Per NFL.Com: Shanahan to Washington

[KalEl]

Not sure why these so called media experts think Zimmer is a 3-4 def guru...he runs a 4-3 in Cincy right? and he learned under Campo in the 4-3 and I know he ran the 3-4 with Parcells help???

 

[Sonny#9]

Zimmer cannot do it without talent.

I think Shanahan has a proven track record of being a very very poor judge of defensive talent.

That's the one thing that is bothering me...is Shanny's track record with signing and drafting defensive talent. Maybe he's learned a thing or two since then? He has been spending a lot of time at the Steelers and Patriots camps...along with a bunch of other rumors I've heard.

Outside of Elvis Dumervil, D.J. Williams, the late Darrent Williams, Trevor Pryce and Al Wilson, you would be hard pressed to find any defensive talent he had a hand in drafting or coaching that was much more than average. Even his Super Bowl team defenses were cobbled together out of talent that was readily available. And we have all seen what Snyder does in free agency.

You forgot Champ Bailey...That last bit about Snyder. I really want to believe that things are going to be different...but I am not going to hold my breath. I am waiting to see how it goes.

One of the reasons I was okay with him coming to Dallas was that we already had the defense in good shape for the immediate future. He has a massive retooling project on that side of the football in Washington and if his past history is an indicator, buckle up Commander fans.

There is a lot more talent on the defensive side of the ball, than there is on the offensive. I am looking more at Greg Blache as the problems on D more than the talent. Really -- I have never seen a team put it's corners 10 yards off the ball on 3rd and 2.

 

[SkinsHokieFan]

Zimmer cannot do it without talent.

I think Shanahan has a proven track record of being a very very poor judge of defensive talent.

Outside of Elvis Dumervil, D.J. Williams, the late Darrent Williams, Trevor Pryce and Al Wilson, you would be hard pressed to find any defensive talent he had a hand in drafting or coaching that was much more than average. Even his Super Bowl team defenses were cobbled together out of talent that was readily available. And we have all seen what Snyder does in free agency.

One of the reasons I was okay with him coming to Dallas was that we already had the defense in good shape for the immediate future. He has a massive retooling project on that side of the football in Washington and if his past history is an indicator, buckle up Commander fans.

There is a base of talent to work with on the D.

You have a guy like Orakpo. For his faults you still do have Haynesworth. You have a solid Rocky McIntosh. The secondary clearly needs re-tooling

The one thing the Commanders have gotten right the past 6 years (save for 2006) is the defense and talent on that side of the ball. If Shanahan is smart enough (which I think he is) to essentially keep the talent picking on D the same as it has been, and let whoever the D coach is do his thing, things should be ok.

On offense is where he has been a pretty good judge of talent and has the ability to maximize that talent. We'll see about the defense

 

[lspain1]

Shanahan is not getting a lot of credit here with some justification due to some longer term problems. While, given talent, Shanahan was able to bring home a winner, talent selection in some areas was clearly part of the problem in Denver. Snyder as an owner has caused problems with talent selection in Washington. A change in approach by both men seems required to make an effective organization. If I were a fan in Washington, I would be highly doubtful until I saw demonstrated a disciplined approach to talent acquisition. Regardless of the skill of the coaching staff (and I do not think the coaching has been bad in DC, just changed too frequently), the organization is not going to be successful until the talent process changes.

We'll see.

 

[Alexander]

You forgot Champ Bailey...

Bailey was never drafted by Shanahan or the Broncos. They traded for him in the Portis deal. Sorry, no credit for Shanahan. It does not take much to trade for a proven young player.

There is a lot more talent on the defensive side of the ball, than there is on the offensive. I am looking more at Greg Blache as the problems on D more than the talent. Really -- I have never seen a team put it's corners 10 yards off the ball on 3rd and 2.

Blache never had a chance. Neither did Gregg Williams. I think both did outstanding jobs considering what they were handed, which was a bizarre collection of attitude issues, overrated talent and people better fit for an Over The Hill Gang revival.

