The Little Guy With The Big Heart

I know how the general public feels about Santana Moss. Quite frankly I think it is crazy. I hear a lot of people say that Santana is not a #1 WR. Well if you know me personally, I vehemently oppose this statement. I think Santana Moss is a #1 and I’ll take it a step further. He could start at the #1 spot for 13 NFL squads right now (Atlanta, Miami, N.Y. Jets, Philadelphia, N.Y. Giants, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis Rams, Seattle, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and Tennessee). See people are comparing him the other #1 WR’s in the NFL, and there is only one guy Moss’ size that maybe more talented and that is Steve Smith for the Carolina Panthers (how about that Steve Smith, WOW!!).

Don’t get blinded by the Calvin Johnson’s and Andre Johnson’s and the Larry Fitzgerald’s of the world. These guys are exceptional young talents. As a matter of fact I’ll just put it out there. Here are all of the best #1 WR’s in the NFL (in no particular order):

Larry Fitzgerald

Steve Smith

Andre’ Johnson

Terrell Owens

Randy Moss

DeSean Jackson (although he is good, Santana would get the nod)

Roy Williams

Santonio Holmes

Chad Ochocinco (I still say his name is Johnson, that is what his momma named him)

Greg Jennings

Calvin Johnson

Bernard Berrian

Brandon Marshall

Dwayne Bowe

Vincent Jackson (it is scary that this guy is 6’5” and possess that kind of speed)

Marques Colston

Reggie Wayne

I dare anyone to challenge this list. These are guys, other than Santana Moss, that I would pay top dollar to have on my team and build the Offense around. But do not be fooled, we have a good #1 WR right here in D.C. (or Landover). See some people want the big body, possession receiver type guy, who can move the chains. There is nothing wrong with that. Others want the exciting guy who can stretch the field and hit he homerun, or at least be a threat to hit a homerun, on occasion. There is nothing wrong with that. But then there are the people who can do both. And these players are rare. VERY RARE!!! There only a handful of guys who can do both. And low and behold, Santana Moss is one of them.

The “Do-Everything” guys are on the list above with the exception of Roy Williams and Dwayne Bowe, who are very good, but are not homerun threats. But again, what they lack in break away speed, they more than make up for with catching ability. When you are sitting at home watching the games or game film, I want you to really evaluate Santana Moss. I mean I think it is almost comical that the knocks on him were his size, he was a glorified Kick Returner/Punt Returner, and my personal favorite… He could not run routes.

PEOPLE… WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU LOOKING AT??!!!

Anyway, here is a checklist that you should use to evaluate Santana Moss:

1. How is his overall concentration on easy and tough catches?

2. Does he have soft hands?

3. Does he body catch too often?

4. Can he snatch the ball when thrown outside their frame?

5. Are his cuts sharp and crisp when he is coming out of his breaks running routes?

6. Does he show good body control or do they look awkward?

7. Does he have the ability to accelerate to the ball in the air?

8. Does he have the ability to find soft spots and use his body to be a possession receiver? 9. Can he stretch the field and go deep?

10. Is he a threat to score every time they touches the ball?

11. Does he make catches in stride?

12. Is he elusive in tight and open space?

13. Is he willing to block?

14. Does he finish his blocks and get good results?

15. Does he sustain his blocks on the backside?

16. Does he look to block in the open field?

17. Can he avoid the jam at the line of scrimmage?

18. Is he often held up or thrown off his routes?

19. Is he physical?

20. Can he come over the middle and catch the ball in traffic and when defended well?

21. Is he tough enough to hang on to the ball and take a hit?

22. Will he extend to catch the jump ball?

23. How is his acceleration?

24. Can he get off of the ball and kick it into an extra gear?

When are you done, tally up your answers and tell me how he scored. Personally I feel that Santana Moss checks out on 21 of the 24 questions. But what do I know? I am no expert, nor am I an NFL scout. But I do know talent when I see it, and Santana Moss is way more talented than people give him credit for. Not all receivers are 6’3”. No receiver can ever claim to have never dropped a pass. No receiver can claim to have the advantage over every Defensive Back that they have faced. But only a few are true Superstars and sorry folks, Santana Moss is one of them. Get over it.

