Ranking the Redskins #9 - #16

Who are the Redskins’ best players and who are the ones who are starting just because there isn’t enough talent to push them out? If another team had a shot at anyone on the Redskins’ roster to use for the 2005 season, who would they gobble up and who would they say thanks, but no thanks to?

To help answer this, the Redskins starters were ranked from the most expendable to the most valuable. Today, the middle of the pack, #9-#16.

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

In inverse order, here are my rankings of the Redskins 24 starters, including punter and kicker, based on what they might do in 2006. Their 2005 rankings here (Part 1, Part 2), where applicable, are in parenthesis:

16. DE Phillip Daniels (18)—At age 33, which is the real Daniels? The one who spend most of the 2004 on the injured list or the one who started 16 games last year and racked up eight sacks, four in the key won over Dallas?

15. WR Antwaan Randle El (NR)—We’re going with a 3-WR, one TE and one running back set here. This is looking at Randle El strictly as a receiver, not taking into account his return skills, which will be his major value to the team.

14. CB Shawn Springs (4)—He was great in ’04, good last year. With his 31^st birthday in the rear view mirror, will the decline continue?

13. WR Brandon Lloyd (NR)—In San Francisco, Lloyd displayed a knack for both the spectacular catch and the drop of the easy one. He needs to get rid of the latter tendency so that it doesn’t undo the good of the former.

12. LB Lemar Marshall (24)—He was the lowest-ranked Redskin here last year primarily because he had never taken an NFL snap at middle linebacker at the time. Marshall proved to be a quick study and became a playmaker, leading the team in interceptions.

11. T Jon Jansen (6)—His comeback season was a little bit off from his pre-2004 standards, as he had to deal with a broken thumb on each hand. While his holding calls were down, so was his overall effectiveness.

10. TE Chris Cooley (8)—With the weapons the Redskins added on offense, Cooley could play better this year than last, but catch fewer passes.

9. S Adam Archuleta (NR)—This may be a bit higher ranking than his coverage skills warrant, but his potential to be a force blitzing and run stopping in Gregg Williams’ defense moves him up the list.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume 1: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game the Redskins played from when they moved to Washington in 1937 through the 2001 season. For details and ordering information, go to http://www.RedskinsGames.com

Ranking the Redskins #17-#24

Tandler's Redskins Blog Ver. 05.25.06--Who are the Redskins’ best players and who are the ones who are starting just because there isn’t enough talent to push them out? If another team had a shot at anyone on the Redskins’ roster to use for the 2005 season, who would they gobble up and who would they say thanks, but no thanks to?

To help answer these questions I ranked the Redskins starters from the most expendable to the most valuable. Today, numbers 17-24.

In inverse order, here are my rankings of the Redskins starters, including punter and kicker, based on what I think they might do in 2006. Their 2005 rankings here (Part 1, Part 2), where applicable, are in parenthesis:

24. LB Warrick Holdman (NR)—If the weak side position is manned by Chris Clemons or Rocky McIntosh, it’s a wait and see proposition. If Holdman mans it, we’ve already seen what we have. He’d have to improve a great deal to be considered mediocre.

23. P Derrick Frost (NR)--Inconsistency is not what you want from a punter, but that’s what Frost delivered in 2005. He seemed to save his best, most booming punts for when the Redskins were inside their opponents’ territory, resulting in frustrating touchbacks.

22. C Casey Rabach (10 in 2005)—Although he improved as the year went on, Rabach was not the road grader in the middle that the Redskins hoped he would be. He was dominated much more often than he was the dominator.

21. K John Hall (21)—One of the major surprises of the offseason was Joe Gibbs’ announcement that no challengers to Hall or Frost would be brought in. Hall missed a good chunk of the season with a leg injury. When healthy he was accurate (12-14) but he didn’t hit one from over 45 yards all year. His kickoffs were mostly of the maddeningly short variety.

20. CB Carlos Rogers (NR)—While it’s possible, maybe even probable, that Rogers will be very good for a very long time, he hasn’t done it yet. He has to show that he can stay on the field and play consistently for a full 16 games.

19. G Derrick Dockery (23)—This monster project just may pay off for the Redskins, but he still has to prove that he can play up to his size and athletic ability from the first snap of the season through the last.

18. DT Joe Salave’a (20)—He played through some pain that would have had many of us calling in sick to our desk jobs. Salave’a is a solid performer and that fact that he’s #18 on the list is a testament to the strength of the team.

17. QB Mark Brunell (NR)—If healthy, he’s a good fit for this offense. Brunell’s ability to stay healthy, though, is a question mark and one would have to think that if he were to find himself on the open market he might draw as much interest as, say, Kerry Collins is now.

Injury History Doesn't Faze Williams

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

One thing that stuck out about the recent group of draft picks and free agent signees that the Redskins have added lately is the history of injuries that many of them carry. Top pick Rocky McIntosh has fought through back problems. Kedric Golston broke a leg in a car accident and broke a shoulder blade playing football. Kevin Simon and Spencer Havner missed significant time in college due to knee injuries. Chris Mineo, a defensive tackle from UTEP who was signed on after last weekend’s rookie camp, missed a good chunk of his senior season with an ankle injury.

One reason that the Redskins have such a collection of the formerly walking wounded is that they decided to take some calculated risks with some of their late-round picks. A player such as Simon, who twice led Tennessee in tackles, would not have been available towards the end of the draft had he remained injury-free throughout his career. If he has shaken the problems with his knees he could be an outstanding performer on the field. If not, well, if the 250^th selection turns out to be a bust it’s hardly a devastating blow to the organization.

