Rookie Tryon may have to step up at CB

I promised a blurb about the Skins' cornerback situation after the release of John Eubanks, who was the fourth corner last year after Carlos Rogers was put on injured reserve in October.

Eubanks was released, it seems to me, and players like Byron Westbrook and Cedric Holt stayed because Eubanks had used up his practice squad eligibility. If players are close in ability and are long shots to make the 53-man roster, you want to keep around the guys you'll be able to keep around on the PS.

Eubanks may even have been a little bit better than Westbrook and Holt but he would be taking up resources in the form of a roster spot and coaching time and the Redskins don't want to do that if it's likely that he'll be cut loose at the end of August anyway.

Westbrook and Holt and fourth-round draftee Just Tryon may be good players but, for all three of them, their next NFL snap will their first NFL snap.

Rogers is the key to how much all of this matters. If he's ready for Week 1, he, Shawn Springs, and Fred Smoot are the top three corners. Leigh Torrence, the nickel back after Rogers went out in '07, comes in against four wides and in third and very long. Tryon is the fifth CB on the roster, playing special teams when he's on the active list. Westbrook and Holt likely are on the practice squad.

It seems unlikely, though, that Rogers will be ready to play in the Meadowlands on September 4. If he's on the PUP list, which would open a spot on the 53-man roster, Holt or Westbrook will have a shot at making it. In either case, Torrence and Tryon both move up a notch to the nickel and dime spots respectively.

No chance of J. Williams pickup

On Tuesday, the Atlanta Falcons released safety Jimmy Williams, a 2006 second-round draft pick out of Virginia Tech.

As usually happens when a player who was a high pick in a recent draft is cut loose, folks are asking if the Washington Redskins might have any interest in picking him up.

I can generally hazard an educated guess as to whether or not there will be any interest on the part of the Redskins. Often I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong.

In the case of Williams, however, I can give a definitive no. That's because he gave the organization one of the worst first impressions ever.

Be advised that the details of this story are somewhat hazy as I received them two computers ago and I can't dredge up the original document. But the essence of the story is what's important.

Williams did a pre-draft visit to Redskins Park when he came out of Tech. He didn't make a very good first impression as he showed up with a small posse and seemed distracted as he was sending and receiving text messages while he was being greeted.

It got worse from there. During a meeting with Gregg Williams and some other defensive coaches, J. Williams' cell phone rang. He answered it and started chatting it up with one of his buddies. G. Williams was not amused.

It didn't have a chance to get worse from there. Within minutes the player and his posse were back in the car on their way back to the airport after one of the shortest draft visits in history.

Williams won't get second chance to make a first impression with the Skins.

That probably wasn't the only such visit that Williams had in '06. He originally was projected to be a top-15 selection. As the interview process went on, he slid down the board until he wound up being the 37^th pick.

NOTN: Kirwin's take on Schweigert vs. Doughty

Notes on the News

Pat Kirwin of NFL.com had the following take on Stu Schweigert fighting Reed Doughty for playing time:

2. Washington Redskins--Schweigert was just signed as the Redskins continue to beef up the back end of their roster. He had 10 starts for the Raiders last year with 69 tackles, four passes defended and two interceptions. Doughty came off the bench after the death of Sean Taylor and started six games with 53 tackles and two passes defended. Both are close in age, setting up a battle which may be won by the guy who flashes big-play ability in preseason games.

This is kind of an apples vs. oranges comparison here as Schweigert plays the free safety spot and Doughty is more of a strong safety. As we've discussed here on a few occasions, though, there is no clear, hard line between the two positions in the Redskins' defense (and on many NFL defenses, for that matter) as they evolve into hybrid spots.

Still, barring one of them really shining or falling flat on his face in camp and the preseason, I don't see there being much of a battle. LaRon Landry's versatility is the key. In some situations, Landry will be up in the box in the traditional strong safety role and Schweigert will be manning the free safety spot. At other times, Landry will roam center field and Doughty will be in at strong safety.

Tryon inks for four years

Justin Tryon signed a four-year deal with the Washington Redskins, according to Jason LaCanfora at the Post.

Update: Dave Elfin on Redskins 360 said that Tryon's signing bonus was $426,000.

He may need to get up to NFL speed in a hurry. The general feeling around Redskins Park is that it's looking more and more like Carlos Rogers will open the season on the PUP list. Should that happen, Tryon, Leigh Torrence, and John Eubanks will be the nickel and dime package depth being starters.

Following is the Redskins' press release on the Tryon signing.

