Here are some quotes from the first day of workouts:

“New faces. The weight room’s different. Lot of changes like that, but it’s good for the long run. Obviously 4-12 wasn’t good, so they had to make a lot of changes, and that goes for personnel, coaching staff, and everything like that.”

Brian Orakpo

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“Everything pretty much changed. It’s a different look. A new era.”

“I was in the last defense for ten years and I’m gonna have fun just learning something new. It’s gonna be fun. I think guys are willing to do it. After the season we had last year? Ain’t nothing we can say. We’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do.”

Phillip Daniels

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On the new weightroom configuration:

“I like how they moved stuff around, made more room. Ray Wright seems like he’s a really good coach and he’s gonna have us ready. Hopefully I can go in there, work with him on his stuff, he can work with me on my stuff, and we’ll get me even stronger.”

Phillip Daniels

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On new beginnings and the changes made so far this offseason:

“Feels good being back. First day back on the job, seeing everybody, Guys are excited, got new coaches and a new staff onboard, and it’s been good so far.”

Brian Orakpo

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“I like the moves so far. You hate to see good coaches — good people — leave. But at the same time, sometimes change is good, and we’ve gotta move forward.”

Phillip Daniels

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Quotes via the Redskins Blog

Clinton Portis, Albert Haynesworth, LaRon Landry, Carlos Rogers, Jason Campbell, and Fred Davis also made it out of bed this time.

More updates to come…. Stay tuned.

“[DT Albert] Haynesworth is unwilling to shift to nose tackle because he’s opposed to simply being a “space eater.” And much of the speculation about Haynesworth’s supposed discontent has been fueled by Haynesworth’s public silence since the end of the 2009 season.”

So even though there is no official word, rumors are that Mike Shanahan and DC Jim Haslett have basically decided to try out a 3-4 Defensive scheme in 2010.  And why not? But before we take this further and try to answer that question…

Check out this chart of the most consistently productive defenses from 2009:

Note that the Redskins just miss the elite top 10, but are still there rated #11 position…

Now let’s unpack this a little bit and see what we can find out.

We know some of the historically best defenses in the NFL have run a 3-4 scheme… Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England, Cleveland, and San Francisco have primarily, philosophically, and historically run a 3-4 Defense and they are consistently among the most productive defensive teams in the league.

The NY Jets are an interesting case because they ran a 3-4 under former coach Eric Mangini (now with Cleveland) but Rex Ryan’s top rated defense was made possible because he brought in specific specialists like Bart Scott to make his unit extremely versatile. Read more on that interesting case here.  In light of the Jet’s transition that wasn’t, some might say that the 3-4 scheme itself is nothing without the “right” kinds of players.

But regardless the question as to whether or not a team should transition away from a 4-3 and into the “defense of the future” (3-4) is a debate that continues to be had.  I know the NY Giants’ defense is another NFC East team that has been toying around with that idea since Steve Spagnuolo departed for his head coaching position with the Rams at the end of the 2008-09 season. Dallas already runs a 3-4. And the Eagles run a 4-3 while employing elements of a 3-4…. more on this later.

A consistently top defensive team such as Baltimore has variably gone between the two schemes several times over the last 10 years… though the constant there is that they are always good as a unit. Some say Ray Lewis is better in a 4-3 scheme. Some believe you can get more sacks in a 3-4.  As you look into it — there is of course no right answer.

In the Ravens and Ray Lewis’ case (who never seems to age, btw):

We can clearly see that in 2006 when the Ravens ran a 4-3 and were a top rated Defense with 60 sacks, Ray Lewis logged more individual sacks but had fewer total tackles. But in 2006, Bart Scott also had 9.5 sacks and Adalius Thomas had 11.

Last year in the Ravens 4-3, however, DE Trevor Pryce who only started 7 games led the team in sacks with 6.5 while Ray Lewis only logged 3 and started twice as much.

The stats and the myth of the 3-4 / 4-3 differences seem to conflict.  Ray Lewis and the Ravens appeared to get less sacks in a 3-4 defense, while at the same time the LB core in 2006 in a 4-3 led the team and league with sacks… But this is supposed to be counter intuitive!

Unless….

You account for Rex Ryan’s rule and you account for your defense having the 1) right guys in the 2) right place at the 3) right time.   Easier said than done of course, but Rex Ryan has consistently done just that because he utilizes the scheme he knows best, and he brings in the best players he knows can get the job done for him.

And part of that is your pressure packages and your usage of deception — if you line up in a 3-4 but shift to a 4-4 or a 5-2 before the ball is snapped, and you make a stop… isn’t that the part that counts?

Creating a sense of confusion through DECEPTION and then EXECUTING is what really matters, not what scheme you lined up with before the snap count.

Maybe that’s all the top 11th rated Redskins need to do here… evaluate how to best deceive the offense and get pressure on the QB and less about how to line up. In my opinion, this is what the best defenses do consistently.  Teams like the Jets or the Eagles will end up in a 4-4 pressure package and you don’t know who is blitzing or where they are coming from… you have to get the ball out quickly and guys like Derrelle Revis or Asante Samuel is there waiting. It requires talent at every level… from the front 7 on through to the secondary.