Even When It's Right, You Still Say It's Wrong

So I am at the Redskins-Buccaneers game earlier this year and I am amazed at what I hear from the fans. It was almost comical. When people get rolling, they really get rolling. With all of the things that are going wrong with the Redskins this year, the Defense is not one of them. As a matter of fact the Defense was ranked somewhere in the top 5 at this point, and guess what??!! Even they had to endure criticism, but for what? We finished with the #4 Defense last year and people were not happy. Are you kidding me?

First of all, I heard that the Defensive Line needs to create more pressure. Even though that may have been true, how many teams found it easy to move the ball on our Defense? So what did we do this past April? Well we signed Renaldo Wynn for depth and experience at the Defensive End (DE) position. Our other DE Phillip Daniels returned from injury (ACL) and Cornelius Griffin also comes back. We also signed Jeremy Jarmon, who would have been in the 2010 NFL Draft, but he got suspended from his school so he decided enter the Supplemental Draft. With our 1st Round Pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, we selected Brian Orakpo who is a legit Right DE, but we wanted to see if we can make him the next Terrell Suggs and play him as an Outside Linebacker. The problem is Orakpo has to learn the position, so please give that man a break. We also signed Albert Haynesworth as a Free Agent, but people are expecting him to come in get 20 sacks. I have got news for you folks, Haynesworth is not going to get 20 sacks, but he may attract enough attention for some other people to get close. And we also brought back one of my personal favorites Andre Carter. Why do I like Carter? Because, I have heard him endure a lot of criticism, especially when he was in San Francisco and has done nothing but continue to work to get better. And just in case you have not been paying attention, he has. So I ask you, did we address the Defensive Line?

Let’s move to the Linebackers. Now I was really sad to see Marcus Washington go, but we did try to replace him. Unfortunately, we are trying to use Brian Orakpo to fill that spot. We have H.B. Blades, who can play all 3 Linebacker positions, but has only mastered the Middle Linebacker position, and I have feeling that Blades will not see much time there. Our other Linebacker is Rocky McIntosh, who has steadily improved. But you’d really have to understand the position to really evaluate his play. Not to mention we also drafted Robert Henson from TCU this past draft (2009 NFL Draft). But the man in the middle is on a record setting pace when it comes to tackles. London Fletcher currently is leading the NFL in tackles, partly because of Albert Haynesworth and Cornelius Griffin (the forgotten man at DT, who is also a beast). London Fletcher is a perfect example of why it is important to know how to evaluate talent. Fletcher came from a Division 3 school, and has played in every game since entering the NFL. He has always been tops in tackles, but even with him perfecting what I think is a lost art in football, his play is not appreciated. If it has, he would have gone to at least 1 Pro Bowl. Is that too much to ask? But again I ask did we address the Linebacker position?

Here is where the fun really starts. The Defensive Backfield of the Redskins have endured so much criticism, I started to skip over bringing it up. But I know some of you are chomping at the bit. So I will through you bone. Fred Smoot, Carlos Rogers, DeAngelo Hall, Justin Tryon, Kevin Barnes, Reed Doughty, Chris Horton, LaRon Landry and Kareem Moore make up our Defensive Backfield. I want to start with Carlos Rogers, the 2004 Jim Thorpe Award Winner. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is the award given to the best Defensive Back in college football. So it should not be a surprise that we took Rodgers with the 9th Overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Now fans are saying that he is not good, or that he has not lived up to the “hype.” But I ask, do you know how to evaluate the Cornerback position? See I am not an expert, nor do I claim to be, but I do know one thing. A taller player will win most match-ups in football when it comes to the passing game. Have you all not noticed that the WR position is starting to produce more 6’2”+ players? I ask you, do you know how many CB (Cornerbacks) in the NFL are over 6’2,” and are actually on the field? See this is where Pass Defense relies upon disrupting the other teams Offensive timing by (drumroll please), creating pressure up front.

