Apparently it was the 6th pre-season game last week we saw. The Redskins lost to the NY Football Giants 16-7. The Giants dominated the Redskins for most of the first half, but then both teams thought the game only last 30 minutes as neither decided scoring was important in the second half.
It was coach Jim Zorn's first game as head coach, so I will give them a pass. Time management, questionable play calling, and overall game management seemed to be lacking.
OK, it's not a Monday Night Party. It's a Thursday Night Party. OK, it does not have the same swing. The Redskins and Giants open the season in the Meadowlands tonight. Although it's only the first regular season game for both, there's a lot of need to win this NFC East matchup. The Giants are trying to defend their championship despite virtually no-one predicting that they'll even win the division. The Redskins with new head coach Jim Zorn, hope not to lose a step from last season.
It appears that many fans were caught "off guard" as no one seemed to know there was a competition between Heyer and Jansen for the RT position. It didn't become known until the switch was made. Hopefully both players were aware of the possibilities heading into the pre-season Right Tackle.
Jansen's history of injuries over the past few years, age, and salary cap figure may have entered into the mix when considering such a move, but should any of this really mattered? Would Parcells or Gibbs have made such a move or was this a sign of a rookie head coach sending a message?
Continue reading "Redskin's Heyer Becomes Starter - Jansen to Reserve Role" »
The Redskins were forced to reduce the roster to the mandatory 53 Man league roster limit. Big Money Tony has already discussed the release of the punter Derrick Frost. The Redskins decided to keep ten defensive lineman and only five receivers.
Below are the roster cuts:
Matthias Askew
Ryan Boschetti
Nehemiah Broughton
Devin Clark
Andrew Crummey
Derek Devine
Derrick Frost
Horace Gant
Curtis Gatewood
Patrick Ghee
David Holloway
Cedrick Holt
Maurice Mann
Marcus Mason
Fred Matua
Billy McMullen
Anthony Mix
Matteral Richardson
Danny Verdun-Wheeler
Todd Wade
Tavares Washington
Byron Westbrook
Continue reading "Redskins Trim Roster - Analysis of Cuts" »
I was content to just state that Durant Brooks beat Derrick Frost out for the punting job with the Redskins. However, after his comments, he has put some diehard Redskins fans, including myself, in the position of choosing the lesser of two evils...defending Vinny Cerrato.
Frost somehow managed to hold on to the job since 2005. He may not have been the worst out there, but you can't tell me that the Redskins couldn't have found someone better. I get the feeling that he had something on the Redskins, like Terry Matthews had on the Orioles.
Vinny, a man that couldn't find an NFL job during the season that Marty Schottenhemier fired him, did the right thing. Frost was not a great punter, but if Brooks is not that good, it was possible for him to come back. Until those comments. Goodbye Derrick! Hope you screw up another team's punting for a few seasons.
Remember those awful commercial in the late 1980s and early 1990s that would say something like STOP it's the computer expo at such and such locations while showing the Govenator on a motorcycle from "T2"? Well everyone needs to stop and take notice that Chief Zee is without his prized prop tomahawk that he's had from the glory days of Redskins history in the 1980s Chief Zee Tomahawk
Who would actually take the prop of one of the most famous fans or dare say mascot's in the NFL? To those that may be in possession of Chief Zee's prop, please return it. Maybe a misguided Redskins fan may now have a piece of history. This is almost as bad as the time Chief Zee was attacked at a game around Christmas in old Veteran Stadium in Philly some years ago. Let Chief Zee have his tomahawk back and hopefully if returned it will bring back some Redskins magic, too.
The Washington Redskins Cheerleaders had a party at a DC area nightclub Friday night to celebrate the premiere of the 2009 Swimsuit calendar. The Sports Freak and I attended as fans of both the team and the cheerleaders.
There seemed to be confusion from the get go. Earlier in the week, I checked the website of the establishment to get some details. They were scarce, except for a $20 entry fee. I thought this was odd and contemplated not going. Then our friend Q forwarded an e-mail that said entry was free from 5-7 PM.
