
I’m a patient man.
Honestly, I am.
But being a fan of the Washington Redskins is pushing me to the edge of insanity.
Just how inept are the Redskins this season? Let’s count the ways:
1. The coach is hopelessly overmatched
Jim Zorn, who was stripped of play-calling duties after Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, is a man out of his depth. A former quarterback and offensive coordinator, Zorn had a bit of a reputation as an offensive mind in the game, but the Redskins have yet to top 17 points this season, and have done so only eight times in his 22-game tenure, including one (a 27-24 loss to the 49′ers in last year’s season finale) in the last 11.
What does that mean?
The league knows what Zorn is trying to do and he hasn’t made the adjustment.
And the image of him yesterday, holding a challenge flag and trying to get a review inside the last two minutes shows desperation (replays showed that he had no chance of winning a challenge) and a lack of knowledge of the rules (you can’t challenge inside the final two minutes anyway).
He seems like a decent man, but he’s not qualified to be a coach in the National Football League.
2. With the easiest opening schedule in recent memory, the team is 2-4
What’s truly sad here is the fact that, aside from the Giants, the five teams the Redskins have played this season are awful.
The Rams, Lions, Buccaneers, Panthers and Chiefs are all dreadful teams. Yet, the Redskins managed to lose to three of them. And really, this team could easily be 0-6.
Against the JV portion of the schedule, no less.
The next six games are as follows: Philly, at Atlanta, Denver, at Dallas, at Philly, New Orleans.
A 2-10 record looks like a distinct possibility.
3. The owner won’t get out of the way
Daniel Snyder is a smart man. Morons don’t become billionaires and the man is making money hand-over-fist with his boyhood team.
That’s great, but he’s driving them into the ground.
The record isn’t horrible. The Redskins are 78-88 during his reign as owner. It’s the direction, or lack thereof, of the team in recent years that’s the issue.
Even the players think the problem rises higher than Zorn.
Vinny Cerrato, the executive vice president for football operations, is a clown. His job? Acquire talent.
OK, fine. Let’s review that.
Since 2003, he’s been in charge of selecting players in the draft:
2003
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
2 44 Taylor Jacobs WR Florida
3 81 Derrick Dockery G Texas
7 232 Gibran Hamdan QB Indiana
2004
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 5 Sean Taylor FS Miami
3 81 Chris Cooley TE Utah State
5 151 Mark Wilson T California
6 180 Jim Molinaro T Notre Dame
2005
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 9 Carlos Rogers CB Auburn
1 25 Jason Campbell QB Auburn
4 120 Manuel White FB UCLA
5 154 Robert McCune LB Louisville
6 183 Jared Newberry LB Stanford
7 222 Nehemiah Broughton FB Citadel
2006
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
2 35 Rocky McIntosh LB Miami
5 153 Anthony Montgomery DT Minnesota
6 173 Reed Doughty FS Northern Colorado
6 196 Kedric Golston DT Georgia
7 230 class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”230 “>Kili Lefotu G Arizona
7 250 Kevin Simon LB Tennessee
2007
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 6 Laron Landry S LSU
5 143 Dallas Sartz LB USC
6 179 H.B. Blades LB Pitt
6 205 Jordan Palmer QB UTEP
7 216 Tyler Ecker TE Michigan
2008
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
2 34 Devin Thomas WR Mich. St.
2 48 Fred Davis TE USC
2 51 Malcolm Kelly WR Oklahoma
3 96 Chad Rinehart G N. Iowa
4 124 Justin Tryon CB Arizona St.
6 168 Durant Brooks P Ga. Tech
6 180 Kareem Moore CB Nicholls St.
6 186 Colt Brennan QB Hawaii
7 242 Rob Jackson DE Kansas St.
7 249 Chris Horton S UCLA
2009
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 13 Brian Orakpo DE Texas
3 80 Kevin Barnes CB Maryland
5 158 Cody Glenn LB Nebraska
6 186 Robert Henson LB TCU
7 221 Eddie Williams TE Idaho
7 243 Marko Mitchell WR Nevada
Not exactly a great body of work, there, Vinny.
But Cerrato, who may be fired along with Zorn sometime soon, is a Snyder favorite. Why?
Because he let’s the owner keep his finger in the pie, so to speak. Snyder loves the splashy free agents, and the $100 million he threw at Haynesworth is the latest example.
I don’t have a huge problem with that deal, but the money might have been better spent upgrading the offensive line or the complete lack of speed on the offensive side of the ball.
4. This is the slowest team in the league
Speed kills. So does the lack of it.
Aside from Santana Moss, there is no one on the roster that teams worry about beating them with a big play. Clinton Portis couldn’t outrun his 265-pound fullback on a 78-yard run yesterday.
Root canals move faster.
Every team needs a gamebreaker. Somebody that can just flat out run.
The Skins are sorely lacking in that department.
It’s hard to watch this once proud franchise sink into the abyss.
Something must be done.