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Redskins Roundtable with Dillweed
By Dillweed | September 4, 2008
Each week I (Dillweed) will host a Redskins Roundtable with our friends at Hogs Haven (post) and The Curly R(post). We will be tossing a few questions out to one another and answering them on our sites; reader discussion is encouraged, let us know what you think.
1. What do you consider our biggest strength going into the regular season?
Dillweed: I agree with Will, it’s the linebackers. Our running backs are good…not great, and the defensive line seems to be average at best. It’s hard to say Corners are our strength when the D-line (and blitzes) aren’t getting to the quarterback. With LaRon Landry back our safety position looks a lot stronger, but I have a huge concern at Strong Safety. We just need to find a guy that can occasionally cover while primarily being a weapon in the box, and I don’t think we’ve found that guy just yet. On offense, our passing game is unknown to us…we’ll find out a lot more about it this Thursday.
The Curly R: It has got to be the defense, despite some changes in personnel, Phillip Daniels out and Jason Taylor in, and some injuries, safety LaRon Landry’s hamstring, linebacker Marcus Washington’s hip and cornerback Shawn Springs bruised calf, this unit has managed the proverbial continuity Joe Gibbs was hoping for at the end of his second term in Washington. They get started a little dinged with linebacker Rocky McIntosh and cornerback Carlos Rogers coming back from inury in addition to those mentioned above, this unit should get better as the season wears on.
HogsHaven: I want to answer that I have none. Anytime you have a brand new coach joined in large part by new staff, you really don’t know what you have with the team. I don’t view any result in our 3-2 preseason as being indicative of the kind of pro football team we’re going to be, and suspect things will neither be as good or as bad as those respective moments in the fake football season (with Carolina being the low point, obviously). You throw in injuries at nearly every position — secondary, defensive line, wide receiver, etc. — and it makes the task of picking our best unit that much more difficult.
If I had to pick I’m going to go with linebackers. I just feel like Washington has, in recent years, had great linebacker consistency even when the defense is down (2006) at least relative to the other units. London Fletcher is old, sure, but he’s been about the most consistent defensive performer in the entire league long enough to have earned some faith from me.
Marcus Washington has been one of the most consistent players locally for years now. He’s a bit injury prone, which worries me, but makes up for it as being one of the better linebackers against the pass. Rocky McIntosh gives pause because of a recent injury, but presuming he’s back, he’s one of the best, young defensive players on the roster. I also really like H.B. Blades as a backup, as I view him as a London Fletcher type player who will play a consistently high level for years. Khary Campbell plays the experienced veteran backup who has done well in a reserve role when necessary.
Like nearly every other position, though, this entire prediction can collapse into nothing with just a few injuries to guys like Washington, or if McIntosh reinjures himself, or if London Fletcher finally succumbs to the aging process. Behind Khary Campbell is Alfred Fincher, who I’ve barely heard of.
2. What about the team makes you want to resort to alcohol abuse to help numb the pain?
Dillweed: Reed Doughty. It’s really not all his fault either…we have been absolutely spoiled with Sean Taylor and LaRon Landry. Doughty’s mistakes in the run and passing game have been amplified this preseason because of those two guys. I still haven’t adjusted to the fact that teams will throw deep on us. I mean just a year ago that was something you couldn’t do…ask Brett Favre. If we had a defensive line that could apply pressure then I wouldn’t be so worried about having a weak link in coverage at SS…but we don’t. And even if Doughty improves in his run defense, which I think he will in a hurry, what does that leave us with…Adam Archueletta?
The Curly R: The FUD factor, fear, uncertainty and disarray. Fear of weak offensive line play and nagging injuries, uncertainty in the strength of Jason Campbell’s coming 2008 performance, disarray if the team gets off to a weak start or a large part of the team is simply not working right.
