Tag: Washington Redskins (Page 22 of 44)

      Washington Redskins 2010 Team Needs

      February 9, 2010 /

      As part of our 2010 NFL Draft coverage, I will be breaking down positional needs for all 32 teams, starting in reverse alphabetical order. First up, the Washington Redskins. Check out other team needs by clicking here.

      1. Offensive Line
      People can blame former head coach Jim Zorn for all of the Redskins’ offensive woes last season, but the fact of the matter is that if the team doesn’t re-build their offensive line this offseason then Mike Shanahan won’t succeed either. Shanahan will implement the zone blocking scheme in Washington, but the problem is he doesn’t currently have the right players to fit the scheme. Chris Samuels (neck) career is in jeopardy, Randy Thomas isn’t durable and is aging, and the team lacks serious depth at all five positions. There’s a large contingent that thinks the Skins should draft a quarterback in April, but offensive line is far and away their biggest need and might be addressed with the No. 4 overall pick in the first round.

      2. Running back
      Clinton Portis has clearly lost a step, but what’s worse is that he began the offseason by criticizing Jason Campbell for not being a leader and just recently, he admitted to asking for fullback Mike Sellers to be benched during a game last season. The problem is that even if the Skins did want to rid themselves of Portis, he’s guaranteed $6.43 million in 2010. Regardless, running back remains a need, as Laddell Betts, Quinton Gantehr and Marcus Mason should be viewed only for depth purposes.

      3. Quarterback
      This is all contingent on whether or not Shanahan views Jason Campbell as the right player to run his offense. Campbell isn’t Joe Montana, but he would be fine if he had more weapons at his disposal and played behind a real offensive line. But if Shanahan wants to draft a quarterback at No. 4, then Campbell will likely serve as the starter until the young signal caller is ready to take over. But if the Redskins do go that route, they run the risk of alienating Campbell (which Daniel Snyder did last year too by pursing free agent Byron Leftwich), who may request a trade. We’ll see what Shanahan decides.

      Cornerback and overall depth in the secondary are also needs for the Skins this offseason.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Five players that got shafted by Pro Bowl voting

      January 30, 2010 /

      It’s easy to sit here and play armchair Pro Bowl GM, and while indeed all of us have the ability to influence the player selections, that doesn’t mean as a collective group that we get it right. So as always, there were a few players, even after injury substitutions were announced, who are home this weekend instead of playing in the Pro Bowl in Miami—players who truly deserved a spot on the NFC or AFC roster. Here are a few glaring omissions as we see it:

      Cedric Benson, RB, Cincinnati Bengals—For as good as the Bengals’ defense was in 2009, they won all those games early in the season in part because their running game was downright dominant. And a big reason for that was Benson, whose 96.2 yards per game was second only to Tennessee’s Chris Johnson. Benson, who just turned 27 in December, has been injury prone most of his young career, but this was by far his best season, and he even led the NFL in rushing for a bit before Johnson caught fire. Of course, Benson’s six touchdowns are probably what kept him out of the Pro Bowl (Maurice Jones-Drew had 15 and Johnson 14), but there is no question about how valuable he was to the Bengals, helping them to exceed all expectations.

      Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers—With all due respect to every other QB in the AFC, how do David Garrard and Vince Young get in ahead of Big Ben? I can sort of understand Young, who took the Titans on his back and may have even warranted MVP consideration. But Garrard? Roethlisberger had 4328 yards, 26 TDs and 12 picks, while Garrard threw for 3597 with 15 TD throws and 10 interceptions. Of course, Ben also dealt with concussions, so I can understand an injury keeping him out, but he’s not listed with the injured players selected, so that means more people than not left him off the roster. Does that make sense to anyone?

      Brent Celek, TE, Philadelphia Eagles—This one was purely a numbers game, because you absolutely can’t argue with Jason Witten and Vernon Davis getting in ahead of Celek. But that’s not his fault. Look, I’m a Giants fan so it’s not easy for me to admit this, but I love this kid as a football player. He’s tough, makes big catches with consistency, and is always open for Donovan McNabb in the end zone. He’ll also take a defender’s head off if they get in his path. Of course, Celek’s numbers were stellar too–he caught 76 passes for just under 1000 yards (971) with 8 scores. They should have allowed an extra NFC tight end just this once.

      Andre Carter, DE, Washington Redskins—I get why Jared Allen and Trent Cole made the Pro Bowl roster, but I don’t get how Andre Carter missed out while Julius Peppers got in. Peppers has the name recognition, but Carter led all defensive ends in solo tackles (48) and had twenty more total tackles than Peppers (62 to 42). He had 11 sacks to Peppers’ 10.5, sure, but when you look at the whole picture, somebody blew an assignment. And the thing is, everyone talks about Albert Haynesworth, but Carter never gets the credit he deserves, not even on his own team.

      James Laurinaitis, LB, St. Louis Rams—I get why Jon Beason is the top dog at ILB for the NFC, and I also get why London Fletcher finally made the roster when Jonathan Vilma’s Saints reached the Super Bowl. I’m just not sure why rookie Laurinaitis didn’t make it in ahead of Vilma. Laurinaitis led all rookies in solo tackles with 107 (Vilma had 87), and in the NFL he trailed only Patrick Willis, Beason and Kirk Morrison in that department. Laurinaitis also had 2 sacks and 2 interceptions. This kid was a beast in the middle on a team that won only 1 game in 2009, and short of having to pay dues, I’m not exactly sure how he was left off the Pro Bowl roster.

