Washington Redskins
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NFL Team Column By John Corcoran 2010 NFL Draft Review |
Mike the Psych Takes Control; Are ‘skins ready to Roll?
I go off to Maine for two weeks vacation and look what happens? First, chaos--a bad loss to the Ravens, McNabb hurt, Haynesworth in a snit. Then, just when things look desperate, Fat Albert is back in the fold happy as a pig in slop and QB Rex Grossmann looks like a backup gift. For a topper the 'skins beat the Darlings of Hard Knocks and their toothy, effusive, lap-banded but still fat celebrity coach, Rex Ryan.
Right now, the Redskins look nine and sevenish but I’m well aware things can and will change. So instead of summarizing the last two weeks, here’s some tidbits and observations going into the final pre-season conte...er, exhibition game.
MIKE SHANAHAN: Coach Shanahan is a brilliant psychologist. He played Albert Haynesworth like Jascha Heifetz plays a Stradivarius. Like a Marine top kick, Mike broke Al down, let him know who was boss, then built him up in his own image and likeness, and (as of now) has turned him into a happy camper. But Haynesworth is like 50-year-old Nitro, still unstable and likely to blow at any disturbance. But Mike has done as good a job with the knucklehead as one could ever expect.
DEVIN THOMAS: Devin is getting the same treatment, albeit delayed, until the more vital Fat Albert dilemma was solved. Devin, if I read the tea leaves correctly, is a million dollar athlete with a five and ten cent mind. He either can’t or won’t learn the plays or run routes the way he’s supposed to. What does Mike do? He sits his butt on the bench during game three, while 10 other receivers catch balls. Devin, hip to playerspeak at least, has said all the right things to the media as he prepares for his make or break last-chance saloon visit Thursday. If he’s fixable, he’ll have a big night and make the team. If not—Devin, don’t let the door hit yuh…etc.
LEFT SIDE OF THE DEFENSE: Worries me. Adam Carriker has been just adequate, and I tell myself he’s still getting into game shape after a year of injuries. Mebbe so, mebbe not. Everyone loves Phillip Daniels but he’s old enough to draw Social Security. While he can still lift your apartment building with one hand, he’s vulnerable to injury and not a long-term answer. Meanwhile the kids aren’t there yet. Jeremy Jarmon is too raw, Rob Jackson and Chris Wilson too young and shifted to LB, respectively. What would ease our worries on that side would be a dominant OLB. Skins don’t have one. Andre Coleman is a DE in linebacker’s clothing, and Lo Alexander hasn’t taken charge. The CB on that side is like the little Girl with the Curl. DeAngelo Hall will grab you an interception and draw cheers, meanwhile, he’s employing the “vicinity” rule in pass coverage. And he’s not a sure tackler.
QUARTERBACK: McNabb concerns me. For one thing he plays lousy against Dallas, he’ll be rusty in the season opener and just might stink up the joint and lose the fan base and coach’s confidence. For another thing, he gets hurt. A full season? Likely not. This leads us to Rex Grossman? Really? He may be the ‘skins QB of the immediate future. But he’s game manager and needs a dominant running game.
THE RUNNING GAME: It’s down to four guys vying for three RB slots. Portis is in. He will start, but he’s almost thirty and not gonna be a workhorse. Larry Johnson, who was one more two-yard loss from a ticket to Palookaville, saved his career against the Jets by running hard and catching a TD pass. Because Portis may get hurt, and because no one else can replace him as a 20-25 carry a game man, Johnson is on the team. Which leaves Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams to fight over the last two slots. (No shocker if they keep four RBs) Torain has the experience factor, but the kid from LSU has some moves. Barring an injury or four RBs, Torain’s on the team and Williams is on the practice squad. Fast Willy has become Slow Willy and is gone.
WIDEOUTS: Barring a trade, the ‘skins have a pretty good batch to chose from, with some hard decisions. The only lock to start is Santana Moss at “X” receiver. Second year surprise Anthony Armstrong will make the team. Shanahan must decide if Joey Galloway has another year in him. One or the other will start at “Y” receiver. Beyond that the fun begins. Much depends on Devin Thomas’ and Malcolm (“My Hammie is better”) Kelly’s showing Thursday. I think the team will keep either Terrence Austin or Brandon Banks in a mini-WR and runback guy slot. Nod to Austin, as he‘s been more dependable, is four inches taller and Banks can be hidden better on the practice squad. Odd men out, Roydell Williams, and Bobby Wade.
FREE SAFETY: A weakness unless newly acquired 34-year-old Tyrone Carter can earn the job. Reed Doughty looks like the starter otherwise, and he’s smart and hard-hitting but like Chris Horton, a step slower than you want at free. The Kareem Moore injury was costly, but he should be back early to mid-season.
CONFIDENCE FACTOR: I don’t mean player confidence; I mean fan confidence in the organization. A shambles for years, the firing of Jim Zorn and GM Vinny Cerrato now seems eons ago. Meanwhile, the Bruce Allen/Shanahan administration has hit the ground running, and it’s the little things that grab your attention. Sure there was Big Al and the unwillingness to squander big bucks on fading vets during the off-season to show their smarts. But unlike the prior suit crew, they bring in a kicker who can kick field goals and a punter who can boom punts. It wasn’t long ago that kicking slots were nametag positions--guys came and went like a bad Taco.
At QB, acquiring Donovan McNabb made the splash, but backups Grossman and John Beck look like quality pros. It goes on and on at position after position. Doesn’t mean they should expand the trophy case at Redskins Park, but it‘s a sign that professionals are in charge. And that’s a nice change.
Optimism Rears Its Lovely Head
Skins Impress in Preseason Opener
First of all calm down, already, it was only the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo stinks, has no quarterback, and three of their starters on an offensive line that isn’t good to begin with didn’t play.
And, um, also consider that…oh the Hell with it, after ten years of false hopes, false starts, battered dreams and bitter disappointments, Redskin fans will take any good news we can find, and Friday night’s 42-17 win over the Buffalo Bills was just the tonic we needed.
And yes, we know Steve Spurrier had a great pre-season start when he coached Washington, but Mike Shanahan is no Steve Spurrier, and right now you can forgive Redskin fans if we are giddily optimistic.
Here’s the good news in roughly the order of impressiveness, beginning with...
OFFENSE
The Offensive Line: Seeing the way a Mike Shanahan coached zone blocking scheme works compared to, say, Jim Zorn’s version last year, is like watching the Rockettes compared to a team of Grandmothers in combat boots. What once was a glaring weakness looked positively balletic at times. Generally it takes an O-line at least half a season to learn to work together, but this group looked in mid-season form. And that was with Stephon Heyer filling in for injured starter Jammal Brown. What was even more reassuring, the second-string backups didn’t drop off much. The interior trio of Eddie Williams, Corey Lichensteiger and Chad Rinehart acquitted itself well. The kid, Trent Williams? He dominated DE Aaron Mayben, and despite rookie nerves, made his selection at #4 overall look like genius. This could be a 10-year All-Pro in the making.
The Receivers: This crew narrowly edges out RBs & QB because it was a more questionable area going into the game. Chris Cooley is all the way back from last year‘s season-ending injury. Fred Davis, who shined after Cooley went down, caught a TD pass, picking up where he left off in 2009. But most importantly, the Y-receiver, the position opposite Santana Moss, looks strong. Veterans Joey Galloway and Bobby Wade galloped like kids, and two of the kids—who have the size of an average Pop Warner receiver—showed the kind of speed needed to take pressure off of Moss. Terrence Austen and Brandon Banks, who also double as returners, may give the team the kind of heart stopping score-from-anywhere weapons it has long lacked. Normal sized second year player Anthony Armstrong looked good, caught a touchdown pass. Even Devin Thomas got caught up in the flow, running precise patterns including one blow-by pattern for a touchdown. He was singularly unimpressive as a KO returner, however.
Running Backs: Clinton Portis looked good in his short stint, but what was most amazing was the game seemed to confirm the magic Shanahan has at selecting and/or creating great running backs out of unexpected talents. Neither Larry Johnson nor Willie Parker played, but two youngsters--LSU rookie Keiland Williams and second year player Ryan Torain--were impressive. Yes, much of the credit belongs to the Oline, of course, but the runners have bought into Shanahan’s one-cut system.
Quarterback: You expected Donovan McNabb to look good throwing the ball—what I didn’t expect was seeing him look positively svelte, having lost a reported twenty pounds from last year. Another pleasant surprise was the performance of Rex Grossman, who played like a polished vet and barring the unexpected, solves the backup QB problem.
DEFENSE
Albert Haynesworth: What? No, not so much his on field play, but for his press conference work after the game. He likes the defense. He wants to be a team player. He’s a happy man. No more calls, we have a winner. In the battle of will and ego, Mike Shanahan def. Albert Haynesworth by a TKO, and turned him into a devoted acolyte at the Church of St. Mike.
The Rest of the Defensive Line: The 3-4 is designed to pressure the QB from all angles, and it starts with the talent up front. At first glance, it appears the Redskins have the hosses to do it. And that’s without Big Al starting at defensive end and without linebacker Brian Orakpo blitzing next to him. But the best news is Ma’ake Kemoeatu at nose guard. He appears all the way back from his injury, and is a solid mass in the middle, critical to the 3-4. With Big Al and Adam Carriker starting, backed by Daniels and Kedric Golston, the Dline is a real strength.
Defensive Backs: With one or two exceptions, everything looked good. Of course, it was Buffalo. When the ‘skins dial up the rush, the DBs will have a to cover for a shorter time, and should improve there, too.
Linebackers: In space, there still may be question marks, but as tackling machines? No problem. There must be a painting of London Fletcher growing old somewhere—he sure doesn’t appear to be in person. Rocky Mac appears adjusted to the inside. Orakpo is coming off a Pro Bowl season, and the only issue is the other outside slot.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Already, the punt return team looks exponentially better than last year. If Banks and/or Austen can make the team and last a season, it’s a new weapon in the arsenal. No FGs were attempted, so that grade is incomplete, but Graham Gano’s kickoffs were high and decently deep. Josh Bidwell is a very solid pickup at punter.
INTANGIBLES:
First and foremost are Shanahan and GM Bruce Allen’s eyes for talent. Like most other battered Redskin fans, we all had our doubts about some of the acquisitions the Redskins made in the off-season. But based on their first outing, this most certainly is not Vinnie Cerrato material. And even some of Cerrato’s castoffs looked the best they have since they came to DC. Specifically I was impressed with OLmen Artis Hicks and Kory Lichtensteiger, RBs Torain and Keiland Williams, thought-to-be elderly or oft-injured WRs Galloway and Wade, plus dynamic rookies OT Trent Williams, ILB Perry Riley, WR Banks and Austen, punter Bidwell, and backup QB Grossman.
SOME AREAS NEEDING WORK:
Why? Because no Redskin fan over the last decade can afford not to be a realist.
On their earliest scoring drive, against the first team defense, Buffalo picked on the Redskins left side. Misdirection, quick moves, and short passes had linebacker Andre Coleman and DB DeAngelo Hall spinning in circles, and DE Adam Carriker biting on fakes. That doesn’t worry me as much as it could. For one thing, Hall made a key interception, and when the full pass rush packages are put in, DeAngelo can afford to guard tighter. Likewise, Carriker is freshly back from injuries and like most of the D, eager to listen, learn and accept coaching. I think Lo Alexander will end up starting on the outside opposite Orakpo, as it appears Coleman’s problems playing standing up in SF have followed him to DC. But then, it was only one game.
The lack of injuries is also most appreciated. Where are all the hamstring pulls of yore? Not evident, thankfully. While injuries are often a matter of luck, it appears the new conditioning program is working. With good health, I currently believe this is a playoff team. Key injuries can shatter those hopes.
And now one final dose of reality—next week? Baltimore. Bigger, badder and much, much better than Buffalo. An impressive showing here will only increase the sense of optimism flowing through the blood of Redskin Nation.
Coach Mike Learns a Lesson from Yogi
Yeah, I know it’s a football column, but a certain baseball player transcends all sports. His name is Yogi Berra. He used to squat behind the dish for the N.Y. Yankees, is a Hall Famer for his defense and clutch hitting, and managed the Yanks and Mets. But as many already know, Yogi is most famous “Yogi-isms”—sayings that at first make no sense—until you think about them.Many can be applied to football. Here are some examples (followed by my parenthetical comments):
“How can a you hit and think at the same time?" (Yogi meant hitting a baseball, but it works for hitting on the gridiron. You think first, then you hit. Over think and you whiff.)
"If people don't want to come out to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them?" (This circular logic is now practiced by NFL teams who force season ticket holders to pay for pre-season games they don’t want to see.)
"It's like deja vu all over again." (If this doesn’t describe most seasons under the Dan Snyder/Vinny Cerrato administration, I don’t know what does.)
"You can observe a lot just by watching." (Isn't that what coaches do best?)
“It ain't over till it's over.” (And then, sometimes, there’s overtime.)
My favorite Yogi quote violates the laws of math--but then football players routinely give a mathematically impossible 110 Percent effort anyway.
Sayeth Yogi: “Ninety percent of hitting is half mental.”
This brings me to my point. I love the way Coach Mike Shanahan is playing mind games with some Redskin players, particularly those with great skills but a rep for underperforming. Let’s start with You Know Who.
Big Al Haynesworth decided he didn’t want to be part of the team until it started costing him money if he didn’t show. He didn’t attend a single voluntary or mandatory pre-camp practice and he didn’t work out with his teammates. This is nothing new for Big Al, whose talent is matched only by his wrong-headedness.
But he reported to camp 35 pounds lighter and ready to play. Not so fast, said Coach Mike. First he’ll need a “Get out of Jail Free” card—pass a “conditioning test.” Big Al failed. Repeatedly. Did Mike let him rejoin his teammates anyway? Nope. He kept Al isolated, not in pads, not lining up. He became the kid on the playground they won’t let play with the other kids.
Suddenly the guy who didn’t want to be part of a team is anxious to rejoin them. He’s still a bad actor in many people’s view, but Shanahan’s strategy is right on the money. He is rewarding those who attended workouts all along and he is showing everyone who is the boss. When Al eventually passes his test, he’ll play because Mike’s inside the Big Guy’s dome.
Shanahan and company are working Yogi’s mental magic on other players, too. Take WR Devin Thomas (please). He’s made a career of failing to live up to expectations. Now he’s found himself dumped down to third string. Been told he has to earn his way up the chart by consistency and achievement in practice. It’s working so far. He’s looked good early and Shanahan has made a point of saying so.
Safety LaRon Landry has disappointed since he arrived in Washington. One reason was the untimely death of Sean Taylor, which forced Landry to play out of position. Landry played deep deep safety under deposed defensive coordinator Greg Blache. Now he’s back at strong safety, in the thick of the action. Result? His enthusiasm has been re-ignited.
CB Carlos Rogers has been an unhappy camper for some time. He is known for getting beaten on double moves and owns the worst mitts since Edward Scissorhands gave up the sport. But Rogers can tackle and plays better moving forward than backward. Early practices have featured Rogers blitzing. No better way to restore confidence than to have a player doing what he does best.
WR Santana Moss had been a world-class receiver for years with the Redskins. But recently, injuries and age have slowed him down. Or was it because Jim Zorn used him as a fixed “X” receiver, never in motion. With no decent wideout to take pressure off him, Moss was shut down. He constantly faced double and sometimes triple teams. This year, Moss will be in motion. He’ll line up where he’s least expected. He’ll be in space more often. And the swagger is back.
I like the way Shanahan is handling the mental aspects of the game. He’s getting players to buy into his system, play to their primary skills, and rejuvenate their confidence. It’s too early to predict great things yet. The Redskins are in the brutal NFC East. They are learning new offenses and defenses. Donovan McNabb must stay healthy. Clinton Portis is one noggin bop away from retirement, and there is still no one dominant opposite Moss. The Oline is better, but thin. And this is my quote about Albert, not Yogi’s: ”Once a knucklehead, always a knucklehead.”
So as long as the Redskins keep believing, stay healthy and—as Yogi once put it—don’t “make too many wrong mistakes,” they have a shot.
Redskins Biggest Off-Season Moves Were at the Top
Now that the World Cup is safely in the rearview, baseball is asleep until September and Fat Albert has put his speedboat in dry dock, I’m ready some football.
Aside from seeing Strasburg fling it (or not when he’s tweaky) and watching Wizard manglement try to assemble a basketball team to replace the one they disassembled last year, what else is there in Summer Sports for a Washington fan? Did anyone catch the Tour de Schwinn in France? That was dull enough when Armstrong was winning it. Golf? Insomnia cure sans El Tigre’s challenges. NASCAR? NASCAR has been fining guys and taking away points for playing bumpsy-daisy at 200 MPH. Good for safety, but as entertainment, it’s like asking a Pro Wrestling Ref to stop looking the other way.
Redskin Summer Camp (for real) is replacing the “Hi, Donovan” and “Where’s Albert?” Show at voluntary workouts. The good news is Al’s on hand and in shape with a new positive attitude. We’ll see. Once pads and practice unis go on over the shirts and jocks and the hitting is for real, Reality sets in for players. The upcoming weeks will determine who starts, who impresses the coaches, and who may not make the final 53.
Camp is the beginning of Reality Season for Redskin fans, too. Especially this year with the Big Change at the Top. For the past decade or so the Redskins have dominated the NFL—during the Unreality Season between the last game of the year and the start of camp for the next. The ‘skins have grabbed headlines at making trades and FA pickups, and especially at pouring cash over ingrates, aging vets and never-will-be’s. This has deluded the Redskin Faithful (and many a prognosticator) that the Redskins were back, baby.
But alas the sad roll call now flies through Redskin fan’s consciousness like a waking nightmare: Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Mark Brunell, Jeff George, Shane Mathews, Danny Wuerffel, Adam Archuletta, Brandon Lloyd, Jeremiah Trotter, Jason Taylor. Along with these guys, there were the many inept draft choices that also helped Dan Snyder’s wallet spew money like a ruptured well barfing crude into the Gulf.
Read on as the Ol’ Cork stretches this lame but appropriate analogy to the breaking point. Just think of Danny’s wallet as much like BP’s leaking well. Money and oil seem in limitless supply, but recently there have been serious attempts to plug up the respective gushers. Okay, please don’t call the Analogy Police. I’ll go quietly. Wait, one more! We will know over the next months if either or both attempts to stop the Madness have been successful.
I’m just happy poor Tony Hayward finally got his life back. His life is now in Russia, but the position in Hell was already filled.
On the football side, instead of focusing on winning the Off-season, the Redskins shocked everyone by instead making major front office, coaching and philosophical changes. (Warning: This has happened before with The Danny, who has the attention span of a two-year old when it comes to team building).
