Redskins Mailbag: Ask John

Mike: Haven’t heard a whole lot about him, to be honest. But he was far off this summer; he didn’t look like he was able to fully use his speed. I’ll be curious to see him next summer. I’ll poke around on him a little bit just to see and get back to you.

JK

John: What is your opinion of Trent Williams?  I’ve not been overly impressed with him considering that he was a very high draft pick.  He doesn’t appear to me to be developing into an elite pass blocker, at least not yet, plus he’s been pretty immature at times both on and off the field.  Since, as I recall, he played more at right tackle in college and was very successful at that position, would the team be better served (putting aside that they need a to draft a quarterback in the first round) moving him to the right side and drafting another left tackle?

Steve

Steve: He’s been rather inconsistent and I think he misses having Kory Lichtensteiger next to him to help either clean up messes or keep pressure off him in terms of combination blocks, etc. Williams was off in his run blocking a week ago, but was solid in pass protection. When he came out of college, I talked to one GM who felt he would be better as a guard. But I’d give him another year to see how he progresses before switching positions. He also leads the team with seven penalties (one for unsportsmanlike conduct and a personal foul).

JK

John: What about Shanahan’s blocking scheme?  He prefers quicker lighter offensive lineman.  Well, with the college lineman getting bigger every year that narrows the scope of lineman we can choose from.  I am very frustrated with the offensive line situation now and for many years in the past.  Can you give me and others your thoughts why we can all see this is and has been a major problem but little if nothing is being done about it.  Btw, Chris Chester was thought to be the Ravens weakest starting lineman so I do not view him as a major upgrade.

Bowen Carpenter

Bowen: His blocking scheme works fine when you have the right parts, but I talked to Daryl Johnston for my Expert’s Take this week and his point was: Sometimes you just need to power the ball. And the zone stretch is not a power scheme. It hurts them in the red zone. But the scheme is hurt by the injuries as well. I think he’d like a big man, but the big man has to be able to run. Typically, though, he favors smaller linemen. I think there’s probably enough. But it is legit to wonder if that sort of style can win in the NFC East. Thus far their run game has been inconsistent at best under him. As for Chester, he was a reserve in Baltimore.

JK

John: By chance have you given thought to which free agent veteran QB might be the preferred choice to hold the fort down next season? Matt Flynn, Kyle Orton, etc? Or given any thought to which college QB you like the most?

Chris Hunter

Chris: I’d rather have a young guy to work with.Flynn is somewhat intriguing, but there’s no way to know where he’s truly at; he hasn’t played much. Last year at this time many thought Kevin Kolb would be the answer for someone.  For me, their answer lies in the draft. There are guys I want to know more about — Matt Barkley, Ryan Tannehill, Robert Griffin, Landry Jones – but I don’t have time to watch all these players now. Nor have I talked to many scouts or evaluators about them yet. The ones I’ve talked to have guys rated a little differently: some like Jones very high; others late first round. Barkley reminds some of Jimmy Clausen and they see him as a second-round talent. Griffin’s size could be an issue (same with Barkley; they think he needs to get a little bigger). Griffin is intriguing, but I want to hear more about him from the scouts, etc. He might return to college. Obviously Andrew Luck is the most desired. The other ones have pros and cons; ideally the Redskins want a QB who has a good arm, is accurate downfield and is athletic. Wait, who doesn’t want that guy?

JK

John: What’s going on with Chris Neild?  I’m having trouble understanding why I’ve heard so little about him for so long.  It’s not that he hasn’t recorded more sacks–I wasn’t expecting him to.  It’s that I haven’t heard his name mentioned at all.  No tackles, no missed tackles, no penalties…nothing good, nothing bad.  Just nothing.  Weird.

Darin

Darin: He’s not a playmaker so in the 10 or so snaps he does get he’s most likely going to set up the linebackers. He’s not that quick, so even if he handles his man he’s often not quick enough to get over to the ball. At least certainly not like Barry Cofield. Neild has been fine; some good games and some where he gets moved around a little more.