There are very few CB’s in football who can cover any player for more than 4 seconds. I don’t care who the WR is, they have the advantage when their QB gets time. So if I know that, I have to start looking for Safeties that have range and are good at closing out with a solid hits and good tackling ability. If you get a ballhawk at Safety, that is even better, but very few Safeties are ballhawks. This is where Sean Taylor changed our entire Defense, because we could do more to create pressure. When you all need to start worrying is when Carlos Rogers is just flat out getting burned by backup WR’s. See Calvin Johnson (6’6”) is a headache for every CB in the league. See Bryant Johnson (6’3”), whom I had to pleasure of meeting this past Summer, is a good young talent that has played for two small market teams (Arizona and San Francisco), so you may not have heard of him…. I have. He is going to be a great WR. See Dwayne Bowe, (6’3”), is another young talent that doesn’t get enough attention because he is in a small market (Kansas City), but trust me, he will be another good WR in the NFL. See what most people do not understand is, you are not going to completely shut down any WR. As a matter of fact, you cannot expect any CB in the league to not get beat from time to time. The question you have to ask yourself is, do they give up the big play? Carlos Rogers is fine. What people get in their feelings about is him dropping Interceptions. If he catches half of what he drops, people would be saying he is one of the best CB’s in the NFL. His job is to disrupt the other teams passing games. My theory is, if he is dropping picks that is telling me that he is in position to make plays and the other teams WR’s are not catching the ball.

Now this brings me to DeAngelo Hall. Here you have a guy that is doing what Rodgers does, and gives use those timely interceptions, and I still hear people say that he is not worth the money. People are judging him based off of his time in Oakland. Can you name me 5 players in the last 10 years that went to Oakland and performed well? Remember “they” said that Randy Moss lost a step when he went to Oakland? Well Randy did lose a step… off of his 40 Yard Dash time. He goes to New England for a 4th Round Draft pick, comes into camp, runs a 4.29 40-Yard Dash Time, and then turns around and breaks the record for most Receiving Touchdowns in a Single Season. I guess “they” knew what they were talking about. By the way, I hate when I hear “They say” because more often then not, it is usually followed by a lie. But I digress. DeAngelo can match-up against the other teams #1 WR and do a fairly decent job on him. People are looking for shut down CB’s. I have news for you people. The do not exist. There is at least one WR who has that top CB’s number. Don’t let the highlights fool you. Watch an entire game of two other teams aside from your favorite team. Pick any top CB in the NFL and watch him work. There are no gimmies in the NFL. We have some very crafty, fundamentally sound CB’s in football, but we do not have a shut down CB. The media fooled you people. Heck, I play Flag Football and I am pretty sure I can put together a great highlight film of all of my Interceptions from the Safety position to make any QB think twice about throwing in my direction.

The Redskins may not have the best player in the league at any one position, but together they made up one of the best Defenses in football last year. And with the new additions and a few new wrinkles, our Defense is actually better. But because the Offense is not playing well, the Defense is getting criticized too. What do you want from our Defense people? Even though it is not broken, I still hear some fans talking about how they would “fix it.” Well, I will tell you what, go apply for the position and do a better job than Greg Blache. If you can, I will tip my hat to you.

Leave Fat Albert Alone

I am not really sympathetic when it comes to some players. But Albert Haynesworth is definitely one that gets a bit of sympathy from me and it’s not because of what people think.

