So for now if you didn’t get the memo, Jason Taylor has been wearing #55 like his ex-fin comrade Zach Thomas in Dallas because Andre Carter won’t part with 99… JT was quoted in the paper as saying that he likes double numbers and this one looked the best, which i thought was kinda funny.

a cowboys insider take on the trade can be seen: here
(kind of feels like hes trying to jinx us)

an up-to-date scouting report on Mr. Taylor from scouts inc:
can be seen here

An NFL.com writer ranked the skins fourth when it comes to depth– his list doesnt make sense/i don’t think he has too much credibility (haven’t we been hearing that the chargers are the deepest and most stocked roster in the league for the past 2 years?) : check it out here

my take on this guy is that he seems to favor skill position depth– when i favor line depth… although now we kinda have that… knock on wood? maybe?

Hailredskins.com has a feature that breaks down the roster going into camp pretty well: camp battles

also my man at the post (who i’ve never met, but i like his coverage) wrote a little post ripping Vinny Cerrato a new one about being slimey– something that I agree with– although i feel like when you talk shit on VC or the Danny that they really could have someone combing the internet, looking up my ip address– somehow getting my real info, and sending someone to assasinate me. I keep waiting for someone to choke me out with a metal wire James Bond style. anyway here is the link: click away

phew– last but not least, if you missed it– here is JT talking about joining the skins at his press conference: Comments

If you didn’t know Devin Thomas just went down with a strain and is going to be out for a few weeks– we’ll probably have to wait until around game 3 or 4 to see him in the pre-season. In other news the Washington Post has some great training camp video breakdown coverage– called redskins unrestricted, which you should check out when you have a chance. Apparently Malcolm Kelly has been extremely impressive of late.

As of last Sunday we had lost a solid veteran leader in RDE Phillip Daniels and an interesting young defensive end prospect in former Georgetown DE Alex Buzbee for the season. We had taken a flier on former Wisconsin DE Erasmus James but he was already on the physically unable to perform list. This left us with a grand total of nine defensive lineman– which the Giants had just shown is among the most important places in football to have talent and depth. One could argue that before yesterday we had neither. While giving up a second rounder in 2009 kind of stings, its much better than having to mail in this year before it even really got started. Last year when John Jansen went down we were so thoroughly handicapped from the get go– and we really had no way to stop the bleeding– we couldn’t run the ball to that side the entire year and became extremely limited offensively. I was worried that this would do a similar thing to us defensively.

Enter Jason Taylor– he hasn’t missed a game since 1999 (knock on wood), he has always had the reputation as a leader/high character guy, is a year removed from being NFL defensive player of the year and recorded 11 sacks last year on a miserable defense– for a team that really had no hope and nothing to play for besides the embarrassment of an 0-16 campaign. Basically a team that was weak on the defensive line just got the player in the NFL who has recorded the most sacks in the league since 2000.

Let’s look at this as negatively as possible and see what this means for our franchise. He’s 33 years old and plays a position where speed, quickness and agility are the most important qualities– he has a lot of wear on the tires (he hasn’t missed a game since 1999). He isn’t as big as Phillip Daniels (who is about 270) and a defense with two 255 pound defensive ends will have a tough time stopping the run. If we assume that he is “washed-up” or distracted by his burgeoning stardom (due to his dancing with the stars appearance) then 8 sacks still seem like relatively realistic numbers. Thats a decent sized upgrade over PD who might have had 4 all of last season. Optimistically– Jason Taylor is younger than Daniels, has proved to be above average against the run and hasn’t seemed to lose much with age to this point. This change of scenery could be just the breath of fresh air he needs to reinvigorate himself and return to his ‘06 form. Even if we get his ‘07 form i think everyone in the organization would be thrilled with that. This isn’t adding Bruce Smith, Mark Carrier and Neon Deion Sanders in 2000– although at first glance it may seem like it– it was a move that this franchise had to make to ensure that this season wouldn’t start off the way last season did. We’re bringing in a different kind of quick fix– one with something to prove, who has shown in the past few years he still has gas left in the tank.

On paper we look good– we still have an inexperienced head coach, a huge payroll and a general lack of depth. That being said, if Taylor plays more than one year (which Deer-Eyes-Franchise-Ruiner VC has suggested he will) and we have add talent to the o-line/linebacking corp and d-line next offseason we really could have a complete scary team in 2009-2010. Thats not the most exciting thing about this move– the exciting thing about this move is that we can still be engaged in whats going on from 2008 through 2009.