JK

John: First of all, I must say I admire you for re-watching these nightmare games to give more in depth analysis. I can barely watch it live due to the frustration levels increasing. Here are my questions – 1) Why does Rex struggle so much in the red zone? It seems like he can drive the ball between the 20’s but once in that red zone, issues arise. Why? Sure we don’t have playmakers, but the scheme has people (Hankerson this week) running loose underneath or for a fade but we just don’t make the throws. Why is this? I count as many as 4 INT’s by Rex in the red zone (AZ, Philly -2, Miami). That is unacceptable.

2) Why is it that we consistently see Kevin Barnes either not bump or give away where he is shading before the snap? This is while he is in the slot. On the Bess reception and the TD against Carolina he gave away which direction he was forcing the WR and it resulted in big plays. Why not just bump and force the WR in the direction the defense dictates? And why the general practice of not bumping on 3rd and 5 or less? That allows free releases and easy yards. Just doesn’t make sense.

Thanks,

Amani in LA.

Amani in LA: Thanks. At least I’m getting paid to re-watch the game, so that helps. Plus, I’m more focused on each individual play so I’m able to view it much differently. The score really doesn’t matter. On to your questions: 1) Part of the problem is that teams either blitz him up the middle and force a hurried throw or they drop seven into coverage and leave him with few options as the receivers just haven’t beaten this look. And in his heart he’s still the gunslinger. That leads to forcing passes sometimes while trying to make a play.  2) He shades him from the start because if he always plays straight up all it takes is one jab step and he gets beat to the area he’s trying to take away. And if, for example, he tries to take away the outside he’s anticipating inside help. And the press coverage is sometimes dictated by the coaches. But some receivers react well to bump coverage so that’s taken into account.

JK

John: Nick Sundberg is a name I haven’t heard all season, which is very good when it is the long snapper.  Have the Redskins solidified the long snapper position, giving us at least one position that isn’t a disaster?

Jimmie Crowder

Jimmie: Sundberg has really developed into a consistent snapper. Give the Redskins credit for being patient with him last summer because he did not start off looking so strong. And you should keep hoping that you don’t hear his name for another 15 years and he retires to a gig at Comcast.

JK

John: Chris Chester … um, is he secretly injured like Phillip Rivers?  Or is he a straight up weak link?  Maurice Hurt’s lapses seem excusable for a rookie, but is Chester who the Ravens thought he was?

Steve Sweeney

Steve: Chester was a backup with Baltimore; guessing they wouldn’t be surprised by any struggles. He’s more suited to a zone scheme than the Ravens’ power scheme because he can move a little bit, but he’s been inconsistent. He’s better on the run than straight power runs or drop-backs. But I’d be more worried about why Trent Williams hasn’t yet become a dominant left tackle.

JK

John: When I saw the first replay of Hankerson’s injury, the first thing I thought of was Bo Jackson. Then they announced a hip related injury and IR. How bad is this really? Was Bo’s injury to the “labrum?”

Stephen Harper

Stephen: Brandon Marshall also had this injury a couple years ago and seems to be doing just fine. Yes, Bo Jackson had that injury but so much has changed since then medically. We still don’t know if Hankerson will even need surgery.

JK

John: Three simple (or not so simple) questions..  1.  Is this roster less talented than the one Shanahan inherited from Zorn?  2.   After acting like a small market team in free agency the past two offseasons, do you see the Redskins being more aggressive for front line players next free agency period? 3.  Aside from the rebuilding process, do you see anything in scheme or environment that causes you concern long term?

Finally, thank you for not going the route of those columnists who are ‘playing talk radio’ in my opinion of calling for another coaching change.  Those same columnists killed Snyder for the constant changes, now they are ignoring a rebuilding process and advocating exactly what they railed against.  I commend you for being above the fray!   