He is known around Washington, D.C. as the $100 Million man. And I don’t know what people where expecting, but he is not God. Albert Haynesworth can play both Defensive Tackle (DT) and Defensive End (DE). So from a football standpoint he’s a good player. Now if you had a chance to see Albert in Tennessee, he was the Nose Tackle (NT) or the middle man on a 3-man defensive line. For those of you who don’t know, that Defense is called a 3-4 (3 Defensive Lineman, and 4 Linebackers). Ask any Defensive Coordinator or Inside Linebacker how important is that NT. Or, for argument sake, just ask the Tennessee Titans.

If you don’t know, Tennessee had to change their entire Defensive front because they didn’t have someone to replace Albert. Now Tennessee runs a 4-3 Defense (4 Defensive Lineman, and 3 Linebackers) and they are struggling to create pressure, thus the Titans Defense is not even in the top 10 as of today October 22, 2009.

But I am not really concerned with the Titans right now, because I feel like Vince Young should be starting. But that’s not my team so I’ll leave it alone. Albert Haynesworth’s impact is being felt on our Defense right now. To the naked eye you don’t see the impact, but it took me asking questions and watching individual match-ups during the game to notice how much of an impact Fat Albert has made. But let me break it down for all of you who are reading so you will understand the real deal. Albert Haynesworth is a beast and he is just getting started. Here are some key points to keep in mind when you watch the Redskins play and see Albert Haynesworth on the field:

In the 3-4 Defense, the defensive tackle becomes a nose tackle and lines up over the offensive center. In the 4-3 Defense, ideally, one of the defensive tackles is a two-gap-type run-stuffer. The other is a quick, inside penetrator. Quickness is very important at this position, and many defensive tackles are very successful pass-rushers because they play one-gap techniques and can put inside pressure on the quarterback. Albert Haynesworth can play in both schemes and still be effective. Secondly, Cornelius Griffin and Kedric Golston, the Redskins other DT’s, are freed up to make plays now. And if anyone’s noticed Albert Haynesworth also lines up at Defensive End.

The qualities of the DT and NT are the same, but he is usually a two-gap-type run-stuffer who can occupy two blockers on the inside and free the inside linebackers to make a lot of plays. Has anyone noticed that London Fletcher has been leading the NFL in tackles for about 4 weeks now? Thank Albert Haynesworth for that. Don’t get me wrong, London Fletcher is always at the top for tackles, but he is actually leading the league right now.

Here are some other things to ask yourself when you are watching Albert Haynesworth play:

1. Does he disrupt the other teams running game? (He doesn’t have to make a tackle behind the line of scrimmage to make an impact).

2. Does he disrupt the other teams passing game? (He doesn’t always have to make a sack to make an impact on a particular play, he can get penetration and knock down pass at the line of scrimmage for instance.)

3. How many DT’s do you know that have 14.5 sacks over a two-year period?

4. Did you know that the best Pass Rushers are usually lined up at Right Defensive End? Those are the guys that usually are going to lead your team in sacks. Notice that is where our new Rookie, Brian Orakpo is lined up on 3rd down, and on occasion, you will see… guess who??!!!

5. Did you notice that the lack of a Pass Rush from our Defensive Line is no longer an issue? I wonder why?

Now I understand that most people are really on Albert Haynesworth’s conditioning, and this is where my training background comes into play. There is absolutely nothing that you can do that will, equally, prepare you for the demands of his position of Defensive Tackle. Now couple that with the fact that he does not get the opportunity to play much during the Pre-Season and you have a player who is going to take a while to get into shape. In my training experience you will usually see significant improvements in ones strength and conditioning (assuming you are training this person correctly) in 4-8 weeks. I hate to break the bad news to you people, but he plays DT, now WR. He is constantly pushing against 2 or more bodies on every play. To put this in perspective, do you realize that he is pushing against 600 lbs.+ on almost every play? Can you do that? If you can suggest a way to duplicate that inside or outside the weightroom to increase/improve his conditioning in a manner that carries over to the football field, I am all ears. You can do things that will come close, but nothing matches. If he is still not performing up to your standards by Week 8, I will issue an apology.