…

Andrew Crummey and “Reverend” Jason Goode have been signed by the Skins.  For those unfamiliar with the Maryland Football program, Crummey was a preseason all-american type talent on the O-line but his leg was broken in a game where it seemed the whole line was going to be injured that day.  He returned at the end of the year for the bowl game.  His leg is a concern that caused him to drop from 3-4th round to undrafted.  Andrew was originally signed by San Diego but failed his physical due to his injury.  He could be thrown on the IR or something after another injury in the Senior Bowl, but he has the talent to replace Kendall when he retires if he can stay healthy.  With the success of recent undrafted Maryland linemen (Heyer, Gaither) Crummey could be a solid addition.

Jason Goode is a h-back type guy who wasn’t featured as much as Joey Haynos at the TE position, but he has fantastic hands and is a solid blocker.  I’m not sure where he fits in the plans with Cooley and Fred (is he wakes up) on the roster, but I was a big fan of his at Maryland.  I cannot remember why I decided he should be called Reverend Goode, it either has something to do with me thinking “Hallelujah”  when he got the ball thrown his way… or possibly an homage to an obscure skit off of De La Soul’s AOI:Bionix album.  This year’s football season seemed a bit hazy too me.

Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly and Fred Davis ensure that JC has no wont for weapons next year. While neither of the two WR were a surprise- especially with the team needing some size at the WR position, Fred Smith was surprising since we didn’t have a need. I understand that there is the “best player” philosophy, but then three guys with first round talent wouldn’t have slipped to us in the second round.

Chad Rhinehart should be able to fortify some line depth next year, which was the next most important need after WR. Durant Brooks surprised me in the 6th, but playmaking DEs were definitely gone at that point and a Ray Guy winner over Derrick Frost sounds like a great deal for me. A bonus would be if he could do kickoffs. I haven’t seen a touchback in a while.

I like what I see with the two safeties- the first one we took, Kareem Moore, was the Southern Conference player of the year, a guy who transferred from Old Miss but is known for his physical style of play. There’s a possibility that he could also be in the return mix. Chris Horton had 90 tackles as a safety. That kind of play either means that the UCLA linebackers really suck, or that losing Pierson to the Jags won’t hurt that badly.

Justin Tyron was a guy I didn’t know anything about but was part of a pretty good ASU pass defense. He led the secondary with 56 tackles, so his small size (5′ 9″) doesn’t necessarily mean that he can’t get involved in mixing it up a little.

Rob Jackson was an interesting pick… I would have gone for Darrell Robertson out of Georgia Tech… but that’s just me. Jackson appears to be a little undersized, but hey. A 7th rounder is a 7th rounder.

Right before Colt Brennan was picked we were talking about what QBs were on the board, especially since I’m a big Josh Johnson guy and we traded a pick to St Louis when he was still available. I said Woodson, my friend said Brennan (we forgot about Flynn… who I said was going to have a better season than JaMarcus before last season started) and another friend of mine said “I will seriously cry if we pick Colt Brennan.” As he finished that sentence, it flashed that we picked Colt Brennan. I really don’t have much of a dog in the fight, aside from wishing we used any of those late picks on Erin Henderson to beef up our OLB depth. Brennan could work out, or not, but the dude is seriously my size. Thank goodness we have two QBs in front of him while he holds a clipboard and goes (hopefully) to all-you-can-eat at Bojangles for a couple years.

So before the offseason started I said we needed to resign Collins, Albright, Cartwright, Fabini, and Pearson. We missed out on Pearson, but we replaced him with two safeties in the draft. I said I wouldn’t mind too much if we lost Kozlowski (we always seem to resign him midseason anyways), Godfrey, Caldwell, DeMulling, Macklin, Pucillo or McCardell. Those guys are no longer on the roster. We needed to improve at WR, OL, DE, S, P and OLB and we got 4 out of the 6 done- plus REALLY improved the WR spot. Some of the young players like Buzbee or even Jackson could come on like Golston and Montgomery did at the DT spots, but who knows. The D wasn’t really the team’s problem last year anyways. I like this off season so far.

