Seriously…. what a beauty carpet. George Allen speaks to the Redskins back in 1977

I liked his ability to block out bad plays and to go for the big play, but unfortunately those qualities can’t overcome a crippling tendency to turn the ball over.  Its a good quality that he can forget throwing a brutal interception and move on to the next play, but its not one you want to see in action 4 times a game.   He just makes too many mistakes.

This Redskins team is going to win games based on a strong defense and a decent special teams unit (which has the potential to be very good if Gano can continue his recent hot streak).  They need a quarterback who can manage the game and not put the defense in horrible positions.  Can John Beck be that guy?  Who knows at this point, but Rex Grossman clearly can not be.  It was easy to defend Grossman’s errors when he was putting up 300 yard games and the Skins were putting up points, but over these past three games the passing game has faded and all that remains are the constant turnovers.

Grossman is what he’s always been, a mistake prone inconsistent QB who will cost you more games than he will win for you and who has the mobility of a three toed sloth.   Will Beck be any better?  We just don’t know, but its time to find out.

The All Out Blitz on 3rd and 21

Watching the game Monday on ESPN through my trusty cabletelevision I nearly threw the remote when I saw the all-out blitz on 3rd and 21.

The Redskins and various media members can attempt to defend the call all they want but it was dumb.  The issue isn’t calling an all out blitz when the game is on the line, the issue is calling the blitz when the Cowboys were already backed into a tough spot.  The blown snap had backed the Cowboys into a difficult position.  The Redskins goal was to stop them and get off the field by not allowing 21 yards on next two downs.  I have no idea about the actual odds but an all-out blitz obviously increases the odds of a the Cowboys having a negative play and also increases their odds of having a big play.  A negative play was essentially meaningless on that play.  A 4th and 15 or a 4th and 30 are both very unlikely to be made.

The Cowboys needed to make a big play to get out of the 3rd and 21 jam and by all out blitzing Haslett increased their odds of getting one.  I don’t care if it worked 9 times in a row before then, you’ve got to play to the situation at hand.  Force the Cowboys to make two consecutive eleven yard pass plays, don’t give them a chance to get out of it on one play.

As an aside, everyone is falling in love with Ryan Kerrigan (and deservedly so) but this game showed the importance of Brian Orakpo.  Whenever Orakpo left the game to get treatment for cramping, the Cowboys offense became a ton more effective.  Rob Jackson had a big sack but his run defense leaves a lot to be desired.  This game also turned on fumbles.  The stats guys have shown that fumble recoveries are pretty much a 50/50 proposition (i.e. if there are two fumbles in a game, you’d expect each team to recover one).  This game had 7 fumbles (six by the Cowboys) and they recovered six of them, that’s your ball game right there.

Phillip Buchanon

The Washington Post Redskins blog today had an article that seemed to hint that Buchanon may get cut when his suspension ends on Monday and the Redskins could stick with the current 5 cornerbacks on the roster.  I just can’t see it happen.  You only had to watch the Cardinals game when Kevin Barnes and Josh Wilson went out with injuries and the Cardinals suddenly started to move the ball up and down the field to see that Buchanon will be a solid addition.

The question then becomes who gets dropped to activate him.  If the Redskins are worried about losing rookie Brandyn Thompson if they try to move him to the practice squad, then veteran Byron Westbrook would seem to be the obvious choice.  But Thompson was a 7th round pick and he didn’t jump off the chart when he was pressed into action, so I suspect he’ll be cut and re-signed to the practice squad and someone currently on the practice squad will be dropped.

Offensive Play Calling

I get the feeling this is becoming a bit of battle of wills between father and son.  Pops wants to run but son seems to get mesmerized by the pass at times.  Dad will win this battle as the Skins need to keep running, especially when they have the lead in the 4th quarter.

A more pressing concern in my opinion is the Red Zone play calling.  Oddly enough they get very run heavy in the Red Zone (at least to my eyes) and they need to mix it up a bit.