WASHINGTON SIGNS FOURTH-ROUND DRAFT PICK JUSTIN TRYON

Ashburn, VA - The Washington Redskins announced today they have signed rookie cornerback Justin Tryon. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. In addition, the Redskins released safety Patrick Ghee.

Tryon (5-9, 190), a fourth round pick (124^th overall) out of Arizona State, totaled 103 career tackles (80 solo), four interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble in 26 games (all starts). He also had 12 kickoff returns for 372 yards (31.0 avg.).

As a senior, he totaled 56 tackles (43 solo), one forced fumble, three interceptions, one interception returned for a touchdown and a team-high 16 passes defended (11^th in the Nation). Tryon earned third-team All-America honors by The NFL Draft Report, second-team All-Pac 10 and Arizona State's Most Improved Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2007. He had his first career interception return for a touchdown (69 yards) at Washington State (10/6/07).

Tryon prepped at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, where he earned second-team all-city honors as a running back.

Ghee originally signed with the Redskins on May 6, 2008.

Fourth-rounder Tryon in the fold

Fourth-round pick Justin Tryon signed on the line with the Washington Redskins today. Terms are not available as of now, but it's likely that he signed for three years with a small signing bonus.

The other shoe dropped more quickly than anticipated here for safety Patrick Ghee. The fist-year safety was cut in order to make room on the 80-man roster for Tryon.

Horton signed, Hamilton out

Justin Hamilton didn't even get a chance to be camp fodder.

The Washington Redskins signed Chris Horton, their seventh-round draft pick out of UCLA. The safety, a seventh-round draft pick out of UCLA, signed a three-year deal with a signing bonus of around $36,000.

To make room for Horton, who upon signing the deal counted against the 80-man roster, the Redskins cut Hamilton. The Redskins had signed the former sixth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns on June 2. It was opined here that Hamilton had a chance to survive training camp and make the team.

Later in the week, however, the safety position got a bit more crowded when the Redskins inked veteran Stu Schweigert.

It's apparent that Greg Blache and company were more impressed with Patrick Ghee, a 6-1 first-year player who spent time with the Seahawks and Panthers last year, than they were with Hamilton.

Ghee probably is waiting for the other shoe to drop. He is likely to be waived when the Redskins agree to terms with sixth-round pick Kareem Moore.

That would leave the Redskins with six players competing for four or five safety spots. LaRon Landry, Reed Doughty are safe and Schweigert probably is, too. That leaves Horton, Moore, and veteran Vernon Fox batting for one or two roster spots.

Landry will play both safety spots

Will LaRon Landry be the Washington Redskins' free safety this year, the position where he played his best ball after moving in after the loss of Sean Taylor?

Or will he play strong safety, the position he was drafted to play?

During this week's OTA's, we got the answer.

Both.

According to Steve Jackson, Landry will line up in the deep center of the field on passing downs. When the situation has the defense looking for the run, Landry will assume the traditional strong safety position, lining up in the box and coming on a blitz.

Playing such a swing role is something that not too many players can do. "Some guys are better suited for strong. Some are better suited for free," Jackson said. "He's one of the few guys who can play both."

Dave Elfin's article does not address who would be in the game along with Landry in those various situations. But it's not hard to read the tea leaves and speculate.

When Landry is in the deep center field role, Reed Doughty, who became a starter when Landry moved over last year, would play the strong safety spot. When Landry is up close to the line, Stu Schweigert, a natural free safety, would go into the game.

Landry's skill set gives Jackson and Greg Blache some other options. Schweigert and Landry could split the field in a cover two scheme on third and long. Landry and Doughty both might line up close to the line of scrimmage on short-yardage and goal line situations.

So, the where-to-play-Landry dilemma turns out to be no problem at all. Just put him where the action is going to be and fit the other players around him.

Schweigert signed for one year

The contract that Stuart Schweigert signed with the Washington Redskins was a one-year deal.

From David Elfin at the Washington Times:

The Washington Redskins signed former Oakland Raiders free safety Stuart Schweigert to a one-year deal yesterday. The 26-year-old Schweigert, who will receive a bonus if he makes the team according to a team source, started 42 games for the Raiders over four seasons.

Several other teams were interested in landing the fifth-year player out of Purdue including Atlanta, Denver, St. Louis and Tennessee, according to Elfin's story.

The veteran minimum for a fifth-year layer is $605,000 and I'll take a stab at his roster bonus being in the neighborhood of $100,000. I will pass along contract details when they become available.

