Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Why would Shanahan talk about scouting QB's?

By Ryan O’Halloran

A few takes on what Redskins coach Mike Shanahan had to say Friday following the final practice of the year:

Much like I did with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan on Thursday, I asked Mike about, when evaluating a draft-eligible quarterback, what is the starting point?

Mike went in a different direction. That’s not new.

He went in an informative direction. That is new.

The answer:

“What I do, I’ve probably looked at 10 or 15 them already. I’ll take a half hour a day, early in the morning, the tapes are made up and I’ll take a look at 75-80 plays, just a guy throwing the football in game situations and at least the good passes during the season to get a feel for the guy. I do a little bit of that every day.”

Shanahan added he started the process at the season’s halfway point.

It was stunning he offered this and three other reporters agreed with me (it was a small group of diehards at Redskin Park; heck, CSN was the only camera present besides the team’s website).

Guesses on what Mike was trying to get out there (we guessed on the quotes):

* Much like he did early in the week when he said the rebuild has taken longer than he expected, it was Shanahan’s way of saying, “Hey, we know what the record is, but we didn’t exactly inherit a playoff team and we haven’t had a full off-season of practices and free agency activity yet.”

* It was him saying to the fans – a message we were happy to relay: “We know you want us to draft a quarterback in the first round and we know we have to set up the future with a passer so I got on it a little earlier than usual.”

* A day after Kyle said starting a quarterback with no experience in the Shanahans system next year was not a big deal (hello, RG3), Mike took it a step further by admitting the head start. The Redskins must be sure of who they pick.

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@comcastsportsnet.com

 

Would Shanahan make a big deal for a QB?

By Rich Tandler

On the ESPN NFC East blog, Dan Graziano interviewed Mike Shanahan and in doing so he asked if Shanahan would consider putting together a big package of picks, including multiple No. 1’s, to get a quarterback like Stanford’s Andrew Luck.

Shanahan’s answer was interesting. He brought up the deal that brought Jon Gruden to the Buccaneers as head coach. As compensation for letting him to go to Tampa Bay, the Raiders got two first-round picks, two second-round picks and cash.

Shanahan said, “I told Jon, 'No offense, but you're not worth that much! And don't go to the place where they're giving up the two No. 1s for you.' I mean, it just handcuffs you.”

So the implication, sort of, is that he wouldn’t pull a big deal like that because it would put too much pressure on the player drafted in the deal. And, by the way, the person who pulled the trigger on the deal would be under the microscope as well.

But it wasn’t a flat “no”.

Of course, if Shanahan had flatly ruled it out or if he said that he has already been in contact with the Colts and Rams to start trade talks there would be no reason to believe him. He is getting out the message that he wants to get out and that involves a lot of smoke and mirrors.

We won’t know whether or not he would pull off a big deal until either he does it or the draft is over. 

 

Hall on losing: 'You definitely get tired of it'

By Ryan O’Halloran

DeAngelo Hall’s first visit as an NFL cornerback to Philadelphia held slightly higher stakes than Sunday’s finale between the Redskins and Eagles.

On a 17-degree afternoon/evening at Lincoln Financial Field in January 2005, Hall started for the Atlanta Falcons in their NFC championship game loss and made four tackles.

Pro Bowl appearances, trades, releases, two gigantic contracts and interceptions have followed for Hall. But not a return to the playoffs.

Hall, a defensive co-captain, is completing his seventh straight non-playoff year as a member of 5-10 Washington. It includes three years with Atlanta and three-and-a-half years with the Redskins. 

“Another year down the drain, so to say,” Hall said on Thursday, speaking to reporters after being on-again, off-again throughout the final month of the season. “[This year] is definitely frustrating because a lot of those games, we were in them and had a chance to win. It’s tough to see the division right there in front of us and not have a say in it.”

The NFC East, despite the resources committed to building the four rosters, has morphed into a dreadful mess – the 8-7 Giants and Dallas play for the title Sunday night. The way the Redskins see it, one more break and one less injury and they would be in the mix.

“Frustrating and difficult to swallow,” Hall said. “We’ve just dropped the ball. We have to look in the mirror to figure out how to get better.”

Coming off a six-interception 2010 season (albeit four in one game), Hall’s focus this was to get better at eliminating big plays allowed even if it meant fewer interceptions.

