Redskins mailbag: Ask John

John: Do you know if there’s a stat for when the first option isn’t there for a QB, how often the play still succeeds? From my eyes, it appears that if that first option isn’t there for Grossman, he maybe does something else positive only 5% of the time (if that). It’s mainly because of his lack of mobility. And it’s when most of his turnovers happen. Great QBs who also have no mobility (P. Manning, Brady, Marino when he played) seem to be able to hop around in the pocket to create more time for themselves. Rex doesn’t have that ability, so combined with his lack of foot speed, he’s often in trouble… And considering the O-Line injuries this week, it would only get demonstrably worse for him. If for no other reason than that, I’d start Beck (although I think there’s other reasons, too).

Stephen

Stephen: Don’t know about that stat, but I’d love to have it. I’m sure teams have some of those numbers. I do know that Rex has gotten into trouble staring down receivers, leading to interceptions. But I agree Rex is in trouble if he hangs onto the ball too long. He starts forcing passes and isn’t mobile enough to elude pressure.

JK

John: My first question is, is Rex Grossman the unluckiest quarterback in the history of the NFL??  I understand that there’s 10 other guys on offense, and mistakes are shared, but why does Rex consistently lead the league in turnovers if he’s not a major part of the problem?

My second question is, if you had to put a percentage on it, what do you think the odds are that Beck could be worse than Rex?  Personally, I’m not overly concerned that we’ll lose production from the quarterback position, when Grossman is currently ranked dead last in QB rating (excluding Kerry Collins).

Thanks

Adam Crocker

Adam: I agree on Rex; this is who he is and who he’s always been. That’s what the numbers suggest. Every quarterback has tipped interceptions, etc., but the good ones more than compensate by limiting those mistakes or making more positive plays. Thing is, it’s hard to blame Grossman for what he did. He has a track record. As for Beck, I really don’t know since we’ve only seen him for one quarter. But, yeah, it’s hard to envision him doing worse – unless he turns it over three times a game instead of two. My worry would be the offensive line. Regardless of the quarterback, they need to run well to win. This team is not set up to beat teams through the air. But if the ground game stops working, then so does the offense.

JK

John: Everyone is wondering why it took so long to pull Grossman, but I’m even more confused by the clock management at the end of the game. Why weren’t they hurrying? This has happened in several games in the past where I would be yelling at the TV…”Hurry up..tick, tick tick!”…as I watch the clock roll away. It’s almost as if they’ve already conceded the loss, so why bother….instead of fighting to the end and trying everything and anything to pull out a win. Is this on the players or is this the coaches??

On another note…did SF buy Carlos some contacts or new gloves or what?

As always, thanks for your insights,

Martin Hain

Martin: Yeah, how about Carlos with three interceptions huh? A little late for Redskins fans. The clock management seemed to affect one play the most. After the 32-yard completion to Terrence Austin at the 2-yard line, the Redskins did not snap the ball until five seconds were left on the play clock. That’s too long. If the play gets in quick, they get to the line quick. But the big issue is that it takes them a while to drive downfield in part because they lack explosive players. Also, they had two timeouts with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left so they did have time.

JK

John: By the time you answer, we’ll already know who is selected to start at QB. I’d like your perspective on our QB’s. Beck is certainly more mobile. How do you compare their arm strength, decision-making, speed of release? Are there any throws that give either of them problems?

Fred

Fred: Rex was/is good on intermediate throws down the middle (until he stopped seeing the linebackers) and between the hashes. He was not as strong on throws outside. He has a quick release, quicker than Beck. I know Beck has a reputation for not having a great arm, but in talking to numerous scouts or executives about him they all said his arm strength is solid. Clearly Rex’s decision making wasn’t the best, particularly when he rolled out. The passes that were picked over the middle usually stemmed from not seeing the linebacker and maybe getting a little complacent with a play, knowing it’s worked a lot in the past. But on the run? Watch out. And he’s inconsistent with his mechanics. Sometimes he’ll make a good decision but the pass isn’t good in part because he fails to get his body into the throw or to turn his feet. But Beck is inconsistent with his passes; was like that in the spring and again in camp. Some days his ball flutters; other days it doesn’t. It’s hard to rate his decision-making because we haven’t seen enough of him. But Sunday he threw to the right guys; just a matter of whether or not the ball was near them.  Beck will keep the play alive longer, which might help them in the red zone if only because it’ll buy the receivers more time to get free; they’re not getting open now.

JK

John: Here’s my question: In preseason, their numbers were nearly identical (except that Beck led the team to more scoring drives), but there is one thing Beck did worse than Rex. Beck got sacked a lot. Did this mean he was not “executing the system” perfectly and holding the ball too long? If that is the coaches reasoning, it’s understandable.

But if that’s not it? What is the problem with this guy?