Of the changes, I’ll argue the most significant was in the Front Office, not on the sideline. Firing de facto GM Vinnie Cerrato and replacing him with a real one (Bruce Allen) was long overdue, and critical for any real changes at Redskin Park. The damage that has happened under Cerrato’s watch is immeasurable. And yes, I know Snyder is the ultimate boss, but for all Snyder’s bad decision-making, I can’t think of anything Cerrato did to counter it or reduce the damage. Maybe he’ll tell us in his book. The impression is they were joined at the hip, but these gridiron Siamese Twins did not possess a single clue when it came to acquiring Championship level personnel.
Hiring coaches under the Snyder Administration has been a series of false hopes followed by disasters, too. The Danny started by keeping Coach Norv Turner on too long, and keeping Marty Schottenheimer around for too short a time. Marty had the team going in the right direction, he’d booted Cerrato, and I’ll argue all day he was a QB away from having a team ready to go deep into the playoffs. He never got the chance to acquire that QB before his second year began. Instead Snyder found a QB to replace him—a retired QB turned gifted college football coach.
Danny the Distracted again went for the shiny new object, and brought in Steve Spurrier. I’m no rocket surgeon, but I knew when Steve didn’t dump his golf clubs into the Potomac, he was doomed. Head coaches must be no-life-outside-football mega workaholics. Spurrier’s simplistic offense and bewildered game face told us he was not NFL material. Maybe he wasn’t bright enough. Maybe he didn’t have the support. Or maybe he wasn’t willing to make the sacrifices necessary.
Danny next made what looked like the genius move to end all genius moves. Saint Joe came back from NASCAR Heaven to again to work his miracles at Redskin Park. The three Super Bowl trophies he’d won glistened in a new light of endless sunshine again, looking less like a reminder of glory days past, and more like the prologue to hardware yet to come.
Joe Gibbs used his considerable leverage to earn the equivalent of what Film Directors strive for in Hollywood—“Final Cut.” Joe would run the whole shootin’ match, brook no interference from upstairs. That’s a good thing—right? Unfortunately, no. Gibbs arrived minus a vital cog in his earlier winning operation—GM Bobby Beathard. Gibbs could decide who on the squad should play and get the very best out of his players. But the river of talent came from the fertile mind of Beathard.
Another problem. Health issues, mostly related to Gibbs workaholic schedule, had helped drive him into retirement the first time. This go ‘round his outrageously excessive hours were replaced by merely excessive hours on the job. But those hours could no longer be limited only to working with players already on hand. He also had responsibilities and duties Beathard once handled, and more effectively.
Rules changes hurt too. The salary cap meant Gibbs could not exceed the unlimited budget Jack Kent Cooke provided back in the glory days. Stars got paid, but the bench wilted. And while it might not seem like a big deal to most, the shortening of half time hurt Gibbs, one of the game’s geniuses at half-time adjustments.
Gibbs re-retired and was followed by the disaster that was Jim Zorn. His boyish enthusiasm appealed at first. He got off to a great start his first year, winning early and often. But once the league had a book on him and his limited offensive approach, and once injuries depleted what talent the team had, the squad fell apart.
Cerrato and Snyder threw gasoline on the Zorn Bonfire by bringing in overweight and under motivated Albert Haynesworth, overpaid DeAngelo Hall, and over-the-hill Jason Taylor. Come draft day they managed to round up an underperforming trio of wideout wipeouts, all grabbed in the second round.
Snyder appears to be sllllooooowwwwwly learning that the key to successful ownership in the NFL is to hire the best people available to run your team, and then get the Hell out of their way. Since he couldn’t fire himself, he booted Zorn (no surprise) and Cerrato (very pleasant surprise)
The two replacements have good reps. Mike Shanahan has two Super Bowls to his credit. Bruce Allen has GMed successful franchises before. The two men resisted past mistakes and fiscal temptations this off-season and spent what money they spent judiciously on free agents and trades (McNabb, Kemoeatu, Carriker). We will know in the upcoming months (and maybe years) how smart their moves have been.
The doors are open at Redskins Park for real football. We’ll take some imaginary kicks at the tires and have some thoughts on the new guys, new offense, and new defense. And new hopes in upcoming days and weeks.
Man, it’s great to see Football back!
A Step toward Respectability, However…
I suppose I should wait for the last of the undrafted free-agent signings before I sum up the Redskins Draft performance, but those signings are rarely meaningful, just camp fodder or development projects. That said, the big UFA TE from UCLA, Logan Paulsen, was pretty dynamic before he kept breaking his foot.
‘Skins always seem to take a player or two from UCLA. Perhaps their scouts prefer hanging out in beautiful downtown Westwood, CA, rather than, the wilds of Utah or Idaho.
First the good news about the Redskins Draft. Barring injury or serious mis-calculation, the Redskins have solved their left tackle problem for the foreseeable future. The biggest sigh of relief comes from one Donovan McNabb, who can now dial up the Gekko Lizard, and reduce his hospital and death benefits.
While we’re on the topic, let’s look at the rest of the OLine. First, don’t expect any help this year from 7th rounders Center Erik Cook of New Mexico or Tackle Selvish Capers of West Virginia. At best they’re likely destined for the practice squad.
With Trent Williams at left tackle, the left side of the line is set with Dockery at left guard and Casey Rabach at center. Rabach, smart and tough, is a liability against big nose tackles, and I shudder to think what will happen in the pre-season game with the Ravens where he might be looking at Haoli Ngata and rookie Mount Cody, who each out-weight Rabach by about a Buick.
Right guard is unsettled, with Big Mike Williams, Chad Rinehart and Wil Montgomery primary contenders. May I toss another hat in the ring? Alan Faneca, late of the New York Jets. Dunno what Faneca has left or if he’s comfortable on the right side, but the Jets cut him for financial considerations, and if a decent deal can be struck, I’d sign him. I certainly prefer him over the other most talked about free agent lineman out there, Hotel Adams, formerly of the Cowboys. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again and again, the Redskins should never and I mean NEVER sign a former Cowboy. They are cursed, and never produce in Burgundy and Gold.
Barring a breakthrough by someone already on board, or a good FA pickup down the road, the right tackle slot is also iffy. Leading candidate is former career backup Artis Hicks, favored over Stephon Heyer.
On defense, fourth round pick LSU linebacker Perry Riley is expected to see action, and if unsigned vet Rocky MacIntosh is traded or released, the Bayou Bengal could start. Quick but undersized, Riley could benefit from a year or so of seasoning to reach his potential.
Two draftees who could also contend for playing time this year are H-back Dennis Morris of Louisiana tech, a sixth round selection, and seventh round wideout Terrence Austin of UCLA. Morris is likely a developmental project, but if he comes through in pre-season, ‘skins may opt to throw him into the fire and dump Mike Sellers. Not the way to bet, but it could happen.
I’ve seen Austin play a few times, and he’s dynamic and blindingly fast, but built like a ballerina. Keeping our metaphors in the same vein, you could also say he’s tougher than a peg leg pole-dancer at an Alaskan strip joint. Muscle the dude up by about 15 pounds and he could be a terrific return man and get some PT as a receiver.
Coach Mike Shanahan likes to count startin g QB McNabb, acquired for a 2nd round pick, and DE Jeremy Jarmon, drafted with a 3rd round supplemental choice. Throw them into the mix and the Redskin 2010 draft looks like a more than decent haul.
But any Redskin draft class must be compared with the competition—particularly the NFC East—where it becomes more problematic. The Giants and Cowboy picks are inexperienced but with potential to be long time superstars. Jason Pierre-Paul, a linebacker/DE for the New Yorkers could be the next—dare we say it—Lawrence Taylor, and Cowboy’s Oklahoma wideout Dez Bryant has drawn the dreaded Randy Moss comparison.
The Eagles, meanwhile toughened up their defense with Michigan DE/LB Branden Graham and South Florida DB Nate Allen.
And finally, despite speculation, there were no draft-day blockbuster trades to benefit the ‘skins this year. But Jason Campbell, erstwhile starting QB, is taking his aching bones and unfulfilled promise west of Oakland in exchange for a 2012—that’s no misprint—fourth round selection. If Oakland can protect him better than the Washington Oline did, he’s likely to shine.
Trent Williams, Offensive Tackle, is the Newest ‘Skin
I begged you people when I published my Mock on this website---please no wagering. Hope you heeded me, as I’m Oh for Four as these words are written. However, in my last column before the draft, (Apr 20), I hemmed and hawed but predicted the pick would be a left tackle. (“Who will that be? Smart money says Russell Okung. But it could be Trent Williams or Brian Bulaga. But I believe it will be a left tackle.”) Half credit?
The BIG NEWS—which any Redskin fans knows already is the team has picked Oklahoma Tackle Trent Williams with their #4 overall pick. It’s a mild surprise in that most experts favored Oklahoma State OT Russell Okung. It is the first first,first round offensive lineman since, surprise, Chris Samuels, who handed in the card to the commish.
Late in the pre-draft speculations season, some profundicators fell for the disinformation campaign the ‘skins started with safety Eric Berry—who went one slot later to KC.
But Shanahan knows Donovan McNabb would last past pre-game introductions without a hoss on the left side to keep body and soul together. Furthermore, Williams is said to be more agile than Okung, more capable of protecting the backside cleaning up the wash on zone blocked plays to the far side, and move people out on plays to his side.
I got no arguments with the pick. The only thing now is to see how long it takes—or indeed if they can pull off a deal for more picks. Otherwise, we might as well skip watching the draft Friday Night and catch reruns of "N3mber.".
If there late breaking trade developments, we’ll update them here. In the meantime, the Redskins, although strengthened on the OLine, remain the NFL team with the fewest picks in this year’s draft, next on the clock in the fourth round.
“With the Fourth Pick, The Redskins Select….”
Okay, here’s a final thought on who the ‘skins will pick Thursday. It’s based on a few clues such as a card-runner, the economy, the way the three teams ahead of the ‘skins are likely to roll, and some comments by Danny’s Boy, Kyle Shanahan.
Here’s what I think will happen. All day Thursday the phone lines will be afire with the top five, maybe top ten teams trying to move down. But, because of the ridiculousness of rookie contracts, few if any teams will be desperate enough to move up and take on a big buck contract on a pick that could be a bust, and thus lay low that team’s hopes for the immediate future.
Specifically, I don’t think anyone ahead of the ‘skins will be able to deal out of that position. The Rams especially may want to—preferring not to risk the franchise on a QB who, while gifted, may be physically delicate. The sensible pick for the Los Angeles Rams…excuse me, the St Louis Rams…is a man-child named Ndamukong Suh. He not only is the most gifted player out there, he’s smart, classy, and a defensive leader for the next ten years.
So naturally, the Rams take QB Sam Bradford.
Next, forget my Mock Draft. Like all Mocks it’s just the product of a person able to guess and type at the same time. Detroit will take defensive superstar in the making Suh, and be very happy to have him. If he weren’t there, they’d have taken Russell Okung to protect their franchise QB. They still might, but Suh’s likely to have a career like a certain successful single-syllable sibilant star before him, a tsunami named Sapp, and that would make them regret their choice for years to come.
Tampa Bay—probably Gerald McCoy, defensive tackle.
Which brings us to Washington. Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan have been working their tuchases (tuchi?) off trying to find takers for QB Jason Campbell and/or DT Albert “No Wanna Play Nose” Haynesworth. They’d love to have Seattle or San Francisco's two first rounders for both of them, but it’s not going to happen.
For further hints, we now shift to the post-minicamp wisdom of Redskin offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. Kyle had just spent the weekend gazing upon his offensive line charges and had not retched, did not gag, and did not quit in disgust—which is more than you can say for the ‘skins OL last season.
Instead, Kyle said, and I quote: "I'm real excited about our offensive line. I mean, they talk about that that's been a weakness and stuff, but I don't see it on tape and I don't see it out on the field. I think we got some real good players....”
This was then followed by ten minutes of men in white with butterfly nets chasing this Kyle Shanahan imposter around the room. No, check that, he actually meant it.
Okay, now let me get these thoughts down before the men with the nets come after me. Kyle is not as crazy as he seems.
The group he inherited will never be The Hogs, but with proper care and feeding, they may not be the swine we think they are.
And it has less to do with individual talent than scheme.
I like to trot out as an example of the ineptness of the plays last season--not just the play calling last season, by mentioning just one of the Redskins running plays, the Zorn variant of the Redskins classic, the "Counter Trey." In its glory days, this off-tackle power sweep always started with the back taking a jab step away from the eventual running lane. That was the "Counter" part of it, and that was significant. Just that little fake could influence defenders for an instant, cause a shift of weight, a little lean, a moment’s hesitation. As a result, the blocker had the advantage. In that elephantine collision of huge beasts that is the heart of any offense, that advantage was usually the difference between an eight-yard gain and a two-yard loss.
Under Zorn, I never once saw that misdirection. This was an offense sans faking for the most part.
So when Shanahan talks about his new scheme, what he means is a system that gives the advantage back to the blockers, not one that allows a defender to just tee off and naturally flow to where the ball will be.
Yeah, I know, they couldn’t pass block last year either. This year, largely the same crew will have the advantage of a quicker QB and, hopefully a believable running game to help along those lines.
Which brings us back to the draft. The Redskins are on the clock, Bradford, Suh and McCoy are off the table and retired all Pro Redskins tackle Chris Samuels stands ready to take the selection card up to Roger Goodell. Symbolic? Maybe. An honorific to a great former Redskin forced to leave the game too soon due to injury? Of course. Do they want to embarrass Chris? Of course not. So logically, Samuels will walk up to the podium with a card on which is written the name of the man the Redskins expect will give them the same ten years at left tackle that Samuels did.
Who will that be? Smart money says Russell Okung. But it could be Trent Williams or Brian Bulaga. But I believe it will be a left tackle.
Um, unless it’s, er, QB Jimmy Clausen. Naw, it can’t be. Safety Eric Berry? Well they could use the guy on D…
Naw. Gonna be a left tackle. With that improvement—and another key free agent or trade, the offensive line may actually not suck this year. That would be a nice change.
Trade for McNabb: Is It First Shoe to Drop?
Okay, guys, time to re-do your Mocks. You can probably pencil OUT a QB in the first round for the Redskins. As you may already know, the Washington football club just traded the #37 overall pick in the draft (2nd round) and either a 3rd or a 4th pick next year for ex-Philadelphia Eagle QB Donovan McNabb. (Note the date of this story, April 4, NOT April Fools Day.)
In a word, “Yikes!” In two words, “Holy Shikeys!” In three, “OMG!”
It's like the Over-the-Hill Gang has been Exhumed Yeah, I know Mike Shanahan has forgotten more about quarterbacks than I’ll ever know, but that’s what worries me. That Mike Shanahan has forgotten more about quarterbacks than I'll ever know.
No one can deny the greatness that has been Donovan McNabb. But is McNabb a has-been himself? He will turn 34 this fall, and he has been beaten up the last couple of seasons. The once wonderfully elusive McNabb is no more. He can still move, but not as quickly or as well. Sure Brett Favre is--what, 60?--but Favre never got hurt. McNabb does.
Trading for McNabb means Jason Campbell is gone sooner rather than later and the Redskins will likely draft an offensive lineman with their #4 overall pick. But as of now, after this trade, it means they don’t pick again until the 4th round. Great linemen are rather scarce at that point. And without a significant upgrade, the Redskins offensive line is a shambles. Then too, the Elderly Trio of once-dominent backs behind McNabb doesn’t promise to make defenses respect the ground game—RBs need blocking too.
I have to believe there is more to come. Campbell may fetch a starting OLineman in a trade. Suddenly the luxury of having two quality TEs in Cooley and Davis doesn't make as much sense. One may be traded for picks that can be turned into linemen.
And then there’s the Defense, which is being turned into a 3-4 with 4-3 personnel. Woefully thin at linebacker already, the demands of a 3-4 system means depth at the position is critical. The Redskins don’t have it. Despite the addition of Phil Buchanon, CB needs addressing. Washington doesn’t have the picks this year—and has weakened itself next year—to fix that.
The Easter Shocker will have repercussions throughout the NFC East. One of them is that Philly is now loaded with draft picks in a year where defensive talent is said to be plentiful.
Linemen, Franchise QB top Redskins draft Needs
There’s an old saying among military strategists: “Battle plans are very effective until the actual battle begins.”
And similarly, any Redskins "Needs" column has an excellent chance of being spot on--until the Draft begins, until the Redskins pull a pre-draft blockbuster trade, or until somebody they are working out impresses the Hell out of Coach Mike Shanahan and Company.
That said, let the tealeaf reading begin.
Let’s start with some needs already met, which if you count a new GM and a new Coach put the Redskins well on the Plus Side. Feel free to cheer yourself up with the realization that the ‘skins strategy could have been plotted this year by Jim Zorn and Vinny Cerrato.
As this is written, and the thin ranks of available free agents have been decimated by signings around the league, the Redskins haul to date is not so cheery. The Free Agent season was complicated by the capless year, overpaid vets like Portis, Haynesworth and Hall already on board, the limited class of signees available, and the willingness of other teams to spend like drunken sailors.
Since the Redskins plan a Draft Party in a few weeks, let’s assume the new free agents will be introduced there, too. It might go something like this:
“Please welcome to FedEx Field, the Redskins’ new Free agents. In the interests of time, we request you hold your shouts of "Who's he?" until they have ALL been introduced.
“ARTIS HICKS, aging backup lineman, came from Vikings where he never started unless someone was hurt. He’s in his thirties and a big lad.
“REX GROSSMAN, backup QB. He’s averaged four and a half starts annually in his seven-year career, and yes, he’s from the University of Florida, former home of Steve Spurrier!
“LARRY JOHNSON, you know him, you love him, if you’re Gay, he may have already insulted you. He’s here to challenge or back up Clinton (One Concussion Away from Retirement) Portis.
"SEAN RYAN, thirty-something Tight end, can’t catch, let's hope he can block.
"PHILLIP BUCHANON--this cornerback has been with five teams in seven years, so you know he’s good.
"MAAKE KEMOEATU, is a 345-lb nose tackle who’s not only in his thirties but coming off two recent Achilles surgeries. Roll him out, guys.
"JOSH BIDWELL is the no-nickname, 34 year old, 11-year veteran bootster who replaces the wonderfully nicknamed “Hunter the Punter”
"And last and probably least, please greet JUSTIN MEDLOCK! He’s a 2nd year UCLA grad brought in to challenge kicker Graham Gano.
“And that, ladies and gentlemen is your Free Agent class of 2010!!!”
With those additions, here’s a look at what the Redskin still need to fill with their five draft picks this year.
OFFENSIVE LINE: With starting OLT Chris Samuels and starting ORG Randy Thomas gone, the ‘skins need a first rate left tackle and at LEAST one more interior lineman. Shanahan said he thinks Big Mike Williams can play right guard, which means the ‘skins could instead try to replace the mediocre right tackle Stephon Heyer.
DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: I’m not a DeAngelo Hall fan and sadly he may be the best they’ve got. Carlos "Manos de Piedra" Rogers is very unhappy and still vulnerable to double moves, and Philiip Buchanon is a stopgap at best. The skins have three good strong safeties, but no effective free safeties.
LINEBACKER: ‘Skins will shift to a 3-4, per Shanahan, and their linebacker corps is a mess. Andre Carter, DE will be a man without a position, too light for DE and not good at linebacker. Brian Orakpo, will play out of position at OLB, instead of hand in the dirt DE. Outside linebacker Rocky MacIntosh will probably move inside. As a sign of the desperation, the ‘skins are trying out versatile DT Lo Alexander at linebacker.
QUARTERBACK: Shanahan won his Super Bowls with Hall of Famer John Elway. He’s drooling over a replacement, which could be Sam Bradford (if he trades with the Rams) or Jimmy Clausen, if the Notre dame signal caller impresses in workouts. If either plays much next year, I wouldn’t want to handle their insurance, since OLine will remain weak.
RUNNING BACK: Portis sat out the rest of the season after his mid-season concussion last year. One pop to the noggin and he’ll probably retire. Larry Johnson, if he has anything left, may give the ‘skins a year or two tops.
The team also needs runback men and another Nose Tackle, so any return to dominance will likely have to wait at least a couple of years.
Next column, we predict the ‘skins draft strategy, or as I like to call it, "Your Guess is as Good as Mine."
Shanahan’s All Volunteer Army Arrives for Duty
The official NFL off-season Get-Yer-Hopes-Up Season has ended and the official Voluntary Non-voluntary Team Workout season has begun for the Redskins under new GM Bruce Allen and new head coach Mike Shanahan. Monday marked the first team gathering under the new regime.
While free agency is not over, the Redskins, for one of the rare times since Dan Snyder bought them were pretty much non-starters. As were most of the FAs they signed.
So the biggest splash in Free Agency for Washington is that there’s been no big splash in Free Agency for Washington. Loneliest job in the world has to be the crew of Snyder’s jet, Redskin One, which apparently is sitting forlorn and unused. Last year the ‘skins ran the biggest financial bailout program this side of the White House, donating $100 million to defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, and another $50 or so mil cornerback DeAngelo Hall and left guard Derrick Dockery.
Not much return on investment, as the team fell to 4-12 with Hall and Haynesworth missing games and Dockery unfortunately unable to play all five line positions at once for them.
This year Snyder hasn’t had to crack open much more than his petty cash drawer. The ‘skins have signed utility offensive lineman Artis Hicks, blocking TE Sean Ryan, backup RB Larry Johnson, Nose Guard Maake Kemoeatu (I believe his last name is pronounced KE-mo-EAT-you—which at 350 pounds he may be likely to.). All are temporary fixes at best, and not even the best FA at their position available.
Meanwhile the Dan Snyder Travel Agency has been in full swing, bringing prospective Redskins into and out of Redskin Park without signing anything other than the occasional autograph.
So, now Redskin nation turns its lonely eyes to off-season workouts and preparing for the upcoming draft. I don‘t know Shanahan, and he’s not been very forthcoming about his plans for the draft—as he should be. But that doesn’t stop me from reading tealeaves and making some educated guesses how he’ll go.
The key element to Washington will do with their #4 overall pick depends on what Shanahan thinks of Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford or Notre Dame signal caller Jimmy Clauson. Shanahan owes his reputation as a Super bowl-winning coach and offensive genius to one John Elway, who helped him win two Super Bowls at Denver. So if Mike believes either Bradford or Clauson is that man, and he is available at #4, the Redskins will draft him. If not, Shanahan will look for a tackle like Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung, or a defensive stud like Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska, Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma, Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama or Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee. He might even work out a trade down for more picks.
If he takes a QB, he’s unlikely to start him right away. He has Jason Campbell around for a year to absorb the likely beating any Redskin QB will take with the sieve of an Oline the ‘skins have.
If the ‘skins go QB at #4 overall, they’ll go lineman with their second round pick. They might even trade a future pick for another OLineman, or work to acquire one in 2011 either through free agency or the Draft or both. This gives the QB a year to develop without being traumatized and the Redskins more time to rebuild a line in the image and likeness Shanahan wants.
It will also give the defense a chance to adjust to the 3-4 defense Shanahan and his defensive coordinator Jim Haslett are installing.
Kemoeatu will start at nose tackle if his Achilles is recovered, with Daniels and Haynesworth at DE on running downs. With Anthony Montgomery, Kedric Golston and Jeremy Jarmon in the rotation, they seem set at DL—if Maaku can go.
Linebacker is more problematic. The only lock is London Fletcher at one of the inside slots. The other inside LB position may go to Rocky MacIntosh, who played the outside in the 4-3. If the ‘skins take Alabama’s MacLain, Rocky Mac will go back outside. So while grabbing a defensive player with a first round pick makes less sense than a dynamic offensive starter, that would solve problems at two positions. Meanwhile, H.B. Blades can work into the inside rotation.
If Rocky Mac stays inside, the two outside linebackers are anyone’s guess. DE Andre Carter tried OLB for San Francisco and the experiment failed. Brian Orakpo is a better DE than linebacker. (He’d play a lot of DE in passing situations, anyway.) Chris Wilson may work at the outside. The oddest experiment is putting the Redskins resident jack-of-all-trades, Lorenzo Alexander, all 275 pounds of him at LB.
The defensive backfield is iffy too. The underperforming Hall and disgruntled Carlos Rogers will likely start at corner, with J.T. Tryon and Kevin Barnes their likely backups. Either Chris Horton or Reed Doughty can play or share strong safety. The likely starter at free safety, LaRon Landry is also better suited at strong safety, and an overall disappointment as a first round pick.
Adding to the excitement and confusion is the status of next year, which may capped, uncapped, or non-existent, due to a lockout. Long-range plans are all but impossible, and the short-range future does not look particularly promising.
Redskin O-Line News is both Grimm and Grim
Amazing it’s taken this long for the electors to the NFL Hall of Fame to realize the Redskins didn’t find the offense to win its Super Bowls with only runners, receivers and quarterbacks. A Hog is in the Hall, at last. Russ Grimm was elected to the seven member class, an overdue honor. His selection, while reason for Redskin fans to rejoice, is also a reminder of the low level to which the value of Olinemen fell under the Vinny Cerrato regime.
Now the line must rebuild under GM Bruce Allen and Coach Mike Shanahan. That may not be easy. For one thing Shanahan will probably use the Number 4 pick overall for a quarterback. And after watching the Senior Bowl, I have to admit I’m not drooling over any offensive linemen I saw play.
Since Russell Okung of Okahoma State didn’t participate, let's talk about Mike Mayock’s favorite lineman, OG Mike Iupati from Idaho. Iupati put on a clinic—a holding clinic. They could have flagged him numerous times, and that didn’t bode well for his stock. Sure, some of the top prospects at Oline are underclassmen, but I wonder if Shanahan will use a #4 overall on a lineman. I somehow doubt it, though Okung would be tempting if Chris Samuels retires.
I had been thinking that if the ‘skins were serious about switching to the 3-4 this year, they could well go for nose tackle Terence Cody of Alabama with a first round pick, perhaps even trading down a few slots to take him. But Cody may have eaten himself out of consideration, showing up at 370, about 20 pounds over his in-season playing weight, and looking in need of a bra. So I don’t see Shanahan using a #4 overall for a defensive lineman— or a defensive player for that matter. If he does, it could be for the next John Lynch at safety. Eric Berry is the top rated safety, and a likely free safety, but maybe not a #4 overall value.
So my suspicions go back to the man most critical to Shanahan’s coaching reputation, one John Elway, franchise QB and two time Superbowl winner. And I have to think that if the Redskins braintrust is impressed with any of the top QB prospects, that may well be the way they go.
Not saying it’s what I’d do, but it is a distinct possibility, and as some of you may have suspected, they’re smarter than me. No, Cork isn’t going all humble on you, I never said that when Cerrato lead the Braintrust..
If Shanahan goes with Sam Bradford of Oklahoma or Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame with the #4 overall, what do the Redskins do to rebuild their ramshackle offensive line? With their third round pick already gone for the right to draft DE Jeremy Jarmon, the only reasonable prospects for starters lie with their second and fourth rounders. And it can be argued the team needs at least four new Olineman if they are to contend for the playoffs.
What about free agents? Unfortunately, the pickings are slim. Are the addition of players like Chad Clifton or Mike Gandy a big upgrade? Don’t think so.
Even if it’s an uncapped year, there isn’t much on the offensive side of the ball. (If it wasn’t for bad luck, the Redskins would have no luck at all.) And since other franchises have valued offensive linemen more than the Redskins, it is likely the available players will be in higher demand than they’re worth.
In the meantime, ‘skins fans can celebrate the good old days and the Hog in the Hall.
3-4 or not 3-4? That Is The Question for 'skins
With the signing of Jim Haslett as new Redskins Defensive Coordinator, there’s been much talk about the ‘skins switching over to a 3-4. There’s some positive and negatives about that defense, and to be effective in Washington, there will be some real need for personnel changes. (Haslett recently said he may use a variety of defenses.)
In general, the 4-3, which Greg Blache and Greg Williams and practically every redskins Defensive Coordinator have used since Sam Huff appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in the late 1950s is no longer dominant. It has changed some over the years but the personnel groups generally include the following types:
Start with a large “piano player” at defensive tickle, whose job is to occupy blockers and stop the run. (The term “playing the Piano “ applies to a lineman who glides side to side without being pushed off the line or expected to rush the passer.) Next is a quicker, sometimes smaller DT who can hold his position and also apply pass pressure. As some have noted—most notably Big Al Haynesworth himself—under outgoing ‘skins defensive coordinator Greg Blache’s scheme both DT’s were responsible for stopping the run, but also keeping blockers off the linebackers. The LBs moved sideline to sideline and made most of the tackles. (No wonder Fletcher has led the Skins in tackles since his arrival.) Haynesworth preferred his usage in Tennessee where his gig was to blow up the backfield and rush the passer.
The defensive ends, particularly in the NFC East, tend to be a tad asymmetrical, too. As a general rule, the ‘skins under Blache have put the smaller, pass rushing DE (Usually Carter) on the right side, and a larger, run-stuffing type on the right side (Daniels this past year.) This is why it made no sense for Cerrato to trade for Jason Taylor last year after Daniels suffered a season-ending injury. The lanky Taylor, listed at 6’6” and 242, is a rushbacker type—which he did successfully again this year for Miami.
NFC East teams tend to be right handed, and a defense needs to stop the run to the right. Neither Taylor nor Carter was particularly effective at that task.
Outside linebackers (this year mostly Rocky MacIntosh and Brian Orakpo) were charged with off tackle and outside contain, and had pass defense duties. Mac has gotten the hang of it, Orakpo, not so much. He was named to the pro bowl because of the impeccable timing of his four-sack performance just before voting. But most of his sacks have come when he’s moved up to DE on passing downs. In the middle, Fletcher moved sideline to sideline and often had deep middle responsibilities on passes, a tough cover for any linebacker.
These are over-generalizations, of course, depending on game plan and down and distance, but pretty much that’s the way the base 4-3 sets up for the Redskins. The ‘skins have varied it, especially on passing downs. Many years ago, under Gibbs, they had a playoff game against Green Bay, which at the time had no passing attack but a terrific ground game. Gibbs and Co. surprised everyone with a five-man defensive line, and the ‘skins shut down the Pack on their way to the Super Bowl.
While Blache’s 4-3, a more conservative variant of his mentor, Gregg Williams’ approach, has kept the ‘skins among the top defensive units in the league, rules changes allowing receivers almost free range have meant an increased emphasis on getting to the passer and covering a 4-5 man receiving sets.
The trouble in the NFC East, which is still largely a rushing conference, is you have to make the playoffs to play in the playoffs. So an NFC East team has to be a tough, run-stopping team, particularly late in the season when the weather is bad. In the playoffs the weather may be bad, but more often you’ll be playing a dome team (NO, Minn.) or semi-dome team (Dallas, Arizona).
Switching to a 3-4 will be tricky for the ‘skins and could be a multi-year process. Let’s start with the personnel on hand, and what should be done with them. The first thing a 3-4 team needs is a nose guard. Essentially he replaces two men, the defensive tackles, and in this unglamorous position he’s meant to stuff the run and tie up the middle. This is why huge, relatively squatty guys are the archetype at the position.
You’ll need at least two, because they wear down from the beating in games and in a season. The skins don’t have a starting quality nose guard on hand. Griffith, Monty, Lo Alexander and Golston are too light (though one or more might play backup) and Haynesworth wants nothing to do with the job. A trade or draft pick might be the answer. I’m not the first to suggest Terrence Cody of Alabama. At 6’5” he isn’t squatty but weighs slightly less than Pluto. Trouble is he’s a likely first round pick, and the ‘skins have other big needs, especially on offense.
Haynesworth has played defensive end for the ‘skins and Tennessee and could hold down one of the DE slots. The 300-pound Daniels would cover the other, but at his age, health and mobility are concerns. Jeremy Jarmon, listed at about 270, could grow into the job, but that could take a couple of years.
Linebacker is a little more problematical. Both Andre Carter and Orakpo have played outside linebackers in their careers, and neither has shined at the position. Those were 4-3 linebackers, however, and outside rushbackers may better suit them. Throw Chris Wilson into that mix, as well as Rocky Mac, who may be better suited for the outside than a more physical inside LB.
Fletcher isn’t small, he’s short. He’s 5’10” 240 and has been an extraordinary MLB his entire career. He’s also aging, and having one fewer lineman to keep blockers off him isn’t a good idea. And there’s been rumors he might be looking to change clubs. H.B. Blades is a physical carbon copy of Fletcher, but less experienced.
So, the linebacking corps is iffy for a Redskin 3-4. To borrow a line from the (singing, not football playing) Eagles, it could be heaven it could be hell.
To my mind the consistently best -looking 3-4 has been in Pittsburgh, though Dallas’s is the best this year. Pittsburgh has a cloning machine deep in the bowels of Heinz Field that produces an endless array of linebackers. In Dick LeBeau, it has a stone genius at DC who knows what he wants and needs and consistently replaces linebacker when they leave for better paydays. Dan Snyder would be wise to sign a big paycheck for almost any Pitt or Pitt-style LB looking for a new home.
The ‘skins also have needs in the defensive backfield at free safety and as a potential replacement for CB Carlos Rogers.
The problem with revamping the defense to fit Haslett’s new scheme is the disaster area on the other side of the ball at Redskins Park. The Redskins may need as many as four new offensive linemen, a running back and a quarterback. We’ll look at the offense in our next column.
Shanahan’s the Man for Washington
Bulletin! Bulletin! Bulletin! Stop the Presses!!! Alert the Medja!!! Oh wait, we are the Media.
Mike Shanahan is the next Redskin coach in line to be fired by Dan Snyder. According to the Denver Post, ESPN, Fox and some guy named Bob who has a blog or something on the Internet, it’s a done deal--five years. By the time you read this, it will undoubtedly be an even doner deal, with all major media, from “Vatican Times” to the “Drudge Report” re-reporting the big news.
According to my best souses--two drunks at McGlaskey’s Saloon--Shanny will get $7 mil a year, guaranteed, and will assume the vaunted mantel of “Executive Vice president for Football Operations,” last worn by some guy named Vinny. Good Ol’ Vinny was fired what seems like months ago, but not before he could do plenty of damage.
Shanahan will have lots to say at a presser, likely Wednesday, and the best thing he could say is “Shut up, Clinton Portis!" Portis, who hasn’t liked to practice much, and has been a shadow of his former self for two years, verbally attacked (likely) outgoing QB Jason Campbell on a radio show for his alleged lack of leadership. Campbell ripped him back, too. But who cares? Skins got a new coach to begin undercutting.
Peter King, who gets some stuff right now and then, says Shanny will be looking for a new QB, likely to be coached up by his kid, Kyle. King also reported that Shanny is tilting toward a 3-4 defense. Okay…here’s some speculation on how that might shake out.
Need a nose guard. Two, actually, because the starter usually gets hurt. Need to trade for one, pick up a FA, or draft that immoveable object out of Alabama named Terrence Cody. The ‘skins then move Haynesworth to RDE, with Jeremy Jarmon and/or Phillip Daniels handling the left side. Inside backers would be London Fletcher and either H.B. Blades or Rocky Mac. The outside backers would be Andre Carter, and Brian Orakpo. Orakpo hasn’t shined as an LB, and Carter doesn’t like the position, but they’d spend much of the game blitzing, and if one doesn’t work out, MacIntosh can slide outside, and Blades play inside. Or an FA can be acquired as a stopgap.
This leaves guys like Golston as backup on the line and Montgomery, Griffith and a few others on the outside looking in. Lo Alexander could move back to offense—guy’s a keeper.
Of course, if they make that move and draft Cody or some other DL number one, it doesn’t address the mess that is the Oline, or the needs at running back and cornerback.
Shanny, you still sure you want the gig?
By the Time You Read This, Shanahan Could Be in Charge
Elvis is in the building. Okay, maybe not actually in the building, but Mike Shanahan, the Redskins next coach, has been spotted at Dulles airport, after departing from Redskin One, which flew out today to Denver today to fetch him. Official announcement expected Tuesday, barring contractual snags.
About durn time. I have been standing all day in an awkward position—my ear cupped, leaning over the floor, attention focused, waiting to hear the second shoe drop. The first shoe, of course, was the pre-dawn firing of former Redskin Head Coach Jim Zorn. In an attempt to throw the easily befuddled Media hoard off the track, the ‘skins cleverly released a schedule on Sunday that included Jim Zorn’s regular Monday press availability at 11 AM.
But ever clever Dan Snyder had already stuck the metaphorical shiv between the Zornsters’ shoulder blades, and except for his ceremonial tar and feathering, Zorn had officially become the latest in the long list of failed Danny hires.
Zorn, methinks, was doomed from the get-go. He was undercut by Snyder and de facto GM Vinny Cerrato all along the way. To briefly recap: Zorn was brought in as an offensive coordinator, then offered the Head Coach job when no one else wanted it. Meanwhile, Snyder had already hired most of his assistants. Zorn was always treated, it seemed, like bad relations. He was almost powerless; a number of players have remarked how a few privileged Redskins had a direct line to the Danny. No names were named, but if you guessed Clinton Portis and Albert Haynesworth, collect your Kewpie Doll.
The new, high priced “team saviors” Danny bought in the off-season buy-a-thon, disappointed—which most of us are used to by now. The thinking was while Haynesworth was a beast on the field; he’d probably miss two-three games with injuries. Sure enough, Al missed four games due to leg woes, and the last game of the season with a badly pulled Snit Muscle.
