Obviously this was not the season all of us had in mind, but I think a lot of good actually came from what happened this year. Plain and simple, we needed to be humbled, and we needed to realize that changes had to be made. I cannot blame Rex or Tanny for showing support and giving larger roles to some mediocore players who had ultimately had us a game away from the super bowl 2 years in a row. Now, I think its pretty clear that not only the talent, but the leadership on this team has diminished a great deal over the past two seasons. Moving foward.... 1. First off, make no mistake about it Schottenheimer will be fired. People can say all they want about Sanchez, but Schottenheimer has put him in a no win situation. The constant predictable bullshit he calls leaves Sanchez hung out to dry more often than not. We had three terrific playmakers, four if you include LT out of the backfield, and none of them were used to their strengths. I don't think Holmes saw a deep ball all year and rarely was targeted as often as he should have been. Plax's height was irrelevant as we never looked for him to outjump smaller DB's or hit him on the back shoulder as Eli did so often. Keller I just shake my head bc it's been 3 years now where we've all been asking why isn't he a more focal point of the offense. 2. Leadership...from Faneca and TJ two years ago, and then Ellis, Digs, Trich, Woody, Jenks, Braylon and Cotch this year, we have lost a lot of what I feel makes Rex system works. Everyone jumps on him now for his talk bc his players dont back him up. When we had true leaders, who kept the locker room in check, this was not an issue. There are several spots that we could look at for some veteran leadership. Most obvious is the RT spot. I'd love Hunter back in his original role (#78 reporting eligible). People say we need to draft an Olineman but if we bring back Hunter at a reduced price, along with Rob Turner and Ducasse in year 3, our depth would be pretty solid. Any rookie we draft would likely take some time to develop, which is why we need another Woody type signing as a 2 year stop gap at RT. 3. The draft...this is a HUGE draft, especially with the fact that we could be picking anywhere from 14-18 I believe (we own tiebreakers over Philly and NYG if they finish 8-8, plus a few other teams I believe). As bad as the offense has been, our defense needs to be revamped. It starts with our D, and from there we can get back to running the ball and making Sanchez more effective. I like what we've built on our Dline assuming Pouha returns as a free agent, but we absolutely need to get younger and faster at LB and Safety. From what I've read there are a couple of guys who could be available rd 1 at OLB who have pass rush and coverage ability. I'd look to go OLB rd 1, then hope LeMichael James is still available rd 2 who would be a perfect compliment for Greene and potential 3 down back, then go Safety rounds 3 and 4. Look to build on the oline depth in later rounds. Anybody know what rd the pick we got for Lowery is? 4. Free agency...at the moment, with our top 10 guys occupying 90 million of a salary cap expected to be around 130 mill, we probibly won't be major players in free agency. Since we didn't restructure Sanchez last yr, I expect something to be done to reduce his 15 million dollar cap hit. Looking ahead a little bit, although none of our big contracts we can escape this year without a major cap hit or dead money, after the 2012 season guys like Scott, Pace, Holmes, and Cromartie all can be released if need be at a minimal cap hit. Point being, I don't think its out of the question for a team like the Redskins to take a shot on Holmes who they coveted in the offseason, with the understanding that they could release him if need be following the 2012 season. Also I wouldnt be shocked if we found a team with a lot of cap room looking for defensive help to take on Pace's contract as well. Final thoughts...a lot went wrong this season but I think a lot of good can come out of it. We should be picking in a good spot, with all of our picks plus Lowery's pick, and have no major free agents other than Pouha. We still have the best CB trio in the NFL in my opinion and an offensive line that is a solid RT away from being the best unit in the NFL again. Let's get an OC in here who has a clue how to call a game and then see where Sanchez really is. Its amazing how people forget how guys like Eli and Brees performed early in their careers, and Sanchez only had 12 starts in college. A new OC should do a lot for Sanchez and this offense and bringing back Braylon who should not be expensive would also give us that deep threat we lacked all year. A good draft to revamp the D at OLB and S and I see no reason why we can't be right back in the playoffs.
