Doc Walker Interviews Sonny: Don't Blame the Offensive Line
by KevinE on Apr 28, 2009 12:56 AM EDT
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31 comments
Doc Walker and Kevin Sheehan interviewed Sonny Jurgensen yesterday on the Locker Room, covering the hot topics of the draft and Jason Campbell. The full mp3 of the interview is below and highly recommended, but here are the highlights:
Sonny Jurgensen's reaction to the draft: They were just grab bagging...I'm sure they researched all these guys. They didn't have a lot of picks to work with. They tried to move up...Jets beat them to it. Drafting Qbs...Leaf, George, Couch...you don't know what you're getting. So trading up is so risky. Ryan Leaf, you thought had all the tools you need. It's sexy to bring in a guy like Sanchez.
Regarding the rumor Campbell wanted to be traded if Sanchez was drafted: The thing that bothered me was how Jason or his agent reacted. 'Oh, I want to be traded.' What you want to here is, 'Bring em all in! I'll compete with them!' That's what I want to hear."
Doc: He never said that he wanted to be traded. I spoke with him, but I agree. I mean...if a man can beat you out in 3 months who doesn't know the offense and you do know it, then he's better than you are!
Sonny: Football is competition. I would be like "Bring em in! I don't care! He's not getting my job! It's mine!"
Kevin Sheehan: You concerned JC is too sensitive?
Sonny: Everyone is sensitive, which is OK. It can't bother you though. You're paid. You have a job. You're suppose to be the leader of the offense. Now play and lead. He's got the same coach, same offense, same system this year...so fans don't want to hear 'it's only my second year.' It should be a big step up [this year]. And they're gonna entertain more Qbs next year [so it is what it is].
Doc: Looking at the 2nd half of the season, and I have no clarification of this yet, but it appears someone in the organization has tried to lay this demise on Jason...and it was his inabilty to make plays as to why they have failed. No one has disputed this based on the chase for Sanchez and Cutler.
If I'm Jason, I'm going, 'well there's also the play-calling...it took an entire year to get talent on the field.' I want someone on the (coaching) staff to tell me what happened. Roethlisberger got sacked more than any other QB in the league, yet they won rings,so don't blame the offensive line.
(Steelers were actually the 4th most sacked team, Patriots 5th, and Skins 10th)
Sonny: Well there you go. The QB and head coach always gets the blame..that's the nature of the NFL.
Sonny then quoted a great Sam Huff line: "You live in hope and die in despair."
Full interview:
As much as I have been shouting with my bull horn the need for an OL this week, I full-heartedly agree here. When a team goes 2-6 the second half of the season, there is something other teams have picked up on tape. Not only that, the 2nd half of games is where the Skins really broke down. Teams were making half-time adjustments. I remember multiple games where
- the play-calling was VERY questionable.
- The poor 2-minute offense drills,
- Bengals game where Sellers got the ball every goal-line carry (and then fumbled).
- Campbell never audibling
There is a lot of blame to go around here. If the season at all goes rocky, Campbell and Zorn will likely be on the hot seat, which will not be fun for us to debate.
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If the skins start 2-6, it'll depend
I think, with a lot of hope thrown in, that Zorn is not as tied to Campbell as once was thought. If the team struggles at the start and it is clearly execution over system then Campbell is gone and Zorn may stick around, through all of the QB fancy of the past weeks Zorn was right in the mix with Dan and Vinnny. Campbell may be the only one on a hot seat, Zorn and the Redskins may be tied together, for the good in my opinion for several more years.
by dr WNC on Apr 28, 2009 7:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Unless Cowher becomes available...
Curry, Orakpo, or the top 4 OLs... or back.
by VA_Skin on Apr 28, 2009 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Zorn
so long as he (Zorn) doesn’t regress (and there is little chance of that) should be allowed a third year. But the team must get 10 key wins. If Campbell struggles early, Collins will take the helm for a game, but Colt needs to get work so we can see what he will do. Collins will take a few shots downfield, though his arm is limited. Its in Colts nature to try and get a couple more big plays-we need that aggressiveness.
ARMY STRONG
by JustinU804 on Apr 28, 2009 9:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
With the team that we have in place right now
there is no doubt in my mind that Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or a handful of other NFL QBs could come in and instantly make us a Superbowl contender. And that is with the OL that we have RIGHT NOW.