Steve Harper

Steve: In five less pass attempts, Beck was sacked four times to Grossman’s two. That’s not a big surprise; Beck’s mobility means he can keep plays alive a little longer so he’ll hang onto the ball because of this. That leads to more sacks. Grossman can’t keep plays alive and his best game this summer, the opener vs. Pittsburgh, came because of his quick decisions. The problem Beck had is that he made some poor decisions particularly in the finale vs. Tampa Bay. Just went back and read some of what I wrote after that game and he was terrible. Take a look here. But he made bad decisions and threw while backpedaling; he got away with near interceptions. His instincts in the pocket were questionable and his mechanics on some throws weren’t good. My strong hunch, based on talking to several league sources, is that Mike Shanahan wanted Beck to start but that last game showed he wasn’t ready.

JK

John: It seemed pretty clear that Michael Vick was at least a little woozy after the hit by Landry that knocked him out of the game.  I know his story was “dirt in my eyes”, but aren’t the Eagles required to put him through that supposedly mandatory battery of concussion tests before letting him back on the field?  It seems like maybe Philly was bending the rules a little there because they were desperate for a win.

Tim Murray

Tim: They are required to put them through tests on the sidelines but I don’t know how long those tests take. He did miss four plays, with a commercial break between the two. I also didn’t buy the dirt story; it’s clear when you watch the game again that he was woozy. Heck, one of his teammates was steadying him at one point and even DeSean Jackson waved to the bench to come out (right after London Fletcher did the same).

JK

John: I really enjoyed and learned from your studs and duds piece.  I won`t ask about things like the QB etc., as it has been hashed and re-hashed. It seems to me that our wide outs are not posing a deep threat to teams.  They used a tight end on a deep route. I`m wondering if A) our wide outs just do not have the speed to get separation on a deep ball, and B) Why not use Austin more as he has a lot of speed?  I know they miss Armstrong.  Why not use Banks as a wide out?  Even if he is used more as a decoy…teams have to respect his speed.  As you pointed out the Eagles played the run…they were not worried about the passing game.  Could they have been so sure with two speed guys in there?

Peter Vann

Peter: Well, I think Beck… wait a minute. A non-QB question? Nice. Austin is really not a speed guy; he’s more shifty and elusive than he is fast. He had the 32-yarde last week but that resulted from play design and the Eagles worrying more about Fred Davis. Jabar Gaffney lacks deep speed, but is a good route runner. Santana Moss is a good route runner and is good out of the slot; been a while since he’s run anything that deep. The hard part with Banks is that when he’s in the game teams expect him to go long (it opens up underneath routes for him). You need to be able to do a few things to really help yourself going long. And concerns over Banks’ knee will limit him to special teams. Armstrong’s return Sunday will help but even he’s been quiet long. Guess you can see by now that this is an issue that’s not about to go away. The Redskins don’t have the receivers to threaten the Eagles corners.

JK

John: Is the offensive line really in that bad of shape? I don’t know much about Cook, but he has been practicing and I have to imagine he has been working on technique. Same with Locklear. Let me put it this way, nobody believed Neild would make the team and look how well he has done. I just feel like between the staff and the players they will be able to help these guys get up to speed. Also, what do you know about Malecki? Really enjoy reading your stuff.

Thanks,

Rodge Stumbaugh

Rodge: Thank you. The tough part is that they basically have three new starters because Will Montgomery is changing positions. That would be challenging even for what would be considered a good line. In essence, three positions have been weakened on a line that was perhaps average to begin with. It’s one thing to work on technique in practice, but it’s another to execute it at game speed. Can they pull it off? Sure. The coaches can help with their calls and game plan, too. Like Philly did last week. So tough, but not impossible. As for Neild, yes he’s been a nice surprise but he still only plays five to six snaps a game. It’s different when you have to play the whole game. Malecki is now with his fifth team in two years. He’s mostly played guard; he’s smaller (6-foot-2, 298 pounds) and did not switch to the offensive line until his third year at Pitt. He was a D-linemen before then.

JK

John: I have to say my feeling was right last week…I’m more concerned with the serious lack of depth on the offensive line this week than the play of Beck. I have to believe he’ll scramble around and make plenty of plays with his feet. The Panthers have the worst defense in the league, so maybe they’ll make Beck look like an improvement over Grossman. What’s your breakdown of how our re-tooled O-line will stack up against Carolina? Will Brown slide over to LT for a few weeks while Williams gets better? Is Cook and NFL quality center? Thanks as always for the work you do.

Richard Perillo

Richard: Thank you. I’m more concerned with the line depth as well. They’ve been weakened in three areas and are less athletic in each spot. But it’s very hard to say how they’ll hold up; Carolina has struggled defensively so the Redskins’ line has a chance for success Sunday. Brown will stick at right tackle, as I’m sure you’ve seen by now. They don’t want further disruption, but my guess is if they thought Trent Williams was going to miss a lot of time they’d move him over. As for Cook, no he’s not a quality center. He’s a second-year guy making his first start. He had issues last week; bends too much at the waist, which impacted his run blocking. That also happened this summer. Maybe in time he can get there, but he’ll have to just survive for now.