In his Times report on Monday's OTA's, Elfin had a slightly different take on the participation of Rocky McIntosh in practice. Yesterday in his blog, he said that McIntosh was lined up at his weakside linebacker spot. Today in the paper edition of the paper he said that the is "getting close to returning to full-time duty." Still, quite an optimistic outlook for McIntosh.

Rocky practices?

While accounts by both Jason LaCanfora and the Associated Press both said that Rocky McIntosh was on the sidelines during today's OTA session, Dave Elfin of the Washington Times apparently saw something different.

Per the Redskins 360 blog:

The Redskins are back on the field for the first time since May 8 and the big news is that Rocky McIntosh is back at his usual weakside linebacker spot for the first time since he tore an ACL against Chicago last Dec. 2.

There were questions about whether or not McIntosh would be ready for the start of training camp due to the lateness and severity of the injury. The Redskins have said all along, however, that Rocky would be ready for training camp and, if Elfin is accurate here, that would appear to be the case.

Schweigert brings starting experience

On Friday, the Washington Redskins signaled that they were not happy with their situation at safety and signed a potential backup in Justin Hamilton.

Today, they made it loud and clear that they wanted to upgrade the position substantially when they signed a potential starter at safety in Stu Schweigert.

In four seasons with the Raiders since the drafted him out of Purdue with the fourth pick of the third round, Schweigert, who will turn 27 later this month, started 42 games. Thirty seven of those starts came consecutively before an injury forced him out of the lineup for a game late last season. The Oakland coaching staff reportedly was unhappy with his tackling and when he was healthy, he was relegated to the bench.

When Oakland signed free agent safety Gibril Wilson away from the Giants, the handwriting was on the wall and the Raiders released Schweigert on May 21.

The acquisition of Schweigert gives the Redskins the option of moving LaRon Landry back to strong safety. That's where he played his rookie season until Sean Taylor went out of the lineup with a knee injury. Taylor, of course, never returned and Landry stayed at free safety while Reed Doughty assumed the SS position.

Schweigert has four career interceptions, but this tribute video from his days at Purdue shows that he has considerable ball hawking skills:

Note that a couple of the picks in the video are at the expense of his new teammate Antwaan Randle El, a QB at Indiana.

He can lay some lumber as well. Here's a shot he took at Tony Gonzalez of the Chiefs:

A good stick, but I have to say that I've seen taunting call for much less than what he did after the hit.

In not-unrelated news, safety Vernon Fox underwent his second knee operation of the offseason recently. He had one procedure done in January and then after he tweaked it again in minicamp he had a second surgery performed.

With sixth-round pick Kareem Moore also hobbled with recent knee surgery, the Redskins were getting rather thin at safety going into the final round of OTA's.

Not any more.

Skins sign S Schweigert

The Washington Redskins further bolstered the safety position by signing ex -Raider Stuart Schweigert. Here's the press release, more later.


Ashburn, VA - The Washington Redskins announced today that they have signed free agent safety Stuart Schweigert (pronounced Shwi-gert).


  In addition, the team released linebacker Rian Wallace.


Schweigert (6-2, 210) played his first four NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders (2004-07).  He was released by Oakland on May 21, 2008.  In 63 career games (42 starts), he compiled 315 tackles, four interceptions and 18 passes defensed.His best season occurred in 2006, when he totaled a career-best 107 tackles and four passes defensed in 16 games.  Last season, he totaled 69 tackles and tied his career-high with two interceptions in 15 contests.


Schweigert originally entered the NFL as a third-round draft pick (67th overall) with Oakland out of Purdue.  He was named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and totaled a school-record 17 interceptions at Purdue (besting the previous mark of 11 picks set by Rod Woodson)

Is Justin Hamilton more than camp fodder?

The Washington Redskins signed safety Justin Hamilton, who was out of the league in 2007, on Friday. Normally, that's all the mention that the acquisition of a street free agent would merit. But Hamilton may, just may, be more than mere camp fodder.

Hamilton is 6-3, 217 and at the 2006 combine he ran 4.55 in the 40. He is a product of Virginia Tech. As a Hokie, he played running back and receiver his first couple of seasons before switching to defense. The Cleveland Browns drafted him in the sixth round and he made the team with a role playing special teams, as many low-round draftees do. In 10 games, he recorded 15 tackles.

In the final round of cuts in 2007, Hamilton was let go. The team said that he was injured in the final preseason game and, although it was only supposed to keep him sidelined for a month, they reached an injury settlement and waived him. That left the team with three safeties, a very low number on a 53-man roster.

I did some poking around to try to find out the nature of his injury. And I found nothing definitive. Someone said it was a knee tweak. Chris Pokorny of Dawgs by Nature told me that the team never said but he thought it might have been a back problem.

