Lifelong Redskins fan. Know all the players from all the rosters going back to when Gibbs first came onboard. Watched and studied every game ever played.

I miss the hogs and the equivalent. It seems the AFC teams like the Ravens and Steelers and the NfC teams like the Eagles and Giants learned this from us and we forgot this lesson long ago. I think with a solid offensive line you can win with quarterbacks like Rypien, Willims, McNabb, Campell, and Grossman. We should have used the 2nd round and other picks we traded for McNabb on a big and fast guard or RT. When I think of our previous champs, our offensive line gave the quarterback time to find our receiving threats Monk, Clark, Sanders, Bryant, Didier, Warren, Riggins, Washington, Byers, Allen, etc. even when our quarterbacks and receiving threats were not as good or as heralded as others like Elway and Kelly. The key was time and the ability to run the ball and maintain possession to run out the clock and win the game.

If Kyle Shanahan can ever learn to combine a possession ball control ram it down your throat running game with his skill at getting receivers the ball, we would be balanced and formidable. I’m sure his dad wants him to learn this.

Defensively, I think one of the reasons we failed this year was it takes time for the players to learn the 3-4 and for it to take effect. but a major reason for that was because the coaching staff was too easy on Haynesworth during the offseason, training camp, preseason, and early in the season. They should have suspended him for the first 4 games and not the last 4 games, but the error on their part was out of the kindness of their heart in giving the young kid a chance to catch a clue and come around. He never did and when you combine a malcontent with an still injured and hindered Kemo the glaring weakness and lack of push up the middle gave opposing offenses way too much time to find their receivers. On a note with Kemo, I am disappointed our team plays players that are still injured. Come on, put the guy on injured reserve and give the player a chance to truly heal, and likewise give our team a chance to find another player.

Another reason we failed on defense is because Haslett still has too much of the AFC / Buffalo Bills mentality on defense. He thinks lightweight players are going to stop the run against heavier linemen based on position and scheme and he gives the offenses way too many mismatches in their favor against the run. Likewise, he thinks our bigger, heavier, and slower linemen and 3-4 size linebackers can pass cover and he gives away more mismatches in pass coverage to the opposing offense … hence all the yardage racked up against us. The schemes “almost” worked, but almost doesn’t count and our coverages were just one step away too many times. A strong and consistent pressure from strong defensive linemen are the key to stopping the run, pressuring the quarterback, and giving our defensive backs and players in pass coverage a chance to make a play. I like what the Giants and Eagles do with their 4 man line, and even what we used to do. We can get there, but we have to eliminate giving away so many mismatches.

We failed a lot on offense because Kyle Shanahan was too much of a gunslinger and took inordinate and unnecessary risks in games such as the Houston game. We had the game won and all of a sudden when we are nearly in position to get in position for either a first down or a field goal, he heaves it into the end zone and blows our chance to win. You just can’t take those kinds of risks when ball control is the smart move. First down or just move into field goal range would have won that game on several different occasions. Ball control power football (maybe even combined with zone blocking) is the key to success in sustaining drives, wearing out the defense, slowing down the pass rush, building a successful passing game and winning.

Another reason why we failed this year was not our decision to get Donovan McNabb, but the fact that Donovan McNabb did not buy into and execute the system during games. He rolled out the same way he did in Philadelphia countless times and telegraphed the receiver he was going to throw to so many times it was laughable and it was no wonder opposing defenses were able to keep us from making 3rd downs and long drives. I can’t believe Donovan hasn’t upped his game. Surely if Vick can become a student of the game and up his game, Donovan can. If Donovan had done his read progressions correctly, played within the system like even John Elway was willing to do, then he could have easily improvised something after his reads weren’t there instead of trying to make something happen and ignoring the reads. The reads and open receivers were there so many times I was actually surprised Shanahan waited as long as he did to bench McNabb. We would have been better as a team, and McNabb would have been better as a quarterback if we had started Grossman at the beginning of the year … left it an open competition until Donovan pulled his head out and was willing to work synergistically with our offensive coordinator Kyle instead of secretly being stubborn and improvising his own thing. I’m glad we have both the Shanahans and Donovan. Donovan is the one who needs to ante up and get with the program first and foremost, then i”m sure the Shanahans will find a way to implement what Donovan does best.