JK

John: I recall you were high on Hankerson coming into camp. It seems though from what I am reading Niles Paul is developing faster than Hankerson?  Do you agree?  And how would you compare both players at the moment in terms of them being ready to contribute to the passing game?

Mike  

Mike: We don’t see practice anymore, save for stretching and a little individual work. So it’s not enough to know where Hankerson is at in terms of his progress. Niles is playing as much for his special teams and blocking. They have yet to throw a pass to him. But they really, really like him. Hankerson’s issue is that he doesn’t play special teams so if he’s not one of the top three wideouts he won’t be active. At some point he’ll get a shot. Yeah, I was high on him entering camp but he clearly has a few things to learn at receiver. But he is talented and I’ll be curious to see next summer how much he’s developed.

JK

John:  Is Stephon Heyer still unsigned and if so would it make sense to sign him? He isn’t a full time starter, but he knows the scheme and is familiar with the coaching staff. Best of all he has the versatility to switch positions along the line, which seems to be essential for the Redskins now!

Jimmie & Wella Crowder

JW: This is how bad things are for the Redskins’ line; fans miss Stephon Heyer. But he’s in Oakland. When Sean Locklear played this summer, thought he looked worse than Heyer. But in fairness Locklear had only been here a couple weeks at that point. He’s definitely a backup at this stage of his career and I wasn’t all that wowed by him last week. Regardless, it’s rare to have a quality left tackle as a backup. Usually, those guys are already playing, just on the right side. It’s a tough situation.

JK

John: What we see at QB right now is pretty much what I expected but what else could we really have done in one year with limited draft picks? Shanahan did look foolish in that we went overboard on his praise of Beck and Grossman and I guess I can see why he is being bashed now, but other than his praise being over the top and unrealistic, he did the right thing by standing behind them. I have no idea what will happen the rest of the season, but am optimistic about the off-season.

Do you think that Shanahans job is in trouble already?

Also, what is the power structure as far as the personnel goes? Are Bruce Allen and anyone in the scouting department on an equal basis with the coach or does Shanahan have final say on everything?

Also, other than Andrew Luck, do you see any promising prospects at QB for next year’s draft?

Thanks,

Charlie C

Charlie: His problem was staking his reputation on one player who has a track record and another who is an unknown. That was his mistake. Also, I think there’s a feeling that he keeps believing he can change guys (McNabb, Haynesworth, now Grossman). At a certain point, players just don’t change. But, yes, you have to show confidence in players. He just went overboard. But who knows, maybe after watching Beck for an extended time that will be justified. As for his job, I think if the season unfolds poorly from here on out, then he’ll be put on notice for the following season. But I don’t expect a complete collapse. They have built the defense well and the offense is still a year or two away. They’re coming off a draft that looks solid. They’ve just come up empty at the most important spot; I’m assuming they’ll draft a QB in April. Shanahan has the power. Period. Bruce Allen is not a personnel evaluator, or at least that’s not his strength. He negotiates deals and helps with trades. As for quarterbacks next year, there is no one close to Andrew Luck. But a few names to watch: Oklahoma’s Landry Jones, Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill, Baylor’s Robert Griffin (if he comes out) and USC’s Matt Barkley.

JK

John: Do you see anyway, especially after how the Eagles game went, that Kyle Shanahan will maybe try to shape the offensive system to the players we have and quit trying to make the players fit into his Texans system.  And is there any reason you see (other than it’s a Mike Shanahan trait) not to rotate all three backs in the future. It seems like Hightower could have been very useful against the Eagles but I agreed that Torain should have started. It just seems like, under certain circumstances, it would make more sense to rotate all three of these guys and see what happens. Also, did Fred Davis not go up for the first INT as he should have and do you think he ran the wrong route the other one where is behind the safety (Rex said after the game he expected Davis to cut in front of the safety).

Thanks,

Charlie C

Charlie: One more for my guy Charlie. Thanks for the questions. …They will continue to call plays the same way. I sometimes think they get caught between who they are and who they want to be. But I also don’t think they run the ball consistently enough to rely on the ground game. I think they’ll end up rotating guys because they lack one dominant back, but all three can help. Hightower would have been useful, but his shoulder prevented him from playing. My guess is he’ll start Sunday and if he’s running well they’ll stick with him. Hard not to give Ryan Torain some carries against a bad run defense, however. Hightower’s value in this one, with a reshuffled line, could be in pass protection. As for Davis, that would have been an incredibly athletic catch. He could have jumped higher, but I’m not blaming that one on him. On the second, Davis admitted he should have cut in front of the safety.

JK