The nature of the release would allow him to return to the Browns at any time during the season. And, when Gary Baxter, who was considered the fourth safety, went on injured reserve, those occupying the Dawg Pound thought it was a no-brainer to re-up Hamilton. But he remained unemployed despite the generally dismal state of the Cleveland defense.

And he stayed out of football until the end of May when the Redskins picked him up.

Sometimes there are valid reasons why a guy is out of the league for a year. Sometimes there are not. Gregg Williams used to love to say that there were hundreds of players on the street who, given the right role with the right team, could play.

Hamilton has the size and, if he hasn't lost more than half a step, the speed to play in the NFL. Whatever the nature of his 2007 injury was, it would seem to be something that could heal in eight months. There are no off-field issues that we know of. He could compete for a roster spot.

The tea leaves indicate to me that the knee of sixth-round safety Kareem Moore, which was scoped just after the draft, is not recovering as well as the Redskins would hope.

Calendar helped Skins land James

The Memorial Day holiday came at a good time for the Washington Redskins.

The Minnesota Vikings announced on Friday that they were going to waive defensive end Erasmus James. However, due to the fact that it was the Memorial Day weekend, the league office was closed. The waivers could not be finalized until 4 PM Eastern time on Tuesday. That seemed to be a mere technicality.

According to John Clayton of ESPN.com, however, several teams contacted the Vikings and James' agent about making a possible waiver claim. The Redskins were one of those teams, but since priority for claims is given in reverse order of last year's won-loss record (just like the draft), 20 other teams would have a shot at James before the Skins be able to secure him. It was apparent that wasn't going to happen.

When the Redskins raised the possibility of giving the Vikings some conditional compensation for James, the Vikings were able to rescind the move.

Rookie free agent defensive end Dorian Smith was released to make room for James on the roster.

Blache coveted James in ‘05

About a week before the 2005 NFL Draft, I wrote the following in an article about the possibility of the Washington Redskins drafting Wisconsin defensive end Erasmus James:

Redskins' defensive coordinator Greg Blache has let it be known that he would love it if the Skins would add James to his unit. There's no question that James would be a good fit in virtually any NFL system, including that of Gregg Williams. He could have instant impact when it comes to the pass rush and would be all over the field on every play. With a rotation in place with James, Philip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn, James' durability questions would be less of an issue than they would be in a place where he was expected to play every snap.

It would be a terrific reach to take him with the #9 pick, however, if he falls to #25 that would likely mean that, players such as Marcus Spears, David Pollack and Dan Cody are gone. Would they take James, probably the most talented of the group or pass due to the health concerns? It depends on how much of a voice Greg Blache has in the draft room.

As it turned out, the Redskins did not have a shot at James in 2005. The Minnesota Vikings drafted him with the 18^th pick. After a mediocre rookie season, he suffered from injuries in 2006 and 2007.

The Vikings waived him last week but they rescinded the waivers and traded him to the Redskins for a conditional seventh-round pick.

So, Blache, now the true defensive coordinator after Williams' departure, gets his shot at seeing what he can do with James. There is even less tread on the 25-year-old's tires after a knee injury in 2006. He hadn't yet fully recovered last year and he played in just six games.

As mentioned in the excerpt from the 2005 article, there were health concerns about James during his years in Wisconsin. He missed all of the 2003 season with a hip injury and a portion of the '04 campaign with an ankle problem.

It's a no-risk move for the Redskins. If James can't get healthy or otherwise can't make the team, the Redskins keep the seventh rounder.

The Redskins anticipate that James will be ready to participate fully in training camp.

He is still working off of his rookie contract, which has one more year to run at $1 million.

Since the Redskins are at the 80-player roster limit (this excludes draft picks until they sign), the will have to cut a player to make room for James.

Roster spot #80 filled

The Washington Redskins got up to the limit of 80 players under contract when they signed defensive back Steve Tate, an undrafted rookie out of Hofstra.

Tate played in 42 games in his four years at the university on Long Island, but he started only 12. According to the Hofstra Chronicle, that's because his versatility:

"Tate doesn't start for us, but he might be the best defensive back we have." Defensive Backs Coach Lyle Hemphill said. "He plays both Cornerback and Safety. We can line him up anywhere."

Hemphill explained. "He actually plays more snaps then anyone else in the secondary. He is always in giving someone a blow."

Tate is 5-11, 184. He tried out during minicamp and got the call to sign a contract.

It would seem that his best shot at making the team is at safety, where his main competition comes from late-round draft picks Kareem Moore and Chris Horton.

