Archuleta's parting words

by Skin Patrol on Mar 23, 2007 10:51 AM EDT in Analysis Comment 4 comments

[editor's note, by Skin Patrol] Running Redskins beat me to this story. I think Extreme Skins probably did too.

The deal is Official as all lingering concerns were resolved by a passed physical in Chicago. Adam offers some healthy Good Bye words through The Times:

"I sensed things were kind of strange, really not what they seemed towards the end of training camp," the 29-year-old Archuleta said. "I didn't see it coming. It kind of snowballed into kind of a mess. I won't pretend I went there and lit it up. When you look at the performance of the team and the defense and you look at individual performances, I don't think mine was really out of line. In a certain sense, I hit rock-bottom, so I learned a lot about myself. I think I'm better as a person and better as a football player because of it. This move is best for the Bears, best for the Redskins and best for me."

"I don't think there are many safeties who can do what I do underneath," said Archuleta, who made his reputation with the Rams as a run-stopper. "People like to say I can't cover. I don't believe it. I don't have a lot of interceptions, [but] I don't get beat a lot, [and] rarely was I out of position until last season.

"I'm looking forward to the fans of Washington actually seeing what I'm capable of doing and what I could have been doing in a Redskins uniform."

I wish Adam Archuleta well, though let's be clear. I think the Coaching Staff mishandled Adam Archuleta and he could've been more productive than he was. That said, he simply isn't a great coverage guy. He was an unproductive player on an incredibly weak secondary, so when he says his performance wasn't "really out of line" -- I agree! It was unfortunate for him personally that he became a scapegoat, but that doesn't mean he was unaccountable for what the defense wasn't doing.

For now on, Adam Archuleta is Chicago's problem. Again, I wish him well. If you are interested in following his career as a player, please go to Windy City Gridiron.

That said I have a feeling, should he succeed in Chicago, no story about Archuleta will ever fail to mention his time in Washington to take a (probably well deserved) shot at our team. I do not look forward to that.

Update [2007-3-23 11:55:59 by Skin Patrol]: Don't know how I missed this, also from the article (emphasis mine):

"The communication between me and certain members of the coaching staff was pretty nonexistent for the last few months of the season. I could air a whole bunch of different laundry. There's a lot more going on [at Redskin Park] than people understand."

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Seriously,

if we don't shatter records based on cross linking something is wrong.

by WCG on Mar 23, 2007 12:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I tend to agree with this aricle that

AA was the scapegoat and we could have used him a little differently even though I have critisized him in the past also.

He still had value in our system and in the first half of last year our D-line was terrible,it improved some in the second half but AA was not on the field then.

Some blame also has to go to management for shelling out big bucks for this guy,maybe we should have let him go to Chicago in the first place and also to mngt. for not evaluating his best assest as a run stopper not a centerfielder.

AA has been kind enough to keep his mouth shut and take his beatings in washington for all the blame and no one seems to look at any of the management mistakes. I have a feeling that we could be looking at a long,next couple of years for this team,as FA never seems to provide longevity in the contention dept. like the draft does!

And I would love to hear AA air out the laundry as I bet it has to do with DC GW.

by Sincethebeginning on Mar 23, 2007 2:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Even AA admits...

that the team never should have signed him. They alreayd have a run stopping, not-so-great-in-coverage safety in the likes of Sean Taylor. The reason Ryan Clark and Taylor worked was because the two had skills that complimented each other. Like bo staff skills and computer hacking skills.

AA can still play in the NFL... and I think Lovie Smith will utilize him much better than the Skins did. Part of that comes from coaching him before and knowing what he can (and can't) do well on a football field and the other part comes from seeing what the Redskins did with him and not repeating the same mistakes.

I wish AA the best. It didn't work out and now both the team and player have moved on. I agree with Sincethebeginning that it is a classy move to keep his mouth shut about the goings on inside the Radskins organization. I wish him and the Bears all the luck in the world... just not when they play Washington.

by TexSkins on Mar 23, 2007 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs