Al Saunders
 

What do you really think?


Are we going to Miss him, or was it really time to part ways?

Im just getting a little nervous...

IM sure we will miss him somewhat. He definately was a talented guy. It will take a few weeks for Solari to find his rhthym.....patience...

We can fly with what we have even though serious replacement parts are needed soon.

We have Roaf, Waters, and Wiegmann at the very least.

I think Al Saunders is a great OC, but lot's of OC's would look good with all these guys on the o-line.

Solari will be fine, and we'll find out soon enough how mortal Al Saunders really is.

I think any 'Skins fans, and there are some, who expect to instantly see 30 points per game will find that out first. And I'm not slamming Al in any way.

I we were a young and growing offense, I'd be more concerned.
Over the past 5 years, the players, trainers, scouts, and obviously Solari have been immersed in a system that works well for our personnel 24-7.
I don't think our success relies on Saunders making game-time gut-feeling play calls, the triple reverses and passes in the flat to Dante Hall belie that notion. And I don't think our success relies on Saunders pulling a Phil Jackson Zen Jedi Mind trick to get everyone on the same page.
Our success relies on the system, and our personnel being prepared to execute.
Roaf, Waters, and Richardson aren't gonna forget how to swing out and throw a block on the move now that Saunders is gone. Larry isn't gonna lose his instincts on the cutback and the burst. Trent isn't gonna lose his moxie.

Bingo.

He'll miss our HOFers more than we'll miss him.

The "problems" are twofold, though:

(1) Our offense is primed to decline, given the age of a lot of players. People will claim it was Saunders leaving, and whilst that may well help, losing the likes of Willie Roaf and Trent Green is what'll kill this offense.

(2) He's got a LOT to work with in Washington. It's not like he's got any challenge on his hands there, compared to a guy like Mike Martz, for example. Maybe Martz has some raw talent, but he's really got to implement a system that'll turn shit into gold and coach his players up in it. Saunders only really has to improve an already-solid unit.

I disagree on #2.

They're set with Portis and they are pretty good at WR and TE/H-Back.

The problem is that they're biggest weakness on offense is their line, and that's what makes Saunders' offense go.

I just cant get over the fact that He left to go be an O.C. some where else whereas he had alot of Success here with the Offence (most of the time)

We'll probably be better.

Solari will run the ball non-stop.

That's exactly what we all wanted last year.

No more pass plays in the red zone with under 2 min in half (DAL , SEA, HOU, etc)

i disagree with that.

they have some great tools on their OLine. Samuels and Jensen are good tackles. Saunders could shape that line into a powerhouse.

Redundancy revisited

Samuels and Jansen are servicable. Samuels has never lived up to his draft position and sometimes has trouble in space, which is the lifeblood of Saunders' offense. Jansen is not the player he used to be after the injury, and he too sometimes struggles in space.

They do have Casey Rabach at center which will help, but the two GAPING HOLES they have at G (they don't even have a starting RG right now) is going to be a problem.

I think we would be better with Al Saunders, but the guy was ready to move on.

We should be fine with Solari, especially with this veteran offense. He will probably bring a different dynamic to the job, I just hope that he has some creativity in developing plays and has the ability to make in-game adjustments.