Assessing Washington's Free Agent Signings

[turtle28]

Assessing Washington's Free Agent Signings

https://www.washingtonfootball.com/news/assessing-washington-free-agent-signings-2020-season

So, our FA class hasn’t been as awful as most thought but, it’s not good, no difference makers but some solid players. I think as usual the team site & the coaches paint a more rosy picture of the FAs they chose than what we think but still, it hasn’t been all bad.

I like that McKissic is the top blocking RB in the league to go along with his receiving ability - he’s been CT like w/ less explosive plays. He’s not a good running back though, so when he’s in the game it’s a tell that we’re going to pass, which is an issue.

When Lucas played, he shut down guys at LT like he did last year for the Bears and didn’t give up a sack in 2 starts abd playing some of a 3rd game, he’s also huge so it’s hard for DEs to get around him, he’s surprisingly athletic for his size and he’s a better run blocker than Christian. It’s clear watching the Bears RT situation that they miss the hell out of him, I can’t believe they didn’t re-sign him.

Scherwitzer has been serviceable but not spectacular. Clearly better than Martin - but that’s a low bar - he filled in for Scherff when he had his knee injury and while he was a downgrade and wasn’t incredibly noticeable.

KPL has been average, he hasn’t been as good in coverage as I had hoped and too many RBs are running wild through our LB corps so I can’t say even he or Holcomb are playing more than Jags and Bostic has been below average.

Logan Thomas has had his ups and downs, they didn’t mention in this article about his blocking which is atrocious but I tend to agree with his coaches that he’s still learning the position and is showing progress there, but not enough consistency for a starter. Where I’m concerned in Rivera talk of Thomas is he feels he’s the answer bc he’s not. Thomas is a #2 TE, they need to sign a better/more round TE and draft a TE too.

Lastly, Darby & Fuller have been good to great as FA CB signings minus a handful of plays in 9 games. Our outside corners don’t get torched all game long and it shows bc QBs aren’t throwing for 300 yds vs us every week. As I said in my 1st offseason mock, we have to re-sign Darby. IMO even if we have to give Darby near a Fuller type deal, we should keep him.

[RSkinGM]

I'll take these signings over the old days when we threw $$$$$ at over the hill NAMES. 

[offbyone]

We signed free agents this offseason?  

The only real signing we had is fuller.  Good one there. 

I guess you can also give them credit for McKissic and Thomas.  McKissic has been good, Thomas has been average.  Thomas was supposed to solve a problem we didn't have an alternative player and he has been a disappointment in that respect.  A lot of hype about what he could be.  Clearly he is a backup tight end and no more.

I won't give the front office credit for one year deal signings who have to be immediately signed again for lots more money.

The problem here is the free agents who we didn't sign.  We all knew we needed help at spots that were not addressed.  Our concerns came to fruition.  I will be very interested and hopeful to see if Rivera takes a different direction this offseason now that he has evaluated the team.

[turtle28]

39 minutes ago, offbyone said:

We signed free agents this offseason?  

The only real signing we had is fuller.  Good one there. 

I guess you can also give them credit for McKissic and Thomas.  McKissic has been good, Thomas has been average.  Thomas was supposed to solve a problem we didn't have an alternative player and he has been a disappointment in that respect.  A lot of hype about what he could be.  Clearly he is a backup tight end and no more.

I won't give the front office credit for one year deal signings who have to be immediately signed again for lots more money.

The problem here is the free agents who we didn't sign.  We all knew we needed help at spots that were not addressed.  Our concerns came to fruition.  I will be very interested and hopeful to see if Rivera takes a different direction this offseason now that he has evaluated the team.

Come on dude. Yes we signed people. We didn’t sign a lot of people or spend a lot of $ money but we signed people.
 

As I said, I’m sure the Bears miss Lucas at RT given the crap performance their OL keeps putting forth and bc their RT was so bad last night Foles was hurt on the last play of the game and I think he’ll miss time with his hip injury although they won’t say that yet.

Darby has been good. His signing and Fuller’s have greatly upgraded our corner play which is why we can keep a QB at the level of Stafford from throwing for 300 plus against us.

I think we need to put Thomas in perspective, maybe the coaches hyped him up too much to the media as a receiver but he hasn’t been totally awful as a receiver, just not near anything we are used to.  We got spoiled w/ Reed and Davis from 2014-2018, in 2019 we saw what the offense missed in them.