So off we went. I arrived 20 minutes before the Sports Freak. There seemed to be some holdup as a number of fans were held outside the party. I finally figured it out as they were not allowing anyone with an SLR camera in. Later on, they did, only on the caveat that they remove their cameras by 7 PM, when only the official photographer was allowed. Luckily, all I had on me was your standard pocket digital. Unlucky for some, like one of the fans who was wearing shorts. That was another no-no. His brother went through the pat down before realizing he couldn't get in. After some discussion about where to get a pair of pants, the older brother, who was wearing slacks, asked younger if he needed to go with him. When the younger answered, "Yes", the older was fuming. Off they walked for about half a block before I heard a very loud expletive yelled at the top of the older's voice. Good times, at least for me. A minute later, the Sports Freak arrived.
The Redskins are in the enviable position of too many players to consider for the final 53-man roster. With just over 2 weeks before final cut, there could be 4 running backs, 6 wide receivers, 3 tight ends, and at least one fullback.
For running backs, we have the fairly obvious keepers, Portis and Betts. Rock Cartwright, to the Sports Freak's dismay, will probably be the number 3. Marcus Mason is the potential fourth back. As a practice squad player last season, he grew his NFL skills. This season, especially after his showing in the two pre-season games, his time on the practice squad would not be long, as likely any of the other 31 teams would take him in the chance he becomes the next Ryan Grant.
Wow. What a great day Saturday was. The only thing that would have been better is to see it in person. How I regret that. I don't think there will be another day where two of the greatest Redskins ever get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In addition to Washington's own Darrell Green and Art Monk, Emitt Thomas, Andre Tippett, Gary Zimmerman, and Fred Dean were enshrined.
Those of you the DC area may or may not have heard about "Redskins Nation", a show that started a couple of weeks ago on Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. I'm a Redskins fan that owns lousy premium seats. I'm at the top of the waitlist for real season tickets. So it comes with sadness that I report "Redskins Nation", the show, sucks.
Updated July 21, 9:30 AM
Jason Taylor now plays for the Washington Redskins. Taylor was traded for the 2009 second round pick and the 2010 sixth round pick. This appears to be a great deal especially since he told the Redskins that he did not need to renegotiate his contract and would play it out with the two years remaining on it.
The bad news is that this was necessary to replace Phillip Daniels who was injured on the first day of training camp. Although I was there, yours truly did not see this happen.
Still the trade appears to help both teams. Bill Parcells and Taylor never saw eye to eye. Reports were that he ignored Taylor when the Dolphin tried to introduce himself to the Tuna back in the spring. Later Parcells said he didn't know Taylor was there. Kind of hard to miss a big defensive end, don't you think?
Update: Would have provided this sooner, but my lovely cable ISP decided to shut down for the past 12 hours. The Redskins also lost DE Alex Buzbee for the season. Makes more sense why they got Taylor. After all, last year Jon Jansen was lost for the season and no big trade/free agent signing came in to fill the void.
It's here. The 2008 season and the Zorn-Era has begun. The Redskins opened training camp this morning in muggy Ashburn, Virginia, home of Redskins Park. It still seems odd tha the team called the Washington Redskins has offices and practices in Virginia and plays it's games at Fedex Field in Maryland. Anyways, this the first training camp I have attended in person. They started all those years in Pennsylvania and I didn't think about going in recent years. Why, I'm not so sure. Probably should have done it while Gibbs was still coach.
Although I arrived just after 8 AM, the team was already on the field practicing well before the 8:30 announced time. And hundreds of people beat me there. It was interesting, but less organized for fans as I imagined. Refreshments were not quite as expensive as I thought they were to be. There was the heckler in the front row who yelled at every player. BTW - The Sports Freak would be happy as he was wearing a Rock Cartwright jersey. It also appears that some Giants fans took a wrong turn. "Leave the Holland Tunnel, head south on I-95 until you see Burgundy & Gold?"
All this can be viewed in the pictures here. I did not edit them, so heads and caps can be seen in some pictures. Hey, when the Redskins set a separate bloggers section, I'll be able to get better shots.
The Redskins weren't able to acquire a pass rushing defensive end in the draft so the next option was to go shopping at Costco. Not much is lost in the signing of Erasmus James. Skins new DEGiving up only a conditional 7th Round Pick next year seems like quite the low price.
Have the Skins finally figured out the system of paying league veterans at the appropriate value and level? For those fans that are also Nationals fans, GM Bowden has often found gems from other teams scraps. The first couple of years without ownership and tied to a low payroll the only players Bowden could sign to a contract were players that were coming off of injuries or bad years. That was why they could be signed to such a low contract and were available. Hopefully this will be in the past as new ownership will spend money in offseason acquisitions and will be bolstered by an improved farm system.
