Let's Review The Offseason

[Darrell Green Fan]

Now I am going to start by saying this is not meant as a SM bash thread. Like everyome else I am all in with Scott and believe he is the single reason for hope. As a draft takes 3 years to evaluate let's discuss his other key moves, specifically the big free agents signings.

Terrance Knighton. I get it, a lot of the dirty work a NT does goes unnoticed by the fans. But we are not idiots and understand when a nose tackle is making an impact and sadly ours is not. Grade C-

Jeron Johnson. He was signed to compete for the SS spot. He ended camp as the #3 SS and it took two months of horrible play by Trent for the coaches to finally go to Johnson. Since then his play has been nothing of note. Grade D.

Stephan Pae. Posters tried to claim he wou!d aid in the pass rush which was odd considering he had 6 last year and prior to that his career high was 2.5. I swear it was mid October before I heard his name called on game day. Considering the size of the contract this is a Grade D-

Chris Culliver. By far my favorite signing. But injuries and poor use of his talents (IMO) meant we got virtually nothing out of this move, Grade Incomplete.

Ricky Jean Francois. This signing was not bad, he has filled his role as a situatuonal backup DL OK. But his role was also to provide an interior pass rush and to date he has as many sacks as I have victories at the Daytona 500. Bottom line is once again a free agent who has had x very little impact. Grade D+

Then there was the trade of a 5th for Derek Carrier. Now Dad and I see this differently and I'm not going to harp on it too much because most 5th rounders fail to even make a roster. But for a guy with the draft record Scott has had I hate to see him give up a 5th for "just a guy". And let's be honest, has Carrier's play this year been more than "just a guy" level? Not in my opinion.

Again I am totally in the tank for SM. I believe he will rebuild this team well. But then again I thought the same thing about Mr. Gibbs and Shanny as well. So we have to take our bias out of it and look at these moves fairly. Can anyone argue that any of these moves has had the impact we had expected when they were signed? Now the real question is were they bad signings or has Barry failed to get the most out of them? IMO it is mostly on Barry.

 

[Breed]

Hard to argue with anything in the OP imo. The FA offseason acquisitions have been disappointing.

 

[gkekoa]

Knighton- 1 year at 4 million...not a bad signing. We didn't overpay the guy and it is impossible to really know how well he has played. We can't know that because our ILBs cannot tackle...at all.

Jeron Johnson- 2 years at 1.25 mil/season...only started the last 2 weeks...brought in to compete and now has the job. That is an A.

Stephen Paea- 5.25 mil/season for 4 seasons...for whatever reason he didn't seem to get much PT in the first half the season. He has been decent when he has been in. That being said, not worth the money so far but easy enough to end the contract at any point. This signing is a C- at this point.

Chris Culliver- 4 years at 8 mil/season...I would say he played well when healthy and he doesn't have a dramatic history of injury. He has been what we were paying for. I would give this one a B at this point.

Ricky the Frenchman- 3 years at 3 million/season...He hasn't been worth the contract. He's made no impact on any game. This signing is a D.

Derek Carrier- Contract is not an issue...the trade should be questioned. I am not a fan of giving up draft picks for guys unless we think they would be good enough in the upcoming draft to warrant that pick. It is a fifth rounder and he has performed about like you would expect of a fifth rounder in year 3 or 4. I wouldn't have made the trade and would have got some retread still available in FA instead but that's me and won't fault the front office for making it. I would call it a C.


I am a fan of the offseason we had. Finally we didn't go chasing big names. It isn't pretty but it is far more effective to go this route.

 

[deanpet21]

The biggest FA signing was actually in the season of Hopkins. Pot Roast and Francios were brought here to sure up the run defense. That is not happening. Baker is the only one having a good year. The biggest overpaid bum is Hatcher. We are getting nothing from him. Paea was supposed to provide pass rush but is getting beaten out by Baker.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Jeron Johnson- 2 years at 1.25 mil/season...only started the last 2 weeks...brought in to compete and now has the job. That is an A

Jeron Johnson is only starting because the guy who won the job got hurt and the guy who beat him out for the backup role sucked so badly the coaches had no choice.. A grade of A? Really? I know he was cheap and available but just like Danny Woeful being cheap and available does not mean it was a good signing.

 

[gkekoa]

Jeron Johnson is only starting because the guy who won the job got hurt and the guy who beat him out for the backup role sucked so badly the coaches had no choice.. A grade of A? Really? I know he was cheap and available but just like Danny Woeful being cheap and available does not mean it was a good signing.