John Little

John: Ha; I like to stay above the fray. But we have different jobs to do. I think the way to view this situation is almost like last offseason (or August) is when the rebuilding really began. So this is almost like year 1A. Anyway, for your questions:  

1)      That’s a tough one to answer because they had a broken-down old roster at that time; now it’s a broken-down young roster. In general, before the injuries hit this season, I would have said they were in better position going forward because of the youth. In 2009 I felt they were old entering the season. At least with a young roster there’s hoped-for improvement. But younger doesn’t always mean better; we still don’t know how the rookie class will be over the next couple years. Neither offense had, or has, explosive playmakers. The defenses are relatively close – a stronger secondary in 2009 — but the youth on this D gives it a big edge for the future. 2. Had the Redskins pursued the top guys – such as Nnamdi Asomugha – they would have fixed fewer holes. And they had many holes. It’s not about acting like a small market team. They’ve been ripped for just pursuing big names; this year they took a different approach. They overspent on some guys, but through free agency they added five starters. They will continue to be aggressive in the offseason, whether in free agency or in trying to move up in the draft if there’s even a remote chance of landing Andrew Luck. 3. I think the offensive scheme works – when you have the right talent. The defensive one is fine, though I’ve talked to scouts/evaluators etc. who say the coverage responsibilities aren’t sound enough. The environment is good, but I think it was wise for Mike Shanahan to return to Rex Grossman; players felt this move should have been done earlier. My concern is Shanahan’s ability to evaluate talent. And that’s a rather large question mark at this point. Also, will he continue to think he can “change” guys long after they’ve established who they are as NFL players.

JK

John: The NFL is a business first and foremost, so with 1 year deals for Hightower, Lichtensteiger, and Golston, do you see all 3 coming back next season or does it depend on their projected recovery in time for the regular season?

This fire Shanahan talk makes no sense. For everyone clamoring fire Shanahan….who is your choice to be the next coach? This will undoubtedly be the Skins biggest offseason of the Shanahan-Allen regime. If you get rid of Shanahan, it only sets the Skins back even more.

Brian Muhammed

Brian: I agree; I would not advocate a change right now. They’ve built up the defense to a pretty good point. They were hit hard by injuries on their (by far) weaker side of the ball. You can explain at least partially some of the reasons for the poor play. But you also can’t just give them a free pass because they got hurt. This business is still about wins and losses. Dallas’ offense survived injuries to its (also revamped) line and running game. Why? Because it had the QB and a couple playmakers. But they also found two new playmakers in DeMarco Murray and Laurent Robinson. As for the three players: Lichtensteiger I do see coming back. They view him as their best run blocker, plus he’s a restricted free agent. I’d assume they’d want Hightower back as well. Golston is tricky. If I’m them, I re-sign him. But he’d be their fourth end. He might want to go elsewhere to guarantee more time. The fourth end here was rarely active this season.

JK

John: Somebody will be whacked at the end of this year and their last name will not likely be Shanahan. What do think the chances of Keenan McCardell, the receivers coach who I read today was heavily involved in managing our 2 minute offense (which is a joke)  or offensive line coach Chris Foerster being back next year (I know we have injuries but the running game does not exist). Mike and Kyle have to find human shields of some sort after what we have seen thus far, God knows they won’t take any of the blame. Which coaches do see as being sacrificed and when.

Thanks,

Charlie C.

Charlie: It’s a little early for that one. Both coaches have been in tough spots because of injuries. If Leonard Hankerson had not gotten hurt and developed into a solid receiver, you’d have to give Keenan some credit, right? Foerster has had the toughest job because this was not the most talented group to begin with and they lacked legitimate depth. I will say, when they hired him I was told by a couple people in the league that they viewed him as “just a guy.”  We’ll hear more about this stuff next month. Need to see how the rest of the season unfolds.

JK

John: With Perry Riley now starting, and Rocky McIntosh currently on a 1-year contract, what are the odds that McIntosh is in a ‘Skins uniform next season?

Jonathan

Jonathan: Very slim. Very, very slim. Had there been a normal offseason, and there were OTAs, I don’t think Rocky would have returned.

JK