Supposedly we have signed a few UDFA

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/og/kerrybrown.html

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/ot/shannonboatman.html

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/og/devinclark.html

Perhaps as Andrew Crummey heals up we could find some space for him- the way that undrafted Maryland linemen have played recently gives some encouragement that way. Out of those three guys, Kerry Brown excites me the most. He should be a guy who makes the team.

I wonder what roles will change with this draft- I’m sure we’ve seen the last of Mike Espy and Jimmy Farris who barely held onto the team the last few years and I wonder if Mix will ever get a shot now. I like how there is going to be some real competition in camp… with a lot of young blood fighting with the older guys and really pushing them. It shouldn’t be as comfortable as recent camps have been.

Who wants to head out to Ashburn?

Espn.com is reporting today that we offered the Bungles a first and third rounder for Calvin Johnson, and that the third rounder could become a first rounder based on whether Ocho Sinco reaches a few performance levels with the Redskins. All I have to say about this is WOW Mr. Cerrato, you drive a really hard bargain… the Pats scoop up Randy Moss for a fourth rounder and here you are wagering the future of the franchise on one player.

I’d love to have Chad Johnson– but have you ever heard of how a negotiation is supposed to work? You’re supposed to haggle– the Bengals are the team in a poor position here– their franchise player is going to sit out the season if they don’t deal him and somehow you don’t realize that you have even the slightest bit of leverage. The horrifying thing is that they turned you down so you’re probably going to offer them 4 or 5 first rounders. I hate to be the one to inform you of this Mr. Cerrato, but this is FOOTBALL NOT BASKETBALL! It takes 11 people– landing one great wideout isn’t going to change the fact that we have an aging offensive line, a bad defensive line and a beat up secondary.

Theoretically you’re a very good talent evaluator– and if that were true you’d realize that first and second round picks are supposed to turn into decent starters. This obviously isn’t the case– the crapshoot angle of the draft certainly has been played up recently, but the best teams in the league have all built through the draft (look at the Chargers– they are run by the most incompetent coaching staff in the league, but they picked well in the draft in the past 3 years and are stocked with enough young talent that it doesn’t matter)– its just a fact. You don’t build a great deep team that can withstand the rollercoaster ride that is a 16 game season in the national football league without annually bringing in some good young talent. From myself and the entire Deadskins fanbase, stop cutting corners and do your freaking job.

Sincerely,

Buck O’Leary

(you do realize that the offseason superbowl champion title doesn’t mean anything… right? I wouldn’t be suprised if you and the Danny made rings and went to six flags together after the offseason– its unclear if the two of you are even aware that there is a regular season.)

I am so tired of the Steinbrennermania that has been consuming this organization– we need to stop treading water– trying to win and rebuild simultaneously, and just make a commitment to the youth movement. I’m not saying we are going to be bad this year– I love some of the players we have on our roster and if healthy they could be competitive– but is it not flagrantly obvious that this team on the whole is hurting from being built haphazardly? I find it unbelievably frustrating. I’m out like the Wizards in Cleveland.

EEEK– sorry about the long layoff, school has been kicking my ass. Here we are– the NFL draft is fast approaching and as a result we’re being inundated with the massive amounts of hype that come with it. Draft pundits have seem to determined that a big physical WR is our number one priority with a playmaking DE (a pressing need for the last decade that I’ve vented about on this site before) a close second.

Senor Mel Kiper and his associate Toddy McShay both have the ‘Skins taking Clemson DE Phillip Merling. I’d feel better about this if I had ever heard of Merling (keep in mind that I go to double digit ACC football games a year and watch a lot of others on television) as a gamechanger or at all. Its also unsettling that Mr. Merling’s scouting report starts “when healthy Merling is…” Its unclear when Merling leapfrogged Calais Campbell on the DE ranking list. The Redskin’s war room has been pretty mum on the subject. Zorn may still be trying to figure out how he talked his way into this one anyway.

Here are some other brief scouting reports on potential first round draftees:

Calais Campbell- All the physical tools in the world but hasn’t completely put it together in college so there isn’t really any reason to think that he would in the pros when he has a lot of money and girls chasing after his jersey. Could fit in nicely with the heavy and usually productive Cane’s on the Redskins like Clinton and Santana. Looking more like a second rounder at this point.

Lawrence Jackson- ditto.