Cornerback DeAngelo Hall was semi-decent, but for his money you want shutdown. Guard Derrick Dockery was only solid and capped the season with a bonehead pre-snap jump that may have cost the ‘skins the San Diego game.
Zorn got little help from the draft over his two years, with Danny and Vinny largely at the controls. Practically none of the drafted players saw game time in 2008, and while the terrific trio of second round receivers taken then did better this year, by now the Oline was such a shambles, it made little difference. Even a blind pig finds an occasional truffle—2009 top pick Brian Orakpo was chosen for the pro bowl as a rookie.
The crowning insult to Zorn was the addition of Mr. Bingo, Sherman Lewis, first as an offensive consultant, later as the playcaller. While Vinny Cerrato promised not to fire Zorn during the season, Danny seemed to get his jollies emasculating his head coach by taking away his favorite part of coaching.
Snyder had an awful year PR-wise too, as stories surfaced about little old ladies, crushed by the recession, being sued by the Redskins for not paying for season tickets. Fans were escorted out of FedEx Field for wearing subversive T-shirts—“subversive” meaning anything that opposed Dan or his racquetball stooge, Cerrato.
Next Cerrato himself got the old heave-ho, a fact that brought great, if temporary joy to the Redskins faithful. But alas, the first two games of the new GM, Bruce Allen’s era saw two of the most embarrassing performances the Redskins have given in recent history.
As this is written, Shanahan hasn’t been officially announced but it’s all but a done deal. I’m not thrilled.
Snyder’s coach selection process seems to alternate between retreads (Marty S. Joe G., Shanahan) and not-ready-for-prime-time players like Zorn and the Ol’ Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier. What is needed, I believe, is the next Mike Tomlin or Mike Singletary, a young, up and coming smart leader who won’t take crap from Danny Snyder.
What Snyder will continue to get, I fear, is only people who have no better offer out there—or who are eager for a big payday or jump up the coaching ladder.
Charles Barkley Once Summed Up the Redskin Woes
The death of legendary Washington area and national sportscaster George Michael last week reminded me that Washington has had its fair share of extraordinary sports anchors in broadcast media. In fact, in the late seventies and early eighties, WJLA-TV, the lowest rated network station in the area, boasted three sportscasters who would later go on to national prominence.
Their lead guy, Tim Brandt, has been a college football Analyst for ABC sports. The number three sportscaster, Kevin Kiley, also sat in the national broadcast analyst chair, and the number two guy there, Mike Patrick, has carved out an excellent career doing play-by-play on Monday Night Football and scores of other gigs.
I remember when the station hired a then relatively unknown motormouth Redskin quarterback to do Monday game wrap-ups with Patrick. Mike and Joe Theismann reached the level of comfort and interplay doing that, which served them well later as an NFL broadcast team.
Why bring this up? Two reasons. One, to postpone writing about the latest Redskins fiasco against Dallas, and two, as a roundabout way of getting to what is wrong with the Redskins. (Pay attention, this will be on the final.)
The guy who hit the nail on the head, Charles Barkley, was actually speaking about his own basketball team at the time—but it holds true today. His famous sound bite was heard over and over, played by one of the best sports broadcasters ever to ply his trade in Los Angeles, the late Jim Healy. Healy had a 15-minute daily radio show that was part sports, part comedy. He interweaved scores of actual sound bites he had collected over the years with sports new and gossip. Many were hilarious, and quite a few bites can be found at a Healy tribute website. (http://www.johnspeedie.com/healy/healybytes.html)
Ah yes, the Barkley quote: When asked to describe what exactly was wrong with his team after a blowout loss, Lord Charles shook his head and said:
“Bad team, man. Bad (bleeping) team.”
And that—in a nutshell--is what’s wrong with the Redskins. The Redskins stink up the field in every area. Ownership, Coaching, leadership (lack thereof), offense, defense, skill positions, Big Uglies. There are individual exceptions, but by and large, the team has become a tribute to the ineptness of owner Dan Snyder and former Executive Vice President Vinny Snyder.
Is the mess beyond fixing? In the short term, yes—there’s soooooo much to fix. In the long run—say the next 100 years—sure, things can turn around.
They’ve fired Vinny and brought in a new GM—that’s a start. But I think the Allen family is cursed. First the patriarch, former Redskins coach George Allen dies after a bucket of cold Gatorade is dumped on him (okay that may be an old wives tale). In 2008, his son, the Senator, ruined his chances at high political office with his Macaca brouhaha. Now poor Bruce gets to General Manage the Redskins.
First thing Bruce Allen needs a coach. Good luck with that. Zorn and Blache are gone. The new coach needs a QB, because Campbell is gone too. The team needs practically an entire new offensive line. It needs a running back. It needs receivers—though I admit it’s hard to judge a receiver’s skill when he only has .5 seconds to get open before his QB is sacked.
It needs help on defense. The ‘skins have frustrated, overpaid, overfed malcontent Albert Haynesworth but the rest of the D Line has shown itself incapable of rushing the passer or stopping the run in the past two weeks. At linebacker, London Fletcher is aging, Orakpo is better at DE, and RockyMac got hurt again. At defensive back, Hall is overpaid and not a shutdown corner, Rogers will be gone, Smoot is fading and Landry isn’t even the best safety in his own family.
What hasn’t been mentioned much in the chaos that is the Redskins front office and locker room this year is the loss of leadership the team has suffered. Locker room stalwarts Marcus Washington, Shawn Springs and James Thrash are gone. Guys like that can hold a disintegrating team together. Without solid leaders taking charge of a locker room, you get dissention, rebellions and chaos. And the Redskins performance the last two weeks has been a turnaround of almost incomprehensible proportions, a return and upgrading of their earlier ineptness.
Sigh. Next week, I’ll try to pull myself together and see if I can find a silver lining in the cloud that has descended upon Washington. But for now? I’m going over to the Jim Healy website and look for a few laughs.
What does Bruce Allen mean to the #Redskins and the Draft?
If This Had Been WWII, We’d All Be Speaking German Now
Following in the footsteps of the Redskins “effort” Monday night, I have decided this column, rather than being the heartfelt, carefully crafted, hard-hitting, and passionate flow of words it usually is, will also be a lay-down, phone-in, France-at-War, Who-Gives-A-Poop performance. Not as bad as the Redskins players turned in, I hope—I have a little pride after all.
But I plan to put in nearly as minimal an effort as the ‘skins did against the New York Football Giants. And I’m not paid anything near what the Redskins make, I didn’t have a new boss to impress, and I don’t ply my “craft” before thousands of die-hard fans who dug out of snowdrifts to witness it.
Okay, let’s break down various aspects of the Redskins. Actually, the ‘skins beat me to it, breaking down in every phase of the game themselves. I certainly hope Mr. Bruce Allen gets a gander at my epic, too. It should not make him any more nauseous than the ‘skins effort did.
Before we begin, the following people are exempted from my disdainful and sarcastic dismissal of the evening’s endeavors: Mr. Fred Davis, TE, Mr. Rock Cartwright, special teams player and running back, Mr. London Fletcher, whose teammates probably cost him his last real shot at the Pro Bowl, and a special civilian Purple Heart to Mr. Jason Campbell, who was nearly beaten to death on national TV, yet insisted on crawling back into the ring. (There may be others; I don’t have the heart to check the tape.)
BY UNIT:
(VERY) OFFENSIVE LINE: Overall, it sucked. No other word for it. They should turn their paycheck over to a charity of their choosing—might I suggest the Hospital for Abused Backs? I retract all the nice things I’ve said about Big Mike Williams and Levi Jones. The only guy with any excuse was the right tackle James Robinson, a peanut vender asked to step in when starter Stephon Heyer had seen enough.
(IN)OFFENSIVE BACKFIELD. Can’t blame the poor bastards. You can’t run when nobody blocks. You can’t pass when a defensive end reaches you before the center snap does. You can’t block when…well actually none of them blocked.
NON-RECEIVERS: Davis played well--but the rest? Who knows, who cares? But I really really hated, at the end of the disgraceful first half, when Todd Collins hit Santana Moss on a long pass, and Moss spun the ball defiantly on the turf. You celebrate during a butt-kicking like that? Thanks for the memories and your talent and grit, but Santana, please take that spin-the-ball mess back to The U and leave it there.
MAGINOT LINE: Gawdawful. Lo Alexander and Al Haynesworth were each credited with a sack when the guys assigned to block them were taking a beer and smoke break in the lounge. Big Al was credited with a nice left hook, but penalized 15 yards. Good thing everyone on the Giants kept their helmets on with that class act around.
UNALIGNED BACKERS: London Fletcher and Rocky Mac each had seven tackles. Whoopee. Rookie sensation Brian Orakpo, who had four sacks last week, had zip this week, only one tackle, and was made to look silly as a linebacker. There goes his Rookie-of-the-Year award.
DEFEATIST BACKFIELD: OMG, LOL. The DBs played like the Giants receivers had Swine Flu and they the ‘skins were trying to avoid them. The best move of the night was LaRon Landry missing a sideline tackle so egregiously, he flew into the stands and was offered a gig with the Washington Ballet Company.
COACHING (?): Yeech. Buh-Bye Jim. The only thing holding you by a thread was you had kept the team from quitting on you the last three weeks. That ended Monday Night. Bad night for Bingo man, too. Does the WCO melt in the cold?
ISN’T THAT SPECIAL TEAMS: The Boys in the Booth and the fans at home had a nice laugh at the ridiculous attempt to re-create a surprise trick play that had worked a few weeks back. Um, fellas? There’s this thing called “videotape.” Giants had a copy of the play, and called time out to set their defenses against it. So you ran it anyway, a ricochet interception ensued, and the hysterics began.
I’ve been a Redskin Fan for more decades than I’d care to admit. I can’t think of the last time I was so embarrassed by one of their performances as I was Monday Night.
Personal Note: A dear friend and former colleague, the enormously gifted television news reporter, Jim Clarke, died late Sunday. Typical of his generosity, he’d spent the entire day helping his neighbors shovel themselves out of the blizzard, and in his sleep that night his big heart gave out. Jim was an institution at Washington’s WJLA-TV until retiring in 2003 and was a big Redskins fan. We would regularly trade laments and celebrations by email, and I used to eagerly wait for his reaction to my columns. I’ll miss this great man, his wit, his intelligence, and his encouragement.
Goodbye Vinny, Hello Bruce—Is Zorn Next to Go?
Pretty obvious to me that my nemesis, Redskins owner Dan Snyder, reads this column. Don’t want to sound paranoid but I know he’s out to make me look foolish. Here’s how I know it. I’ve been ripping Vinny Cerrato ever since I’ve been writing the column, then last week, after the ‘skins impressive win over Duh Rayduhs, I write these very words; and I quote:
“As for Vinny? I’m reminded how awful Charley Casserly was at first, and how he had improved before being shown the door. But if Cerrato stays another year—it might not be the worst thing ever.
“Now we just need to hold our breath and hope Dan Snyder doesn’t follow his usual self-destructive pattern and go out and bring in the latest shiny new object that’s caught his eye to gum up the works.”
So naturally, Dan takes that as his cue to fire his long time Racquetball Buddy and hire a shiny new object, the closest thing he could get to a legendary former Redskin coach, Bruce Allen, son of George Allen. Oh and Happy Holidays, Vinny.
If it hasn’t happened by the time you read this, Snyder/Allen may have hired a new coach, too, although Bruce at his presser today seemed to cool those engines. No promises will be broken if Zorn is fired now--it was Cerrato who promised not to fire him this year. So Danny/Bruce could bring in somebody new this year—though that makes no sense. Zorn, based on his last three games, has earned the right to coach the next three. Who would the next coach be? Dunno. Early banter is about Jon Gruden or Mike Shanahan. Gruden was Allen’s old coach in Oakland and Tampa Bay, but seems to enjoy life in the TV booth.
The smartest thing Snyder could do—George Steinbrenner should be his model—is to realize that being a genius at what made him richer than Croesus in another field (shipbuilding for George, Marketing for Dan), doesn’t mean he knows doodlysquat about building a sports franchise. And make no mistake both men have been hands-on owners at the beginning. And by “hands on” I means hands wrapped about the throat of the franchise. Dan needs to step back, as Steinbrenner eventually had to, for the team to succeed.
I am NOT richer than Croesus, so I can only guess at the powerful appeal of buying and running a sports franchise. The best thing I can compare it to during this holiday season when as a child I got a bright red Schwinn racing bike for Christmas. That’s when Schwinn was the bike to own, and I wanted it more than anything at the time. So I for Snyder to turn control of his toy, the Redskins, over to anyone, I imagine it would have been like me letting someone else ride my new bike instead of me.
I will stay on record saying that Jim Zorn has earned another year, but modify it by saying it depends on how the team plays the next three games. If they continue to hit the way they’ve been hitting the last three weeks, and work the way they’ve been working, and the offense continues to show the imagination it has—he absolutely should stay.
Last week the team beat Oakland in Oakland with seven current or former Redskin All-Pros injured. Five of them were on offense and the team scored 34 points, following the 30 they put up against New Orleans the week before.
Quarterback Jason campbell’s future is up in the air, but at least he has a clean slate with Allen. The new GM can say he loves him, has always loved him and want him to sign a new deal without the baggage Vinny would bring to the negotiating table.
I’d be happy to know Allen and his coaches will be making personnel decisions. I’ll put my faith in him, as should the fans. I realize such humility among sportswriters is about as rare as humanity in the Kim Jong Il clan, but there you have it. Allen, in addition to being the son of a legendary former Redskin Coach, has carved out a nice niche GMing at Oakland when they were formidable, and at Tampa Bay when they were midable. (He arrived the year after the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl—said Super Bowl won against the team Allen built in Oakland.)
But with the criticism owner Dan Snyder has received, especially this year, one has to wonder if the choice of GM was made to help bulletproof him from criticism, such as bringing back Joe Gibbs. Doesn’t mean it’s a bad choice, and we’ll soon find out if Snyder has turned real control of the team to Allen. If Allen is riding the Schwinn, that’s a very good sign.
One thing is certain, the Redskins off-season, where they make headlines with moves fans and ownership are certain will bring home a championship, has gotten an early start.
Don’t Look Now, but the Redskins Don‘t Stink
By the end of this column you‘ll know why the Redskins have gotten so much better, why Coach Jim Zorn should be retained, and why it may not matter if Vinny Cerrato leaves or stays. Say what? Got your attention now, right kids?
But first some thoughts on cheating in class. Seriously. It will help explain why I got so smart all of a sudden, and how other football columnists can get as smart as I’ve become. Rule One: You have to know whose test to copy. For analyzing pro football, that means tuning out most analyists, and focusing on the best. You could do worse than “borrowing” the insights of NBC’s Chris Collingsworth--but he’s too tall and it’s hard to see his paper. Jaws is smart on Monday Night Football, but he has that snotty little kid Chucky next to him interrupting his answers. John Madden knows his football, but he already graduated, and even as smart as he, I’m not sure “Boom!” is always the correct answer.
Guys like Bradshaw and Long and Jimmy Johnson and the rest of the Fox gang know more than you or I ever will, but they are part of a dog and pony show built for ratings, not insight.
The Best Football Analyst Working
No, the best football analyst I’ve ever heard on radio or TV once played the game himself, but he is ten times the analyst he was a player. This despite the fact he owns some Super Bowl bling to show for his career. The exam to copy belongs to Trent Dilfer. He not only knows his stuff, he explains it well enough for most of us to understand.
Monday, Dilfer was explaining why the Patriots and the Cowboys are fading, and why the Chargers and Eagles are almost impossible to beat in December. And while the Redskins never came up in his conversation, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to apply what he said to the home squad. That’ll be my part of the equation.
What Dilfer believes is that more than ever, this is a coaches league, a system league, a place where smart guys prevail. And more than that, it is a coordinators’ league. He even went so far as to say that were he a head coach, he’d pay his genius coordinators a fortune, and not let their suitors talk to them. Impractical idea, but probably right.
Dilfer pointed out how the good teams that have fallen on hard times this season have done so primarily because of coordinator changes. Rex Ryan left as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator—suddenly the Raven’s defense is a sieve. The once complex Patriots offense has become simplified in the wake of having former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels hijacked by Denver, where he’s winning games with Kyle Orton, for crying out loud. You’ll recall that Denver’s Brandon Marshall caught 21 passes Sunday and New England’s Randy Moss is sulking.
Dilfer talked about when he was coached by West Coast Offense guru Mike Holmgren and was told to just “do as I say,” and let the system work. And it worked, he said. And make no mistake, he said, the West Coast Offense is one of the most complicated in existence, and when it is in full roar, with multiple sets and personnel groupings that defenses have to prepare for, it’s nearly unstoppable.
Which brings me to the Redskins. Naïve little old me would watch the simplistic offense Zorn ran last year and earlier this year and wonder whatever happened to the amazingly complex offense Seattle used to hurl at the Redskins when Zorn was there. Why aren’t we seeing that in Washington? Zorn would respond with maddening quotes about how they had to keep working to get better and blah blah blah.
Now, suddenly, what was simple has become complex. Players who once didn’t know where to line up are running patterns correctly and getting open. Sets and groupings are more involved. A quarterback ready to be run out of town now finds open receivers and hits them. Guys named Quenton Ganther are gaining 4-5 yards a pop with plays we’ve never seen before. An offense that once couldn’t do a thing is now averaging 28 points a game (last three games). And it’s come after losing four or five all-pro level offensive starters. (Those would be: Running back Clinton Portis, tackle Chris Samuels, replaced by surprisingly effective Levi Jones. Tough guard Randy Thomas is out with Mike Williams doing well. Second year tight end and former bust Fred Davis has replaced all pro Chris Cooley without losing a step. Yesterday the ‘skins were down another pro-bowler, fullback Mike Sellers.)
It’s Not Just the Bingo Factor
It would be ridiculous just to assign the credit for the improvement to Sherm “Bingo” Lewis, who took over play-calling for Zorn. This is Zorn’s system. He has said it would be the end of the second year before it became effective. It has taken the receivers that long to learn it, and so, apparently that long for Zorn to teach it to Jason Campbell.
In full cry, the WCO is a thing of beauty, Dilfer says. And it gets better as the year goes on, as battered defenses have more and more complex setups to defend against. It is ironic that the once pathetic offensive line play of the Redskins has improved to the point where such complexity can succeed—although at a fearsome price to Campbell’s body.
And with the improvement, popular whipping boy, de facto GM Vinny Cerrato’s presumably disastrous reign may start to fade from memory. Yeah, DeSean Jackson is better than Devin Thomas, and the ‘skins could have had him, but last year’s “Second Rounders” aren’t looking so bad. This year’s top pick, Defensive end/outside linebacker Brian Orakpo, is being talked up as a Rookie of the Year candidate.
