Look for some more moves at defensive end

I touched on the defensive line situation a little bit yesterday but it is worth going into in some more depth.

The trade of Vonnie Holliday follows the trades of Jeremy Jarmon and Albert Haynesworth and the release of Phillip Daniels. The moves leave the Redskins with three legitimate NFL defensive ends in Jarvis Jenkins, Adam Carriker, and Stephen Bowen. Besides undrafted free agent Jeff Stehle, the only other defensive ends on the roster are Joe Joseph, and Darrion Scott.

The Redskins will carry four or five defensive ends. I am not sure if they would ship Holliday out of town if the only options they have in mind are Joseph, whose NFL experience consists of one game with the Redskins last year, and Scott, who was out of football for two years before playing in two games for the Redskins in 2010.

They could keep three nose tackles in Barry Cofield, Anthony Bryant, and rookie Chris Neild as Cofield has the capability to slide out and play end. Still, if they keep a total of eight defensive linemen—Jim Haslett likes to rotate his d-linemen as much as any coach—that would mean that Joseph or Scott would get a spot.

Perhaps they also are looking at the possibility of putting Ryan Kerrigan at end in passing situations. There has been talk of him doing that ever since he was drafted last April. They might be “counting” him as a defensive end and saving a roster spot.

Or they could be planning to bring in another defensive lineman. Kedric Golston, who started 13 games at end last year, is a free agent. They could come to a deal with him or another similar player out there.

Keep an eye on the position over the next few days. I wouldn’t look for a big acquisition there but they are likely to add a veteran or two.

 

Comments

[brian]

I think we should look at Ty Warren. Another vetern 3-4 DE would be nice to add to the mix.

[Big36Deon]

Feel u on dat-1, 4sho!!! Osie from Da G-Men haz juz ben grnated permiss. 4A TRADE!!! DER DA LAS D-LINE WE SHOULD GET! AASSAAPP!!!!

[brian]

osi isn't big enough to play DE in the 3-4. I don't think he'd want to convert to OLB even if we wanted to bring him in and you're not gonna sign a guy like him to be a situational/nickle D pass rusher.

[Dave C.]

Makes no sense for us to pursue Osi, because: 1) we'd have to part with a high draft pick; 2) we'd have to pay Osi big bucks to meet his contract demands; 3) he'd have to convert from 4-3 DE to 3-4 OLB; and 4) we already have Orakpo at OLB on the right side of the field where he has always played, and we just drafted Kerrigan #16 overall in 1st round to play opposite Orakpo. Better to either bring back Golston for more depth at DE, or as other post suggested, sign a guy like Ty Warren (6'5", 300 lbs., 30 yrs. old) to a 1-yr. deal to be a backup at DE.