What does that mean? IMO, that means JC just needs a little bit longer (however incremental) to throw the ball. Why? One could argue that JC has had to learn a new system (again). But then you have examples of QBs who DON’T need 2-3 years to get comfortable with a new team’s system (Favre, Brees, Garcia…). Some QBs come in and excel right away (Matt Ryan). But they are the exceptions. Because JC isn’t THAT QB, I believe we need backup OLs that are capable enough to come in and do most all of the things that our starters can do. Backup OLs who, while not as experienced as the starters, are fully able to effectively hold the line. Every second matters for a QB (especially JC).
With the talent we have going into this season (and the strength of our schedule), there is no reason (barring multiple injuries) for us to start 1-7 or 2-6. If that happens (and I don’t think it will), it will then be time for the Rainbow Warrior to be unleashed.
Curry, Orakpo, or the top 4 OLs... or back.
by VA_Skin on Apr 28, 2009 9:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
JC this year............
Let face it this is a contract year for him he has to put up or shut up. He takes us to the playoffs or we move on it’s that simple.
Long live Jason!
by RedskinCali63 on Apr 28, 2009 11:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I honestly don’t know what games some people are watching where they see JC with time & open WRs and he doesn’t hit them.
I remember game after game where a WR was running a deep route, and would get open even, and JC basically came under fire when he planted his THIRD step, let alone a 5-step drop. Nobody could succeed under that. Not Peyton. Not Joe Montana.
Are some sacks JC’s fault? Of course. But our o-line BLEW last year in pass protection.
I find it quite simplistic to hold a QB accountable behind a line like ours, while throwing to one of the worst WR corps in the league.
by smutsboy1 on Apr 28, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Shotgun would have helped
This is what I’m looking for this year from JC and Zorn; faster play calling and breaking the huddle quicker, get to the line and have a chance to audible to a better play, go shotgun more to allow JC more time to read the D and release the ball, a shorter quicker release from JC, throw the ball away from inside the pocket when needed, anticipate where the receiver will be and release the ball prior to him getting open, tap the linemen or RB and point out who is coming on the blitz, JC should direct the receivers who are in an illegal formation or out of position, and learn how to slide. I would really have liked to see an audible or shotgun formation last year when the pass blocking started to stink. Zorn did not adjust as teams figured the Redskins out. At times last year things were in such chaos that they were lucky to get a play called and snapped in time. Hopefully Zorn and JC will take a big step forward this year, otherwise, I think they are gone next year.
by liger99 on Apr 28, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
For sure. Both JC and Zorn have lots of room for improvement. But that’s not as significant as the unacceptable performance (or talent) of our o-line, IMO.
My comment above is to the fans who want JC run out of town, or who think that if we start 2-6 we should start Colt friggin Brennan.
JC isn’t headed to the HOF any time soon, but I don’t know what games people are watching if they think JC is our main problem, and not our vastly inferior pass protection.
(not to mention one of the worst WR corps in the league)
by smutsboy1 on Apr 28, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Moment of truth
… if they think JC is our main problem, and not our vastly inferior pass protection.
I would like to point out that, when healthy, our starting OL is actually pretty good. If you recall, by week 8 last year, we were 6-2 and Portis had nearly 1000 yards and 9 or 10 TDs. The problem was our scrub backups, who couldn’t stop a D-line consisting of midgets, hobbits, and 3rd graders. But, even when our starting OL was healthy, JC struggled to put points on the board.
Which brings me to….
(not to mention one of the worst WR corps in the league)
Our “WR corps” consisted of Moss, ARE, Thomas, Kelly, and Thrash. Not the best… but certainly not the worst. I wouldn’t even categorize them as one of the worst.
Here’s a list of teams with a worse 2008 WR corps:
1) Oakland Raiders
2) Chicago Bears
3) Kansas City Chiefs
4) Tennessee Titans
5) Miami Dolphins
6) San Francisco 49ers
7) Minnesota Vikings
8) St. Louis Rams
9) Detroit Lions
Here’s a list of a teams with a comparable or marginally worse 2008 WR corps:
1) Buffalo Bills
2) Philadelphia Eagles
3) San Diego Chargers
4) Cleveland Browns (Edwards dropped more balls than the Boy Scouts of America)
5) Baltimore Ravens
That’s without factoring in our Pro Bowl TE (Cooley) and our Pro Bowl RB (CP).
Curry, Orakpo, or the top 4 OLs... or back.
by VA_Skin on Apr 28, 2009 7:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
How
Did you come up with these lists?? I disagree with you on the fact that Skin’s Receiving corps… Talent-wise, compared to the rest of the league (and the teams you have listed here), the skins WRs are VERY weak.