There may be another reason for the preponderance of players with injury histories, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Consider what Gregg Williams had to say in his comments at the recent rookie minicamp, comments that echoed sentiments similar to what he has expressed in the past:

We want to look at their longevity, trustworthiness, and their accountability in their college ranks too. Everybody is going to get nicked and injured but how do they bounce back from it? How do they fight through those kind of things? For the most part every one of these rookies that came out here have had to fight through some type of adversity in their young sports careers. That is going to be the same thing up here. They are going to have to fight through that.

Williams seems to be saying that, within reason, a history of coming back from injuries is a resume enhancer when it comes to getting a shot at playing on defense for the Washington Redskins. Just like it’s easy to blow off your rehab when your knees are aching, it’s easy to pack it in when your team is 5-6 and has to run the table to make the playoffs. If you have the character to come back from an injury, that’s a good indicator that you have the character to get through the inevitable rough spots that come up over a 16-game NFL season.

Looking back, this is not a new philosophy for Williams or for Joe Gibbs. Look at some of the team’s first acquisitions when they came to Washington, the free agent group of 2004. Shawn Springs had missed 13 games in the three seasons prior to 2004. Joe Salave’a, due in part to injury problems, had played in just 20 games in the three seasons before to coming to Washington. Some teams shied away from them because of their injury histories. It seems that the injury factor may have been one of the reasons that Williams and Gibbs were attracted to them.

LaVar Arrington is no longer a Redskin for a variety of reasons, one of which could well be how he handled being seriously injured for the first time in his football career. To be sure, there is every indication that Arrington worked hard to get back onto the field. However, when he suffered a couple of setbacks in his rehab, he unleashed a tirade against the team to a couple of reporters who happened to run across him at Redskins Park. He accused the team of pushing him back too soon from his injury and of not caring that he was about to have another surgical procedure. Arrington was facing a moment of truth, a character-revealing moment, and he let his emotions get the best of him. Perhaps that’s not a big reason why he’s now a New York Giant, but there’s no question that it made the decision to let him go that much easier.

Of course you can’t build an entire roster out of players who have missed significant time with injuries. For every Springs there is a Marcus Washington, who has missed just one game in six seasons in the league. Still, in an organization that places such a high value on character, the character revealed by the display of determination needed to come back from injury is something that will get the attention of Gibbs and Williams.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume 1: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game the Redskins played from when they moved to Washington in 1937 through the 2001 season. For details and ordering information go to http://RedskinsGames.com

Draft: Coaches Will Have to Earn Their Money

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

According to the scouting reports, Rocky McIntosh needs to play under control and not overpursue. Anthony Montgomery needs to work on his hand technique in order to shed blocks better. There are also issues with Reed Doughty’s backpedaling, Kedric Golston’s lateral movement, Kili Lefotu’s footwork and Kevin Simon’s tackling technique.

In evaluating these players, the Redskins undoubtedly saw those flaws and many more. And Joe Gibbs turned to the most expensive coaching staff in the history of mankind and told them that they would be the ones who will make or break this draft. Dale Lindsey, Greg Blache, Jerry Gray, and Joe Bugel will have to coach ‘em up, correct the flaws and turn them in to NFL players.

Bubba Tyer’s training and medical staff also may be taxed. McIntosh, Golston, and Simon all carry histories of significant injuries into the NFL and their success will be determined in large part by how well Tyer and company can help them overcome their past ailments.

Don’t think for a moment, though, that this draft class is a nothing more than a group of the undisciplined and the infirm. What they got in exchange for some rough edges and mended joints is athletic ability. Doughty is an excellent natural athlete. Golston, when healthy, amazed many observers with the agility he displayed for a man his size. Scouts were amazed at how light the 311-pound Montgomery is on his feet. McIntosh has excellent speed for someone his size.

They also got smarts—not just football smarts but book smarts. In particular there’s McIntosh, who has already graduated with a 3.0 GPA in Criminology. He won’t be waving his transcript in Doughty’s face, however. Doughty also has his degree, graduating with a perfect 4.0 average in kinesiology. (Yeah, I don’t know what that is, either, but I’m thinking that it’s harder than ballroom dancing.)

Add in a solid dose of versatility, too. Lefotu can play all three O-line positions, a hat trick that McIntosh can match with his experience in all three LB spots. Simon could play inside or outside and several teams talked to Montgomery about drafting him as an offensive lineman. That wouldn’t be the former Golden Gopher’s first foray on offense; in high school, he was a 295-pound quarterback.

The move that is drawing the most fire from the self-declared draft gurus out there is the spending of the 2007 second-round pick to move up 18 spots to draft McIntosh (there was a 2006 sixth involved also). As was discussed here before the draft, the Redskins way of doing things is to be aggressive and go after the players that they want rather than letting things come to them. True, it is not a move that such successful franchises as the Steelers would make. To them, a second-round pick is way too precious to part with a year early and their results validate their methods. However, it is also not a move that franchises such as the Detroit Lions or Arizona Cardinals would have made and their records of futility are testimony to the fact that sitting on your hands and taking whoever falls into your lap isn’t a guaranteed ticket to success either.

It’s not what you do, it’s how well you do it. Time will tell, just as it will with the rest of the draft. If you came here looking for a draft grade, you came to the wrong place. Check back in a couple of years. Golston and Simon are the keys. If they can shed their injury-ridden pasts and play to their potentials, they could be something that the Redskins have not had many of in recent years—late-round steals. That would, at least by this team’s standards, make the draft a smashing success.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume 1: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game that the Redskins played from when the moved to Washington in 1937 through the 2001 season. For details and ordering information, go to http://RedskinsGames.com