Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Orakpo, Carriker out for the season

The Redskins’ reeling defense suffered a devastating blow Monday when it was announced that star linebacker Brian Orakpo will miss the remainder of the season with a torn left pectoral muscle.

Orakpo, two-time pro bowl selection, suffered the injury early in Sunday’s 31-28 defeat in St. Louis while wrapping up Rams’ quarterback Sam Bradford for his first sack of the season. It’s the same pectoral Orakpo tore in the 2011 regular season finale and aggravated in the preseason. This tear, though, in a different spot.

“Rak tore his pec in a little different spot on the right side,” Shanahan said. “It will be about four-month recovery time. So he’ll be gone for the season as well.”

Moments earlier, Shanahan confirmed what most had suspected: Defensive end Adam Carriker will also miss the remainder of the season. He tore a ligament between the quadriceps and knee, Shanahan said.

The loss of Orakpo, however, was a stunner.

After getting hurt early in the game, the 26-year-old returned to the game twice, including early in the second half. Both times, however, he was forced to leave the field again.

“According to the MRI, it’s a completely different area than the initial tear,” Shanahan said, asked if the new injury was related to the prior one.

Shanahan said Orakpo and Carriker will have surgery this week. Shanahan said Orakpo will miss four months, while Carriker will be sidelined five.

Neither player was available to speak to reporters Monday.

Orakpo is expected to be replaced by Rob Jackson, who said earlier in the day that he was preparing as though he would be the starter against Cincinnati. Orakpo's absence also could mean Chris Wilson will receive additional playing time.

“They both have to step up and play at a very high level because we all know what Rak has meant to our defense and how well he’s played,” Shanahan said of Jackson and Wilson.

Orakpo has averaged 9.5 sacks per game during his first three seasons in the NFL. And after an offseason spent rehabbing and working on technique, he was hoping to have a breakout year.

Teams handle player red flags differently

By Rich Tandler

INDIANAPOLIS--North Alabama cornerback Janoris Jenkins had to talk about a lot that didn’t deal with football when he spoke to the media at the NFL Combine on Sunday.

The 23-year-old prospect was asked a total of 27 questions and 13 of them dealt with the troubles he has had off the field. What troubles, you ask?

“I failed one drug test at Florida,” he said. “I got arrested three times, one for a bar fight and two for possession of marijuana.”

His past also includes fathering four children with three different women.

The failed drug test got him booted off of the Gators and he went from playing in front of packed houses on Saturday afternoons at The Swamp to appearing in front of a few thousand on Thursday nights in Florence, Alabama.

“My Saturdays I watched Florida, watched some of my old teammates play,” he said. “It struck me, it hit me as a kid. I was just like, ‘Man, I’m supposed to be there with those guys.’ Just thinking about my past.”

He was very up-front about his issues while talking to the media and presumably he did the same in his formal interviews with coaches during the combine. That’s all well and good but it may not help him very much in the NFL draft.

"That's going to play into it in a big way because every team is going to do their homework on him," NFL Network analyst Charles Davis said at the Senior Bowl. "Athletically, I think he's the best corner here. That part is no issue. It's the rest of it he's going to have to work his way through.

Jenkins is a very talented football player. He would have a very good chance of being drafted in the first round if not for his off-field red flags. However, his off-field transgressions almost certainly will cost him draft position. How much it will hurt him will very from team to team.

“What is always interesting to me is how different teams treat those red flags,” said NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock, referring to both medical issues and off-field problems. “There’s not one uniform way to deal with a kid [with] off the field [issues].”

“So they’re all going to say the same thing, ‘I’ve grown up, I’m sorry,’” said Mayock. “Now, do you buy in to that and at what level?”

“Do you buy in at a first-round place? A second-round place? A fourth-round place? Everybody is different that way.”

Some teams don’t buy in at any level. “I know some teams that have already taken players off the board,” he said. “I won’t give you any names. But I know some teams have certain players already off the board. ‘I’m not dealing with that player, for this reason,’ whether it’s medical or off the field.”

“Some teams say, ‘that’s a first-round pick, I don’t care.’ And then other teams say he’s off the board. Others are in the middle somewhere.”

Jenkins played on the South team in the Senior Bowl, the squad that was coached by the Redskins’ staff. Mike Shanahan didn’t address the off-field issues but he did praise Jenkins’ skills.

"I think everybody can see he can bump, he can play off, he's very talented, he can run," Shanahan said. "So he'll be a top guy."

Shanahan has taken chances with players with red flags in the draft before, most notably spending a third-round pick on troubled Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett in 2005. Since he has been with the Redskins, however Shanahan has stuck primarily with high-character guys with clean records.