Evaluating Jason Campbell

It is amazing to me how Jason Campbell has been treated, not only by the organization, but by our own fans. Here is a former 1st Round draft pick out of Auburn, who is a Balanced QB (can both run and pass), although he sits in the pocket more often than not. He is super intelligent (he has to be to learn like 5 Offenses in the last 9 years), has a big arm, can make any and every throw. But he doesn’t have the “it” factor. Now for a long time I couldn’t figure out what the “it” factor was. I mean I watch/record the NFL Scouting Combine, now and I hear the reference to the “it” factor a lot. I watch other teams in the NFL and some other QB’s like, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco (Flacco is nice) and more recently, Mark Sanchez and all are said to have the “it” factor. But after doing some searching, I finally figured out what the “it” factor is, and Jason Campbell needs “it.”

Jason Campbell is the most recent in a long line of Black QB’s who just doesn’t have “it.” I mean he’s in his 5th year for crying out loud. He has had to work with Coach Joe Gibbs, Al Saunders, Jim Zorn, Sherman Smith and now Sherman Lewis. He is a professional QB, so change is something that he should be used to, right??!! He is a professional football player making a lot of money he should just suck it up, and get going. It shouldn’t matter that his Right Guard Randy Thomas got hurt, and that his “bread and butter” blindside protector Chris Samuels may have to retire because of his injury. Jason Campbell is the QB and his job is to run the offense, move the ball down the field and score, and he has not been doing a good job, right??!! We need to see progress from him and we need to see it right now. He is in his 5th and final year of his contract and he needs to put up or shut up, right??!! I mean he is in the ideal situation right now. He has a great run game, viable players at WR and the best Offensive Line in football so he should be 6-0 right now, right?!!! If you have said yes to everything I just wrote, you are not very bright. There I said it. And the worse part of it all, some of you are “die hard Redskins fans.”

Learn how to evaluate the QB position before you criticize Jason Campbell. First of all, he is not, nor will he ever be, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. Remember he does not have the “it” factor. But I will say this, Jason can do what they can do plus some. Ask them to run when the play breaks down. The last time that I checked, running for a first down, gets you the same thing as throwing it… A FIRST DOWN!!! And before you get your feathers ruffled, I love Tom Brady, and I am just getting around to liking Peyton Manning. Tom Brady for a 5 year stretch, in my opinion, was the best QB in the NFL. And Jason Campbell does not block for himself, nor does he catch his own passes, and he does not have the responsibility of running the football. But I digress.

When you are evaluating Jason Campbell ask yourself some key questions:

1. Does he have adequate arm Strength?
2. Does he set up quick?
3. Is he balanced when he is set?
4. How is his body positioning?
5. Is he accurate? (Before you jump out of your seats, remember this is the same guy that threw only 6 INT’s in 16 games last year. There are players who have thrown 20 INT’s and have kept their jobs. Also keep in mind how many drops has he had this year.)
6. Does he have the ability to throw the deep ball and the touch to throw the short ball?
7. Does he throw a catchable ball?
8. Does he have the ability to fit the ball in where only their receivers can catch it or where their receivers can make a play?
9. Does he have good field vision? (Does he see the entire field?)
10. Is he quick enough to go through his progressions and locate the second or third receiver? (I hear a lot of people getting mad at Jason Campbell for making the dump off pass, but if you understand our offense, the dump off is usually his 3rd, 4th and on some occasions, the 5th read.)
11. Does he have adequate running ability? (Is he a threat to run out of the pocket?)
12. Can he make plays on the run?
13. Can he avoid the rush?
14. Does he have quick feet and can he make people miss?
15. How is his delivery?
16. Does he have a quick release or is there a windup?
17. Does he do a good job of securing the ball?
18. Are his ball fakes good enough to freeze linebackers?
19. Does he have the ability to look off defenders, or does he zone in on one receiver and force it?
20. Does he have good leadership? (Keep in mind, not all leaders are yellers and screamers. Do you want that from your QB?)
21. Does he possess the ability to move the team when the chips are down? (Think of how efficient he is in the 2 minute drill when he is calling his own plays.)
22. Does he have poise under pressure?
23. Do his teammates believe in them?
24. How does he play after an interception?
25. Does he get rattled?

