Thursday, January 25th, 2007...6:53 am by Lee Gibbons
Report Card Bonanza: Defense
So I’m a little behind on these and they are already pretty outdated so here is the rest of the defense:
Phillip Daniels
The Good: Still great at batting down passes and playing the run. He’s a very steady player. His 3 sacks ranked 2nd on the team (how’s that for a pass rush).
The Bad: Doesn’t generate much of a pass rush anymore. His days as a full-time starter are coming to an end.
Grade: C-
Cornelius Griffin
The Good: Showed glimpses of being the player we all remember. Despite his lack of big plays, when in the line-up he was holding up blockers and helping the run defense. His 50 tackles were a high amongst the team’s defensive tackles.
The Bad: Had his worst season by far since joining the Redskins. Hampered by injuries all year long. The Redskins need Griffin to rebound badly.
Grade: D
Joe Salave’a
The Good: Its hard to pick up much on a guy who’s job is to clog up the middle and doesn’t do much penetrating, but he wasn’t awful by any stretch.
The Bad: Losing your starting job to a late round pick isn’t a good sign. Regressed to the mean after 2005’s career year. He’s back to being a rotation player.
Grade: C-
Kedric Golston
The Good: The biggest (only?) pleasant surprise on the defense in 2006. Did everything you can expect from a late round pick. Earned a starting job and was the only tackle who could apply any pressure on QBs in 2006.
The Bad: Not much except for unrealistic fan expectations. He’s a good player, but a long way from being elite.
Grade: A-
Andre Carter
The Good: Led the team with 6 sacks and defensive lineman with 56 tackles. In the 2nd half of the year he looked like a player you’d sign for 30 million dollars.
The Bad: But in the 1st half he was the invisible man. Teams spent most of the year running in his direction (although that may have more to do with the linebacker behind him than anything).
Grade: C
Marcus Washington
The Good: Led the team with 2 fumble recoveries. The best linebacker on the team by a wide margin.
The Bad: Very disappointing year overall. What happened to the disruptive pass rusher? The Redskins need Washington to get back to being his old self in 2007.
The Grade: C-
Lemar Washington
The Good: Led the linebackers with with 104 tackles. Played and started in 15 games.
The Bad: Huge regression for Marshall. His tackle numbers look better, but got pushed around against the run and wasn’t the same guy in pass coverage. May have cost himself a starting role with his poor play in ‘06.
Grade: D
Warrick Holdman
The Good: One of the few defensive players who started all 16 games.
The Bad: Perhaps the lowest impact player in the league, can you remember one play the guy had this year? Cannot shed blockers. Two years in a row, teams have run directly at him for huge success, can we please not see him start ever again?
Grade: D
Carlos Rogers
The Good: Finished tied for the team lead in interceptions (with ONE!!!!) Managed to play 15 games. Was decent in games where Shawn Springs played. Decent in run support.
The Bad: Sophomore slump! If we were taught one thing in 2006, its that Rogers is not ready to be a number one corner. Was beaten deep on way too many occasions. Another guy the Redskins need to rebound.
Grade: D
Shawn Springs
The Good: When he played and was fully healthy he proved he was still an elite level player in the NFL.
The Bad: Could not stay healthy. Missed a bunch of games early with a sports hernia and ended his year with a broken shoulder blade. His durability or lack thereof may end up leading to a position change in 2007.
Grade: B
Kenny Wright
The Good: As a nickel corner, he’s good.
The Bad: As a starting corner, he’s bad. Expecting to have your starting corners to stay healthy for all 16 games is wishful thinking, can the Redskins feel confident enough in Wright to keep him as the nickelback another year?
Grade: C-
Sean Taylor
The Good: The only guy (besides the late season version of Andre Carter) who could actually make a play on the defense. One of the most feared players in the NFL. Led the team with 111 tackles and 3 forced fumbles.
The Bad: Was made to look stupid on double moves many times in 2006. Missed a few tackles that resulted in huge plays for the opposition. Struggled large in the latter part of the season. Needs to take the next step.
Grade: C+
Adam Archuleta
The Good: Has a hot girlfriend/wife.
The Bad: The Redskins payed 30 million dollars for that? Can’t cover my grandma and for all the talk of his run defense, he wasn’t very good at that either.
Grade: F
Offense over the weekend.
1 Comment
January 25th, 2007 at 10:27 am
I agree with MOST of these, although Archuleta should have been moved to LB instead of Safety once the coaches realized the mistake; he probably would have been more effective than Holdman, especially, in that role.
Back during the mid season funks, I did mention I thought the book wasn’t closed on Andre Carter when most folks had already written him off; his late season surge makes me look like a genius, but it’s a “Regression to the Mean” situation, as he was having his worst year so far of his career; I’m looking forward to him maintaining the late season play next year, which would be a huge help. I think we’ll end up with something much closer to what we were looking for all along with him.
Springs, Rogers, and Wright all performed at a much higher level with all three in the lineup in the appropriate roles (as you mentioned). But we have no appreciable depth at CB (though we do have cover Safeties to help, if Prilieu can come back from his injury). Quality depth would have saved our bacon when Springs went down, but Rogers played far too timidly when he was asked to be the #1. Wright was fine as a 3rd, but that’s his role; he’s not good enough at #2.
Taylor was a victim of defensive churn; losing his mentor was a truly bad move by the ‘Skins front office. I think he can come out of his funk, but the management needs to commit to the players or they will lose them, ala Smoot and Bailey. Taylor would just walk away at the end of his contract.
Golston, is, as you said, a Gem, but he’s still learning; maybe in a few years, we’ll see just how good he can be.
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