout the offseason that this was just. Whether we pointed to the cap hit, incompatibility, or lack of effort on 4th down at Texas Stadium on Thanksgiving, most of us grabbed onto something to justify this. Seeing Davis look fresh, crisp, and like a Pro Bowl back compared to a horrid stiff like Canidate made us all cringe. Yeah, yeah, preseason. It was starters vs. starters for those two and both defenses were solid last year. Seeing the big man run like that threw all those dopey justifications out. We miss our workhorse. To answer the question above, I'd take 12-14 healthy Davis games over what we have in a heartbeat. Unless Betts can come through like I kinda think he can, Ramsey is going to have to throw for 4,500 yds and amazing proficiency this season.

[Patrick]

IMO - It was a combination of things. Money was a major factor and at the beginning of last season it was clear that the Skins were NOT going to take (or could affort) that hit. Second, the last four games last year, when Betts and Watson were rotated in and produced good number it became evident that we could win without SD. Third, SS wanted speed and more than SD could provide. Add them all up and ......... well you all know the results.