The Week Ahead

The Rams have been bad this year.  But unfortunately for the Redskins they seem to be getting healthy just as Washington comes to town.  Stephen Jackson will play this week and he’ll obviously make a big difference.  He’s their best offensive player by a long shot and the Redskins won’t be able to tee off on Sam Bradford like other teams have been doing in his absence.

If the Redskins can put up some points (and they should be able to, the Rams aren’t exactly the 85 Bears), they should win this game.

Redskins 24 Rams 14

Give me a follow on twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/trronline

I like Rex Grossman.

I may end up regretting it in a few weeks or heck, maybe Monday night.  But I dig the guy.

He’s got guts.  That 4th down TD pass to Santana Moss took balls.  For years we’ve had either had bad QBs (Donovan McNabb) or wimpy QBs (Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell) who would take the check down route every 2nd play.  Grossman’s 7.7 yard per attempt dwarfs anything we’ve seen in Washington in years.  (Its also way above anything Grossman’s done before so who knows if it’ll last)

There’s no doubt that Brunell or Campbell would’ve dumped that 4th down pass off to the Helu or Gaffney.  McNabb would have tossed it into the ground .  Grossman rolled the dice and helped won the game for the Redskins.

Yes, he also had a brutal interception.  Its highly unlikely that he’s going to turn into some superstar QB at this point in his career.  But he seems to be able brush off mistakes, and heck he’s kinda fun to watch.

The 2010-11 Washington Redskins finished with a 6-10 record.

Its quite possible that the 2011-12 Washington Redskins don’t finish any better, but even without an improvement in wins it may end up being the turning point that Redskins fans have long awaited.

This isn’t your Vinny Cerrato Redskins.  There are nine guys from 2011 draft alone on this years roster, during the Cerrato reign it would take three drafts to even draft nine guys.  Add in Willie Smith, an undrafted free agent, and the team has ten first year players on the roster.  There are 25 players on the opening day roster with less than three years of experience in the NFL.

The Redskins actually have some depth, particularly at running back, wide receiver and linebacker.  There are still a few soft spots on the roster, defensive tackle is thin beyond Barry Cofield and the interior offensive line positions could use help, but this is a much deeper team than in recent years.

The defense will be better than last year.  The players remaining on the roster are more accustom to the 3-4 and Ryan Kerrigan should provide a 2nd pass rusher that the team lacked last year.  You’d expect an improved special teams season as Rocca should be better than the awfulness of the 2010 punting carousel and Gano will either improve or find himself on the street quickly.

But despite those improvements, its all going to come down to Rex Grossman at the QB position.  This team should be able to run with anyone (assuming Kyle Shanahan doesn’t abandon the run as quickly as he tended to last year in his play calling).  There are a billion receivers still on the roster and seeing as the 2010 season opened with Joey Galloway as a starter, its an improved bunch.  Even if Chris Cooley can’t go, Fred Davis is a capable tight end and the line should at least be reasonable.  But can Grossman deliver?

When evaluating the Redskins QBs in 2011 most analysts seems to forget that the 2010 QB play wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire.  Donovan McNabb had more interceptions than touchdown passes last year.  Grossman doesn’t have to be Drew Brees to be an upgrade over McNabb’s 2010.  But if the Redskins want to be in the playoff hunt this season, Grossman is going to have to play better than he did in his last starting gig way back in 2006.   Grossman isn’t going to be an elite QB, but the two most recent QBs to lead the Redskins to the playoffs were Todd Collins and Mark Brunell.  You don’t need a superstar to make the playoffs if the other aspects of your team are strong, but you do need someone decent.

So that is all we ask of you Rex Grossman – be decent.  If he can deliver that maybe 6-10 can turn into 9-7 and a shot at a playoff spot.

