A blog for sophisticated Redskins fans
Due to the late start to tonight’s game, I’ll be chatting over at CSNwashington.com during the game rather than doing the post-game format. This will be for this week only. Following the Dallas game and throughout the season I’ll be hosting post game chats at CSN.
So, drop on by and we’ll talk about the game, the roster, the upcoming season, and whatever else comes to your mind.
We’ll be getting things going at about 9:30 tonight, so drop on by.
Mike Shanahan says it’s the least favorite part of his job:
“I think the toughest thing is going down to the 53-man squad because you just told somebody that the dream that they’ve been dreaming is not going to be realized, at least here,” he said. “What I tell them is that I’m hoping that if they don’t make our football team, they have a chance to make another football team.”
The Redskins roster currently is at 75 players. Of the 53 roster spots about 40 are pretty well set. That means that 35 players will be sweating it out until they find out whether or not they are selected to fill one of those remaining 13 or so coveted jobs.
Here’s is a look at how Brandon Banks, Richard Bartel (whose bubble may already have burst) and a few others view their situations.
It seems like every year at least one NFL team rises from the bottom to the top. Fans around D. C. are asking, “Why not the Redskins?” Some reasons why the Redskins will make the playoffs this year, and some reasons why they won’t, are presented in this week’s edition of the wildly popular Point-Counterpoint:
Rick Maese of the Post is reporting that Byron Westbrook is still a Redskin and that he will travel with the team to Arizona today and will suit up and play tomorrow.
Confirmed: Byron Westbrook is still a member of the #Redskins. Making the trip to AZ today and will play in Thursday’s game
The real headline here is that Adam Schefter was wrong on a Redskins story. We await any retraction, correction, or explanation that Schefter may have.
While questions swirl about Donovan McNabb’s status for the Dallas game (note: he’s going to play), John Beck and Richard Bartel will audition for a job that may not exist.
Each of the two quarterbacks has a distinct advantage over the other. Beck has the better background. He came out of Brigham Young as a second-round draft pick and has started four NFL games. Bartel, on the other hand, went undrafted out of Tarleton State and has never taken a snap in a regular-season professional game.
Bartel, however, is better schooled in the Redskins’ offense. He has been with the team since Kyle Shanahan started teaching to new scheme to the team, and he had reps in it all during OTAs and minicamps.
Adam Schefter tweeted this morning that the Redskins have released Byron Westbrook. The timing seems odd in that the team got down to the 75-player limit on Tuesday by releasing four layers and putting Malcolm Kelly on injured reserve. But Schefter doesn’t often toss out random information like that at 7:30 in the morning unless it’s solid.
I have asked the Redskins for confirmation, will update when I get it.
After looking at the defense in detail, here’s a look at the Redskins’ offense.
Offensive Tackle
Left: Trent Williams, Will Robinson, Selvish Capers
Right: Jammal Brown, Stephon Heyer, Clint OldenburgCapers’ stock is up; he seems to be a natural zone blocker and his pass blocking skills are improving.
Heyer has started 28 games for the Redskins but he may not be a good fit in the new scheme. Mike Shanahan has praised his effort but better results are needed.
The team is likely to keep four tackles. It seems that Capers is safe, leaving the other three reserves to fight it out for one spot.
Over the summer, I published a series of articles examining the Redskins’ depth chart in depth. Since then the team has gone through two weeks of training camp, a backup quarterback trade, the release of Mike Shanahan’s official depth chart and they are about to play their first preseason game. Things have shuffled around since then so it is time to do a review to see what changes have been made and whose stock is up and whose is down.
Well, after over four years of live blogging virtually every Redskins game as it happened, I’m going to have to give it up. My new job with CSNwashigton.com will prelude me from being able to conduct live blogs during the game.
The good news is that you still will have a chance to discuss and vent about the game with your favorite host during the CSNwashington.com Post Game Live Chat. I’ll get it cranking about midway through the fourth quarter and we’ll roll until you’ve all had your say.
I hate to break up what has been at great tradition and a lot of fun over the past several years but I’m sure that the new time will be fun, too.
If any blogger or anyone else is doing an in-game chat, please let me know and I’ll be happy to link to it here.
You can log in to the CSNwashington.com Post Game Live Chat here:
What do you do when you have some points and opinions that aren’t enough fodder for an entire article but still interesting and worthy of discussion? If you are me, you put together a 10-spot. Here’s one of the nuggets and the link to the complete article:
Is a two-tight end set the answer to the issues at wide receiver? With the Redskins wide receiver corps largely consisting of the unproven (Anthony Armstrong, Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas) and the over-the-hill (Joey Galloway, Mike Furrey, Bobby Wade), Kyle Shanahan might have to be particularly creative to find targets for McNabb. The solution could be running a two-tight end set a lot of the time. Chris Cooley will run the more traditional tight end routes, the shorter patterns and tight end screens. Fred Davis will go deep down the seam, where he frequently has been seen during OTAs and in camp. And when Shanahan sees the other teams adjusting to that, he will sneak Cooley down the seam. This doesn’t mean that the receivers won’t have to be, at least, modestly productive for the offense to work. But getting a lot out of the tight ends will help keep the chains moving if the wideouts can’t consistently get separation.