Our secondary is awesome. I thought it was a miracle we did as well as we did with our defensive line situation. Considering Hall considers himself a friend of Haynesworth and stuck up for him constantly, it is amazing Haynesworth was willing to let his friend down by being such a selfish malcontent. If Haynesworth got in shape and truly wanted to be best player in the nfl he could be. He owes all Redskins an apology. He needs to admit he was wrong, change his ways, grow up, become a man at what 30? and then take his lunch pail to work and work hard for his team and to unleash his potential. Otherwise, I just pray Dan Snyder suspends him forever. Ill take our young NT Bryant over a pouting selfish Haynesworth any day.

I don’t know much about our defensive line coach, but we need someone like Bruce Smith or Dexter Manley to teach our pass rushers some 2nd, 3rd, and 4th moves to evade, elude, escape all the holding. It seems Orakpo is an expert at running around the outside and getting the linemen to hold him around the neck with one arm, but Dexter and Bruce need to teach him their moves on how they would also do that then spin inside for the sack. Where the heck is Dexter? Dexter, please go help Orakpo!

I don’t understand the logic to start Lichtensteiger over Dockery or Montgomery over Hicks. There must be some things we don’t know. Sure the zone blocking scheme let little fast guys to create lanes where they otherwise wouldn’t, but as a Redskin I want our hogs to be able to blow people off the ball. Surely Dockery can get himself in shape to be fast enough and durable enough to block in the zone scheme. Why not alternate the linemen and blocking schemes to their strengths. Put in Dockey and Hicks and run power. Wear the defense out. Then put in the little guys and run the defense to death and wear them out some more. Switch out again, repeat, etc.

Likewise with Haynesworth, you mean to tell me we have a lineman with his potential and we can’t figure out a scheme to use him and our coaches can’t either motivate him or kick his behind enough to get him to play like the monster he could be? Get a marine in there, get some hard ass to get him in line. This also was a coaching failure. I think Mike Shanahan and the coaches took the nice approach on this one. They gave Albert enough rope to hang himself with his immaturity and he not only hung himself but hurt the entire team for 3/4′s of the season. This was the wrong decision. They should have gotten in his face and told him the way it was going to be and if he refused, kicked his butt. Why not call Albert and say Albert we are going to give you a chance to do things your way. We are going to implement a 4-3 scheme just for you and call it the Albert Haynesworth defense. All you have to do is have 100% participation in the offseason program so we know you are in shape and then actually work hard at training camp and preseason to learn all of our defensive schemes and help us come up with more to win with. Albert is only going to be able to physically play for 35-50 plays a game max, so why not run a 4-3 scheme for those plays, and a 3-4 scheme when Albert is resting? If an opposing offense has to game plan for both a 4-3 and a 3-4 AND ALBERT their preparation workload will go up exponentially.

Regarding Free Agents, the more the merrier and lets get some competition at WR, OL, DT, FS!

Regarding age, trade or cut everyone over 32. Sign other teams practice squad players and build us a roster.

Regarding the draft, it will take some time. We can make do at QB, RB, LB, SS, CB, punter, and even FG. Lets get some more offensive linemen (RT and guards), defensive nt, outside threat pass rushing de and lb, and a free safety. Lets try to get Donovan and Haynesworth to come onboard, but if we can’t, then trade them early and move on.

The coaching staff needs to not be so nice and get the team on the same page by training camp.

Last and certainly not least, our offensive coordinator needs to be better balanced and stick to the run to have a better possession game and shorter first downs, and our defensive coordinator needs to quit trying to turn us into the Buffalo Bills crappy defense, watch some tape of some successful dominant real defenses, and quite giving away so many mismatches.

Thanks for the opportunity to state what is on my mind to other true Redskins fans.

Sincerely,
James