I don’t like his blocking though, and I wish the coaches would acknowledge that. Just like with Reed, they are liabilities as blockers which is one reason - out of others - that we can’t run the ball consistently. I sure hope they upgrade him in FA or Draft and I don’t like that they don’t go 2 TE more often with Sprinkle as the blocking TE bc if they did that they could run the ball better and be more balanced IMO. Alex Smith shouldn’t be throwing the ball 50 times a game, I don’t care if we go down by 2 or 3 scores in the 1st half, we need a running game and we barely have one. Gibson needs more touches and if they’re not going to have him as a WR or receiving back bc he’s a bad blocker then they need to run the ball more, and I think that’s how they can accomplish that by putting Sprinkle in more often at least on 1st downs.

KPL hasn’t been bad, not great by any stretch but he’s serviceable. Do I wish they had just rolled with SDH there? Yeah, but it is what it is. It’s only a one year deal, they can sign or draft an upgrade in March/April if they don’t feel he’s doing enough.

They need a major upgrade at MLB that much is clear. Bostic is lucky we signed him, w/o us he’s a free agent who would have to wait for an injury like Perry Riley from 4 years ago. We can and need to do better there.

Scherwitzer is what I thought he’d be. People poo pooed 💩 his signing but he’s been serviceable and can play both guard positions.

We aren’t locked into any of these guys but Fuller long term, which is good.

Edited November 18, 2020 by turtle28

[ripsean21]

1 hour ago, turtle28 said:

Come on dude. Yes we signed people. We didn’t sign a lot of people or spend a lot of $ money but we signed people.
 

As I said, I’m sure the Bears miss Lucas at RT given the crap performance their OL keeps putting forth and bc their RT was so bad last night Foles was hurt on the last play of the game and I think he’ll miss time with his hip injury although they won’t say that yet.

Darby has been good. His signing and Fuller’s have greatly upgraded our corner play which is why we can keep a QB at the level of Stafford from throwing for 300 plus against us.

I think we need to put Thomas in perspective, maybe the coaches hyped him up too much to the media as a receiver but he hasn’t been totally awful as a receiver, just not near anything we are used to.  We got spoiled w/ Reed and Davis from 2014-2018, in 2019 we saw what the offense missed in them.

I don’t like his blocking though, and I wish the coaches would acknowledge that. Just like with Reed, they are liabilities as blockers which is one reason - out of others - that we can’t run the ball consistently. I sure hope they upgrade him in FA or Draft and I don’t like that they don’t go 2 TE more often with Sprinkle as the blocking TE bc if they did that they could run the ball better and be more balanced IMO. Alex Smith shouldn’t be throwing the ball 50 times a game, I don’t care if we go down by 2 or 3 scores in the 1st half, we need a running game and we barely have one. Gibson needs more touches and if they’re not going to have him as a WR or receiving back bc he’s a bad blocker then they need to run the ball more, and I think that’s how they can accomplish that by putting Sprinkle in more often at least on 1st downs.

KPL hasn’t been bad, not great by any stretch but he’s serviceable. Do I wish they had just rolled with SDH there? Yeah, but it is what it is. It’s only a one year deal, they can sign or draft an upgrade in March/April if they don’t feel he’s doing enough.

They need a major upgrade at MLB that much is clear. Bostic is lucky we signed him, w/o us he’s a free agent who would have to wait for an injury like Perry Riley from 4 years ago. We can and need to do better there.

Scherwitzer is what I thought he’d be. People poo pooed 💩 his signing but he’s been serviceable and can play both guard positions.

We aren’t locked into any of these guys but Fuller long term, which is good.

Yeah Turtle I’m with you no we didn’t break the bank but for the most part we’re getting pretty sweet bang for the buck. No it wasn’t the big spending everyone wanted but it is year one and guys have improved or even outdone what we all thought. And a few sucked.

But the funny thing is while the team is still showing improvement and things to work and build on we are seeing guys grow. Players are actually developing here and while we’re losing I don’t think we’re so lost. I think we’re seeing guys starting to shape roles going forward. The holes jump out and we can as everyone says, spend and improve a spot or two in FA then continuing to find gems hopefully next years roster could have a whole new energy to it!!!

No I don’t think we’re as close as maybe Ace has felt through the year previously I see guys shaping out their spots in a rotation or grabbing spots. We know what we need. I imagine Kyle and Rob are doing their plans I trust they are doing their draft work while they can pinpoint their expected offseason and list their FA targets. Ron will be coaching but I trust Kyle is working up all sorts of ideas and targets. I’m sure his East coast and big 10 lists are busy with draft prospects because these guys have been very local these last 4 classes. I really hope they have an eye on these East coast WR’s. MD has one UNC has 2. Clemson and SEC and Big 10 always have pass catchers with speed to burn.