Young cornerbacks Justin Tryon and Kevin Barnes have been forced onto the field by injuries, and acquitted themselves well. Vinny went out and got Jones and Big Mike Williams and placekicker Graham Gano.
Zorn has earned another year as head coach in my book. As for Vinny? I’m reminded how awful former GM Charley Casserly was at first, and how he had improved before being shown the door. But if Cerrato stays another year—it might not be the worst thing ever. And that's something I never thought Id say.
Now we just need to hold our breath and hope Dan Snyder doesn’t follow his usual self-destructive pattern and go out and bring in the latest shiny new object that’s caught his eye to gum up the works.
Bad Loss to Saints Isn’t All Bad News to Redskins
If you’ll check the column I wrote last week, you’ll note I predicted the Redskins would beat the Saints. As the legendary football expert Maxwell Smart would put it—“Missed it by THAT much.”
Which, incidentally, is about the distance Sean Suisham missed the clinching field goal. You know why he missed? Because he was once with Dallas. No one--not players, not coaches, not kickers--who’ve been with Dallas have ever helped the Redskins. Period.
That aside, the Redskins were a few key plays away from a shocking upset yesterday, and from making your humble columnist look like a freaking genius.
So I should be livid, crushed, upset, angry, ready to blow the whole organization up and start from scratch.
Naaaaah.
Sorry, not going that way. In another rare outburst of Pollyannaism, I will take the high road, and look to the good side of what happened at FedEx.
I should also note that this is the third straight more than decent game the boys in Burgundy have played. What makes it even more unexpected is the near wins have been achieved with key players out. An improved offense has come with a patchwork Oline, with the guy once disparaged as a Bingo caller calling the game, with an all but written off QB, and with 3rd through 5th string running backs.
What makes it even more amazing is as Christmas approaches, the ‘skins have been playing without Chrises--all pro tight end Chris Cooley, stellar safety Chris Horton and all-pro tackle Chris Samuels. Message? Don’t draft guys named Chris.
The Oline has been beat to crap, pardon my French. Two former all-pros are hurt and may never suit up again, A mid-season pickup nobody else wanted is starting at left tackle. The right guard is the Jenny Craig of the NFL, former Fatty Big Mike Williams—about the fourteenth guy to play there. Stephon Heyer has ping-ponged back and forth between left and right tackle all season. Fred Davis has replaced Cooley at TE. And how many sacks did that bunch give up yesterday during Campbell’s 42 pass attempts? None. Zip. Zero. And it was against the vaunted, blitz-happy defense of Saints (and former Redskin) defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Another positive about the Oline. It has gotten younger and, most importantly, bigger. The 300 pounders have by and large been replaced by large guys tipping the Toledo’s at 330 or so. Don’t underestimate that in the NFC East. Sure, the run game is still weak. But the tailbacks available start with a career special teamer (Rock Cartwright) and go downward from there. The good news is, as Portis and Betts got hurt, de facto GM Vinny Cerrato didn’t ship off a third round pick to fix the problem with a washed up RB.
There’s even hope from other quarters: A quote from a non-football contributor caught my eye this summer. It was uttered by Redskin 2nd year receiver Devin Thomas’s Dad. He admitted his son never “got it” the first year he tried anything new. But once acclimated, he would come on strong and his athleticism take over. Sunday, Devin had his first ever 100-yard receiving day. Maybe Papa knows best. TE Alarm Clock Davis has filled in admirably for Cooley. Even Malcolm Kelly has caught some balls lately. The disastrous 2nd round draftees from last year may not be so disastrous afer all.
But best of all, QB Jason Campbell has been playing well, improving ever since Sherman Mr. Bingo Lewis started calling the game. Funny thing, when he arrived in DC, Coach Jim Zorn said it usually takes two years for a team to “get” his version of the West Coast offense. Maybe he meant two years and a new playcaller. Regardless, yesterday, the offense “got” it.
Then there’s Coach Zorn. I’ll say it now—Jim Zorn deserves to be considered to coach the Redskins next year. Why? Because the team is playing much better on offense, and because he has kept the team from quitting. The Redskins didn’t mail it in against the Saints, they hit hard, played hard, should have won. Even after the brutal ending to the first half, they came out determined and didn't quit.
A third string safety’s overenthusiastic attempt to make a “big play” cost the ‘skins a touchdown before the half. A 2nd year safety (Kareem Moore) played like a rookie, with two crucial mistakes. One cost the 'skins a touchdown. The other, shoving an opponent into a redskin punt returner, could have. Two key bites on double moves by a safety who plays out of position (LaRon Landry) cost the team two touchdowns. The skins can fix that by acquiring a free safety, and let Landry move back to Strong safety.
If the ‘skins win three of four, rehiring Zorn is a no-brainer. Two of four, it’s close. But progress is being made.
The defense is not the problem, though it needs tweaking. In this year's draft and free agency moves, it's time to focus on offense. Oh, and a placekicker would be nice.
Once teh agony of one of hte toughest losses in recent history wears off, two thoughts occur. One, the Redskins could have one. Two, at least they didn't lose that way to Dallas.
You Needn’t Be Crazy to Pick the Skins—But It Helps
As an Auld Sod American occasionally beset by the emotional swings of my Black Irish heritage, I would never make fun of mental challenges. That said, here’s a comic line I’ve heard about the nightmare of Schizophrenia: “I’m a Schizophrenic and so am I.”
There’s a purpose for the comment: After my last column and my dejected dismissal of the Redskins chances today and in the foreseeable future, I now will reverse field and detail how the Sad Sack home crew will beat the best team in the NFL this Sunday. No, I’m not a schizophrenic—yes you are, no I’m not—but I’m convinced it can happen.
Here is how and why the Redskins will beat New Orleans.
Many experts point to the fact that Gregg Williams, a coach so good, he needs two “G’s” in his name, will be super motivated Sunday. Williams is defensive coordinator for the Saints, a position he held with the ‘skins until Chief Genius in Charge Dan Snyder decided he was unqualified to coach the team.
Williams is the architect of New Orleans’ brutal defensive schemes, the very ones that dismantled Tom Brady and the Patriots Monday night. This week the Saints tough D-line will be going against what seems like tailor-made opponents. That would be the Redskins ramshackle OLine, the one epoxied together with spare parts, former fat guys, and undrafted free agents.
The Redskin running backs are third stringers or worse, the quarterback is battered and bruised, and the receiving corps is minus its top guy--Chris Cooley.
So the Redskins offense is dead, right? Wrong. Because someone else has something to prove Sunday. Just as Williams wants to prove Danny wrong, a few Redskin coordinators want to prove Danny right. That includes the silent one, Defensive Coordinator Greg (One G) Blache, who apprenticed under Double G and probably knows his tendencies as well as anyone. Then there’s Mr. Bingo, Sherman Lewis and the other Sherman, Smith, offensive gurus determined to make their bones attacking New Orleans vaunted defense. With Blache helping them out this week, they may well come up with some answers.
But that’s hardly enough, because New Orleans has a distinct talent advantage. All things being equal, good, fast and big beats fair, slow and formerly fat. But all things aren’t equal. As former Vice President Dan Quayle, once so elegantly put it: “The mind is a terrible thing.” And indeed it can be in football because it is the seat of emotions, and emotions can trump talent when they don’t cooperate. Make no mistake: Sunday the Redskins should have a distinct psychological edge over the visitors.
It starts with New Orleans not having the deafening roar of the Superbowl to motivate them. Then it will be a challenge to the NO brain trust to make their charges (1) fear the Redskins (2) be ready to play after their impressive, almost easy win over New England. A letdown is almost inevitable—if it’s this week, all the better for Washington.
Add to this, the Saints have a doubly short week to prepare. They played on Monday, not Sunday, and they lose a day to travel.
Saint Offense Terrifying
A Redskin win is hardly a cinch. (If you bet the ‘skins, lose big and your bookie breaks both your knees, don’t come running to me to complain.) See, if the Saints defense is scary, their offense is even more so. Drew Brees is a major contender for MVP, the Oline is solid and they have a terrific fleet of receivers. Add to that, the Redskins D is beat up. Cornerback DeAngelo Hall will likely sit, and defensive tackle Big Albert Haynesworth may also view festivities from the sideline. The Redskin defense is mistake prone—giving up too many easy TDs. And if NE can’t stop the Saints, how can the Redskins?
Again, remember psychology is at work here. And an argument can be made that healthy, the Redskins defense is the equal to New England’s, if not better. If Big Al can play effectively, the ‘skins could own the middle, perhaps rush Brees into some bad throws. Keep in mind the skins lost by a single point in Dallas (7-6) and only by three to Philly (27-24). Those teams are not cupcakes
Will the redskins take advantage of all the potential favorables aligning Sunday? Depends. As an aviation buff I’ve read enough accident reports to know that in almost every significant crash, not just one thing goes wrong, but a number of things go wrong. The same is true in reverse. If everything goes right, Sunday, be ready for the shocker of the year.
The Redskins must play near flawless football, and hope the Saints march in flat and uninspired. A win would not make the Redskins the better team, but it could make their season. Many individuals at Redskin Park have enormous pride—in some cases justified—and many more are playing for new contracts and future income. Sunday is the big chance for everyone in Burgundy and Gold to hold their heads high—for once this season, anyway.
Philly Wins—Shocker!!—and Your Correspondent Despairs
There is a silver lining to Sunday’s otherwise painful if predictable loss to the Eagles. And that is…got it right here in my notes…that is….I think I wrote it down, or maybe I dreamed in my fevered sleep after the most recent Redskins loss. Oh right, now I remember, losing to Philly hurts the Dallas Cowboys. That eases the pain a little bit to any true believer Redskin fan.
Other than that, I got Bupkis. I suppose I should be happy that the Redskins haven’t given up, that they showed up to play, that some of the kid draftees came through, that Rock Cartwright has shown he wasn’t nuts demanding the ball, and er….
But here’s the deal. Here is the plain, unvarnished truth. And while I’m at it, what the hell is “varnished truth?” If you buy varnished furniture, it costs more than that which you must varnish yourself. Yet, real truth, which I assume they mean by unvarnished truth, is certainly more valuable than the other kind, which means truth that has a coating of lies over it. Sorry to bring this up in a sports column, but I’m reporting it to the Department of Clichés and Redundancies department.
The unvarnished unpainted truth is the Washington Redskins are no longer a major franchise anymore, and to a long time Redskin fan that has to hurt. I’ve been a Redskin fan ever since before the original Hogs played line, back when Mastodons and Triceratops manned those positions.
I’ve been a fan for so long I can remember when Nixon was booed by fans at the ballpark for being the loser he was. Before all you Dick Nixon fans gets your lingerie twisted, let me explain: I’m talking about the late Mike Nixon, former Redskin Coach for two years in the late fifties, early sixties who compiled a record of 4-18-2.
I’ve attended games at RFK I’d just as soon forget and have a few happily seared into my memory. Best moment? Seeing Billy Kilmer loft a perfect non-wobbly 45-yard TD pass to Charley Taylor to seal the NFC championship win, New Year’s Eve, 1972. The opponent? Who else, the hated Cowboys.
There have been lowlights and comic moments, too. I was at RFK when a Redskin punter named Pat Richter booted his personal protector right in the sitdowner. Missed the ball, literally kicked his blocker’s ass.
I remember one season, years before the shotgun, much less the Wildcat ran rampant in the NFL, when the ‘skins shocked their opponents by shifting the QB back from under center to shotgun. The defense scrambled and scattered, and back deep stood Sonny Jurgensen, beer gut proudly hanging over his pants, eyes searching for a weakness, his voice in command, confidently calling signals. In the instant before that first snap, I remember thinking this might be the year it all changes, this would be the year the ‘skins put fear in the enemy’s hearts. This would be the beginning of new great teams and freshly mown hay and choirs of angels singing and… And then I was schocked back to reality when the center hiked the ball thirty yards over Sonny’s head and out of the end zone for a safety.
But the ‘skins eventually did turn it around thanks to coaches named George Allen and Vince Lombardi and a guy named Gibbs who brought three Super Bowl Trophies to Redskin Park. Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end.
They did.
Since the last Super Bowl win way back in the third year of the last decade before the turn of the century, hopes have remained high while win totals have stayed, well, medium. A new stadium was opened, new ownership took over. Coaches—even the Sainted Joe Gibbs—came and went. A few playoff appearances whetted appetites, but no new hardware came to Redskin Park.
The Redskins traditionally won “High Hopes” honors during the off-season thanks to the open checkbook of new owner Dan Snyder. The Danny spent money like pork-barrel politicos dribbled drool at a free barbeque. Fading stars and might-have-beens traipsed in and out of Washington to no avail. Super Bowls on paper became in-season fishwraps.
But, Hope remained because that’s the nature of Redskin fans.
But no more. What’s different now, is Hope as ridden off into the Sunset like, I dunno, a cowboy or something—I’m too depressed to come up with any more creative metaphors. There will probably be a new coach this winter. Big whoops. The so-called be-all and end-all to Redskin woes—an uncapped year—is still a distinct possibility. Some of the kids are playing well… the ‘skins have high draft picks this year…yadda yadda yadda.
But I still feel despair. Unlike baseball and basketball where big money buys championships, the NFL depends more on smart management than a quick signing pen. And so many teams are so much smarter than the Redskins that the climb back to the top has never seemed more distant.
The primary reason is the same guys are still making the key decisions. Snyder and the guy with the fancy title “Executive Vice President for Football Operations” Vinny Cerrato remain Washington’s “brain trust.” So long as these guys are pulling the trigger, blanks will be fired.
Redskins Finally Enjoy some Loser’s Revenge
They’ve been disparaged, denigrated and dismissed. Sunday they had their Loser’s Revenge. In the panorama of world events their story was writ small—it’s not like the return of a healthy Economy or a hit single by Vanilla Ice. But for Woebegone Redskin fans in this woebegone year, it would do for now. Sunday November 15, 2009 was the day the Redskin Losers rose up on their hind legs and said “enough.”
Here is a Baker’s Dozen of Revenging Losers, in Alphabetical Order
Betts, LaDell, (RB): He’s admired by coaches, reviled by fans. Seven years as a Redskin and one memorable season--the backup who couldn’t get on the field, the has-been who never was. The back incapable of finding a hole with a pickax and a miner’s lamp. But when Clinton Portis’ concussion opened the door and the line opened the holes, Betts ran to daylight and had his Loser’s Revenge.
Bingo Caller, The, (Playcaller): His name is Sherman Lewis and he had an honorable career as a coach in the NFL. Retired from football, he volunteered calling Bingo at a senior center. Enter Dan Snyder’s Gumshoes who found him and persuaded him to be an “Offensive Consultant."---y'know, Iceberg Prevention Expert on HMS Titanic. Then Sherm was promoted to Playcaller—the Titanic’s Watertight Safety Designer. Meanwhile the Knights of the Keyboard ripped Lewis’s playcalling and had a field day with Bingo references. In a beautifully called game Sunday, Sherm had his Loser’s Revenge.
Campbell, Jason, (QB): Critics have raked Campbell over the coals. Writers who call in sick for the sniffles made no allowances for Jason’s gimpy ankles and battered body. But the gimpy-ankled QB engineered a winning fourth quarter drive Sunday to get his Loser’s Revenge.
Cartwright, Rock, (RB): Cartwright is the overachiever’s overachiever, mostly unappreciated outside the locker room. A stubby seventh-rounder neither big enough for fullback nor quick enough for tailback, he’s been a special teams presence and little more. Fans laughed when he complained he should get his shot at running the ball. Sunday he effectively backed up Betts as a runner and had his Loser’s Revenge
Cerrato, Vincent, (Dartboard): Every dog has his day, and the Redskins Executive Vice President has been dogged by everyone, including me, for bad drafts and bad free agent pickups. Sunday, Vinny could smile. His pickups picked it up, his draftees came through. Who knows how long it will last, but yesterday Cerrato had his Loser’s Revenge.
Davis, Fred (TE): Nicknamed “Alarm Clock” and “The Giggler” for sleeping through a practice and chuckling at team meetings, Davis was dismissed as a bust until all-Pro TE Chris Cooley went down. Since then, Davis has shined as a receiving tight end, and improved s as a blocker. He’s delivering on his second round promise and having his Loser’s Revenge.
Haynesworth Albert, (DT): Few have knocked Albert’s play when he plays. He’s made Redskin pass rushers Brian Orakpo and Andre Carter better by sucking up blockers like a black hole sucks in light. The knock on Haynesworth was his dingability. Sure enough, when the Big Man hit the deck Sunday, then wobbled off unable to put any of his 350 pounds on his ankle, everyone figured he’s out for the game, if not the season. But Big Al gutted it out, and returned to the Field to earn his Loser’s Revenge.
Hunter the Punter, (Punter/Passer): More damaged goods for the Redskin kicking game, we thought. First we hoped Hunter Smith was the answer to Redskin punting woes, and then of course he got hurt. Not only did Smith recover from his Groin to punt Sunday, but then he threw a 35-yard TD pass on a trick play for his Loser’s Revenge.
Jones, Levi, (OT): Levi Jones had the bad fortune to leave the Bengals just before they turned it around. He then spent a half season sitting by a silent telephone. But when the ‘skins creaky Oline creaked again, the Redskins rang him up. We wondered how long Campbell would last with Jones starting at Left Tackle. But Jones blocked like a beast for his Loser’s Revenge.
Kelly, Malcolm, (WR): Another of the second round receiver folly brigade, Kelly lost his starting job this season when he couldn’t get open, only to see himself replaced by the equally ineffective Devin Thomas. And while his stats wouldn’t’ dazzle anyone Sunday, he got on the field and caught a key pass, enough to give him his Loser’s Revenge.
Rinehart, Chad, (OG): A 2008 third-rounder, Rinehart has had an undistinguished career. He didn’t’ play his rookie season, and after getting a job by default this year when right guard Randy Thomas got hurt, Rhino even lost that. But he returned Sunday to provide solid blocking for a suddenly revitalized Redskin ground attack for his Loser’s revenge.
Thomas. Devin, (WR): A wideout largely known as the guy the ‘skins picked instead of Eddie Royal or DeSean Jackson, Thomas was ripped for not knowing the plays and being in the wrong place at the right time. But Sunday, he showed heart, guts and determination, turning a short gainer into a big one, breaking tackles and inspiring the Redskin offense by example. Enjoy your Loser’s Revenge.
Zorn, Jim, (Head Coach): To borrow a phrase from David Letterman, “I wouldn’t give his troubles to a monkey on a rock.” Cruel Danny the Emasculator took his playcalling duties, but Zorn took it stoically, reminding us that he calls the plays at crunch time. Then he got his charges to play inspired football Sunday, and called the game’s key play—a fake punt. Zorn even overcame a tip-off to the Broncos when forced to call a confusion timeout. No matter, the play worked for a touchdown Zorn got some welcome Loser’s Revenge.