The coaching staff has credited Hall with 108 tackles (second on the team). His three interceptions lead the team and with Josh Wilson shares the lead with 18 pass break-ups.

“I feel like, for the most part, I played pretty solid this year,” Hall said. “Last year, I made more plays but I gave up more plays, too. I wouldn’t say this year I’ve made a ton of plays one way or the other.”

Hall is never shy to offer his team-building prospective, but this week, he chose the non-committal route.

“Hopefully, we’re one off-season, one draft, one free agency [year] away, if we can bring in more of our kind of guys,” he said. “I’ve been here three-and-a-half years and it’s always been, ‘Hopefully next year.’ You definitely get tired of it. 

“Hopefully that won’t be the case next year.”

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@comcastsportsnet.com

 

Redskins Reset: Looking to 2012

Before heading up to Philadelphia for the Redskins' season finale against the Eagles, CSNwashington.com's Ryan O'Halloran and the Washington Times' Rich Campbell talked a little about that game and a lot about the off-season in this edition of Redskins Reset. 

RT's 5: Smith at RT in 2013?

By Rich Tandler

5. The Redskins need a very good quarterback. All other needs are secondary until that need is filled.

4. I’d like to see the Redskins upgrade at center. Will Montgomery is serviceable but not the guy you want to have as your anchor. You can get a good center in the middle rounds or for a relatively modest free agent contract.

3. A mention of LaRon Landry in the last edition of this series brought up quite a few comments on Twitter. What people forget is that Landry played out of position at free safety for two and a half years. Much of the time he lined up 30 yards off of the line of scrimmage. That’s a criminal waste. What was Greg Blache thinking?

2. It’s hard to get a feel for who might win the Giants-Cowboys showdown for the NFC East title on Sunday night. Both teams are so inconsistent that you’re really just flipping a coin. The pick here, with no conviction behind it, is for the home standing Giants.

1.  I wouldn’t be surprised if in their succession planning the Redskins have Willie Smith penciled in to start at right tackle in 2013. They probably need to keep Jammal Brown there another year because Smith probably won’t be ready and it would be too costly to cut Brown this offseason. But after that, Smith could be the guy.

 

Tandler and O'Halloran pick the game

 

 

Redskins will have extra cap money in 2012

By Rich Tandler

After the lockout ended, the Redskins signed a number of free agents such as Barry Cofield and their own Santana Moss. When they were done spending, they had some cap room left and many have been wondering why they have not spent it on things such as contract extensions.

We now know why they were not concerned with disposing of the spare cap room. It used to be that if you didn’t spend or otherwise account for your unused cap money with phony incentives you would lose it the next year. However, the new CBA allows teams to carry over unused cap money from one season to the next.

According to our sister site Pro Football Talk, the Redskins had $11.9 million in cap space as of Nov. 20. They have eaten into a little of that with some injury replacements and some other roster moves but they still have almost all of it. So if the 2012 salary cap is $125 million as it is projected to be now, the Redskins will have almost $137 million to spend in 2012.

This sounds good at first but 10 other NFL teams will have even more extra cap space next year including the Cowboys, who were $18.2 million under the cap as of Nov. 20. The other NFC East teams will have less money added to their 2012 war chests as the Eagles were $5.3 million under and the Giants just $1.7 million under.

The Jaguars will have the most to spend, an extra $32.9 million while the Steelers have the least at $640,000. 

 

Rex's 4 picks vs. Eagles got him a seat on the bench

By Ryan O’Halloran

The Redskins were 3-1 and coming off their bye week in mid October when they could have put away the Philadelphia Eagles (then 1-4). 

Instead, they throttled the Turnover Machine into overdrive, a trip that hasn’t stopped since. The Redskins are a dreadful minus-15 in turnover ratio, worst in the NFL.

Rex Grossman lost his job for a month with four interceptions before Mike Shanahan turned to John Beck … and did a U-turn a few weeks later.

A look at Rex’s picks against the Eagles: 

1. First drive of game, third-and-16 from Eagles’ 38. Formation was 4WR-0RB-1TE (Roy Helu motioned out of backfield). Four-man rush vs. five-man protection. Grossman threw 36 yards to TE Fred Davis on a deep post. Grossman was pressured when Jason Babin and Trevor Laws stunted and Laws rushed free. Release time was 2.44 seconds. (LG Kory Lichtensteiger was lost for the season on the play with a knee injury).