Besides Moss- they are not even a threat to most CBs and S… EL gives production but by no means a solid #2. And you can’t include a TE and RB in a WR discussion- they are completely different talents!
JJ Fe
by Rydaddy617 on Apr 29, 2009 9:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I know it's hard to swallow.
I have been making excuses for JC and defending him to fellow Skin fans for 2 years now. But the bottom line is that if he doesn’t step up this year and become our Field General, there won’t be any more excuses.
Most of the teams at the top of the list (worse) don’t even have a legitimate # 1 WR. I could have maybe included Detroit (C. Johnson), St. Louis (Holt), and KC (Bowe) on the bottom list (comparable or marginally worse), but ARE is better than their # 2s.
I wasn’t factoring in Cooley and Portis in with those lists as I mentioned in the last sentence. But the reason I mentioned them should be obvious. A good running game helps open up the field for WRs. And as for Cooley, he was pretty much our # 3 receiver last year.
Curry, Orakpo, or the top 4 OLs... or back.
by VA_Skin on Apr 29, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
LOL-
2 seasons ago- Cooley was the #1 receiver… i got ya though- I think I’m looking at one-on-one talent vs team talent…
JJ Fe
by Rydaddy617 on Apr 29, 2009 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
And I would like to point out that they aren’t nearly as good at pass blocking as they are at run blocking.
At no point was our o-line good at pass blocking last year. When the run game was humming the o-line couldn’t hold their blocks long enough to give JC a chance to execute even the simplest of play-action passes.
When your run-first offense can’t pass block well enough for play-action, the problems most certainly aren’t the primary fault of the QB. And this doesn’t even address the 2nd half of the season when the line could neither pass block NOR run block.
Here’s a list of teams with a worse 2008 WR corps:
1) Oakland Raiders
2) Chicago Bears
3) Kansas City Chiefs
4) Tennessee Titans
5) Miami Dolphins
6) San Francisco 49ers
7) Minnesota Vikings
8) St. Louis Rams
9) Detroit Lions
Here’s a list of a teams with a comparable or marginally worse 2008 WR corps:
1) Buffalo Bills
2) Philadelphia Eagles
3) San Diego Chargers
4) Cleveland Browns (Edwards dropped more balls than the Boy Scouts of America)
5) Baltimore Ravens
Sorry, Detroit with Calvin Johnson and 2 scrubs off the street is better than our Moss/ARE/Thrash. Buffalo has Evans and TO so they’re clearly better than us. Desean Jackson had a better year than Moss, as did Curtis and anyone else on our squad. The Chargers have Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd. That’s far better than anything that includes ARE and Thrash. I’m sorry, I don’t care how many passes Edwards dropped, the Browns corps is better than ours. Nobody without Burgundy tinted glasses would take Santana/ARE/Thrash over Braylon/Stallworth/Cribbs.
Even Baltimore with an old Mason and an inconsistent Clayton are likely better than us. We started James Friggin Thrash at the 3 for chrissakes. He has to be one of the worst top 3 WRs in the NFL, bar none.
So there you go. Our WRs are bottom 10, and the first thing we blame is JC? Give me a break.
Are our WRs the WORST in the league? No. Neither is the o-line.
Are the WRs and OL a MAJOR reason our passing game blows? Unquestionably yes.
Given the mediocre (at BEST) state of our OLD o-line, and the bottom-third state of our WRs, anyone who wants to run a 27 year old QB out of town needs to take a deep breatha.
JC ain’t headed to the hall. JC has a lot of things he needs to do better. JC ain’t a primary reason our passing game blows.
by smutsboy1 on Apr 29, 2009 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good points.
And thank you for acknowleging that our WRs corps and OL is not the worst in the league. Is our WR corps in the bottom 15? Undoubtedly. IMO, when healthy, our starting OL is one of the top 10 in the NFL. The problem is, because they are older, one (or more) go down with a serious injury every year. And because we don’t have enough legitimate backups, JC’s time span is reduced in half.
One Calvin Johnson is not better than Moss and ARE together. I couldn’t even tell you the names of the other WR scrubs on winless Detroit. Don’t forget Moss had over 1000 yards receiving and 7 TDs last year. ARE had nearly 600 and 4 TDs.
T.O. didn’t play for Buffalo last year. But this year the Bills do, arguably, have a better WR corps.