How do some people get that Jason Campbell is the worse QB in the league? If you ask me, he is the QB in the worse situation. But if he does not check out with you after reviewing my 25 questions, I will personally apologize and drop the subject. But please come at me with logic and not emotions. I can have an intelligent discussion all day when it comes to logic and facts, but I cannot talk to your emotions. Again I digress.

With me Jason Campbell checks out just fine. No QB in the NFL checks out perfectly. There is a flaw in everyone’s game. But I will again admit that Jason Campbell does not have the “it” factor. So no matter what happens this year, his career is pretty much written in stone. He is going to be labeled an underachiever, a bust, a disappointment. He would have to finish this 2009 campaign winning at least 8 of the remaining 10 games. Currently the Redskins are 2-4, so that would put them at 10-6. The fact of the matter is, the chances are slim, but very achievable. But when you do not have the “it” factor, going on an 8-10 game winning streak is very hard.

But again, I finally figured out what the “it” factor is. It is something that you cannot put your finger on. “It” is immeasurable. “It” is very elusive. “It” can make or break your career. Do you want to know what is the “it” factor?

“IT” IS CALLED THE SUPPORT OF YOUR ORGANIZATION!!!

It is either you have “it” or you don’t. And Jason Campbell does not. So Jason if you ever read my post, I hope you go to another team, win the starting QB job, win regular season MVP, win the Super Bowl and then win the Super Bowl MVP. I will bet that the other 31 NFL clubs will say that you have the “it” factor.

What’s Wrong With The Redskins?

I don’t claim to have all of the answers, nor do I claim to be an expert. But, I do have an opinion and I will share what I think is actually wrong with the Washington Redskins. Don’t get me wrong, I watch football period. I watch other teams, but the two teams that I follow are the Washington Redskins and the Pittsburgh Steelers. And just from my short period of time living there, I took an interest in the Baltimore Ravens. It’s hard to not like the Ravens, because of their attitude. And Baltimore and Pittsburgh have attitude, and they are both franchises run with good people who have good intentions. This brings me to the Washington Redskins.

Daniel Snyder, bless his heart, came in doing what he thought was right. But we all know, he is not a football guy. Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has a kamikaze attitude too, but Jerry at least played football at the collegiate level. Daniel Snyder does not look like he has ever had pads on a day in his life. So the idea of building a team is foreign to him. You don’t buy a championship. You build a team that grows together and becomes champions. But you have to have the right kind of players on your team. For every Brandon Marshall, you need a Brian Mitchell. For every John Riggins, you need a Chris Samuels. For every mercurial player, you need a cool customer to balance things out. And in some cases, put their foot where the sun doesn’t shine every now and then. But we don’t have that balance of players and like Carlos Rogers said, it starts at the top.

Daniel Snyder came here in 1999 and wanted to turn around the storied Redskins franchise and thought he could add high-priced Free Agents to the mix, and stir. Do you remember Mike Barrow, Jesse Armstead, Santana Dotson, Bruce Smith and Deion Sanders? So, needless to say, for the most part, that didn’t work, but, let’s not forget that the Redskins made the playoffs in 1999 with a 10-6 record and an NFC East division title. But past the some 1st Round draft picks, we (the Redskins) have not made good decisions. Everyone looks good in the 1st, 2nd & sometimes even the 3rd rounds, but what you do on Sunday (rounds 4-7), and in some cases Monday (Free Agent Rookie Signing Period begins) is where you make your money. And we haven’t learned that yet.