It may not last, but for now Loser's Revenge is Sweet.
Cork’s Curse Extends Beyond the Redskins
If you are a serious sports fan I already know this much about you. You are superstitious. You may say you’re not, but when your team is winning at halftime, you will always start the second half in the same seat in front of the TV. You wear your team cap backwards until your team’s QB throws an interception. Then you turn it around because you know your QB can’t turn it around with your hat in the old position.
Hard core fans all have superstitions. Some of us more delusional types actually truly really believe what we do changes the outcome of the game. We absolutely know if we don’t wear our lucky socks inside out, our team will lose.
But I’m here to tell you, I actually truly really do influence results. I’m not talking about piddly little things like a couple of long runs or a few key jumpers from beyond the arc. And unfortunately, I’m not talking about good things happening for my teams.
Folks, I have The Curse. I have the ability to cause human pain and suffering. I have a talent for making Talent disappear. Because of me players for teams I root for get injured. I’m sorry, Redskin fans, this year’s rash of injuries is all on me—same as usual.
You can argue the Redskins are old and decrepit, so it’s no shock when they are again beset with key injuries. If it was only one team I caused harm to, I might agree. But the same thing just happened to the other team I root hard for, and it happened to young players.
The Trouble with LA Fans
I live near Los Angeles, and my other team is the LA Clippers. (We now pause for readers to go “awwwww,” or ask “what kind of masochist are you?”) Admittedly no rational human being should root for the Clippers, especially in a town where the other pro team, the Lakers, are usually world champions. But since I am an East Coaster at heart, I find it hard to forgive most LA fans for being not fanatical enough. The LA clichés are true. Dodger fans arrive in the third inning and leave after the sixth. The only people who want a pro football team back here are those who will profit from it. The best seats at Laker games go to the biggest celebs, not the most deserving fans.
Angelinos are fair weather fans lacking the passion of cold weather fans because unlike Cold Weather teams, LA fans can go to the beach or play golf in the Winter. Sports are nothing more than another diversion out here—not life and death. If their teams suck, who cares? If they’re great, fans get on the bandwagon, if there isn’t something better to do.
So I refuse to root for the Lakers or USC, the two best LA teams. But I had to root for someone, so I looked around and picked the worst team I could find—that sad sack “other” basketball franchise. I figured the Clippers would never give the LA “fans” the satisfaction of winning, so by losing, I’m a winner. I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either, it just is what it is, to use another sports cliché.
But then something curious happened. I really started rooting for the Clippers--back East style. And then of course it all went wrong.
At first the Clippers threatened to turn into a decent team. They made some very good draft picks. Of course, those promising players then suffered critical injuries. Injuries that I caused just by rooting for them. The Curse.
Evidence of The Curse
When the Lakers got their Guard for the Future, it was Kobe Bryant. When the Clippers got their guard for the future, it was Sean Livingston, one of the most promising young point guards ever drafted. So naturally, he soon suffered a catastrophic knee injury. He dislocated his kneecap and blew out all three knee ligaments. He’s never been the same. How’d it happen? Nobody knows. Nobody touched him. He just landed wrong. Why? Because I root for the Clippers. The Curse.
This year the Clippers had two surefire future Superstars they picked in the last two drafts. They literally won the lottery last year and selected the only can’t-miss prospect available—Blake Griffin. The year before, they’d snagged Eric Gordon, their new guard for the future guard who has been averaging 19 PPG this year.
So Griffin broke his kneecap in the final preseason game. How’d it happen? Nobody knows. Nobody touched him. He just landed wrong. Why? Because I root for the Clippers. The Curse.
This week, after the Clips reeled off three straight wins, Gordon got a Groin pull and will miss at least six games. How’d it happen? Nobody knows. Nobody touched him. He just landed wrong. Why? Because I root for the Clippers. The Curse.
Worse with the Redskins
It’s worse with the Redskins. Last year most of their receivers got hurt and half their decent DBs, too. Most of their defensive ends and two of their three starting linebackers went down. They lost their two best offensive linemen, Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas. Their starting running back, Clinton Portis, got hurt. Why? Because I root for the Redskins. The Curse.
This year, the Redskins started the season relatively healthy. Then it started. The same two best offensive linemen, returning from last year’s season-ending injuries, again suffered season-ending injuries. Then their replacements got hurt. Their best receiver, Chirs Cooley, who never got hurt, got hurt. Sunday their starting running back, Clinton Portis, got hurt again. Why? Because I root for the Redskins. The Curse.
Also, starting safety Chris Horton suffered a toe injury, which they said would keep him out a couple of weeks. Because I’m a Redskin fan, that soon became a season-ending injury. The Curse.
I didn’t always have The Curse. I was a ‘skins fan when Gibbs 1.0 won three Super Bowls. I rooted for the N.Y. Knicks when they won two championships. I was once a Yankee fan and saw them mow down all before them.
Finally, a Foolproof Solution
But now, I only know one way to break The Curse or at least put it to use in a positive way. Starting today, I’m rooting for the Dallas Cowboys and the LA Lakers. Not to win it all mind you—I’m not insane or a traitor—just long enough for them to have enough bad luck to put themselves out of contention. The Curse.
As for all you Redskin and Clipper fans out there…. You’re welcome.
Loss to Falcons a Matter of Class
I’ve been a Redskin fan under the all too brief Vince Lombardi era, the George Allen era and the original Joe Gibbs era. What did those three coaches have in common—besides being winners? Attention to detail and a classy, largely mistake-free operation, that's what. The teams they put on the field were professionals in the most positive meaning of the word.
I went to games at RFK for more than a dozen years with my Dad, and win or lose; it was inevitably a positive experience. We got to know the season-ticket holders around us, watched their children grow and sometimes replace them, and greeted our RFK neighbors with a friendly hello. They could wear whatever shirt they wanted to, and if they didn’t hold up signs protesting ownership or GMs, it was because they chose not to. Boo Bobby Beathard? I don’t think so. Lash out at the Owner, Squire, Jack Kent Cooke? Nope.
We could bring our own food to the game, and booze, too—as long as it wasn’t in glass bottles. The highest dollar figure I saw on our tickets was $18.
Times have changed. I understand how ticket costs have inflated, can dig how “security issues” keep fans from bringing thermoses or food to the game. I know football is now all about the Benjamins and Tempis certainly Fugits.
But what I miss the most under the Dan Snyder regime is what I most admired about the Redskins from years gone by, and what caused me to continue as a fan and raise my kids as Washington fans despite leaving that fair city years ago. Under Gibbs, Allen, and the too short stay of Lombardi, the Redskins were a Class Operation from top to bottom. No more.
What are owner Dan Snyder’s most memorable moments this embattled season? Suing recession-ravaged season ticket holders, hanging his coach out to dry, and denying freedom of speech to those who attend the games. He’s legally entitled to do all that, but he’s wrong to do so. But the lack of class and professionalism isn't just in the owner's suite, its on the field, too. The team has become known for its careless, sloppy, uninspired play.
As yesterday’s game went on, I scrawled down unprofessional “mistakes,” acts, penalties and overall screwups the Redskins committed. As best I can read my handwriting through my tears, here is the top ten in order What's extraordinary is there's nothing atypical about it--it's become routine:
*Defensive Tackle Albert Haynesworth jumped offside on the first Atlanta play of the game. Hard count. He was unprepared for that smart move by Atlanta. Not to be outdone, he again jumped offside on a Falcons 3rd and 4 on the same series, giving them a free first down.
*The sad offensive line gave up a sack on a three-man rush. Five blockers, three rushers, quarterback crushed.
*Safety Reid Doughty, inspired, no doubt by the 100 million dollar man’s example, lined up offside, giving the Falcons a free first down.
*Tight End Fred Davis, one of last year’s three second round receivers, said he spent the bye week learning the plays and how to block, things he didn’t know despite being in his second year. I guess he forgot how to catch. A very ball caromed off his mitts, was intercepted and run back for an Atlanta TD.
*Wideout Devin Thomas, recently promoted to starter, and another of the three hapless 2nd round receivers, dropped an easy pass and gathered in a grand total of one catch all day.
*Gunner J.T. Tryon drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for going out of bounds during a Redskin punt and not trying hard enough to get back in bounds. A fourth round pick from last year, Tryon hasn’t played much and may have thought he’d been benched.
*Usually dependable fullback Mike Sellars, after an outstanding catch/run, followed it up by missing a block on the next play and getting his QB crushed.
*Safety LaRon Landry hit Falcon QB Matt Ryan with a classic form tackle. Unfortunately it was formed well out of bounds, causing a flag and sideline near-riot. Landry had enough class to leave the scene of his offense, but DeAngelo Hall chose that moment to drop by the Falcon sideline to say “hi” to his old team. That caused usually classy Falcon coach Mike Smith to get in Hall’s grill and perhaps elbow him. Unconvinced his two earlier offside offenses had done enough damage, Haynesworth came by and shoved an Atlanta player, earning a 15-yard penalty.
*After the ‘skins drew to within a touchdown of the Falcons, Landry and Hall reprised their act and essentially ended the comeback. First Landry played Matador to Falcon runner Michael Turner, ducking under him to fan on a tackle. An instant later Hall played two-hand touch, breezing by Turner. Result? TD Atlanta.
*Santana Moss, normally a dependable receiver, inspired by teammate Thomas’ hands of concrete, dropped what would have been a long reception.
Effort and skill has been lacking all season. The Atlanta game solidified the disaster area that is the Redskins offensive line and got QB Jason Campbell’s life insurance policy cancelled. But what is hardest for long time Redskin fans to take is slovenly play, both mental and physical, and a lack of class and intelligence from top to bottom.
On the plus side, the offense finally awakened in the second half, and played some of the most inspired football of the long season.
Making the Redskins an Offer They Can’t Refuse
Only the Redskins could come up with a bye week more exciting and entertaining than the weeks they play. As bye-weeks go, this one was a doozy. It’s a shame it had to be interrupted by a mere football game.
Redskin’s fans have been following the cataclysmic events; even some non-fans find it irresistible. There have been conflicts galore in and around Redskin Park, with the main event between the team owner and a legendary retired Redskin running back.
Quick diversion: I’m a fan of Syfy Channel’s program, “Destination Truth.” It’s a guilty pleasure to watch them search for mythological or reclusive beasts ranging from Chucaraba to Big Foot. The show was scheduled to visit Redskin Park during bye week but had to cancel because mythological and reclusive team owner Dan Snyder and mythological and reclusive Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache left their respective lairs to appear before TV hairdos and ink-stained wretches. Both men had sworn off media contact. Their bye-week appearance was more shocking than seeing the Loch Ness Monster do the Tango on “Dancing with the Stars.”
First, Dan Snyder made a semi apology for the team’s record during a speech at a Washington area high school. He then took things up to “Alice in Wonderland” levels by holding a parking lot press conference that was interrupted by a high school marching band. The band drowned out Danny and he used their cover to split. (I hope they were playing “The Washington Post March” in honor of Dan’s least favorite newspaper.)
A short while later Redskins Hall of Fame great John Riggins took to the airwaves to rip Snyder personally as a “bad man” with a “dark soul.” Ooooh, that’s gotta sting. This caused the other missing suit, Blache, who mysteriously stopped talking to the media some weeks ago, to materialize. Blache read a statement to the media defending Snyder against Riggo’s slings and arrows. Then he split before any questions or musical interlude.
On Friday another Snyder employee rushed to The Danny’s defense. That would be Vincent “The Architect of Disaster” Cerrato. Virtually unknown to the rest of the league, Cerrato is Public Enemy #2 (behind Snyder) of Redskin Nation. Illogical Rabid Redskin supporters demand Snyder sell the team; logical Rabid Redskin supporters will settle for Cerrato’s head on a platter. Vinny, whose a title—Executive Vice President for Football Operations—sounds more suited for a Federal Bureaucrat, is actually the ‘skins General Manager, Chief Snyder Ego Puppet, and Danny’s regular racquetball partner. He is fairly or unfairly blamed for recent bad drafts and free agent acquisitions.
Meanwhile, I’ve hardly sat idly by as my favorite football team cratered. Instead I heated up my own neurons and came up with the solution to Redskin woes. My solution brilliantly eliminates both Cerrato’s bad decision-making and Snyder’s interference with the team, while allowing Vinny to keep drawing his paycheck and Danny to protect his considerable pride.
Hey--Mangenius got nothing on Corkgenius.
I’m the first unlicensed Genius to suggest the Redskins turn it around by adapting a successful business practice of one organization that has thrived for more than a century. This outfit has gotten through recessions, wars, and the untimely death or incarceration of many of its leaders without missing a beat and while continuing its extraordinary profitability.
I speak, of course, of The Mob. (I call them “The Mob” instead of the “Mafia” or “La Cosa Nostra” because I don’t want some guy with no neck and his nose on the side of his face to give my knees a ballbat chiropractic adjustment.)
Here’s now my plan works. Deport Snyder and “adjust” Vinny Cerrato’s day-to-day duties using one of the Mob’s most profitable moneymaking techniques— give him a “No Show” job. A “No-Show” job happens in Mob circles when someone gets paid for NOT showing up for work. It’s needed here because Dan Snyder refuses to (metaphorically) whack Cerrato. There has been much speculation why he won’t, but it’s now reached the point Snyder would lose “respect” if he had him eliminated.
Under my plan, Cerrato keeps his job, his salary, his medical and his retirement--he just doesn’t come around Redskins Park to screw things up. The ‘skins can then hire a knowledgeable GM to actually show up and turn the team around. The protests will disappear as the team gets well, profits will soar, and Washington will no longer have to worry about being buried under, er, I mean “at” Giants Stadium.
I know you want to thank me for my brilliant solution, but eh…foggedaboudit.
Random Thoughts on the Revoltin’ Developments in Redskinsville
Let’s start with the offensive line--because as lines go this one is pretty offensive. Don’t worry; the Redskins brain trust is right on top of rebuilding the line. Next year owner Dan Snyder and his trained Racquetball partner-slash-GM Vinny Cerrato will try out a Sumo wrestler, a competitive eating champ, and a quadriplegic who once showed promise in high school.
Then there’s All-pro TE Chris Cooley. Chris dyed his hair platinum blond for the game, then proved blonds don’t have more fun by breaking his foot. Now his hair is on injured reserve. Yeah, like they can afford to lose that guy.
Fred (Alarm Clock) Davis replaced him and shocked everyone by catching eight passes—one more than he’d caught all year. Only one problem. Fred can’t block. That can get your quarterback crippled or killed.
With all due respect to Jason Campbell as a decent human being, that would be no great loss to the Redskins QB situation.
WR Devin Thomas caught his first TD pass of his pro career. Devin had also dyed his hair for the occasion. He had a pretty good celebration dance for a first ever TD catch, coming as it did in his second season. The Redskins could have drafted DeSean Jackson instead. But Vinny didn’t want to draft a Lil’ guy.
The player they call “Red Snapper,” Ethan Albright, whose bright red hair is not from the bottle, has never had a bad snap for the Redskins. Meanwhile, center Casey Rabach made two inexplicable snaps from the shotgun last night. One was aimed at Campbell‘s kneecap, the other, apparently at the head linesman.
Offensive tackle Mike Williams, who until this year hadn’t played since Bush was in his first term, wasn’t the most offensive tackle on the field, an honor he may retain as long as Stephon Heyer mans the other Redskin tackle slot.
Hey this team is in Washington, D.C. How about declaring the Oline a Federal Disaster Area? Or maybe a bailout… Execution? (By firing squad, preferably.)
In a pre-game ESPN show, we learned that Albert Haynesworth spent some of his $100,000,000 on a boat that will go 160 MPH. If they ever find the boat sabotaged, I’d suspect DE Andre Carter did it to keep Big Albert healthy. Carter, who plays next to him, has more sacks already (6.5) than he had all last year (4).
Jason Campbell not only isn’t very good, but he’s regressed. One wonders if Redskins Brain Trust will also cut out Zorn’s QB coaching duties. What next, halftime speeches? Calling the coin toss? Conjugal visits with Mrs. Z?
In Campbell’s defense, Patrick Ramsey suffered the same gun shyness in his Redskin career, too. Both have been expected to pass while in mortal fear for their lives.
What game was ESPN analyst Steve Young watching? He said the Redskins Oline was pretty good. To its credit, ESPN soon had Trent Dilfer, as good an analyst as he wasn’t a QB, on camera later to issue a rebuttal.
The refs were bad but it wouldn’t have made much difference unless they could have declared a forfeit for excessive dancing on the Eagles sideline.
Snyderatto isn’t a complete idjit. He didn’t give Campbell a new deal, and he didn’t renew CB Carlos (Double Move) Rogers contract. Both stunk up the stadium and will be gone next season.
The ‘skins played inspirationally after the Refs tried to job them following Cartwright’s kickoff return. But the offense soon grew weary of playing inspirational football, and went back to phoning it in. The D, everyone but Rogers, has nothing to be ashamed of.
Portis got good lift, distance and rebound on his two-hand helmet toss at the bench. We feel your pain, Clinton. Nice leadership skills, tho. Think of the Kids.
I have an idea. Let’s play that guy from the Giants the Redskins just had to have at QB. If they play Todd Collins behind that line, AARP may sue the ‘skins for Elder Abuse.
Can you imagine any other GM saying he expected his team to go 3-3 against six non-winning opponents? That’s what Vinny Cerrato said before the game. Pick any three letters for my reaction to that kind of thinking. WTF? OMG! Or LOL.
At his press conference Monday Cerrato said, according to the Washington Post: “Everything, and everyone, in the organization must be evaluated after the season -- Cerrato included, he said. "I got to look at myself..." Hmmm, I wonder if Cerrato will decide to fire himself?
Dan Snyder, Won’t You Please Come Home?
Where the Hell is Redskin owner Dan Snyder? His Redskin Empire is crumbling around him and he’s nowhere to be seen, not talking to the media, not talking to fans, not standing up to reassure, explain, apologize, ameliorate, or even announce some overdue firings. Say what you will about Jerruh Jones, the Cowboy owner fronts his organization and he’s there to fend off Media Photon Torpedoes, even after he dumped his primary fend off shield--Jimmy Johnson’s Bucket o’ Hair.
Apparently Snyder has a policy of shutting up during the season. A flack named Bolno gets to play spokesman when Disaster Architect and de facto GM Vinny Cerrato isn’t flapping his gums. Meanwhile Defensive Guru Greg Blache has turned his media interfacing duties over to an assistant and everyone tuned out Dead Coach Walking Jim Zorn weeks ago.