D. Jackson (912 yards, 3 TDs) did NOT have a better year than Moss. Neither did Curtis (390 yds., 2 TDs) or anyone else on their squad.
The Chargers WR corps is comparable or marginally worse.
Edwards (873 yds. 3 TDs), Stallworth (170 yds., 1 TD) and Cribbs (18 receiving yds., 2 TDs) are comparable or marginally worse.
Mason (1037 yds., 5 TDs) and Clayton (695 yds., 3 TDs) are comparable or marginally worse.
But you are exactly right that JC was not the sole problem on our offense. Just part of it. Let’s hope in his 2nd year under Zorn he will take control of this offense, and lead us to greatness (or at least better than the bottom 5 in scoring).
Curry, Orakpo, or the top 4 OLs... or back.
by VA_Skin on Apr 29, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
acknowledging *
Curry, Orakpo, or the top 4 OLs... or back.
by VA_Skin on Apr 29, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Believe in Zorn!!!!
Didn’t Schottenheimer get fired for turning the 0-5 start (with a 30-3 loss to the chargers where I was unmercifully heckled) to a 8-8 finish? there just needs to be continuity here! Lay in the bed you create for at least four years???
by brettpedigo on Apr 28, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Zorn
will make Jason great he is the best QB coach in the game.
Long live Jason!
by RedskinCali63 on Apr 28, 2009 3:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
But is Zorn the best HC in the game?
Curry, Orakpo, or the top 4 OLs... or back.
by VA_Skin on Apr 28, 2009 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Part of the problem
is that Cambell holds the ball to long when you watch the games you should count like I did how long he holds the ball.4 seconds and then the ball should be gone not 20
by cooley4 on Apr 29, 2009 9:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
he does, but I can count on one hand the number of times each game that happens, vs time and again where he’s under fire at or before his 3rd step.
Again, focusing on just JC’s timing issues without pointing to equally concerning (or more concerning, IMO) factors of weak WRs and an old mediocre o-line is myopic, IMO.
by smutsboy1 on Apr 29, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
when pressure came on his 3rd step back it was because the play clock was running out and the D were anticipating the snap with an overloaded middle. This happened game after game at the end of the season….Zorn and/or JC did not adapt by getting to the line quicker where they could change the snap count or audible or go shotgun or move the RB up assist with blocking….oh, how many times did Zorn put Betts in to block on a passing down and he missed the block….after pulling CP who is a great blocker? Not to mention asking Cooley to pass block and sending Yoder out…Cooley kept getting smoked but Zorn kept doing it. Can’t they call a rollout pass play away from the pressure? Why not check to a draw play if it looks like edge pressure is coming? Moss was getting checked at the line by the CB with the safety shading his side, why not put him in motion and give him a chance to get free quicker and/or change their coverage? They have to get to the line quicker to do some of these things…and that comes from Zorn and JC. Zorn needs to call the plays quicker and JC needs to be in charge in the huddle and at the line. It was Zorns first year calling plays so I think a lot of this is on him, but I did sense that there was some confusion in the huddle and I think that JC needs to know everyones job and tell them what to do….I’m not sure that was happening. Too many illegal formation penalties, but we avoided false starts b/c the snap count was always on one! Zorn called the same plays and used the same formations all year and did not adapt once teams started figuring us out, the same mistakes were repeated over and over in the second half of last year. The line did suck…Rabach stinks IMO…but this is the NFL and you have to adjust and play to your strengths, if you are going to win. Zorn, JC, and the line are all to blame IMO.
by liger99 on Apr 29, 2009 12:52 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Zorn, JC, and the line are all to blame IMO.
put this at the beginning, not the end. lol
I just jump to Jason’s defense a lot b/c there’s a lot more (fan) ink devoted to him than to the equally (or more important) at fault OL, Zorn, et al.
by smutsboy1 on Apr 30, 2009 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
sorry bro, at least I got to my point at the end of my rant! I’m obviously still pissed off about the last half of the season.
by liger99 on Apr 30, 2009 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Take comfort
in the fact that last year’s poor performance landed us Orakpo. And we’re coming back this year with a VENGEANCE !!!
Haynesworth, Orakpo, Carter, Griffin & all that depth = UNSTOPPABLE.
by VA_Skin on Apr 30, 2009 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
in my dream world JC throws 15 TDs through the first 8 games and Snyderrato signs him to a mid-season extension.
by smutsboy1 on May 1, 2009 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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