      NFL

      Portis questions Campbell’s leadership during radio interview

      January 6, 2010 /

      During a recent radio interview with ESPN980, Redskins running back Clinton Portis questioned why quarterback Jason Campbell was made a team captain and he wasn’t, then essentially questioned the signal caller’s leadership ability.

      From NFL.com:

      Asked on ESPN980 why Campbell was a team captain and he wasn’t, Portis replied: “I wonder the same thing. It’s no disrespect to Jason, but everybody in that locker room will tell you — you will never see Jason mad, you will never see Jason’s tempo change.”

      Portis continued: “(He’s) going to give you everything (he’s) got. But as a leader … it was always, ‘Jason couldn’t take control of the huddle,’ or ‘He didn’t do this’ or ‘He didn’t do that.’ That wasn’t Jason’s character. … I think Jason, you can’t place so much on somebody who’s not ready for that situation. I think Jason has enough trouble in getting the plays in and worrying about this, compared to controlling the huddle.”

      Portis told ESPN980 that Campbell isn’t the type of player who would go to a coach and say, “‘Well, we need to do this or we need to do that,’ or ‘This is how the players want it.'”

      Campbell wasn’t pleased about Portis’ comments and responded to them during a Tuesday telephone interview with The Washington Post.
      “How is he going to say I’m not a leader?” Campbell said. “I mean, that’s just not true. To me, that’s somebody who shows that they don’t know what a real leader is. A leader is not someone who leads by the wrong example. A leader is someone who is trying to do the right thing and trying to lead by example, and not just [being] about themselves.

      “There’s a reason guys get selected as captains, and there’s a reason guys don’t get selected as captains. Obviously, he doesn’t have the respect of the locker room to be a captain. For someone to try to take a shot at me at the end of the season, after they haven’t even been around, only speaks about their character anyways.”

      Campbell informed The Post via text message Wednesday that Portis had called him to clear the air. The text read: “We’re just going to move on. We don’t want to have any issues out there between us for the offseason, so we’re just going to squash all of this right now.”

      I agree with what Campbell said. Leaders don’t talk about internal matters with the media, even if they sandwich what critical comments around positive reinforcement. It’s great that the two of them cleared the air, but Portis was still in the wrong here.

      That said, maybe there is something to what Portis said about Campbell’s leadership skills. Nobody can argue that Campbell doesn’t work hard and give everything he has for his team. That guy took a beating this year behind a bad offensive line and he kept showing up the next Sunday. But there’s a major difference between being a good teammate and being a leader.

      There’s a good chance that neither of these players will be back in Washington next year. With Mike Shanahan taking over the reigns, one would assume that he’d make wholesale changes and clean house. But we’ll have to see what transpires in Washington over the course of the next couple months.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Redskins reach 5-year deal with Mike Shanahan

      January 5, 2010 /

      ESPN.com is reporting that the Redskins have reached a 5-year contract agreement with Mike Shanahan to become their next head coach.

      Under the terms of the new deal, Shanahan will team with Redskins executive vice president and general manager Bruce Allen, but Shanahan will have the ultimate authority on football decisions. Shanahan will be introduced as the Redskins head coach at a 2 p.m. ET news conference Wednesday.

      As the contract was being signed at the Redskins’ training complex, Shanahan and owner Dan Snyder posed together for a picture. Then, with the deal signed, Shanahan, his agent Sandy Montag, Allen and Snyder headed out for a celebration dinner in Washington, D.C.

      The contract is worth approximately $7 million a year, the Denver Post reported on its Web site. Now that Shanahan has been hired elsewhere, the Denver Broncos, who fired Shanahan one year ago, will recoup $7 million in offset money over the next two seasons under the terms of the agreement they had with the coach.

      Finally, Daniel Snyder made a good football decision for his franchise. Shanahan is absolutely the right fit for an organization that is in desperate need for a leader that can give them direction and build a solid foundation.

      But the key now is that Snyder needs to get the hell out of the way. He’s meddling has cost his team before, so if he continues to play the role of owner-knows-best, then this will be a wasted hire.

      You found the right guy Dan, now sit in the back and let Shanahan drive the ship.

      NFL

      Redskins fire Jim Zorn

      January 4, 2010 /

      Black Monday was kicked off in the NFL with the firing of Jim Zorn, which surprised absolutely no one.

      From the Washington Post:

      “The status quo is not acceptable,” General Manager Bruce Allen said in a statement. “I felt it was necessary to not waste a moment of time to begin building this team into a winner.”

      The Redskins may swiftly announce his replacement, possibly within hours. In December, Washington forced out longtime front office executive Vinny Cerrato and announced the hiring of new general manager Bruce Allen within two hours, putting in motion the overhaul of the franchise’s infrastructure after a 10-year period that featured just two playoff appearances.

      Former Denver and Oakland coach Mike Shanahan, who won two Super Bowls with Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and the Broncos, has been the presumed hire for weeks. Several NFL sources have said over the past month that they believe Shanahan has long been the choice of Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder, who now must hire his seventh head coach since he took control of the team in 1999.

      Zorn wasn’t given much of an opportunity to succeed from the very beginning. He was hired by Daniel Snyder to become the Redskins’ offensive coordinator and then thrust into the head coaching position after Snyder couldn’t find a candidate he liked. Zorn was overmatched from the beginning and despite getting the Redskins off to a good start in 2008 his inexperience eventually did him in.

      After losing his offensive playcalling duties earlier this season in Washington, I doubt he’ll land a gig as a coordinator right away but you never know. Even though he was fired, I imagine part of him has to be thrilled that he’s leaving that mess behind.

      We’ll see if the Redskins move quickly on Shanahan. I suspect they will.

      NFL

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