While our friends up the I-95 have collected big names and garnered praise (and my does it sound awfully familiar), the Redskins have avoided the big names and giant contracts focusing instead on building some depth for a roster that was lacking after years of front office foolishness. All the problems can’t be fixed in one year, but Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan are building an actual NFL roster which should pay dividends in the future

With most of the big moves complete, let’s take a quick run down of the roster (offense today, defense/special teams later):

Quarterback

The three QBs who will break camp with the team are pretty well decided (assuming they decide to keep three QBs).  John Beck, Rex Grossman and Kellen Clemens were pretty well assured of a roster spot from the moment they showed up at Redskin Park. Beck and Grossman are battling for the number one job and the team is hoping for a miracle that one suddenly become a decent NFL starter.  Only Beck is signed beyond this season and none of the three are making much above the minimum salary, so the Redskins are clearly hedging their bets going forward.

Running Back

The Redskins added Tim Hightower from Arizona in a trade for Vonnie Holliday to compete with Ryan Torain for the starting job.  Hightower didn’t cost much (Holliday was likely not in the plans as the team gets younger) and has had some decent years in Arizona.  Shanahan has shown the ability to find running backs who can fit into his system so whichever back ends up winning the job will likely put up numbers.  Draft picks Roy Helu and Evan Royster, along with holdover Keiland Williams are likely battling for the 3rd running back spot, although it wouldn’t be a complete shocker if one of the young guys wins the job outright.

Fullback

Early reports from camp have Mike Sellers getting a lot of work at tight end, we’ll have to see if that means the team no longer wants to use him as a fullback or if they are just adding versatility to his game remains to be seen.  If Sellers is no longer the fullback, Darryl Young would appear to be the favorite for the role although Keiland Williams has also been seeing time as a fullback early in camp.

Wide Receiver

The Redskins added a boat load of receivers in the 1st few days after the lockout ended which raised eyebrows but they were cheap veterans who could easily be cut if they don’t perform in camp.  Based on last year’s number you’d expect Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney to start with Anthony Armstrong as the 3rd WR/designated deep threat.  Gaffney was acquired in a trade for a guy who was unlikely to make the roster so its not beyond the realm of possibilities that he is cut.  Donte Stallworth was signed to a one year deal would appear to be battling with Armstrong for the deep threat role.

It will be interesting to see how many WR’s make the roster.  Brandon Banks electrified as a return man last year prior to hurting his knee and would seem to have the inside position for one spot, but the knee continues to be an issue and he could be replaced.  The team drafted Leonard Hankerson in the 3rd round so it seems unlikely he’d be cut.  Niles Paul is the likely return man if Banks can’t get healthy or has lost a step.  Aldrick Robinson is another speedster who will have to earn a role but may be destined for a practice squad spot.  Malcolm Kelly is injured again and looks like another wasted Cerrato draft pick.

Tight End

Chris Cooley hasn’t done much of anything to date in camp due to injury that doesn’t sound serious.  Fred Davis has looked sharped early in camp and would be the starter if Cooley can’t go.  Mike Sellers, Logan Paulsen and undrafted FA Joe Torchia would be battling for the 3rd TE spot.  Sellers’ special team play would appear to give him the edge at this point, but the team may decide to go young.

There has been talk among fans about trading Cooley but I suspect the return would be no better than a 4th round pick which would make him more valuable to the Redskins than what they could acquire in a trade.

Offensive Line

There will be at least two new starters this season on the offensive line.  Long time center Casey Rabach was cut and will be replaced by Will Montgomery (who started at guard toward the end of last year).  Montgomery’s guard spot will be filled with free agent signee Chris Chester who joins the Redskins from Baltimore.  Chester wasn’t great in Baltimore but Shanahan expects him to excel in the zone blocking scheme that he runs.  With Jammal Brown resigned both starting tackles from last year will return.  Shanahan did learn his lesson last year and just today signed Sean Locklear to back-up at tackle (no more Stephen Heyer!).  Kory Lichtensteiger returns as a starting guard.  Artis Hicks is the veteran among the many players competing for depth spots.

Not that the sentiment in that tweet isn’t right… but somehow I don’t think stability and a winning environment were being credited when the Redskins would land the top free agents each year.