As for Silent Dan, the owner, we only get to see his dour visage looming over the stadium during games, and that’s about it. (Plan on a lot of that Monday night against Philly, especially if Thetan Tom Cruise is in the seat next to him.)
Maybe Dan himself will speak up Monday. You know ESPN will be clambering for an interview with the Danny because they know inquiring minds want to know WTF is going on with a once proud franchise.
I know I have no chance of a one on one with the Big Boss Man, but here are a few questions--40 actually—I’d like to ask Danny.
Do you still play racquetball with Redskin Vice Special Deputy Assistant Chief Cook and Bottle Washer Vinny Cerrato? Does he still let you win?
Do you understand just how bad the player personnel situation is under his stewardship—and yours?
Have you tried Craig’s List to find a new racquetball partner?
Have you heard the one about the guy who hired a quarterback coach to be his offensive coordinator, a job he’d never done before, and two weeks later promoted the quarterback coach to Head Coach, a job he’d never done before either, and had him call plays, a job he’d never done before, either?
How much input did you have in that wackaloon decision?
Have you gotten a gander at the plays Jim Zorn has designed and called?
Are you aware the Counter-Trey is no longer counter anything?
Do you know the line never trap blocks? Never pulls? In fact rarely blocks at all?
Have you been keeping tabs on the Redskin drafts made by you and your racquetball partner?
Have you heard the one about how you guys drafted three receivers in the second round, none of whom were named DeSean Jackson or Eddie Royal, and none of whom have made a contribution last year or this?
Did you see Eddie Royal run back both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns against San Diego Monday?
Did you see Clinton Portis bump into Fred Davis’s ass and fumble Sunday?
Are you aware that Clinton Portis doesn’t like to practice?
Are you aware of the comments Portis made about his head coach last year?
Are you aware of the fact that Portis is still gutsy, but isn’t half the back he once was? And there are no serviceable backups?
Until this week, did you think “Levi Jones” was an inordinate longing for denim?
Do you know what those guys on offense who don’t catch passes or play in the backfield are called?
Has anyone explained to you how critically important those L-I-N-E-M-E-N are in football?
Has anyone told you that without good ones, you can’t pass, you can’t run and you can’t hide? Well, you can hide, and still do, but you catch my drift.
Did you know the Redskins only two really good offensive linemen are badly hurt and may never play again?
Are you aware that the only offensive lineman the Racquetball guy drafted in the last five years started exactly one game?
Are you aware that you guys drafted a punter and had to cut him because he was no good and Kansas City’s Mr. Irrelevant, the last guy picked in the draft, made 12 of the Chief’s 14 points against you Sunday?
Are you aware the two most recent cornerbacks Vinny has drafted don’t play much, even though they were taken in the third and fourth rounds?
Did you have a chance to see Jason Taylor play last year? Do you know he cost you a 2nd round pick?
Did you know Vinny reinforced the offensive line earlier this year with a 450-pound guy who hadn’t played a down since Bush was in office?
Did you know the Redskins are being mocked on national sports shows for hiring a former Bingo caller as their new play caller?
Did you know your man DeAngelo Hall makes his interceptions by standing behind the receiver and catching caroms?
Did you know your $100,000,000 man is out of shape, which is a shame because he’s stupendous when he’s in the game?
Do you enjoy how the Redskins are emasculating a decent human being to save you less money than the sales tax on Haynesworth?
Did you know a lot of fans and sportswriters are talking boycott?
Did you pick out a nice suit and tie for Monday’s game?
Have you ever played Bingo at Sherm Lewis’s Bingo Parlor?
Did you know Steve Spurrier was an avid golfer when you hired him?
Do you go to Redskins Park after lights out and look longingly at the Three Super Bowl trophies this once proud franchise won? And then do you whisper “Rosebud?”
Did you know when you hired Joe Gibbs that Bobby Beathard used to handle personnel issues for him, and built the teams Joe won with?
Did you know Clippers Owner Donald Sterling recently said, “I’m glad I don’t have that guy’s problems?” (Actually, I made that up—but he could have.)
Since every football decision you make turns to dust, do you have any idea how to solve the coaching and GM issue without you picking the next ones?
Have you considered maybe turning such decisions over to a Blind Trust?
And finally, have you given serious consideration to selling the team?
Yes Dan I Will Coach the Redskins, However…
Dear Mr. Snyder:
Thank you for the kind and most generous offer to become the next head coach of the Washington Redskins. I will accept, however, only if he following conditions are met. That’s because I have no desire to become the next soon-to-be-ex-coach of your franchise, nor work under your guidance or that of Mr. Cerrato. This is a deal-breaker for me, and if you wish to ever be successful in football, you should understand the damage your decision making and quick trigger finger has caused.
For example: You squandered a wonderful opportunity by getting distracted by the next shiny object and dismissing Marty S. and replacing him with college coach and golf nut Steve Spurrier. Then you squandered a wonderful opportunity with HOF Coach Joe Gibbs, by allowing him to make personnel decisions when he has shown no proclivity in that area previously.
With that thought in mind, here are my specific requirements:
Compensation: You have offered me $10,000,000 a year, plus bumps for the second and third years. This is unsatisfactory. I wish to be paid $1,000,000 per year, with an additional $9,000,000 in stock per annum. My attorney will work out details. I insist on having a stake in my success and yours. The first three years of my contract will be ironclad guaranteed. If you fire me, it will cost you treble my salary for each year or partial year remaining on my contract, plus you must buy back my stock at highest level if I so choose.
Control: I will not be GM of the team. In this era of specialization, it is critical to have a fully functioning scouting and management staff. Likewise, I will not harm relationships with players by participating in negotiations. I have chosen ---- ------ to replace Vinny Cerrato as GM. If you wish, you may keep Mr. Cerrato within the corporation, however he will not be allowed within 15 miles of Redskin Park, nor FedEx Field except when attired in Racquetball garb.
Because of his long and faithful service, Mr. Cerrato will be allowed a full hour to clean out his office before being escorted from the premises in handcuffs and shackles.
Myself and my GM will be in charge of all player personnel decisions. Neither you nor any one else not designated by me will have any input whatsoever in player personnel decisions. Before I sign, we will work out an unlimited budget during my tenure, which I plan to exceed.
The Draft: I intend to build the team through the draft and by intelligent acquisition of young veterans by trade or free agent signings. Accordingly, no one in the Draft War Room will leave the war room for PR or other purposes during the draft, specifically; neither they nor I will be helicoptered to the stadium to speak to fans during the draft or for 48 hours after the end of the draft. (This added time is critical for FA decisions.) Players and ownership may of course continue the process of mixing and mingling with fans.
Assistants: All current coaches will be released. I reserve the right to hire back certain coaches, but plan to bring in my own staff. As for players, pending interviews and physical evaluation, I expect to make significant cuts, focusing on the team growing younger, stronger and more physical.
Player Personnel: Because I fully expect to have losing seasons for the first two years, the focus will be on building toward the 2012 season. Therefore playing time will be allocated with the idea of increasing the experience of quality young players toward that end. Young vets already on the squad who will still be qualified to play during the third year of my contract will remain at my discretion, as may some aging players with leadership qualities.
But as of now, I anticipate only the following players will be returning: On the offensive line, Derrick Dockery. The injury prone Chris Samuels will be encouraged to retire for his own health, his replacement will be a first round offensive tackle chosen by my staff and me this spring. We will also focus on replacing the center, right guard and right tackle in that draft.
The only receivers retained will be Chris Cooley, Malcolm Kelly and Marko Mitchell. Under a nutritionist and strength coach, Kelly will bulk up by 20-30 pounds and be used as a tight end. Mitchell will be retained as a WR. We will attempt to trade Moss and Randle El while they still have value and Devin Thomas will be released or traded for a future draft picks, based on the “Greater Fool” theory. Fred Davis will learn how to block as H-back or be cut. The spring from the locker room door will be removed so it will not hit him on the ass on his way out.
All running backs on the active roster will be cut or traded, except Anthony Alridge, who will be developed as a third down back. Rock Cartwright will be retained as a special teams captain and specialist, however, he will no longer carry the ball on returns or as a back. I know you have a “relationship” with Clinton Portis but I will not tolerate anyone on my team with that kind of control over the head coach.
On the defensive line, we will retain Albert Haynesworth provided he reports in condition, Lo Alexander, Kedric Golston, Jeremy Jarmon and Brian Orakpo, who will no longer play linebacker. We will attempt to trade Carter and Montgomery for draft picks while they have some value. Phillip Daniels will be offered a position as strength coach. Darrel Green will be offered a slot as ethics and morals advisor.
At linebacker, we hope to squeeze the last drop out of London Fletcher and Rocky Mac will be retained for as long as his knees hold up. We will attempt to groom H.B. Blades as a replacement for Fletcher but keep our eye out for young free agents or vets. Chris Wilson will be developed. We are in good shape at Safety, but if Landry does not show superstar capabilities soon, we will attempt to unload him. If he functions well as a strong safety, we will attempt to get value for Horton or Doughty and obtain a free safety. We will retain Hall and try to develop Barnes and Tryon as CBs. Smoot will be offered a position as linguistics and trash talk Coach, and Rogers will be offered an incentive laden contract.
Red Snapper will be retained as long as his arms hold out, and we will work to upgrade critical punting and kicker slots.
One last deal breaker. No more Tom Cruise at the games. He will be replaced with a younger, more relevant actor.
Sincerely,
Your Next Coach
(If You’re Smarter than You Look)
The Endless Reign of Pope Danny the Inept
I was watching the Redskins pathetic performance against the Bucs Sunday and…let me start again. Truth in Advertising Laws require I state the ‘skins would have to have played much better than they did to qualify as “pathetic.” Now then, as I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself, I soon realized I was watching another rotten performance that left little hope for the future, yet I wasn’t even angry. Nor was I incensed, irate, irritated, or livid. That’s odd because I do have a bit of a temper. I’m of Irish descent and quick tempers and depression are our National Pastime. Over the years I’ve put a large number of dents in walls from thrown objects—usually it's the TV remote. In fact, my Replacement Remote dealer and I are on a first name basis and he lets me run a tab.
But Sunday, I felt nothing, not a twinge of regret. I wasn't peeved, irked, mildly put off or even miffed. Just empty inside. So I went outside and checked my pulse, Self-Heimliched, stuck my finger in a socket to restart the ticker if needed. Not necessary. I was alive and well, just no longer living in my home State of Denial.
I was pondering my fresh new attitude when my remote guy called to commiserate after another wretched victory and take my order. I told him I threw nothing and then he was depressed and angry.
What conclusion did I reach? What led to my sea change? Certainly my anti-depressants get some credit, as does the fact the Remote Guy’s kneebuster knows where I live and scares me. But the real reason surprised even me. I’ve gotten so used to the team's mediocrity that I now accept it. I’ve been reborn, I feel good about myself, I’m in touch with my inner child, and feel free to throw in your own psychobabble clichés.
I came to this conclusion without the advice of a shrink, thank you, because all my shrink money went into replacement remotes. But forever fresh in my memory is the knowledge that I had suffered the most agony and felt the most joy when Redskins wins and loses really meant something. The Superbowl wins were the biggest highlights, of course. The worst moments came after late season loses to hated opponents that cost the skins a playoff shot. On those days I’ve not only thrown my remote against the wall, but also broken into nearby homes and thrown a neighbor’s remote—and once the neighbor himself against the wall. Sunday I just found myself overwhelmed with the old Ennui.
What if they’d actually lost? What if the ‘skins had stunk up the second half as bad as the first against the inept Bucs? All that would have really meant was at the end of this season the ‘skins would finish 7-9 or 6-10 instead of 8-8. They’d be last in the NFC East, out of the playoffs and in the middle of the pack on draft day. The only thing fans would have to look forward to would be the annual Off-season Deception Follies, when Snyderatto loads up with new hopefuls who then spend the spring getting out of shape, pulling hammies reaching for their bulging wallets or just forgetting how to play the game of football.
It has been a dozen years of renewed hopes and crushed expectations under the reign of Pope Danny the Inept. Entire dynasties have risen and fallen in other cities while the Skins have grown roots in Mediocrityville. When fan morale caromed off rock bottom, false hopes were briefly raised with the occasional wild card birth, or the return of a beloved coach, or multiple single position draft picks to assure success, or the signing of the latest overachieving underperformer or fading near great. But then the Great Coach returned to NASCAR, the Superstars kerplopped back to Earth, and the three receivers the ‘skins took in the second round last year caught a combined total of one pass for minus one yard against the lowly Bucs.
Next week the Redskins travel to Carolina, which has problems of its own. Big whoops. It’s just more of the same. And so The Washington Post, like most papers desperate to bring eyes to its website, once again run a survey on how many points the ‘skins will score, blog optimists say it’s gonna turn around, just you watch, and the growing number of pessimists cuss out the folks responsible for the ongoing disaster. Meanwhile, the world keeps spinning.
The truth is, I don’t think the Redskins will ever return to their glory days until they are sold or until Dan Snyder issues a face saving statement that he is now going to “focus all my energies on turning Six Flags around” and takes Cerrato with him. He then turns the team over to a blind trust run by actual football minds, not marketing execs. Why if Congress wasn’t one of the few institutions more inept than the Redskins, I might even suggest they take over the team and fix it.
ODDS AND ODDERS
*Wouldn’t it be ironic if the best pick of the Redskins 2008 draft class turns out to be Justin Tryon? Both defensive backfield coach Jerry Gray and old #28 rave about the kid. Rino is proving to be a decent guard, too. So far.
*If I’m a defensive back playing against the Redskins, I key their guards. If one pulls, it’s a pass, if he zone blocks, it’s a run. When a doofus with a keyboard like me can spot that obvious Tell, what do you think a defensive coach can determine? Unless it’s a Swine Flu precaution, I don’t see why Zorn bothers to covers his piehole when calling in plays. Look at the tape. If there was an exception to blocking rule Sunday, I didn’t see it.
*Maybe Malcolm Kelly—great hands and all—just can’t get open. Campbell forced the ball to him even though he was always covered, it seemed, often by multiple defenders. Once Jason forced the ball to him when Kelly was blanketed by a DB, the Field Judge, two cheerleaders and the Bucs’ Mascot.
*This isn’t an original thought, but Peyton Manning is playing a different game than all other quarterbacks, including Brady, Brees and Rivers. A defense playing against him is like seeing kindergarteners defend against a grown man. It’s like watching Koufax in his prime, Jordan with the game on the line, Tiger on Sunday, Ali when he floated and stung. Whether you root for him or not, it almost transcends the game; it's an art for unto itself.
Washington Gives Detroit Another Big Bailout—Now What?
“You know, now that I think about it I believe the primary problem with this team is me. I can’t draft, I can’t trade, I can’t select coaches, and neither can Dan Snyder, who, by the way, stinks at racquetball, too. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been reassigned to clean up the Six Flags flooding disaster in Georgia.” --Vinny Cerrato, outgoing Executive VP, Redskins, and Dan Snyder’s former Racquetball Partner.
And then I woke up.
Alas the Vinny Cerrato “quote” was just a dream. Or more accurately, a continuation of the nightmare that began at Ford Field Sunday. (That’s the thanks the Redskins get? Washington bails out the Ford Motor Company, and this is the way Detroit thanks us? Dude you’re supposed to roll over like the Lions always have to keep the gravy spigot open.)
Where was I? Oh right. I’ve spent much of the last day pouring over post-game accounts and analyses, plus reading the always-evenhanded comments by diehard Redskin fans on blogs. Over all, I’ve found fans' attitudes this week range from livid, frustrated and borderline homicidal, to very frustrated, extremely livid and across the borderline homicidal.
To help break it down, and as a service to you, the NFLDRAFTDOG.Com reader, I’ve compiled a statistical analysis of Redskin fan opinions on the debacle in Detroit. (N.B. Total is more than 100% because of multiple suggestions, overlapping opinions, and repeated math errors by me.)
The RESULTS
Dan Snyder sucks 100%
Vinny Cerrato sucks 99%
Jim Zorn sucks 98%
Jason Campbell Sucks 97%
OLine Sucks 96%
Portis Sucks 95%
Miscellaneous, no opinion and breakage 94%
This is an unofficial survey for entertainment purposes only. Results have yet to be replicated, and as always, your mileage may vary. Now that that’s out of my system, here’s what Your Humble Columnist really thinks of Redskin Playuhs and Players after week three:
The Brain Trust
Owner Dan Snyder: Let me start by saying financially, Dan Snyder has served Dan Snyder like a prince. His initial investment has soared, despite—or perhaps because of—his attention-getting grabs of fading superstars, disappointing big-name players. And over-the-hill vets. But as an NFL owner, he’s taken a First Rate Franchise and turned it into a Third Rate Franchise, without stopping at Second Rate Franchise.
Here’s one reason why. Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks owner analyzed how a sports franchise owner thinks on Monday’s “Mike and Mike” ESPN show. He said—and I paraphrase-- the very competitive juices that made a sports owner a success in another field (Cuban in computers, Snyder in Marketing) can ‘t always be subverted for their sports franchise. They may know they should turn over the reigns to those who are experts in the field, but when push comes to shove, it’s their toy and they can’ resist playing with it. F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The rich are different from you and me” so I don’t pretend to know how true that is, but it sounds right.
And therein lies the problem: ego, arrogance and self-assurance helped make these guys successful in one arena, how can they turn it off in another?
Executive VP Vinny Cerrato: I’ve upgraded Cerrato from an unmitigated disaster to a mitigated disaster as he’s the guy pretty much in charge of day to day personnel and player decisions at Redskin Park. His “disastrous” draft of ’08 is proving to be less disastrous, as the three 2nd round receivers, guard Chad Rinehart and DB J.T. Tryon are getting on the field to join starting safety Chris Horton. The ’09 draft appears to have unearthed a gem in Brian Orakpo and 7th rounder Marko Mitchell and supplemental pick Jeremy Jarden appear headed for solid NFL careers. But that’s hardly enough for success in the NFL. Even with Snyder’s unlimited financial resources, Cerrato has been only a marginal GM, an 8-8 guy in a conference where even 10-6 doesn’t guarantee a playoff berth.
Coach Jim Zorn: Didn’t anyone notice on his resume in the section saying “List Your Experience as NFL Play Caller,” that Zorn wrote “None.”? Or “Play Design Skills,” where Zorn wrote “Marginal”? It’s hard not to like Zorn’s boyish enthusiasm and sincerity, but the sad fact of the matter is he is in over his head. He is a terrible play caller, and the “variety” of plays he employs wouldn’t pass muster in a Pop Warner league. I think Zorn will be a good coach someday. But he needs to practice his OJT elsewhere. The trouble with replacing him is Snyder’s penchant for meddling and quick firing tendencies--what coach worth his salt wants to come to Washington?
