Champ We Miss You, and Pierce, Trotter, Harris and Clark Too
Carlos Rogers' season-ending injury, and what it spells for the Redskins, makes it a pertinent time to reflect on the Skins' defensive personnel decisions and depth, or lack thereof. If you watched the game last Sunday, you probably gasped when undrafted CB Leigh Torrence was covering Randy Moss in the end zone. Moss got away with one for a TD as he should have been called for offensive pass interference, but how did the Redskins end up in such a position that with one injury they had an undrafted free agent, who had tried out unsuccessfully for five other teams after being cut by two others, defending the best receiver in the NFL in an important game?
The depth and defensive personnel breakdown of Gibbs II begins with the trade of Champ Bailey to Denver. Every time I watch the Broncos play, like on this past Monday night, and hear the announcers unanimously agree that Champ is the best cover corner in the league, it makes me ill. He was a Skin, and he has proven impossible to replace. Trading Champ for Portis was a terrible decision, especially as it included a second round draft pick. The Skins throw away mid to late round picks yet those are the picks that give a team depth, which we constantly lack, a theme that every injury reminds us of.
Losing Champ also caused a cascading flow of negativity for the Skins. It made the Skins need to use their next year’s first round pick on Rogers, so in essence the Skins used two picks, including a first rounder, to get Portis, who has been a below average back as a Skin, and Rogers has never come close to being Champ. Now he is injured and we are missing all of those draft picks that might have provided a better back-up than undrafted Torrence.
The terrible personnel decisions go on. To let two middle linebackers and D leaders, Pierce and Trotter, go to division rivals (and in a way that makes them pissed off at us when they play) was foolish at best. Pierce was a stud and haunts us every time we play the G Men. Do you remember the blowout, 36-0, at the Giants in 2005? Pierce knew all of our offensive calls. That loss cost the Skins the division title and a first round bye and a home playoff game. Trotter was pretty good too, and haunts us when we play Philly. We struggled in their absence last season and had to acquire London Fletcher to fill that gap.
Finally, there is the Redskins' boneheaded decision to not pay proven S Ryan Clark the $1.5 million per year that he wanted. The Skins replaced him with Archuleta and a $10 million guarantee for a player who underperformed and was released in the offseason. Lacking a safety, the Skins then used another first draft pick, this time on LaRon Landry, who got $17.5 million in guaranteed money. So the Skins spent $27.5 million guaranteed and wasted a year of non-production because they did not want to pay proven Clark $1.5 million.
The Skins in the 2005 offseason also dumped CB Walt Harris, who was voted NFC Defensive Player of the Week and had more interceptions for the 49ers (8) than the entire Redskins D had (6).
Then of course there was letting Ryan Clark go bc we didn’t want to pay him $1.5 million and ending up spending $10 million and wasting a season on Arch and then another first round pick on Landry to replace Arch.
And of course the Redskins' ineptitude at personnel management does not end at the defense, as they could have used draft picks find new offensive players. Had many bad decisions not happened then perhaps the Skins could have had more picks to draft a possession receiver, which they sorely lack.
The depth and defensive personnel breakdown of Gibbs II begins with the trade of Champ Bailey to Denver. Every time I watch the Broncos play, like on this past Monday night, and hear the announcers unanimously agree that Champ is the best cover corner in the league, it makes me ill. He was a Skin, and he has proven impossible to replace. Trading Champ for Portis was a terrible decision, especially as it included a second round draft pick. The Skins throw away mid to late round picks yet those are the picks that give a team depth, which we constantly lack, a theme that every injury reminds us of.
Losing Champ also caused a cascading flow of negativity for the Skins. It made the Skins need to use their next year’s first round pick on Rogers, so in essence the Skins used two picks, including a first rounder, to get Portis, who has been a below average back as a Skin, and Rogers has never come close to being Champ. Now he is injured and we are missing all of those draft picks that might have provided a better back-up than undrafted Torrence.
The terrible personnel decisions go on. To let two middle linebackers and D leaders, Pierce and Trotter, go to division rivals (and in a way that makes them pissed off at us when they play) was foolish at best. Pierce was a stud and haunts us every time we play the G Men. Do you remember the blowout, 36-0, at the Giants in 2005? Pierce knew all of our offensive calls. That loss cost the Skins the division title and a first round bye and a home playoff game. Trotter was pretty good too, and haunts us when we play Philly. We struggled in their absence last season and had to acquire London Fletcher to fill that gap.
Finally, there is the Redskins' boneheaded decision to not pay proven S Ryan Clark the $1.5 million per year that he wanted. The Skins replaced him with Archuleta and a $10 million guarantee for a player who underperformed and was released in the offseason. Lacking a safety, the Skins then used another first draft pick, this time on LaRon Landry, who got $17.5 million in guaranteed money. So the Skins spent $27.5 million guaranteed and wasted a year of non-production because they did not want to pay proven Clark $1.5 million.
The Skins in the 2005 offseason also dumped CB Walt Harris, who was voted NFC Defensive Player of the Week and had more interceptions for the 49ers (8) than the entire Redskins D had (6).
Then of course there was letting Ryan Clark go bc we didn’t want to pay him $1.5 million and ending up spending $10 million and wasting a season on Arch and then another first round pick on Landry to replace Arch.
And of course the Redskins' ineptitude at personnel management does not end at the defense, as they could have used draft picks find new offensive players. Had many bad decisions not happened then perhaps the Skins could have had more picks to draft a possession receiver, which they sorely lack.
posted by Jessica at 4:49 PM
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