The main ingredient was Snyder's approach to talent acquisition on that side of the football and I don't care how long Shanahan slums around in NE or Pittsburgh, it is doubtful he will glean much. When there was a commitment to drafting it, it worked somewhat. You got some quality players like McIntosh and Orakpo. What was a disaster was trading or signing veterans who were not worth it. I could batter you with names like Jason Taylor, Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Adam Archuleta, Sean Gilbert, Dana Stubblefield and Albert Haynesworth, but I am a nice person and would never be rude to a Commanders fan.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I give this 2 seasons at best.

I'm actually not going to be surprised if he fires him midseason in 2011 because he didn't turn the Skins into an immediate success.

 

[newlander]

Very good thoughts here: Sonny has reason for optimism unfortunatley, because hiring Allen and Shanahan was like waving a white flag by NapoleDan. He has finally fired Cerrato who was a certifiable IDIOT and gotten pros in there to run the team. Very much reminds me of what JJ did with Parcells: didn't work but it was a good move nonetheless. I hate NapoleDan as much as anyone, but he's finally realizing that PRO PERSONNEL men need to do this and he and his buddy Vinny failed. I think they very well could have gotten it right this time IF Allen is in charge of pro personnel and Shanny only noses in on the offensive talent:as others have said he doesn't know squat about defense. Speaking of their defense; the pieces are in place , and sorry but Zimmer's a great guy but his presence doesn't shake me any. If they were smart: which they arent'- they'd ship out Fat Albert and keep Blache: that scheme and front 7 is sound, but as Sonny said: the secondary blows.

 

[Alexander]

I give this 2 seasons at best.

I'm actually not going to be surprised if he fires him midseason in 2011 because he didn't turn the Skins into an immediate success.

Both Snyder and Jerry Jones are similar and they talk often.

I would be extremely surprised if Snyder is not due for a little bit of maturation just as Jones has experienced in the last 4-5 years. He too can play the continuity card.

For all practical purposes, Zorn was his Dave Campo. Snyder simply needs to step back and stop treating the franchise like his personal plaything. If he does that and allows Allen to GM and Shanahan to coach, they will be competitive. The big fly in the ointment is who is really in charge of the talent acquisition. If it is exclusively Shanahan, they will struggle and he will likely be held accountable. But I doubt he is expecting a winner next season. I think even Snyder can look at the talent issues all over that team and acknowledge this is a salvage project.

 

[SkinsHokieFan]

The main ingredient was Snyder's approach to talent acquisition on that side of the football and I don't care how long Shanahan slums around in NE or Pittsburgh, it is doubtful he will glean much. When there was a commitment to drafting it, it worked somewhat. You got some quality players like McIntosh and Orakpo. What was a disaster was trading or signing veterans who were not worth it. I could batter you with names like Jason Taylor, Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Adam Archuleta, Sean Gilbert, Dana Stubblefield and Albert Haynesworth, but I am a nice person and would never be rude to a Commanders fan.

At least be a little fair

Stubblefield, Wilkinson and Gilbert were Norv Turner/Casserly/pre-Snyder moves. Somehow they get linked to Dan Snyder, but nobody knew who he was when those 3 were brought to town.

The D has performed well the last 6 seasons. You link up the Commanders '04 or '05 D with the offenses Shanahan had in those seasons and its a Superbowl team. Hell even the '08 team with Shanny's '08 offense.

So if Shanahan is smart, he'll see there are some good things going on with the defense, and keep those good things and get rid of the bad things.

The killer this decade has been the lack of effective QB play and lack of scoring on offense. The 2 times there was scoring and effective QB play (2005 season, last 4 games of 2007) the Commanders made the playoffs

 

[Big Country]

Mike Zimmer won't be able to teach LaRon Landry how to tackle.

Yeah but Landry has the flying knee to the back down pat.

 

[AmishCowboy]

If as rumored, Shanny wants to go 3-4, where does that leave Haynesworth?, I can't believe he would like Nose Tackle, does he have the skills to play DE?. Are Fletcher and McIntosh to small for the scheme?.