The Redskins appear to have taken a page from Bowden and have gone bargain shopping. The signing of James is all upside. If he recovers from health concerns, passes a physical, makes the team, stays healthy, and performs anywhere near to the level that NFL scouts thought as he was a former first round pick then the Skins will have found a short term solution to their pass rush woes. It's alot to ask and nothing to lose.
The Redskins drafted three receivers on day one of the draft. Devin Thomas WR Michigan St, Fred Davis TE USC, and Malcolm Kelly WR Oklahoma were all drafted in the 2nd Round after the Skins traded down a round to obtain more picks.
The Redskins then addressed some other areas of concern by drafting Chad Rinehart OG Northern Iowa (3rd Rd), Justin Tryon CB Arizona St (4th Rd), Durant Brooks P Ga Tech (6th Rd), Kareem Moore S Nicholls St (6th Rd), Colt Brennan QB Hawaii (6th Rd), Rob Jackson DE Kansas St (7th Rd), & Christopher Horton S UCLA (7th Rd) were all day two draft choices some of which via trades with Atlanta and St. Louis to improve the quantity of picks or the position.
As the NFL Draft is about to be under way, the Redskins have been rebuffed by both the Bengals and Cardinals for Chad Johnson and Boldin. Luckily for Redskins fans the Redskins haven't mortgaged the future for older and frequently injured players on a team that has several holes to fill. When the Patriots and Eagles over the past few years signed Moss and TO as the final cog to get back to the Super Bowl playing for the present made sense, but for the Skins the rumors circling about for Roy Williams in Detroit make the most sense. He's a young proven WR that could provide immediate and long term help.
Trading for a player like Johnson and Boldin and giving up first round picks when the secondary is old and injured just as much as the OL and LB areas with a defense lacking an every down pass rusher to boot how does giving up the future for a player that most likely won't even get you to the Super Bowl. It doesn't so let's hope Zorn and Danny make the logical pick.
To continue our own mock draft, the Washington Redskins are finally on the clock with the 21st Pick in the draft.
Several issues exist that must concern the coaching staff regarding the current roster. Identified below will be an illustration of what the current needs of the team are on the roster and who the potential candidates may be for the Skins first round selection. The pick will be what this blogger feels would best suit the Redskins in the long term and have an immediate impact this year based upon the players available from this current mock draft.
The Redskins signed Jerome Mathis Redskins Sign Mathis. The signing of Mathis could signal the end of the Rock era in the return game. Mathis provides a game breaking ability that Cartright lacks.
Although Rock may have held his own in the league from a statistical perspective, how many fans have grown tired of watching him return kicks. His average gains appear to be as a result of excellent coaching and blocking. In an area where special teams are supposed to be special, Cartright seems ordinary. Fans seem to have forgotten the likes of Mike Nelms, Darrel Green, and Brian Mitchell returning kicks. As soon as the ball hit their hands anything could happen. This is the role of a returner.
ESPN Nation is having a mock draft and it appears that McShay and Scouts,Inc. provide the guidance. "Who are these people!?" and what are they thinking. Do those that voted even follow the Skins? How did McShay come to the conclusion that the Skins need more help at safety than at OL? ESPN Mock Draft I'm not saying that Mario Manningham is the next Desmond Howard or Westbrook, but let's get real here. How can safety be a higher need than DE? Does any history in the past 20 some Super Bowls Champions show you that pressure from the front line allows even more creativity than a smoke and mirrors back seven approach. No one need look any further than this year's winner, the NY GIants.
Continue reading "ESPN Sports Nation Doesn't Know The Redskins" »
In what might be the surprise move of the offseason, the Redskins released Brandon Lloyd. Note to those not familiar with the Redskins situation, that's a bit of scarcasm. Lloyd caught a total of 25 catches over his two season here. Well worth the 2nd and 3rd 3rd and 4th round draft picks we sent to San Francisco*. I think the 49er front office is still snickering about that.
* - Sorry for the error, I guess I had it in the back of my mind the trade was worse. However, 3rd and 4th didn't make it much better. It was still awful.
This move helps the Redskins moderately, since they are already over the cap for the upcoming season. But restructuring of contracts is making some room available.
