Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

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.

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Nine punts

From the Washington Redskins Inside Slant in USA Today.com:

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Our (special) teams are pretty good. We don't want to be average at anything. We punted nine times in (the wild-card playoff loss at) Seattle and we didn't have a 4.5 hang time on any of 'em. If you line-drive the ball, these premier returners will stick it right back down your throat." — Special teams coach Danny Smith explaining why incumbent punter Derrick Frost is being challenged by sixth-round draft choice Durant Brooks.

Certainly, the poor hang time points to the fact that the Redskins would benefit from an upgrade at the punter position. I've come out strongly in favor of the drafting of Brooks.

But that's not what struck me about this quote. It's the number of punts—nine. I went to NFL.com and looked at the Gamebook. The Redskins' first six possessions ended in punts. Their seventh ended on downs. Their next one ended when the first half expired.

You just can't go on the road and win a playoff game with an offensive performance like that. It points to the lack of offensive firepower that has been keeping this team from breaking out of the ranks of the mediocre this decade.

Roster still has one spot

The Washington Redskins still have one job opening.

I mistakenly said that the Redskins released Jerome Mathis yesterday to make room for rookie defensive end Jonathan Mapu. While Mathis was cut and Mapu was signed, the first event didn't have to happen to make the second one possible.

That's because the Redskins still have just 79 players on their roster and they are allowed to have 80. They could have signed Mapu, kept Mathis, and they would have been right at the limit.

Actually, the Redskins will have 89 players available for the second round of OTA's coming up in a few weeks. Their 10 draft selections do not count against the 80-man limit until they sign contracts. As each draftee signs, a player will have to be released.

The NFL is looking at increasing the roster limit for training camp. In effect, it's smaller than it has been in years past as players who participated in the now-defunct European league were given exemptions and did not count against the 80 allowed. That allowed most teams to have around 85 players available for camp.

The WR picture —Thrash on the bubble?

The Washington Redskins cut Jerome Mathis today, making the roster outlook for the team's wide receivers much more clear.

Here are the 10 WR's currently on the roster:

12	Kelly, Malcolm
80	Mann, Maurice
16	McMullen, Billy
19	Mix, Anthony
89	Moss, Santana
82	Randle El, Antwaan
11	Thomas, Devin
83	Thrash, James
18	Toler, Burl
84	Gant, Horace

Moss and Randle El will start while Thomas and Kelly will see action as the third and fourth receivers. Five receivers on the roster is the norm, so that leaves one spot up for grabs.

The best that Mann, Toler, and Gant can hope for is a spot on the practice squad. McMullen has bounced around during his four years in the league and he'll probably get bounced again.

That leaves Thrash and Mix to battle it out for one job. It will be a classic battle of youth vs. experience.

Thrash, 33, has contributed in a myriad of ways since returning to the Redskins in 2004. He is the hardest worker on a team full of blue-collar types.

Mix, 25, is 6-5 and has the physical tools needed to thrive in the West Coast offense. He also made some standout plays on special teams.

So, there you have it. Thrash has the track record, Mix has the potential.

Depending on how things unfold in training camp and in the preseason games, it may well appear that the Redskins will be better off in 2008 if they keep Thrash and better off in 2009 and beyond if they keep Mix around.

Thrash vs. Mix will be one of Jim Zorn's first big decisions and it will be a very telling one as well.

Mathis cut

The one player the Washington Redskins signed as a free agent this past offseason is no longer with the team.

The Skins cut wide receiver and kick returner Jerome Mathis today.

I don't think that the reasoning for this goes beyond the fact that they signed Mathis prior to drafting a pair of wide receivers in the second round of the draft. One of those receivers, Devin Thomas, is capable of giving Rock Cartwright a run for his money as the kickoff returner as is fourth-round selection Justin Tryon.

With only 80 roster spots the Redskins apparently decided that the one occupied by Mathis could be better utilized.

In the short term they utilized the spot to sign undrafted rookie defensive end J. Y. Mapu. The Tennessee product is on the old side for a rookie. He's 24, having spent a couple of years on a church mission in 2004-2005. Mapu was among those invited to try out for the team during minicamp and evidently Greg Blache liked what he saw.

Some roster changes still possible

The Washington Redskins' roster is about 96% complete.

Of the 53 players who will be on the team's opening-day roster, all but one or two of them currently are with the team.

Don't look for post-June 1 cuts to add that depth at cornerback or along the lines.

This just in—nearly all of the June 1 cuts already have take place.

How is that possible? It's only mid-May.

Don't worry, even a lot of guys who make a living writing about football aren't up to speed on this.

Under the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, each team can release two players in the spring and designate them as June 1 cuts. While the cap number for that player stays on the team's book until June 2, the player is free to pursue employment with other teams.

The team gets the benefit of having the accelerated cap hit for the release moved to the next season. In addition, they don't have to include a player who is essentially a dead man walking as far as that team is concerned still participating in minicamps and OTA's.

Brandon Lloyd, who was gone in early March, carried such a designation. The Redskins will eat the bulk of the guaranteed money that they foolishly doled out to Lloyd in 2009.

So, there may be a trickle of activity early next month, but it's highly unlikely that a potential starter or even someone who represents quality depth will be coming available on June 2.

That doesn't mean that there is no way for the Skins to bolster their roster. There still are a few of veteran free agents who have yet to find a home.

Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack is a 29-year-old guard who was a part-time starter for Jim Zorn's old team, the Seahawks. Of course, the fact that there has been no apparent move to get Womack might tell you all you need to know about him.

Defensive tackle Rod Coleman could provide some situational pass rush push up the middle. He posted double-digit sacks as recently as 2005, but he missed all but five games of the 2007 season.

Womack and Coleman, along with the other veterans still waiting for the phone to ring, are out of work for a reason. Usually that reason is that they want more money to play than anyone is willing to pay them. Their asking prices usually drop as training camp approaches.

The Redskins plucked linebacker Randall Godfrey from the ranks of the unemployed in July of last year and he proved to be a valuable contributor, starting when both Marcus Washington and Rocky McIntosh were out with injuries.

Another 2007 starter who wasn't on the roster at this time last year was guard Pete Kendall. In May of '07 he was a very unhappy New York Jet. The Redskins traded a 2009 draft pick for him when it became apparent that Todd Wade couldn't make the move from tackle to guard.

While there are plenty of disgruntled players out there, it doesn't appear that any of them are both on the trading block and in a position of need for the Redskins. That could change, though, so keep an eye out.

Davis —give it a rest!

After running a few errands on Thursday afternoon, I came home and, as I usually do when I'm puttering around the house, I turned on the John Riggins show. Among the topics of discussion—still—was Fred Davis.

It's been a while since the incident involving Davis took place, so allow me to refresh your memory. Last Sunday, he overslept and missed a 9:30 AM practice. That's it.

He wasn't out driving (or boating) drunk. He didn't get into a fight with another man or hit a woman. He wasn't making it rain, he wasn't failing a drug test. No ballistics tests were being done to determine if a weapon he owned had been involved in a shooting.

I found it to be somewhat surprising that they were still talking about it on Tuesday. I don't know if they were still beating the dead horse on Wednesday, but they were on Thursday. And I'm not talking about a few gags sprinkled throughout the show. It was an entire segment, teased beforehand.

The segment itself was amusingly annoying. Riggins, who played in the days before there was saturation media coverage, didn't understand why the Redskins let word of Davis' absence "get out".

Evidently it's been a while since Riggo has been to an NFL practice. Beat reporters go out to the field armed with a numerical roster. As they see each player, they check him off of the list. Absentees are noted and, if someone on the PR staff is available, that person is questioned about the missing player or players. After practice, the coaches are questioned about them.

In Davis' case, Jim Zorn could have made something up or he could have told the truth. At the end of Sunday's practice, they didn't know where Davis was. Since the truth has a way of coming out at some point regardless, the best thing for Zorn to do was say that Davis' whereabouts were unknown.

Of course, I'm perpetuating the topic by complaining about the perpetuation of the topic, so I'll end it here. Hopefully, Riggo and his crew and the rest of the media do the same.

Little news is good news

There was very little news coming out of the Washington Redskins minicamp this past weekend and that is exactly what the team wanted.

You don't want your team to make news during minicamp.

Any headline that comes out of the spring get-together is almost invariably bad news. It's about someone who's not there because of a contract dispute. Or someone who had to be carted off the field and his participation in training camp, if not the season, is in doubt.

There was the Fred Davis episode. The rookie tight end overslept and missed Sunday's practice. If his screwup proves to be an isolated incident then it will soon be forgotten. If he ends up leaving a trail of irresponsible actions, it will be recounted over and over again.

Most are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I agree, but we shall see.

Davis' mishap still is being discussed on Tuesday, with the Riggins show devoting a segment to it and a buzz still lingering on the message boards. That's a sign that it was a slow new weekend.

The most humorous analysis of the story comes from Giants and Cowboys fans trying to get in a few digs about it. The Giants would be happy if their tight end slept in. That would mean that Jeremy Shockey wasn't whining about the offense or demanding a trade. And society at large is much safer if the newest veteran member of the Dallas Cowboys, Pac Man Jones, is in his hotel room.

And after the events of this past weekend, Colts and Bears fans had better not be saying anything, either.

Other than that, it was all football coming out of Ashburn. Specifically, it was about the team learning two new systems, those of Jim Zorn and Greg Blache.

Indications are that Blache's defense will be easy to pick up. Gregg Williams employed a couple of dozen packages of personnel and alignments each game. Blache thinks that simpler is better

"We will have fewer packages because this is about the players," Blache said after a practice at this weekend's minicamp. "This is not about building the perfect castle or whatever. It's about giving the players something they can execute in the heat of battle under stressful situations. We are trying to be a hard, physical defense that's intimidating with our speed and hitting ability, and you can't do that when you're thinking about 20,000 different things."

It wasn't exactly as though Williams' defense seemed to be suffering from paralysis by analysis. The unit was among the top ten in the NFL in three of his four seasons in DC.

Still, letting players play isn't a bad thing. It will be interesting to see how all looks.

Blache did coach under Williams for four years, but it would be inaccurate to call him a GW disciple. He's been a coordinator before. His 2001 Bears unit was one of the best in recent memory as they allowed an average of just 12.7 points per game, in part because the unit collected 34 takeaways.

No doubt, he'll be bringing in a number of his own ideas to the defense as he crafts a scheme that isn't overly disruptive while sticking to his core philosophies and methods.