The move puts the Redskins at the preseason limit of 80 players under contract. Their 10 draft picks do not count against this total until they are signed.

Corner backup plan

I've been having an online discussion with some friends of mine about the Washington Redskins cornerback position and I thought it was worth bringing up here.

The Redskins have nine corners on their roster:

25	Eubanks, John
38	Holt, Cedrick
32	Jackson, Eddie
22	Rogers, Carlos
27	Smoot, Fred
24	Springs, Shawn
29	Torrence, Leigh
20	Tryon, Justin
34	Westbrook, Byron
40	Richardson, Matteral

Springs and Smoot should start the opener if Rogers isn't yet fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered on October 28 (more on that in a bit).

Jackson and Holt have bounced around the league for a few years; they're hoping to get enough good time on film in preseason games to be able to latch on as injury fill-ins either here or elsewhere. Richardson's highest realistic aspiration as an undrafted rookie free agent is to make the practice squad.

That's where Westbrook spent last year and he'd like to make the 53-man roster this year. The team likely will keep five corners so if Rogers starts the year on the active roster (again, more coming on that subject) that means there are two jobs for Westbrook, fourth-round pick Tryon, and Eubanks and Torrence, who finished up last year as the dime and nickel corners, respectively.

Some of my friends look at that and are scared witless. At a minimum, this line of thinking goes, the Redskins needed to expend one of their second-round draft picks on a corner. Perhaps they should have pursued a free agent corner such as Drayton Florence more aggressively.

Suppose Rogers is on the shelf until October and something happens to the "injury prone" Springs. That probably leaves Torrence as the starter and Eubanks as the nickel. That's a recipe for disaster, they say.

And it may well be. I do think, though, that such a scenario involves some worst-case speculation that isn't likely to take place.

The first factor here is Rogers. We don't know that he won't be ready for the start of the season or not. It's being taken as a given by many that he won't be, given the nature of his knee injury.

Ten years ago, even five years ago, his absence for the start of the season would have been a given. Advances in surgery and rehab, however, have been dramatic. We saw Carson Palmer go down with a devastating knee injury in the playoffs in January of 2006. It was thought for a while that his career could be over. He was back under center for the Bengals the next September.

Just because Palmer made it back doesn't mean that Rogers will. Injuries are different and different players have different healing powers. But it's possible that Rogers will be ready for at least nickel back duty for the start of the season.

If he's not ready, the team will have to make a choice. Assuming that he doesn't participate in training camp because he can't pass a physical, the Redskins could put Rogers on the Physically Unable to Perform list. If that happens, he wouldn't count against the 53-player limit and he would be sidelined for a minimum of six weeks. After that, the team would have a three-week window during which Rogers could be activated. If they don't activate him during that time, he would go on injured reserve for the rest of the year.

If Rogers does go on PUP, the Redskins could choose to fill his spot with one of the younger players and start the year with essentially the same group of corners that got them through the playoff run last year and bring Tryon along in spots.

Alternatively, they could try to pick up an experienced corner who was a late roster cut and go with that player in the nickel spot as a stopgap measure.

But what if something happens to Springs?

I'm not going to say that's not a legitimate concern, but I did put "injury-prone" in quotes above for a reason. Springs' fragility is overblown.

He's been in Washington for four years. In 2004, he played in 15 games. He played in the same number in '05. Last year, he appeared in 16 games. Only in 2006, when he had a sports hernia, a hamstring injury, and, finally, a broken scapula, did he miss significant time and even that year he was in the lineup for nine games.

Springs' track record doesn't exactly qualify him for iron man status or anything, but by the same token it's inaccurate to portray him as a china doll of some sort.

Still, he's 33 and increased issues with injuries often accompany advancing age. Counting on him to stay on the field does carry some risk, just not as much as some imagine.

And if Springs is sidelined for more than a game or two and Rogers is on the PUP list, the defense will struggle, no doubt about it. You can't name more than a few teams in the NFL that wouldn't have problems if two of their three top corners were out.

All that being said, I certainly would have voiced no objection had the Redskins expended one of those three second-round picks on a corner.

In addition to providing insurance this year, a high draftee could start developing to be a replacement for Springs in the near future.

In 2009 Springs will be a year older and he will be carrying a cap number just shy of $8.5 million.

Still, I don't see the cornerback position as one that's in extreme need. Should the Redskins suffer from some misfortune, some younger players will be called on to step up.

If they have to get by for a game or two with Torrence as the starter and Tryon playing nickel, so be it. Coaches get paid six-figure incomes to figure out how to do just that without getting torched.

/span>