It's been reported that the Redskins will remain quiet during NFL Free Agency this year. Maybe in this first year without Gibbs the organization will have learned to concentrate on activities during the season to bring a Lombardi Trophy home to DC Redskins Free Agency. Finding quality players in the draft that can step into roles and eventually a starting position in the future should be the primary focus.
Hopefully the Skins can also find some role players to step into some of the secondary positions during the free agency period. All during the 80s the Redskins under Gibbs and Beathard were able to find smart and athletic players that could step into a starting role when injuries struck during critical points of the season. It will certainly be interesting to see how the Skins front office will perform in this first year without Gibbs influence.
It looks like Jim Zorn gets to choose some of his staff, as Sherman Smith, currently of the Tennessee Titans is expected to join as Offensive Coordinator. Yesterday Zorn chose Stump Mitchell as the Running Backs coach. So he got to choose two of them.
While I would like to bash on Snyder for hiring all these coaches before hiring the head coach, it's good that the staff is finally "complete". They can get on the task of planning and coaching.
While some are still uncertain about Zorn, I point to Joe Bugel. Last week, he noted the criticism of Zorn by stating that there was once an unknown coach in San Diego named Joe Gibbs who was given a chance to be head coach of the Redskins. That fellow didn't do too bad.
Redskins could be after Chad Johnson as rumors and articles are a flutter as seen in a Washington Post article. Giving up a 1st and 3rd or two 2nds in a time when the team has more needs than just one position to solve all problems to win a Super Bowl. Is Ocho Cinco one of the best receivers in the NFL? Yes, without questions he's one of the top receivers but as he approaches 30 how effective can he be two and three years from now? Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison (who's on the decline), and TO are the only great receivers still producing huge numbers in their career well into their early and mid 30s so taking on a most likely long term contract for a player that could have his decline in DC rather risky. The three receivers listed appear to be the execption and not the rule of thumb for great receivers in their 30s.
In an odd twist to the Redskins Head Coaching story, Jim Zorn will be announced as Head Coach on Sunday.
I don't know much about Zorn other than him being the first ever Seattle Seahawk quarterback, but I know one thing on his resume that stands out. He's not Jim Fassel. I'm sure we'll find out more about Zorn in the coming days.
Good news and bad news. The good, Steve Spagnuolo turns down the Redskins, pulls himself out of the running. It appears he was not offered the job, but still, he decided to go back to the Giants.
The bad...Jim Fassel is back as leading candidate. Geez, I hope Marriucci had a great interview with Snyder. I really don't want to see Fassel in burgandy and gold.
With lots of sports recent sports topics to cover, here are some quick thoughts from the New York perspective.
Art Monk has finally been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After years of not being selected, it may appear that he got a boost as the voters also voted in teammate Darrell Green. I hope that was not the case. I may not be objective, but Monk deserves to be in the Hall on his own merits and should have been. As The Sports Freak mentioned in the post when the nominees for the 2008 were first inducted, Monk held many records in his day.
Continue reading "Finally! Art Monk Makes the Hall of Fame" »
OK, with this Redskins Head coaching story upsetting so many people, I thought I'd put up our first poll. Note that this is not limited to Snyder, simply a general question about all sports team owner, be it Leonsis, Angelos, Snyder, etc.
Feel free to leave further thoughts in the comments section.
Well it appears that the proverbial verdict is in. Dan Snyder, an owner that's as polarizing as Hillary Clinton in a love 'em or hate 'em knee jerk reaction has almost unified most of the Redskins fan base. It was possible to defend some of Danny's actions by acknowledging and respecting that whatever dollars Danny received he put right back into the team. After all, wouldn't you prefer an owner who's at least willing to spend money then none at all aka the Bidwell's through much of the '80s and '90s? Dan Snyder was always one to do it his way. He's been successful in his business endeavors and enjoys the limelight. He's a fan that would enjoy nothing more than winning a title, but with his hands involved exclusively in the process.
Unfortunately with the recent chain of events, most notably the firing of Greg Williams it appears that his actions have shed more insight into the owner of the Washington Redskins. The disregard for continuity achieved by Gibbs, a disregard for elite and heavily paid coaching staff, and a disregard for (the opinions of) the talented players on his own team quickly changed the fans perception of the owner. Was there such a need for multiple interviews with his Defensive Coordinator that Gibbs endorsed? Was this necessary for a coach in Gibbs that he revered so much and so deeply that Snyder disregarded Gibbs last advice to hire Williams all together?