Edited November 18, 2020 by ripsean21

[RSkinGM]

The only F A I really wanted was Robby Anderson. I think our offense would have greatly benefited from his presence.

[turtle28]

@ripsean21 

[turtle28]

3 minutes ago, RSkinGM said:

The only F A I really wanted was Robby Anderson. I think our offense would have greatly benefited from his presence.

Definitely, it would be awesome to have him. The Jets miss him like crazy, although when Crowder, Perriman and their rookie Mims are healthy their offense looks a lot better like it did last Thursday night vs the Pats, their top 3 WRs just haven’t been healthy.

I still don’t think they win a game, but it’s possible.

[PARROTHEAD]

2 hours ago, offbyone said:

The problem here is the free agents who we didn't sign.  We all knew we needed help at spots that were not addressed.  Our concerns came to fruition.  I will be very interested and hopeful to see if Rivera takes a different direction this offseason now that he has evaluated the team.

If theres no penalties from the cap this year due to covid. Since the cap is said to be going down some and most teams would be over as a result. I cant see Dan doing much more than last off season to pocket the rest again. Which. I cant blame him cause I would too. So I think the best that could be hoped for is a couple low rent pieces. Maybe someone half decent should Kerrigan take off and opens a huge chunk of cash. But otherwise. I dont see Dan willing to get within 20 million of the cap number.

Edited November 18, 2020 by PARROTHEAD

[ripsean21]

39 minutes ago, RSkinGM said:

The only F A I really wanted was Robby Anderson. I think our offense would have greatly benefited from his presence.

I’ll admit he’s been better then I thought he would and I know part of that is the prove it deal. But he’s played solid so I’ll admit I didn’t think he would pan out in a bigger deal I guess we will see next season and beyond

Edited November 18, 2020 by ripsean21

[turtle28]

35 minutes ago, PARROTHEAD said:

If theres no penalties from the cap this year due to covid. Since the cap is said to be going down some and most teams would be over as a result.
 

I cant see Dan doing much more than last off season to pocket the rest again. Which. I cant blame him cause I would too. So I think the best that could be hoped for is a couple low rent pieces. Maybe someone half decent should Kerrigan take off and opens a huge chunk of cash. But otherwise. I dont see Dan willing to get within 20 million of the cap number.

That’s a good point. I could see us keeping our guys like Scherff, giving Jon Allen an extension and signing a LB, FS, TE and WR but not the most expensive ones. 
 

I don’t think Kerrigan is going to stay. The guys wants to play, and DelRio hasn’t even found a role for him on 3rd down & longs  rushing him in Ioannidis old role while taking Payne or Allen off the field like I thought he would after Ioannidis went down.

Kerrigan will sign with a playoff team IMO. He’ll have 14 chances on where to go even if he’s just a rotational piece for say Baltimore at least he’ll be part of a winning team.

[offbyone]

2 hours ago, PARROTHEAD said:

If theres no penalties from the cap this year due to covid. Since the cap is said to be going down some and most teams would be over as a result. I cant see Dan doing much more than last off season to pocket the rest again. Which. I cant blame him cause I would too. So I think the best that could be hoped for is a couple low rent pieces. Maybe someone half decent should Kerrigan take off and opens a huge chunk of cash. But otherwise. I dont see Dan willing to get within 20 million of the cap number.

I will be appalled if we take another year off.  Rivera got his year.  Evaluation time is over.  Time to start competing.  The future is now.  

[MKnight82]

4 hours ago, offbyone said:

I won't give the front office credit for one year deal signings who have to be immediately signed again for lots more money.

Or we can let them walk and get comp picks.  

[turtle28]

36 minutes ago, MKnight82 said:

Or we can let them walk and get comp picks.  

Yeah, all those late round picks, they’re really going to change the franchise around!

[PARROTHEAD]

1 hour ago, offbyone said:

I will be appalled if we take another year off.  Rivera got his year.  Evaluation time is over.  Time to start competing.  The future is now.  

For Dan. It comes down to making 100 million using the full cap and building up the team for the fans that hate you. Or make 120+ million keeping unpenalized under the cap.

Im not putting any of this on Rivera. This is all Dan and how fat he wants his wallet. Rivera is just the guy that has to make do with whats given or whats allowed.