 

[Alexander]

If as rumored, Shanny wants to go 3-4, where does that leave Haynesworth?, I can't believe he would like Nose Tackle, does he have the skills to play DE?. Are Fletcher and McIntosh to small for the scheme?.

That might be one reason we saw him flanked wide at DE on occasion late in the season. It is hard to tell what he would do as a 3-4 end. I do think he lacks the temperment for nose tackle, but perhaps they envision him being a bigger slower Ratliff.

 

[Avery]

They need to rebuild their OL and draft Sam Bradford first before drafting more 3-4 personnel.

 

[SkinsHokieFan]

They need to rebuild their OL and draft Sam Bradford first before drafting more 3-4 personnel.

Yup

I don't see a move to the 3-4. AH is not your typical NT type player, you'd need 2 more ends, and another inside LB.

The D is "good enough" to be competitive. The offense is complete garbage

 

[Big Dakota]

That might be one reason we saw him flanked wide at DE on occasion late in the season. It is hard to tell what he would do as a 3-4 end. I do think he lacks the temperment for nose tackle, but perhaps they envision him being a bigger slower Ratliff.

Fat Al claims when he agreed to sign with the skins he was sold on a system built around him and we all know it was a 4-3 system. He was mad because the system Blache was running didn't allow him to rush the passer(in his opinion) as much as he wanted. Moving to a 3-4 would squash that goal even more and i'd presume fatso would be mad as hell if that were to occur.

 

[iceberg]

Snyder did interview a minority (a member of Zorn's staff). I know it wasn't a serious interview, but it did satisfy the rule. Personally, I can't figure out why any coach would consider coaching in Washington or Oakland.

i can't figure out why people actually put themselves through a useless interview just to check a box.

i understand the goal, i don't agree this does it. i would want to be hired on qualifications, committment and results of my past.

not because the PC generation forced people to talk to me because of my skin color.

 

[Sonny#9]

I give this 2 seasons at best.

I'm actually not going to be surprised if he fires him midseason in 2011 because he didn't turn the Skins into an immediate success.

Gibbs had 4 years, and he retired...this is a Gibbs-Level hire. It has been widely reported that Shanny and Snyder have been friendly for years, and Snyder has coveted Shanny for a long time.

I think Shanny will have a very long leash.

 

[Alexander]

Fat Al claims when he agreed to sign with the skins he was sold on a system built around him

So you are saying he was lied to in a Marcellus Wiley sort of way?

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I hope you guys are right, but the truth is that the Skins do have pretty good talent on D... They've been very good the last few years up until the last few weeks when things really fell apart there. I'm no huge Zimmer fan, but his work in Cincy pretty much shows he can coach.

And I think Bradford will be a very good pro. I don't see why he wouldn't be. He's big enough and extremely accurate. Maybe they don't get him, though.

I'm not saying they'll immediate win several Superbowls, but they'll be a good, solid team now. The one hope is that they draft poorly like Shanny did in Denver.

 

[wileedog]

I hope you guys are right, but the truth is that the Skins do have pretty good talent on D... They've been very good the last few years up until the last few weeks when things really fell apart there. I'm no huge Zimmer fan, but his work in Cincy pretty much shows he can coach.

And I think Bradford will be a very good pro. I don't see why he wouldn't be. He's big enough and extremely accurate. Maybe they don't get him, though.

I'm not saying they'll immediate win several Superbowls, but they'll be a good, solid team now. The one hope is that they draft poorly like Shanny did in Denver.

Agreed. Whatever you think of Shanny's drafting or coaching skills he is still a massive upgrade to Vinny Cerrato and Jim Zorn respectively, or even the bingo caller in booth.

And the sheer dollars Danny has thrown at him will prevent a quick exit, unless Shanahan himself gets fed up and leaves.

The Skins are in better shape then yesterday for sure. How much so remains to be seen, or how long Danny can keep his fingers out of it.