Malcolm Kelly- Increasingly looking like he might be around at our selection. Big, physical receiver who supposedly the best hands in the draft. Doesn’t have ideal breakaway speed but is in the running with Devin Thomas to be the first receiver selected. Once again, durability is a concern. When healthy he is a gamebreaker and a problematic redzone matchup.

Quentin Groves- Looks like a surefire second rounder at this point. Great speed, but undersized to be a DE in the pros and its unclear if he can make the transition to LB. Can REALLY rush the passer and hits like a runaway freight train.

Derrick Harvey- Big and fast– and really sort’ve irrelevant because he’s going to be gone at least five picks before us anyway.

Kenny Phillips- A big hitter, but not yet up to snuff in terms of ball skills. If he improves in coverage will be a fine pro but not a pro bowler.

Mario Manningham- lacks ideal size/bulk and speed, but runs great routes and gets very good separation. Sort of a poor man’sMarvin Harrison.

Devin Thomas- Big, fast, had one productive year in college… has all the tools but its unclear if he has the drive to be a great pro. Eerily similar to a lot of the receiver prospects in this draft.

James Hardy- ditto. Character flags– might not be worth the risk for Zorn and company.

potential second round grabs:  Limas Sweed, Calais Campbell, Trevor Laws, Xavier Adibi, etc.

also interesting read on espn.com about Michael Westbrook which you can read here-  http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/columns/story?columnist=yasinskas_pat&id=3335714&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

TBS is airing Wedding Crashers 3 times in a row multiple times this week– its almost impossible not to get sucked in by it. I completely forgot how unbelievably funny it was– I mean it’s no Fletch (my favorite movie)… but it’s a great flick nonetheless.

Anyway on to what we’re really here to discuss–recent Redskin’s news and a few Draft Profiles. We resigned the old gunslinger Todd Collins today– it should be interesting to see how he picks up Zorn’s west coast offense after running Saunder’s schemes for the past three thousand years. It has been pretty well publicized that Collins is unbelievably intelligent so he shouldn’t have too much trouble– he also ran a similar offense before Dick Vermeil and Al Saunders arrived in KC. I like Collins, don’t get me wrong but 3 years for 9 million seemed pretty steep to me for a 36 year old whose started under 10 games in the last 10 years, especially when you’re just barely under the cap, but hey– Vinny Cerrato is our GM now– he’s more charitable than Billy King (the 76ers old GM check him out on Wikipedia).

Zorn’s installation of the West Coast Offense could benefit Mr. Franchise– Jason Campbell– its what he ran his senior year at Auburn when he dominated the SEC. He should be pretty good at picking up new offenses, I think hes only had the same offensive coordinator in consecutive years once since leaving high school in Laurel, Mississippi in 2000 (Saunders in ‘06 and ‘07).

Ah on to potential draftees– we’ve obviously got glaring needs at WR, DE, CB (we’ve got a lot of injury questions) and could use some younger bodies on the o-line, with our first rounder (I’ll go into more detail tomorrow its pretty late and I’m about to hit the hay):

WR Malcom Kelly Oklahoma 6′4 219 4.5

DE Calais Campbell Miami 6′8 280 4.9

DE/LB Quentin Groves Auburn 6′3 254 4.57

DE Derrick Havey Florida 6′5 271 4.8

DE Lawernce Jackson USC 6′4 270 4.75

S Kenny Phillips Miami 6′2 212 4.55

WR Mario Manningham Michigan 6′0 171 4.6

WR James Hardy Indiana 6′6 217 4.51

At the risk of spamming this site, I’m going to drop a new link sort of unrelated to the offseason… If you haven’t heard of centsports you’re missing out on a one-way ticket to complete gambling addiction. basically they give you ten cents for free from their advertisers and you get the chance to bet on various sporting events to win real money. its actually pretty awesome– so if you’re interested heres the link: http://www.centsports.com/?opcode=20411

Wale

So the early word is that the Skins are going to retain Todd Collins– not much of a surprise, I mean he was great for us down the stretch last year but he’s pretty old and he’s been running that same Saunders system for about a decade. He should look like a Jedi out there… Wasn’t expecting anyone else to snatch him up to be honest.

The video link above is to a freestyle from the start of the playoffs by a DC rapper named Wale– who is pretty unbelievable. If thats not your thing I understand but hes undeniably a talent.