Result: Eagles TD.

2. Third drive, the Redskins trailed 17-0, first-and-10 from own 15-yard line. Formation was 2WR/1RB/2TE. Four-man rush vs. seven-man protection. It was clearly a deep shot opportunity shown by the two-man route and heavy protection. Grossman had Gaffney open on a deep post 35 yards downfield but underthrew him and was intercepted by Nate Allen. Erik Cook was beat to allow hit on Grossman.

Result: Eagles FG.

3. The Redskins trailed 20-6, second-and-12 at the Eagles’ 21-yard line. Formation was 4WR-ORB-1WR. Four-man rush vs. five-man protection. Grossman again looked for Davis on deep post but the tape intimated Davis hesitated on breaking off his route, which allowed Coleman to make his second interception. RT Jammal Brown was beat for the quarterback hit.

Result: Eagles downs.

4. Down 20-6, the Redskins had a third-and-10 from their own 37. Formation was 4WR/1RB/0TE (Davis in WR spot). Four-man rush vs. five-man protection. Grossman was in trouble at 2.10 seconds. Sean Locklear looked inside (even though his help – Helu – was on the left side) and was late to block Darryl Tapp. Will Montgomery (now a guard after starting at center) got away with a hold on Cullen Jenkins. Grossman scrambled and his pass intended for Gaffney was intercepted by Coleman 9 yards downfield.

Result: Eagles punt.

That final turnover earned Grossman a seat on the bench for the next month.

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@comcastsportsnet.com

 

RT's 10: Still searching for wide receivers

By Rich Tandler

Ten thoughts on the Redskins and other possibly related matters:

10. I think the Redskins would like to have Adam Carriker resign with the team and he probably wants to return. The issue is that he has been a starter for the last two years and will expect starter money. But it is likely that the Redskins plan on starting Jarvis Jenkins. Hopefully they can come up with something that works for both sides, perhaps something with roster and playing time bonuses.

9. I’m glad the Rex Grossman’s “confidence level is at an all-time high.” Self esteem is important. But I just don’t see him taking the next step and drastically reducing the turnovers in 2012.

8. A lot of folks are trying to tell me that wide receiver is set because of the presence of Jabar Gaffney and Leonard Hankerson. The problem is that Gaffney is have his career year at age 31 and it’s not realistic to expect him to duplicate it. And Hankerson appears to have the ability to get a very good receiver if not a star, but you can’t be sure about that based on his one breakout game in Miami.

7. Some people just can stand to be out of the spotlight. Former Eagles, Cowboys, 49ers, Bills, and Bengals receiver Terrell Owens is one of them.

6. Mike Shanahan is not exactly a fountain of information during his daily media briefings but he has loosened up some. He’ll crack the occasional joke and there is not nearly as much tension as there was last year. Perhaps that means he’s adjusted to the Redskins media and the fact that the likes of Donovan McNabb and Albert Haynesworth are not topics of conversation also could have something to do with it.

5. The quarterback situation will dominate the Redskins offseason conversation. I know you know that but I just wanted to make sure that you know that I know it.

4. Niles Paul has been getting some playing time but he hasn’t been the target of many passes. I think he’s one of the rookies who will need a full offseason of OTA’s and minicamp to see what his potential is.

3. Congrats to the NFL for finally stopping this nonsense of free agency starting at midnight. It now will start on Tuesday, March 14 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. That avoids the need for writers and bloggers (and fans) to pull an all nighter into a long day.

2. I’m still sticking with my prediction that the Redskins will use the franchise tag on LaRon Landry but it may depend on what course of treatment he decides to take on the Achilles. The Redskins might be much more prone to keeping him if he undergoes surgery to fix the problem. If he decides to take another approach like he did last offseason, they might be inclined to let him go.

1. Talk that Shanahan won’t be back next year is nonsense. But if he has 10+ losses again next year? Then here will be some fire with that smoke.

Rich Tandler blogs about the Redskins at www.RealRedskins.com. You can reach him by email at RTandlerCSN@comcast.net and follow him on Twitter @Rich_Tandler. 

 

Helu and Royster talk about Torain's departure

The handwriting was on the wall for Ryan Torain when the Redskins drafted Evan Royster and Roy Helu in April. The two rookies spoke to our Jen Wiliams about the release of Torain earlier this week. They both appear to have learned something very important about the NFL very early.