Detailed Zorn Quotes from Combine

Redskins.com posted a detailed transcript from Zorn's comments at the combine:

On whether he saw any surprises upon reviewing the 2008 season:

Number one, where we got stopped in our offensive thrust to try and get the ball in the end zone was really from the plus-50 to the plus-20. That is where we ended a lot of drives.

On if he felt comfortable managing the game in his first year:

I think I got into trouble early in the season, where I think I could have gone back and saved a minute of time, especially in one game. I lost some seconds there not thinking fast enough. Other than that I felt like we were pretty good as far as the time management. Where I had to really focus, and I didn’t realize it, is as the play caller, I’m getting ready for the next football series and if our defense is on the field in the last two minutes of the game and we need to take defensive timeouts or decide on penalties, decide on how the situations are going to play out, I had to be much more focused in that.

 This validates for me the reason you don't fire an 8-8 coach after the first year. Zorn obviously has identified his mistakes and is working to improve them.

On what questions he asks the players at the combine:

I like to ask what goals they have in mind for their career. Do they have a vision of where they want to be in five years as a ballplayer? I want to find out about their leadership so I’m asking questions trying to dig deeper as to what kind of teammate they were in their program.

I'm 100% sure every combine athlete has practiced their response to this question. I am concerned about Zorn's ability to evaluate collegiate players other than the QB position, so I suspect Vinny will be the main guy for all our draft needs (unlike before with Gibbs). Larry Michael made an interesting point that Vinny has gotten blasted for a lot of the bad draft picks, since during the Gibbs era, it was really Gibbs and Gregg Williams that decided all the picks. I somewhat agree with that. We really should let Devin Thomas, Kelly, and Fred Davis play out this year before we all wheel the guillotine out to Redskins Park; however, Vinny is the big reason we only have four draft picks this year.