A Bit of Advice to Redskins Fans: Don’t Get Excited Yet

Published: 13th Jan 12 10:34 pm
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by Ricky Allen
Washington Redskins Blogger @UltimateRedskin on Twitter
Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Interesting week.

The Washington Redskins hire Raheem Morris to be defensive backs coach. I’m glad he was able to find a job, especially when there are so many Americans without one.  But coming to Washington? Well…

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense jumped the shark this season and this is who they hire? I’m not really sure how his defensive strategy (if it’s there) will really affect the Redskins. If I’m wrong, I’ll be the first to admit it.

However, coming from a team that was last in the defending the rush, 17th against the pass, and was ranked 30th overall in defense, I have a right to be concerned.You have a right to be concerned for that matter.

May I add the Redskins were 13th overall in defense this year? A crazy jump from being in the 30s in the 2010 season.  So I’m anxious, not excited, to see how this addition will affect how the DBs play this upcoming season.

The last thing you want to do is have to regroup the defense and offense at the same time. While I do agree with Head Coach Mike Shanahan when he said the team needs more depth, he should watch who he injects into the defense.

In his defense (no pun intended), I will say the Bucs did win a Super Bowl while he was a supporting actor (Defensive Asst.) But then again, that was so 2002.

The upcoming season will determine if he’s looking for another job. If he sinks, he will not get a year two.

Oh yeah, and when I say “upcoming season” that doesn’t include the preseason ok?

Don’t get me wrong, I, just like many of you got caught up in the hype when we saw how the Redskins were playing. I’m sure you said, “This might be the year”. Shoot, we all did.

Then we all went outside and smelled the fresh air, cleared our thoughts for a minute.

The Redskins were 3-1 in the 2011 preseason.

They were 2-2 in the 2010 preseason.

They were 1-3 in the 2009 preseason.

Here’s what I’m saying: Don’t get excited until Week Six or Seven. Yes, it’s a long time to wait. We need to when it comes to this team. I don’t care how rebuilt they may look, from picking up Morris, to Williams and Davis coming off suspensions, even if Landry manages to get back on the field.    It’s going to look great, but when it comes to the Redskins, I wouldn’t get excited too soon.

Even if we get a quarterback like RGIII, hold the applause.

Our season will begin at Week 7, and then we can talk excitement.

 

 

 

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2 Rants to “A Bit of Advice to Redskins Fans: Don’t Get ...”

  1. SkinsFreak says:

    Mr. Allen, good read – and I agree with the notion of not getting too excited too soon. However, there’s nothing wrong with little optimism. For the first time – in a very long time – Redskins fans recognize and acknowledge that Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan finally have this team heading in the right direction. Coming to Washington, Shanahan’s top priority was to change the culture in D.C. and he’s clearly doing that. But it’s a slow process and something that doesn’t happen overnight, or even in one or two seasons. But it is happening… and that’s rather evident.

    One of the major criticisms and point of contention from the media and fans alike is that the prior regime headed by Vinny Cerrato didn’t value the draft and tried to build a team by trading away draft picks in favor of free agency for that “quick fix.”. Allen and Shanahan are now using the draft as the right way to build the team. As such, it will take more than one or two drafts to accomplish that, so I’m therefore willing to endure a couple bad seasons with high draft picks. That, of course, if the team looks to the draft to build itself, and they obviously are.

    The Raheem Morris hire was a good one, and I don’t think you can rely solely on the Buc’s defensive stats from this past year as the sole gauge or barometer. Stats alone don’t tell the story of a man, or coach, and at the end of the day, no matter how great the coach or scheme, it’s still the players on the field who have to execute. If you have great players, the coach and scheme are brilliant. If you have mediocre players, coach and scheme are questioned, even if they’ve previously been branded as brilliant.

    I’ll offer one example. Bill Belichick is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches to ever grace the field. Belichick is the defensive mastermind who brought 3 championships to New England. Well, even a defensive mastermind can’t coach quality results without quality players. Although his team made the playoffs, Belichick, the defensive mastermind, fielded the 31st ranked defense this year. Is anyone now questioning Belickick’s abilities? No, because he lost some quality players this season, and at the end of the day, it’s still the players who produce those stats or results.

    The Buc’s, much lake the Pat’s this year, simply didn’t have enough quality defensive players. But because Morris doesn’t have 3 championships like Belichick, Morris’ abilities are questioned while Belichick gets a pass from critiques because they recognize Belichick simply didn’t have the quality players. Well, Morris didn’t have the players either, and while I’m not suggesting Morris’ coaching abilities are on par with someone like Belichick, I’m simply eluding to the fact that the players are the ones who fight the battle.

    Nevertheless, The Redskins hired Morris as a defensive backs coach. If they had hired Morris as a head coach or defensive coordinator, then we may have cause for concern. But he’s simply going to be a defensive backs coach, and we all know our secondary could use some refreshing. Morris is known as a “players coach,” and with some strong personalities in our secondary, such as players like DeAngelo Hall and LaRon Landry, having someone who is a “players coach” who these players can better relate to is a positive attribute.

    Further, Bruce Allen and Kyle Shanahan are familiar with Morris from their time together in Tampa. Continuity and familiarity are advantageous aspects of management when trying to build something. Even though the Buc’s took a step backwards this year after an intriguing campaign in 2010, Morris is a quality coach, and I believe a youthful, outgoing, players coach who the players can relate with is a solid infusion into our coaching staff.

  2. Mitch says:

    i totally agree with you. for the sake of all Redskins fans. I’m tired of the skins getting trashed in comment boards because nobody will shutup about how “good” they’re going to be. :p

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