It must be in the water. Is it the state of Maryland? Maybe. But I can’t take credit for this comparison. Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post first made the observation in his Redskins Insider blog.
Dan Snyder has out ‘angelos-ed’ Peter Angelos. In fact it’s at such a high level Snyder deserves his own new verb – He’s ‘snyder-ed’ the Redskins.
In a ridiculous turn of events, ESPN is reporting that Greg Williams is no longer being considered for the Redskins Head Coaching position.Williams Not the Next Coach Regardless of Joe Gibbs advice, the fans dissatisfaction with anyone named other then Williams, or strong player discontent for anyone not named Williams, it appears that ownership has decided to blow things up again as if Joe Gibbs was never here. This shows without an a presence of a strong competent figure to reign in Vinny & Danny that very little was learned from Gibb especially when he has voiced his support for the hiring of Williams.
Zorn is hired as the new offensive coordinator as Saunders is allowed to interview elsewhere.
Zorn Hired - ESPN Report
NBC4 just announced that a decision may not be reached until after the Super Bowl and anything that can delay Fassel Man from being the next head coach of the Redskins and I'm not talking about Greg Raymer the WSOP winner then that's a good thing!
It looks like the coaching carousel continues as Jim Zorn interviewed for the offensive coordinator position. So much for giving Campbell the chance to finally master one complex offense in the NFL. USA Today - Jim Zorn Why bring Joe Gibbs back to coach in DC only to undue everything he accomplished once he leaves? Then again winning mustn’t be as important as making headlines. Too bad the headlines aren't the Redskins holding up the Lombardi Trophy after a rebuilt team by Gibbs and his successor Williams.
Buckle up everyone and as Dark Helmet said in "Spaceballs", "Prepare for ludicrous speed!" As Big Money Tony mentioned in his posting Big Money Tony Fassel would be an awful choice as Head Coach for the Redskins. While we're drudging up failed former head coaches why not bring in Wayne Fontes for an interview. He certainly knows how to squander elite talent like Barry Sanders. Maybe the run 'n shoot offense will make a comeback. Better yet why not take look at Jerry Glanville because football would be anything but dull. There may be plenty of losing, but lots of entertainment.
Continue reading "Fassel's Fueled Up for the Redskins Coaching Position" »
Look I'm all for interviewing a good number of candidates to make sure the Redskins get the right one. Whether it be to satisfy the Rooney Rule or just simply making sure we haven't missed someone. But interviewing Jim Fassel is a terrible idea.
Could Len Pascquarelli be wrong about Gibbs?Len Pasquarelli Article. Age wasn't an issue for Gibbs. Gibbs did more in his second stint to rebuild an entire organization decimated by change and poor decisions. He also brought a group of players that Pasquarelli says he couldn't relate to together after the tragic event of Sean Taylor's passing. He changed philosophy from one game at a time to we can do this and let's look at the schedule. Gibbs wasn't just brought in to stabalize the coaching position, but to fix an organization that had lost its way.
See my earlier posting Joe Gibbs Leaves The Washington Redskins, Again.
The coaching carousel continues in Washington. As Joe Gibbs departs the coaching ranks from the Redskins organization again, little has been mentioned about the existing coaching staff. What will happen to Bugel, Breaux, and Ernest Byner? So much has already been discussed about who might succeed Gibbs and who might be cajoled to come out of retirement such as Cowher, but has anyone asked about a general manager? No one has discussed replacing the decisions made by GM Gibbs.
Continue reading "Candidates for the Redskins Coaching Vacancy" »
Joe Gibbs resignation today will have an obvious ripple effect through the coaching staff and resonate for years to come throughout the organization. It was difficult enough to witness Gibbs departure the first go around. I recall that Steve Buckhantz was one of the first to discover and break the story. This time around there was no story to break. Joe Gibbs announced his resignation as not just coach, but also as President of the Washington Redskins.
Continue reading "Joe Gibbs Leaves the Washington Redskins, Again" »
You (almost) heard it hear first: Joe Gibbs resigned this morning as head coach of the Redskins. I'll leave it to the locals to heap the praise upon him, but for me I'll just say that a record of 31-36 in his second stint as head coach doesn't exactly impress me. Three Super Bowl victories in his first stint does impress me.