I’m sick and tired of listening to people say that this scheme or that scheme will be better… the truth is that you need the right leadership, the right players, the right preparation, the right read, the right play call, the right communication, the right timing, and the right EXECUTION on every single down… on offense and defense. Then and only the will you win consistently.

Thats the one thing that Jim Zorn had right – “It’s very hard to win in the NFL.”

So whether or not the Skins transition to a 3-4 this season — I think the bottom line is they have to figure out where their best players will play well consistently. Choosing where you line up an extra guy at the outset is just the very beginning of a defensive scheme, there is no magic bullet here folks.

But you tell me:

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FYI:

Notable teams that have transitioned to a 3-4 with recent success include Arizona, Green Bay, Miami, and Denver.

Teams that have bucked the current trendy love affair with 3-4 defenses and have stayed with a base 4-3 scheme and have been successful are the NY Giants, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and up until now — the Washington Redskins.

Hang on, reality check.  When was the last time there was 100% participation for an off-season voluntary workout?  Comment if you can find out, because I can’t for the life of me find that answer… and I’m pretty damn good with Google.

But I’m scratching my head about something else here this morning too, where did this expectation come from again?  Mike Shanahan himself:

“I want my leaders to be here, and hopefully we’ll have 100 percent participation. If not, I’ll be disappointed.”

There are many ways to think about this expectation — and as far as team leaders go I think this message is warranted, necessary, reasonable, and understandable.  As far as expectations for the Redskins’ leaders goes though, it might be unattainable.

Who is a leader on this team?  Is it obvious?  Both through words off and on the field, and actions off and on the field as well?

Is Clinton Portis truly a leader?  LaVar Arrington doesn’t think so.

Is Albert Haynesworth a leader? He himself has shirked that responsibility.

But these are the very men that have come into question as to whether or not they will be present this morning, working out voluntarilly with their team — setting the right examples as leaders.

Call it what you want, but there seems to be a disconnect with expectations and reality on this one. But nevertheless, and as I said before… the message from the top was loud and clear.  Take ownership, take responsibility, and handle your role on this 2010 Redskins team. That message alone brings Shanahan’s stock way up in my book, however unreasonable this same demand has been perceived in the past.

Of course, only time will tell  if the hard nosed strategy has worked or not, but in any case this team will have unquestionably identified who is a leader, and who isn’t. And whether this team can be led to victory.

Right now as it stands, we know for sure that the new head coach is most certainly a leader who knows how to win. We’ll see whether or not the rest of the team will step up and own it.

The Redskins have announced the re-signing of offensive lineman Will Montgomery. Montgomery, a four-year veteran, appeared in all 16 games last season and started three at guard. He was one of five linemen to start at the right guard spot in the turbulent 2009 season.

The offensive linemen currently under contract for 2010 include: Montgomery, Derrick Dockery, Casey Rabach, Mike Williams, Stephon Heyer, Artis Hicks, Paul Fanaika, Kory Lichtensteiger, Clint Oldenburg, Edwin Williams and Will Robinson.

I think this is somewhat good news because Montgomery was a fairly decent pass blocker, especially on screens and quick 3 step drops where the Defense was showing blitz. In 16 games and 288 snaps, he only was burnt once for a sack.

His worst game in which he started was unquestionably against the Eagles, where his run blocking was atrocious. But again, he didn’t allow a sack. His best games were against KC and Atlanta — where between the two games his QB was only “pressured” once according to the official play by play.

Montgomery is still young, shows promise, and as much as the O-Line needs to be revamped, I think this was a good decision by the Redskins.

From Johnson’s NFL Career Stats:

I’m going to be as optimistic as I can right now, so the good news is that in the latter half of the season when Johnson joined Cincy, he finally got a taste of what it’s like to run behind a good offensive line and regain some confidence.  And even though he got minimal touches due to Benson’s major success as the featured back, Johnson ran consistently better behind their top 10 run blocking o-line.

To illustrate in plain, colorful visuals what that looks like… check out this graphic:

Notice that there is no huge dips into the red after week 7 when he left KC….

In reality — Johnson only took 80 snaps for the Bengals. However, in those 80 snaps he averaged over 4 yards a carry for each game…. which is something he hadn’t done since 2006. The truth is the Chiefs had an AWFUL offensive line in 2009, particularly in terms of run blocking. And even on the Bengals, Johnson struggled between the tackles.

But behind a decent pulling offensive line with the Redskins, I think Larry Johnson can produce some explosiveness for this team. Of course, that is easier said than done. And the discouraging fact is:

The Redskins had one of the worst run blocking unit’s in the NFL, even worse than the Chiefs.

So, in all my optimism regarding Larry Johnson’s abilities, there is one caveat that is perhaps fundamental to the success or failure of his role  — unless the Skins draft heavily on the O-line for the next several April’s — Larry Johnson is going to have a loooooong 3 years with this team.

You tell me:

Feel free to elaborate in the comments section.

In a deal worth upwards of $12 million, the 30 year old former Bengal / Chief running back signed with the Redskins for 3 years late this afternoon.

Can’t wait to see how that whip turns out.

“I know Clinton too well. He’ll be there and kick off the offseason on the right note. I want my leaders to be there, and hopefully we’ll have 100 percent participation and if not, I’ll be disappointed.”

I’m not going to hold my breath, but I hope at the very least that Portis and Landry will have a long overdue 40/40 rematch.