Pro Bowl

No Redskins players make the Pro Bowl, sadly. Apparently, London Fletcher (again), Lorenzo Alexander(ST), and Brian Orakpo are all alternates, though I haven't read whether that's 1st alternate or not.  Fletcher and Alexander at the least greatly deserved to go.

Fletcher leads the league in tackles by a wide margin, and is 33 tackles ahead of the next NFC I/MLB, Novorro Bowman, all while being on a good defense with a good Defensive Line, so he isn't just cleaning up every play 10 yards downfield. Further adding insult to injury is the fact that Brian Urlacher went, on whom Fletcher has 71 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, 2 sacks, and 2 passes defended in exchange for 1 interception. Fletcher's Redskins defense has also been considerably better than Urlacher's Bears defense this season. This mentions only the statistics, which are not even Fletcher's key contribution; he's one of the best, smartest, most well-respected leaders and most savvy veterans in the league, and is responsible for determining and dictating defensive line shifts on every play as well as calling the plays and coordinating the rest of the defense.

Alexander is the captain, leader, and difference maker on the best kick coverage unit in the NFC, and Shanahan-- no Rex Ryan when it comes to building his own players up-- said he should be a shoo-in for the position.

Orakpo has been excellent this year but without the big sack numbers and on a bad team, I'm not too surprised he wasn't chosen.

12/24/2011

First post originally to this blog!

Looks like Barkley is going back to school, and Landry Jones is expected to as well (I didn't really want him, but it still hurts us that he's going back given supply and demand). As such, in the first round where we will be picking, it's really just Luck (not that he'd be there outside the top 5) and RG3.

That said, we lost today. The Eagles are also looking decent so they should be the favorites against us next week. If we lose, we'll finish at 5-11. If we do, that leaves the Colts, Rams, and Vikings as definitely finishing with a higher pick than we will, the Bucs, Jags, and Browns as teams that could finish with a higher pick or could be tied with us (haven't looked into tiebreakers), and the Dolphins as a team that could be tied with us or could have a better record. For reference, current 6-9 teams (ie, ones which could be tied with us if we win next week and finish 6-10) are the Bills, Panthers, and Chiefs. The only interplay between any 2 of those teams for week 17 is Colts/Jaguars. More on that later.

 12/22/2011


To toss some names out there.


Rd 1: Luck, Barkley, or RG3

Rd 2:
+
Rd 3: Any two of the following, in vague order of wantness: CB Casey Hayward, NT Dontari Poe or Alameda Ta'amu, OG Ryan Miller, WR Nick Toon

Rd 4+4: ILB Tanner Brock, ILB Adrien Cole, WR Juron Criner, WR Jarrett Boykin, WR DeVier Posey, NT Mister Cobble (sick name), CB Coryell Judy

Rd 5: OT Mike Ryan, OT Jeremiah Sirles, any of the above who fall

Rd 6+7: OG Chris Jacobson, K Randy Bullock, K(/P) Quinn Sharp

This is if we don't become completely certain that Jammal Brown can't play any more. If that's the case, need to upgrade OT as a priority.

12/18/2011

Skins could pick anywhere from 4th at the earliest to 16th as the technical latest, but around 12th as a more realistic latest. I'm pegging us at around the 8th or 9th overall pick, probably.

Vikings, Rams, or, in all likelihood, the Colts should be picking 1st overall. My deal scenario would still be Vikings or Rams managing to out-lose the Colts, since they're unlikely to take Luck and, as such, Skins might be able to trade up for that spot, as Luck is still what I want the most. Barring that [ ] though, here's where we're looking.

Rd 1: ~9th overall
Rd 2: ~9
Rd 3: ~9
Rd 4: ~9
Rd 4: ~16 (from Raiders/Campbell)
Rd 5: ~9
Rd 6: ~1-9 (depending on whether we traded our 6th or the Vikings/McNabb 6th for Hightower)
Rd 7: ~9

So, 5 picks in the first ~115 picks (3.5 rounds), which are the most relevant ones, I'd say.

10/8/2011

Gonna synthesize my targets into draft wishes

Round 1: Andrew Luuuuuuuuuuuuuck (QB)
Round 2: Dont'a Hightower (ILB)
Round 3: Casey Hayward (CB)
Round 4: Ben Jones (C)
Round 4: Dontari Poe (NT)
Round 5: DeMarlo Belcher (WR)
Round 6: Chris Jacobson (G)
Round 7: Blair Walsh (K)

We might have an additional 6th, but I think the Saints get it from the Jammal Brown trade.


Something along those lines would be awesome imo. I think there was another guy I liked as a mid-round NT prospect, but I forget who it was. Wouldn't mind taking a G higher up, but I've read that Jacobson looks like a good ZBS fit and most of the guys coming out are big power scheme run blockers excluding maybe a couple 1st-2nd rounders. I think the value worked out better this way. Among other places, I got most of my stock grades from walterfootball, and some of that's out of date, so it might be inaccurate, but it's an idea/starting point.

Draft needs

10/6/2011:

1. Quarterback. Obviously. We're building a good team but just don't have any quarterbacks, and I very much want it to be a really good rookie prospect to be our franchise guy for a decade rather than a Kevin Kolb-type. I so, so badly want Luck but that's looking very unlikely unless we trade a ton for him (which I wouldn't necessarily oppose). Still, I want this to definitely be our first round pick, unless all the guys we like at that spot are gone. Happily, it's looking right now like there are a number of good QB prospects that could come out. 1st round

2. Offensive Line. Our OL is much improved from last year, but still not great. Chris Chester, Kory Lichtensteiger, and Will Montgomery are all looking solid in the middle, but none is anything special, and I'd like us to try to upgrade there. Most likely an OG would be the biggest help. We don't need an OT to take over for Brown yet, and Montgomery has been more decent than Chester/Licht, I think (plus, Licht is a natural center, really, so getting a guard increases our options at both positions). I would also be happy to sign one in FA, provided he is good and not too old. Depending on value, 2nd-4th round