He is a young starting safety who is playing well enough to consider him a possible permanent replacement while only making 1.25 mil/season...that is an A.

 

[Buffalo_Nickel_1]

all them guys we sign are'playing in a first year system .i would not judge a gm by free agent moves i would judge'him by draft picks i would make a list of the draft picks and free agent move together

 

[Sportster 72]

Well it's unanimous, fire SM!!!!

 

[Breed]

The biggest FA signing was actually in the season of Hopkins. Pot Roast and Francios were brought here to sure up the run defense. That is not happening. Baker is the only one having a good year. The biggest overpaid bum is Hatcher. We are getting nothing from him. Paea was supposed to provide pass rush but is getting beaten out by Baker.

I'm not advocating for Hatcher or any DL here, but Hatcher leads the Skins in QB pressures I believe. And as G alluded to. It can be hard to grade any DL player who's main job in the run game is occupying blockers. When your ILBs as well as your safeties are poor tacklers and take poor pursuit angles.

 

[Sportster 72]

The thing is if we were not let astray the D is running a one gap system which does not require occupying a blocker but instead beating your man head up one on one. If you do not blitz in a one gap system then you risk going against 6 or 7 blockers if the offense chooses that protection scheme.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

He is a young starting safety who is playing well enough to consider him a possible permanent replacement while only making 1.25 mil/season...that is an A.

He is a starting safety the same way Matt Cassell is a starting QB.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

How Is that bullshit? Please show your work. Is it not a fact that he only got the starting job after the guy who earned the starting job got hurt and the next man up failed? The exact same thing can be said of Matt Cassell.

Was Robinson a good player in your opinion? If you say yes I have to question your ability to evaluate players. If you say no then how can you claim JJ was an A signing and earned the starting gig if a clown like Trent Robinson played ahead of him for 8 games?

 

[gkekoa]

How Is that bullshit? Please show your work. Is it not a fact that he only got the starting job after the guy who earned the starting job got hurt and the next man up failed? The exact same thing can be said of Matt Cassell.

Was Robinson a good player in your opinion? If you say yes I have to question your ability to evaluate players. If you say no then how can you claim JJ was an A signing and earned the starting gig if a clown like Trent Robinson played ahead of him for 8 games?

The difference is Johnson has played reasonably well. When you bring a guy in at 1.25 mil per season, you don't expect him to be a possible solution for the position as a starter.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

The difference is Johnson has played reasonably well. When you bring a guy in at 1.25 mil per season, you don't expect him to be a possible solution for the position as a starter.

Wait what has he done other than replace a guy who can't play and a guy who can't play that would lead you to believe JJ can be a permanant replacement as you stated in your earlier post? He was most defintely signed to compete for the starting SS job and he ended up camp in third place. If this is your idea of an A grade I sure wish I had you for chemistry in high school.

 

[gkekoa]

Wait what has he done other than replace a guy who can't play and a guy who can't play that would lead you to believe JJ can be a permanant replacement as you stated in your earlier post? He was most defintely signed to compete for the starting SS job and he ended up camp in third place. If this is your idea of an A grade I sure wish I had you for chemistry in high school.

Johnson is getting better within the system. He is the best SS we have had this year. It isn't where you start, it is where you finish. If he ends up starting next season, he is an obvious A. If he is a backup next season, he is a B.

 

[skinsdad62]

look i wouldnt say JJ is an "A " signing but it wasnt horrible either . since he has been stsrting i think we have gotten better play at the position

signing FA's isnt a good thing . hopkins is an A for sure the rest are avg if you take into account salary
culliver will be the starting CB opening day next year with breeland and blackmon in the mix witha possible jump by dunbar

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Johnson is getting better within the system. He is the best SS we have had this year. It isn't where you start, it is where you finish. If he ends up starting next season, he is an obvious A. If he is a backup next season, he is a B.

Yeah I buy that, to a point. But he's not there yet so you can't call it an A today. And if he ends up being the starter but is a poor safety on a team with a long list of poor starting safeties in the past then he's not an A either. So right now he's a long way from A territory.

 

[skinsdad62]

one FA we forgot about was blackmon . what a godsend there

 

[gkekoa]

Very true. We didn't go after big names and it isn't hurting us in the salary cap and they are performing as well as the big money wastes of the past.

 

[deanpet21]

Yes skinsdad. You can make the argument that Hopkins and Blackmon were are best two pickups.