Coach Greg Blache: If you’d like to send him a gift, I suggest ice cream--Vanilla ice cream. Blache, for all his bluster with the media, is a pussycat. He designs plain-wrapper defenses, unsophisticated and predictable, and doesn’t present much of a preparation challenge to offensive coordinators. Sure the old Chicago Bear, N.Y. Giant and Green Bay Packer defenses of yore mostly just dared you to beat them, but the great defenses of the modern era rely on complexity, unpredictability and an attacking style. Blache rarely games or blitzes or takes chances, sitting back in a bend but don’t break style. Guess what? It’s broken.
The Team
QB Jason Campbell: Never have I seen such fan vitriol aimed at a QB who just threw for 340 yards in a game. But in truth, it looks like Campbell is joining the littany of undistinguished QBs the Redskins have drafted, guys like Shuler and Ramsey. Campbell is a tragic figure in the Greek theatrical sense—he is immensely gifted, but tripped up by circumstance and his own fatal flaws. But no, he does not “suck,” However, he doesn’t have that “It” factor the great ones have.
RB Clinton Portis: Has gone from great to average. His close connection to the owner undercuts the coach’s power. He’s too expensive to cut. And there’s nobody ready to replace him. The National Guard, CIA and FBI have joined the search for his missing Burst.
DT Albert Haynesworth: A split decision. He was “rested” during the second series, with Kedrick Golston subbed in for him. Second series? In a dome? He already needs a blow? Just how out of shape is he? On the other hand, he displayed guts and grit returning to play after being carted off the field with a hip injury.
D-Line: Where’s the vaunted rush? Where’s the defense up the middle? This was supposed to be a major strength, not a weakness, but the DL hasn’t dominated anyone yet.
The OLine: Middling to good pass blockers, poor to terrible run blockers. An in-his-prime Randy Thomas is missed, but Rinehart looked okay subbing in. Heyer appears to have peaked at average, Rabach is fading, Samuels is Samuels and there is precious little depth and no rising stars.
Receivers: Santana Moss had a great game Sunday and Cooley is solid. But none of the vaunted 2nd rounders has broken out with a big game yet.
Linebackers: Fletcher tackles everything that moves and Rocky Mac is having his best year so far. Orakpo is improving. LB is a pleasant surprise, but will they ever get to blitz?
DBs: A disappointment. For the first two games, DBs needed a GPS to find receivers they were supposed to be covering. Hall and Rogers have taken turns being picked on. Smoot’s inconsistent, Landry is ordinary and Doughty and Horton are playing well.
Stay tuned. Snyder’s ship is headed full steam at the shoals with no firm hand at the wheel.
Offensive Offense Dooms ‘skins In Deadly Debut
Women, lovely and wonderful creatures that they are, have an unfortunate tendency to have babies. This not only results in the continuing repopulation of Planet Earth, but more importantly leads to baby showers. When one of your relatives is given one and you are invited, you go. You don’t complain that it should just be for girls, or that it shouldn’t be scheduled opposite the Redskins/Giants game.
This is why TiVO was invented and why I saw the Redskins mess on a delayed basis. Watching the game that way, I got to instant-replay questionable calls immediately. And by questionable calls, I mean just about every play Jim Zorn called.
Oh, before I go on. Lovely baby shower. Had a very nice time. Kudos to the planners.
By now I’m sure rationalization has set in for many Redskin fans. After all, Sunday they lost to recent Superbowl champs, and by only six points. And in their barn. Good news is the 'skins got the pittypat Rams coming up at FedEx Field. Everyone’s still healthy. Campbell has a gun.
Let’s first deal with the last item: “Campbell has a gun.” Okay, so did Plaxico Burress and a fat lot of good that did him. Many fans are blaming Campbell for the loss, but that’s not completely fair. Still, I’m pretty much convinced he’s not the answer for the Redskins, will probably be a career backup and will be gone next year. I hope to be proven wrong—wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last. But as I see it, the main problem with the Redskins offense isn’t Campbell, it’s Coach Jim Zorn.
If what the Redskins have been putting on display under Zorn is the vaunted West Coast Offense, by all means send it back west. What it looks like is more of a bastardized version of the WCO, with the weakest elements of plays leftover from prior Redskin coaches thrown in for bad measure.
The Running Game
It’s all zone blocking, despite guards who are better at pulling and leading sweeps. What once was the “Counter Trey” power run is now counterintuitive. The back no longer jab steps away from the play to give blockers a better blocking angle. Time after time it was run without a lead blocker. The Redskins offensive line is not good enough or big enough to ram it down anyone’s throats, least of all the Giants.
For most of the runs the only blocker in front of the tailback was center Casey Rabach, being pushed into the Redskins backfield by a Giants Defensive tackle. It’s tough enough for a smallish center to block a 325-pound DT head on. It’s nearly impossible when he's sideways to him, as Rabach was on zone-blocked stretch plays.
Contrast that to the Giants run offense, where 275-pound Brandon Jacobs was led to the hole by 265-pound fullback Madison Hedgecock or by one or both of the Giants terrific guards. In one instance, the GIants center pulled and buried Redskins safety Chris Horton on a sweep for a big gain. When it comes to designing running plays, Coughlin and Co. make Zorn and associates look like amateurs.
Portis is a tough grinder but unfortunately he’s now a hybrid at age 30—and not in a good way. Portis lacks the power of a big back and the breakaway speed of a scat back. He doesn’t have much help, either. You can depend on backup Ladell Betts, however—depend on him disappearing when he is needed.
The passing game
Three things stood out, all negative.
First, they could not get Santana Moss open against Corey Webster. So why wasn’t Moss put in motion, or slotted, or set up in a stack? This lack of in-game creativity and adjustment on Zorn’s part is fatal to an offense. (Remember when Gibbs 1.0 would adjust at halftime? Good times.)
Second, Where were the new guys? Dang it all, I recently wrote a favorable column about Vinny Cerrato’s 2008 draft picks, and then everyone lets me down. WRs Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas picked up where they left off in 2008—which means they made virtually no contributions. I still think they have good things in them—but when will we see it?
Third, how come we saw a hurry-up no-huddle passing offense on the final drive, when it was too late? The Giants like to rotate their Dline to keep it fresh. A no huddle prevents that. Plus, it was almost the only time all night Campbell got in a rhythm. Shouldn’t it occur to ex-QB Zorn that changing up your offense can upset a good defense?
Look, I realize Jim Zorn has forgotten more things about an offensive scheme then I’ll ever know. On second thought, that may be the problem. But Zorn was never an offensive coordinator in the pro ranks before he became head coach of the Redskins, and it shows. He’s never been a play caller in the pros, either—and it shows. In fact, Zorn’s play calling has been bad ever since the first six games of his Redskin tenure, back before other teams figured him out. He’s predictable and bland. Last year he could blame it on injuries. This year the whole team is healthy—and predictable and bland. The NFL is no place for Playcalling OJT.
Let’s end on an up note. Loved the fake field goal.
Defensive Shortcomings Fixable
Let’s start with the new guys. I’ll begin by noting that the Giants may have the best offensive line in the NFL. So the Redskins should get much better against the Rams. But…
DeAngelo Hall reverted to his Raider days. He repeatedly missed tackles at key moments and his cover skills were so bad his one positive moment—the interception—came because he was so far away from the intended receiver he could pluck a deflected ball from the air. (N.B. Zorn has suggested his DBs begin staying in the same Zip Code as the receivers they’re covering.)
Albert Haynesworth probably didn’t expect to be the second best Superstar defensive lineman debuting for his new team last weekend. But he was well outperformed by Richard Seymour, traded to the Raiders by New England. Seymour, with no practice, disrupted San Diego’s offense like Haynesworth was supposed to disrupt Redskin opponents. Not to worry. Big Al’s still pretty good.
Brian Orakpo looked like an unimpressive rookie and did not have a particularly good game. He provided little pass rush or much coverage as an LB. But it was his first game and he wasn’t embarrassed. He should only get better.
The defensive ends, Philip Daniels and Andre Coleman were pretty much manhandled by the Giants line.
There was some horrible tackling, especially by the defensive backfield. Reid Doughty was the exception to that rule.
This Bothers Me
Yeah, Santana Moss started it. He lost his cool and was childish when he beeyotch-slapped Giant DB Corey Webster. But then Webster ripped Moss’s helmet off, hit him, tackled him and dumped him in the Redskins end zone. Not only that, but Antonio Pierce joined in the post-whistle gang-tackle of Moss. What did the Redskins do about it? Nothing. They stood around. No one jumped to Moss’s aide (Tackle Chris Samuels finally pulled a Giant off the pile). No one got angry. I guess you could say everyone stayed “Medium.“ And then Moss sought out Webster to apologize at halftime. Perhaps he invited him to tea.
I’m against dumb penalties—like LaRon Landry’s late hit out of bounds. But a team that doesn’t stick up for its teammates is a team without heart and without guts. I daresay the Old Hogs would have laid out Webster, if Gary Clark didn’t get to him first.
So it’s a bad start. It was a third straight loss by Zorn to the Giants, and a game played without a lot of enthusiasm or smarts.
But the fact they only lost 23-17 is a tribute to the individual talent on the team. If health holds, the coaching catches up, and the team plays with gumption and fire and attitude, the season can be salvaged.
But right now it looks like the coaches need more “coaching up” than the players they coach.
Redskins Final 53 Is an Unbalanced Lineup
Here’s how you need to watch the Redskins play. When Washington is on offense, if a player goes down, immediately check his number. If it’s #60 or #74 or #45 and he’s carried off the field with a season ending injury, it is also a Redskins season-ending injury.
When the ‘skins are on defense, if the injured number is 23, 27, or 22, ditto.
To explain:
NFL football has been overwhelmed with nostalgia of late. Throwback jerseys litter the field and team stores. The “Wildcat” formation is little more than a variation of the old-fashioned single-wing formation, which went out of favor about the same time as the Hudson and the Studebaker. (Those are cars: Ask Grandpa.)
This season, the Redskins have added (oxymoron alert) a new approach to nostalgia. They are bringing back something that was last popular on college gridirons about the same time as the Single Wing—their version of the unbalanced line. Only in the Redskins case, it’s not an unbalanced offensive line (with an extra blocker to the strong side)—it’s their unbalanced lineup.
The final 53, as this is being written, is as unbalanced as my Aunt Tillie waddling home from Happy Hour. Unbalanced, by this definition, means the Redskins have too much at some positions, not nearly enough at others.
Before you note that salary cap considerations have ended the Gibbsian era of overloading at all positions, let me go into detail.
On offense, the Redskins have four, count ‘em four tailbacks—and a single fullback. That’s the redoubtable #45, Mike Sellers. Sure, Fred Davis or Chris Cooley can fill in if Iron Mike goes down, but they can’t block like the Pro Bowl lead blocker he is. None of the tailbacks are big enough to be a lead blocker. They have added a rookie fullback to the practice team, and Eddie Williams shows promise, but he’s not ready yet. My guess as to a replacement if the unthinkable happens? Mr. Do-everything, Lo Alexander, steps in.
The biggest unbalance, however, is on the offensive line, the ‘skins Achilles Heel last year. They even kept an extra lineman, but still didn’t address a critical issue.
Last year two offensive tackles, Stephon Heyer, #74 in your program, and Chris Samuels, #60, missed several games with injuries, and Heyer was demoted to second string for a while. If those two starters miss any time this year, the Redskins offensive line will implode like, well, like it did last year.
Backups? We don’t need no steenking backups. Redskin offensive tackle “backups” include Formerly Fat Mike Williams, still a work in progress, and a chap named D’Anthony Batiste, whose name on his locker is probably affixed with Scotch Tape, pending an available, affordable vet. Meanwhile the Redskins sport three centers and more guards than Buckingham Palace. That’s unbalanced.
On defense, the Redskins have six serviceable options at left defensive end, (Daniels, Orakpo, Wynn, Jarmon, Carter, Alexander). Going into the Giants game, however—they are in trouble at cornerback. Carlos Rogers is dinged (but practicing) and missed pre-season, DeAngelo Hall is 5’10” and was embarrassed by serial embarrasser Randy Moss. Fred Smoot—he of the sunburned tongue--has been the top corner in preseason, but faded last year. Jason Tryon and rookie Kevin Barnes are not-ready-for-prime-time talents. Safeties? Skins got safeties coming out their kazoo, four, in fact, and another on the practice squad. That’s unbalanced.
Practice squads are always in flux, and can change in an instant. But right now, the ‘skins PS has no OLinemen on it. There are few vets available, either, as of this writing.
We Have Ways of Making You Talk
Among the members of the Practice Squad is Andre Woodson, ex-New York Giant QB. Psssssst Andre. That guy over there with the waterboarding equipment? Fella named Cheney. (We kid the former Veep.) But you can bet Woodson’s new BFF, Greg Blache, is full of questions for him. Redskins will need every advantage they can get.
While I think the game will be won on the line, as a Redskin fan, Giants rookie receiver Hakeem Nicks scares the Hell out of me. And if the Giants OLine handles the Redskins revamped defensive unit, it could be game over early. Welcome to the NFC East, Mssrs. Haynesworth and Orakpo. Gonna get nasty out there.
If the new crew can stuff Jacobs and Company, and the Redskins OLine opens holes for Portis and protects Campbell, ‘skins have a more than decent shot.
And oh yeah, those critical numbers must stay out on the field.
Back to the Top
Some Kind Words for Redskin Honcho Vinny Cerrato—WTF?
Let’s start with my Top Five List of questions I never, but never expected I might ask.
5. When did you first feel this strong attraction to me, Miss Alba?
4. Loved you in The Producers; do you have any kids, Mr. Lane?
3. What first made you realize you wanted to spend that much money to syndicate my column?
2. What possessed you to buy this winning Megamillions lottery ticket for me?
1. Is it too soon to nominate Redskins Executive Vice President Vinny Cerrato for NFL Executive of the Year?
The answer to question number one is it probably is too soon, but it’s not too soon to take Vinny off the Worst NFL executive Watch List, and may be time to pay him his props.
Faster than you can yell “Wow are you a hypocrite, you hate the guy,” let me ‘splain, Lucy. It’s beginning to look like Vinny is no longer the blithering idiot many Redskins fans thought him to be. So there may be an enormous heaping helping of Crow available for critics—myself included—who called the Vincemeister some names too ugly to put in a family column—mostly over his drafting skills. (Also, for the disastrous Jason Taylor trade.)
Looking Back at Last Year’s Draft
Vinny managed to snag three receivers in the second round who soon became known as the Ford Pinto, the New Coke and the Edsel auto of rookie pass-catchers. You want to talk disaster areas? One overslept and missed practice. That’s TE Fred “Sleepy” Davis, who languished on the bench catching up on his Zzzzs. The other two showed up at camp out of shape. Devin Thomas, the skins top choice, couldn’t find the bench, his playbook, or where to line up and was written off as a flopperoo. Malcolm Kelly re-injured his oft-injured knee and rode the pine.
Philly’s snagging of WR DeSean Jackson and Denver landing WR Eddie Royal with their second round picks compounded the insult to the receiver-hungry Redskins. Vinny was just warming up, we thought. The Redskins needed a backup CB, a lineman to develop and a punter. Chad Rinehart, a third round tackle, was so awful he couldn’t even grab a spot on special teams. Vinny drafted a little CB named J.T. Tryon in the fourth round. Tryon couldn’t cover leftover pie with Saran Wrap. Later, Vinny drafted a punter—who drafts a punter?—who got cut.
Of the ten guys the ‘skins drafted, there appeared to be only one football player among them, afterthought 7th-round safety Chris Horton, who blossomed. Oh well, even a blind pig finds a truffle now and then, Vinny critics admitted.
With pre-season almost over this year, and the final roster around the corner, it’s time to reassess that draft.
The terrific trio has come alive. Kelly now is set to become the ‘skins go-to big receiver. Thomas learned the playbook, and against New England opened some eyes as a kickoff return man. Davis threatens to become the Redskins #2 tight end, and may help coach Zorn unleash his heralded two tight end offense.
Ex-tackle Rinehart, now ensconced at guard, appears to be a primary backup to starters Dockery and Thomas. He’s joined by backup guard Jeremy Bridges, a free-agent Vinny pickup who plays guard and tackle, giving the Redskins even more flexibility on the OL. Not to jinx it, but the much-disparaged offensive line may more depth, more size and more youth than last year’s edition.
Nickel CB Tryon stunk up the joint against the Ravens, but has played better in his last two games. He’s not yet a force, but has gone from write-off to likely backup in a year.
Horton looks like the starter again at safety, and draftee Kareem Moore should make the team, also at safety. Vinny redeemed himself in the punt department by signing Hunter (The Punter) Smith this year, who not only can kick but is a steady and underappreciated talent as field goal holder.
The 2009 Draft could Be a Beauty
Despite squandering their 2009 second round pick for Jason Taylor, this year’s draft has some real potential. Everyone is nuts over DE/LB Brian Orakpo, who appears to be handling linebacker duties admirably and has great upside as a pass rusher.
The ‘skins have been mocked as an annex for U of Maryland players, but third round CB Kevin Barnes intercepted a pass against New England and looks ready to play. Kentucky DE Jeremy Jarmon, taken in the third round of the Supplement draft, has looked like a good investment already. He will have a full year to learn under Greg Blache and Phillip Daniels, and may be ready to start next year. And it looks like one or two of the drafted/UFA linebackers will make the big club.
It also appears Vinny and company have come up again with a seventh-round jewel. That would be Marko Mitchell, a rookie standout in training camp. He is a big receiver who earned teammate respect by embarrassing Redskin DBs in practice, and has caught two touchdown passes in pre-season. Better yet, Mitchell’s blocking added at least 20 yards to Chris Cooley’s catch against the Pats. He’s beaten out vets and fellow rookies and is a deadbolt lock to make the big squad.
Even the Snyderatto open-pocketbook policy, which has lead to miseries in the past, appears to be paying off. I’m not a big DeAngelo Hall guy, but with Rogers hurting. He’s the best CB the ‘skins have. Albert Haynesworth kinda sorta helps the defensive line and guard Derrick Dockery has shown you can come home again. Linemen Bridges and (maybe) Formerly Fat Mike Williams could prove to be solid acquisitions.
There’s even a mini-controversy between two afterthought backup QBs the team signed—Colt Brennan and Chase Daniel--both of whom have potential.
Did I really Write That?
I’ve just reread what I wrote and am still partially agog to see me praise the work of Vinny Cerrato. Yes, a lot can still go wrong. Kelly is one chop block away from IR, and who knows about Devin Thomas? A third rounder like Rinehart should already be starting by now, Tryon may be too short, and the Oline is still held together with bailing wire. Let’s see if Haynesworth lasts the season and if Hall and Dock are worth the money
But if these draftees are the real deal, please pass the salt. This Crow I’m eating is a little bland.