Is Jay Gruden the Answer in Washington?

Jay Gruden became the Washington Redskins’ youngest head coach since Joe Gibbs was hired back in 1981 at the age of 40. The 46-year-old coach is the 28th head coach in Redskins’ history and also the fifth-straight offensive-minded head coach in Washington dating back to the hiring of Steve Spurrier in 2002. Ever since Daniel Snyder took over the team in 1999, he has hired seven coaches, six of them used to be offensive coordinators or were considered offensive-minded (Norv Turner was already coaching the Redskins when Snyder took over). So has history goes to show you, only Joe Gibbs had success as an offensive-minded Washington head coach, taking the Redskins to the playoffs in 2005 and 2007 in his second tenure. He’s also the only head coach under Snyder that didn’t get fired (Gibbs retired after the 2007 season). But like Gibbs, Gruden is also a coach that went straight from being an offensive coordinator to a head coach. But we all know Gruden is no Gibbs. So should this offensive-minded head coach finally be the answer Washington has been looking for since Gibbs? Well it’s too early to tell, but as a Washington Redskins fan (hard to admit) I would like to explore the subject. As an offensive coordinator at Cincinatti, Gruden’s offense statistically got better and better each time he was there. So there’s a good sign. Gruden also has experience dealing with young quarterbacks. He helped develop Andy Dalton ever since he was a rookie, which is the type of development Robert Griffin III needs. As for the coaching staff, Gruden has already gotten them in place. He reatined defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, offensive line coach Chris Foerster, and defensive backs coach Raheem Morris. It’s funny because all three of those areas of the football team need work. Washington’s secondary was one of the worst in the NFL because they had inconsistent play at the safety position. The Redskins’ offensive line was inconsistent as well; they would pick up their blocks in the running game, but wouldn’t be able to hold up their blocking in pass protection. As for the offense, Gruden promoted his tight ends coach Sean McVay to offensive coordinator. McVay is only 27 years old (turning 28 on the 24th), but he coached with Gruden back when they coached together at Tampa Bay. As a matter of fact, General Manager Bruce Allen knew both McVay and Gruden back in their days in Tampa Bay when they worked under Jay’s older brother Jon Gruden (Joe Gibbs was an offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before going to the San Diego Chargers and then eventually the Redskins). McVay was also his offensive assistant for both Gruden and Jim Haslett when they coached for the Florida Tuskers in the United Football League. Just like Gruden, McVay was also a quarterback in high school. It will be interesting to see how McVay does in his first NFL offensive coordinator gig along with a new head coach at the same time. This upcoming season for the Washington Redskins is going to be interesting because fans will get to see something no one has ever seen before. Only time will tell whether Gruden will succeed or not, but from the looks of his background and history, Redskins fans should have something to look forward to next year.

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Should the Chicago Bulls keep Derrick Rose?

Chicago Bulls’ point guard Derrick Rose won Rookie of the Year back in the 2008-2009 season. He went to three straight NBA All-Star games from 2010-2012 and he was named the NBA MVP in 2011. Since then, Rose has had two season-ending injuries. The former 1st overall pick out of Memphis hasn’t played a game since November 22nd of 2013. He had surgery on the meniscus in his right knee on November 25th, which should rule him out for the rest of the season. Then Rose made an interesting comment on Thursday about his status for this season:

“If I’m healthy and the situation is right, I’m going to be back playing,” he said at his first press conference since the injury. (Credit: ESPNChicago.com)

The Bulls ruled Rose out for the whole season, but the injured point guard said that he might return in time for the playoffs. If the NBA season ended today, the Bulls would be the six seed in the Eastern Conference. Should Rose risk another injury by returning for the playoffs, where it gets more physically demanding? I think the Bulls are in an interesting situation here. Rose has had a great young career. He’s only 25 and he has accomplised so much at such an early age. But should Rose keep playing for the Bulls? At this rate, Chicago is paying a man that hasn’t been playing that much in the last two years. Sure he’s a great talent, but how are you going to win an NBA championship without a top point guard? The NBA draft is going to produce some great point guards this year. There’s Marcus Smart from Oklahoma State (who can also play shooting guard) and there’s also Russ Smith from Louisville (who knows how to win big games). If I was Chicago Bulls’ General Manager Gar Forman, I would give Tom Thibodeau a brand new start. Forman already traded  their leading scorer Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers and picked up a bunch of draft picks for it. The Bulls did acquire Andrew Bynum in the trade (great, another injury prone player to add to the roster), but how long will that help the team? Bynum may be a young and talented player, but he is also on the downward spiral of his career. Forman doesn’t believe in rebuilding a team and hey, with a successful franchise like the Chicago Bulls, I don’t blame him. But he does have to think about the future here. Even if Rose does come back, how productive would he be after two knee injuries? I would trade Derrick Rose for a 1st round draft pick to a team like the Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, or even the Los Angeles Lakers (who knows how many years Steve Nash has left in him). Those three teams could produce a good draft pick, so you may not land Marcus Smart or Russ Smith, but you can still get someone pretty good. If it were up to me, I would move on in Chicago. You already gave up your third-best player in Luol Deng and you can’t rely heavily on Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer. Build a younger team that Thibodeau can coach and the Bulls should be championship contenders about two years from now.