HogsHaven: The age of the offensive line terrifies me. One day I wake up and they’re all well into their 30s and suddenly it isn’t just Jon Jansen who is having trouble holding off Stephon Heyer, but the rest of that grizzled veteran unit. Considering the vast financial resources we’ve now sunk into the o-line in Jansen, Samuels, and Thomas, if all three of them prove to be ready for pasture, we’re fucked, proper fucked.
(This is not “sky is falling” level stuff, I’m just saying it is distressing to me.)
3. Which NFC East team worries you the most? How do you think we will fare against our division foes?
Dillweed: With Sean Taylor, I never feared T.O. I looked forward to playing him and seeing him get shut down almost every game. But now…Dallas kinda scares me. Giants are very physical but as long as Elijah is their QB I’m not too worried about them. And the Eagles refuse to just open up the checkbook to hire ONE FREAKIN WR. I’m so glad I’m not an Eagles fan. It’s one thing to just absolutely suck, but to have an obvious, and easily curable, weakness never taken care of year after year…that’s gotta make you
suicidal. I think we split with the Giants, Eagles…and hopefully Dallas too.
The Curly R: The Eagles, always the Eagles, they are the Redskins principal division rival now, I expect the Redskins will split with the Giants and Cowboys, depending whether the Eagles progress back toward the team they have been for most of the past decade or regress toward the end of the Andy Reid slash Donovan McNabb era, remember how surprising it felt to beat them in game two last season in Philadelphia and how unsurprising it felt to lose to them in Washington seven game later? The Redskins are looking at best at 3-3 in the division, a more realistic assessment may be 2-4.
HogsHaven: I’ll go with the Cowboys. They currently hold control over the division (even though the Giants won the Super Bowl) and thus are the team to beat in the NFC East. I view making the playoffs as goal numero uno and winning playoff games as goal numero dos. With that in mind, I’m more worried about the Cowboys’ ability to keep us out of the playoffs than I am with their ability to keep us from winning playoff games, which they can’t, since the Cowboys will never win another playoff game, ever, in the entire future of that franchise. They’re the team I think is most likely to sweep us in the NFC East and thus the one that gives me the greatest concern heading into 2008.
4. What will our regular season record be? How far do we make it into the post-season (if at all)?
Dillweed: 9-7…Our running game and defense are the same…schematic wise at least, and I like the continuity on those fronts. I think the passing game won’t hurt us during the home games, JC seems to play a lot better at home. However, the away games are where JC will be tested and probably fail
early on. I think we go 6-2 at home and manage to pull out 3 wins on the road. If we make it to the playoffs, we might get one win, but I’d be surprised (and really freakin happy) to see us go past that.
The Curly R: My walk through the schedule has the Redskins somewhere between 4-12 and 10-6, depending on whether this team comes together and stays together, or not. If the Redskins finish 10-6 that should be good for a wild card playoff berth, maybe not, the NFC could be more competitive than the past two years, ie fewer 8-8 teams vying for playoff spots.
HogsHaven: 8-8 and I see us as, on the optimistic size, squeezing into the playoffs and winning one or two games. That said, I’m going to pick the Redskins to win every single game they play this season, despite whatever befalls us, and will happily predict them to be the Super Bowl winner whenever that question is presented to me. There’s no shame in being 8-8 in this particular division and a playoff berth is all anyone can really hope for in this league of alleged parity. I hope for better, but that’s as close to an “objective” analysis of the Redskins as I’m capable. Note: I’m not capable of an objective analysis of the Redskins.
Topics: Redskins | 3 Comments »
September 4th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
A very interesting feature, indeed. I look forward to more of this in the future.
September 4th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
@ NYG: L
vs Saints: W
vs Arizona: W
@ Dallas: L
@ Philly: W
vs St Louis: W
vs Cleveland: W
@ Detroit: L
vs Pittsburgh: L
vs Dallas: W
@ Seattle: L
vs NYG: W
@ Bmore: W
@ Cincy: L
vs Philly: W
@ San Fran: W
Prediction: 10-6. In the NFC, that’s playoffs right thar.
September 4th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Good on dillweed for taking the lead on this.