So according to just about everyone the lockout is going to end at some point in the next few days.  Everyone will breathe a sigh of relief that we won’t miss a single game and after that breathe it will be time to look to the season ahead.  It may be all downhill from there.

The Redskins are allegedly planning to start John Beck at quarterback.

The Redskins are allegedly going to be big spenders in the free agent market.

Let’s hope one or the other isn’t true.  I’m not writing off John Beck.  Who knows, maybe he IS the next Kurt Warner.  But a team who fancies themselves a contender is not going to head into the season with a John Beck-esque player at QB.  And if you aren’t going to contend why spend a billion dollars on players who are going to be on a team that’s going to go 7-9 at best.

Bruce Allen, Mike Shanahan and company have a simple decision to make this off-season.  Either go crazy, trade picks and spend a boatload of cash to try to fill the countless holes (which includes quarterback) and attempt to contend or take your lumps, go with youth and rebuild.

The Redskins have tried the former for the past 15 years and gotten nowhere.   Its time to rebuild.  The fans have been loyal for years, they’ll survive a terrible year.

Heck, make it really awful and we just might land that franchise QB we’ve been dreaming of.   I’m willing to suffer through a 2-14 year if it means a decade of success.

This week, I’m going a little different; we’re doing the Upset Pick of the Week first.  To me, the biggest upset of the week wasn’t who WON a game, but by how big they won.  Oh, sure, Washington losing to San Francisco was an upset, but it wasn’t a huge one.  Bigger that way would be Minnesota beating the Giants, or Miami beating the Jets.  Bigger still is Indy over Tennessee, but bigger than those are the POINTS that some of the winners scored (even in games they were expected to win, but it would be close).  But I can’t easily use those game; sorry, San Diego over Denver is a POINT victory, and I can’t track that, so I have to go with Indy over Tennessee, seeing as how that was a “close” game with a huge point difference.  Kudos to cooooooley, Veretax’s pick, Star City Sportzkatz, Fletchskins, Tidewater Picks, chris horton hears a who, lostnbigD, stuck in the ‘tah, BRAGGIN-RIGHTS, Texas Redskin, and Pizzatown for picking Indy; I’m not sure anyone thought it would be that big of a point difference, but there you go; you get my final 2008 Kudos, folks!

This week was a good week for most players, with 11 points being the most commonly done point total; a couple of players did better, however, wtih 12.  A. Fishman’s picks, coooooooley, and El Guapo all scored that magical 12 point total, earning weekly Props.  Congrats, guys.

Last, but definitely not least, are the season leaderboardwinners for the 2008 season… and it was an exciting finish.  Going into the final week, our leader had a commanding lead, but he didn’t have a good week at all, while the 2nd place player had an excellent week, taking ALMOST all of the margin… but it was only ALMOST all.  Our first place winner, with 161 points, is Hot Stuff Coming Through.  He’s closely followed by LAST years winner, A. Fishman’s picks, with 160.  Dallas’s total ineptness to the Eagles cost Star City Sportzkatz a tie for third, as did Seattle’s loss to Arizona for chris horton hears a who; both finished in a tie for fourth, one game behind our third place winner, cooooooley, who finished with 159 points; they finished with 158.  The “Billdoza” line is set at 6th place this year with 157 points; I figure most very good players will beat me, the rest will be close.  7th place went to El Guapo, with 156, 22209 came in 8th with 155, Tidewater Picks came in 9th with 154, and rounding out was Texas Redskin, with 152.  All told, our top 11 players were within 10 points of total victory for the season, and our top 16 players were within 16 games (one week).  Notably, our winner from two seasons ago, we want dallas, came in 12th, with 150 points.

Lee has promised prizes to our top three winners… and I want to congratulate them again:

Hot Stuff Coming Through, #1

A. Fishman’s Picks, #2

coooooooley, #3.

Props for our season winners!  HAIL!  You guys will need to contact Lee with your info so that he’ll be able to send you your prizes. From Lee – please leave a comment on this post with a valid email address and I will contact you for details to get your prize out. Or you can email theredskinreport gmail com