Don’t get me wrong Chris Samuels, Champ Bailey, LaVar Arrington, Rod Gardner, Patrick Ramsey, Sean Taylor, Carlos Rogers, Jason Campbell, LaRon Landry and Brian Orakpo were all good college players and their skills were supposed to translate to the NFL level. But even with all of this talent not everyone worked out. Rod Gardner, LaVar Arrington and Patrick Ramsey specifically didn’t work out because we didn’t provide a stable environment for them to grow. We all know that the first 1-4 years are critical in the development of NFL talent. What were their first four years like?

Hire Norv Turner, fire Norv Turner. Make Terry Robiskie the interim coach, have him close out the season, and them hand his hat and say thanks for the memories. Hire the old ball coach Steve Spurrier, fire Steve Spurrier. By the way, Steve Spurrier should have stayed in college football. Any coach who claims to not wanting to put in the same amount of time as the other NFL coaches should have been fired on the spot. Bring back the legend Coach Joe Gibbs, bring in Al Saunders and his 700 page playbook and run off Joe Gibbs. Not to mention that you brought in Greg Williams as a Defensive Coordinator and promised that he would be the successor of coach Gibbs or you would pay him $1 Million for not getting the job, and then we turned around and paid him to leave town. So much for the stable environment!! And now we are about to run Jason Campbell out of town. And I am going on record as saying this: WE WILL REGRET THE DAY THAT WE LET JASON CAMPBELL GET AWAY!!! But if I am Jason Campbell, I wouldn’t want to stay. The organization hires a QB Coach, makes him the Offensive Coordinator, only to promote him to Head Coach a few days later, which, at the time seemed like a great idea. But now it doesn’t look so good.

Coach Jim Zorn has been emasculated. How??!!! You bring in Sherman Smith form Tennessee to “help” out Coach Zorn and now, because our Offense is stuck in neutral, you bring in Sherman Lewis, who by all accounts is great mind, but where does that leave Coach Zorn? Now Coach Zorn’s protégé is being questioned, but how much can a QB do when he’s still trying learn an Offense and his Offensive Line is a patchwork line that has had some bad breaks? If Jason Campbell is considered a bust it’s our fault. If Coach Zorn fails, it’s our fault. If Sherman Smith fails, it’s our fault. I’ll take it a step further. If Sherman Lewis fails…. Guess what??!! IT’S OUR FAULT!!! We have not given them what they need to succeed. What that is, is an Offensive line that has viable backups at each position. If Donovan McNabb can use James Thrash, Freddie Mitchell, Brian Westbrook and Todd Pinkston to make 4 straight playoff runs, you couldn’t possibly tell me that Jason Campbell couldn’t use Santana Moss, Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas, Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis to do the same.

Our problem in a nutshell is that we like to buy rims, a sound system, tints and a hot new dual pipe exhaust system, before we check the engine of the car. I’ll admit that I didn’t know how important Offensive Linemen were until 2002 when Patrick Ramsey was getting the snot beat out of him on a weekly basis. And who do you think is responsible for this?? Daniel Snyder. Why? Because he knows that he’s not a football guy so your right hand man is your General Manager. Guess who our GM is? Vinny Cerrato. One, if not both of them has some serious soul searching to do. I can’t stress enough how much we need to re-evaluate the General Manager’s position. If you want to impress the fans, pay top dollar for a Left Tackle, Center or Right Guard. Spend your 1st Round draft pick next year on a Left Tackle or Center. Show me that your QB is a priority and protecting him is your #1 goal. Because, if you don’t do that, you will find yourself in the midst of “rebuilding” for a very long time.

My message to Daniel Snyder….. FIRE VINNY CERRATO!!! That’s what’s wrong with the Redskins. You don’t have a guy who is any good at putting together a good Offensive Line. But hey, I’ll give Vinny and Danny one thing, they have done a stellar job of putting together a defense. Unfortunately, your defenses job is not put up points.