That doesn’t mean that Shanahan won’t roll the dice on Jenkins. Every situation is different, every draft is different and at some point in the draft Shanahan cold look and see Jenkins on the board and decide that the talent outweighs the risks.

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at RTandlerCSN@comcast.net and follow him on Twitter @Rich_Tandler. 

Does the 40 matter or not?

I've been asked about two contradictory articles I posted in the last couple of days. In one, I said that it didn't matter much that Robert Griffin III ran a fast time in the 40. I also wrote a post saying that Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill probably improved his draft stock a good bit with his 4.36 time in the 40.

So, which is it? Does the 40 matter or doesn't it?

The answer is, of course, it depends. The main factor that is at work is sample size.

RG3 attempted 402 passes in 2011 and he had 179 rushing attempts (including 29 sacks). His Baylor career totals were 1159 passes and 510 rushes. That is a large sample size for scouts and coaches to use to evaluate him. They really didn't need to see him run up the sideline at Lucas Oil Stadium in track shorts to know what he can do.

Hill, on the other hand, has a smaller body of work to show talent evaluators. He had 28 receptions last year and 49 for his three-year college career. Georgia Tech averaged 12.5 pass attempts per game while Hill was there and he wasn't out in a pattern on every one of them. The relative paucity of information on Hill compared to Griffin makes each measurable performance for the receiver much more important than it is for the quarterback.

The bottom line is that play on film trumps all numbers at the combine. But if you don't have enough film, the combine performances count more. 

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. 

 

RG3's "stock" about where it was a week ago

By Rich Tandler

INDIANAPOLIS—Since Robert Griffin III ran a 4.41 in the 40 yard dash here at the NFL Combine on Sunday there has been a lot of commentary that the price to move up in the draft to take RG3 has reached astronomical levels.

“The Browns are among the teams who need a QB and covet RG3, and the Rams’ asking price just went through the roof,” read one typical comment.

I think everyone needs to take a deep breath here. Yes it was good for Griffin to run a fast 40 and for him to be charming and charismatic on the podium in front of the press on Sunday. It also was good that he was measured at 6 feet 2 3/8 inches.

But earlier this week, before he even came to Indianapolis, we knew that Griffin was smart, fast and about 6-2. Nothing happened to change those perceptions. So why is the value of the second overall pick, the one that likely will be needed by any team that wants to draft Griffin, all of a sudden “through the roof”?

The answer is that it’s not. The value of the Rams’ pick will be determined much more by which teams answer their quarterback needs in free agency than readings on scouts’ stopwatches today. That will determine if the Redskins, Browns, Dolphins, and perhaps the Seahawks and a “mystery team” are bidders for the pick at all. If multiple teams are interested the bidding will be driven up. If fewer teams are, the price will be lower.

And the interest of the bidders won’t be heightened much by what happened at the combine. Sure, it’s good to know that Griffin has the speed to run away from NFL defensive backs as well as he eluded Big 12 DB’s. But the hours upon hours of film study will determine just how much they value Griffin and the second pick. The 4.41 seconds RG3 spent in Indy will barely be considered.

You can reach Rich by email at RTandlerCSN@comcast.net and follow him on Twitter @Rich_Tandler. 

 

Griffin says meeting with Shanahan was "awesome"

INDIANAPOLIS—If Robert Griffin III does end up being a member of the Redskins he will come in with a very high opinion of the head coach.

While discussing Griffin’s team visits during an appearance on the NFL Network, host Rich Eisen said to Griffin, “At least Shanahan has spoken to you.”

RG3 responded, "I did speak with Mr. Shanahan. It was awesome."

On Friday, Griffin listed some of the quarterbacks after whom he patters his games and he surely knows that two of them, John Elway and Steve Young, played for Shanahan in Denver and San Francisco, respectively.

Of course, Griffin can’t choose his coach and it would take a blockbuster deal for Shanahan to be able to select Griffin in the draft. But there appears to be something brewing here that could make Shanahan and Griffin a great match if it does happen.

 

RG3 smart to skip throwing at combine

Why RG3 didn’t throw

This morning, Robert Griffin III ran the best 40-yard dash of any quareterback here (4.41 officially) and the best vertical jump of any QB (39 inches). He couldn’t quite take home the triple crown as his 120-inch broad jump was fourth best.

Then he took the rest of the day off.

He decided not to throw for the assembled scouts and coaches when the time came for that. He explained why to on the NFL Network in response to a question from Rich Eisen (as transcribed by our friends at Pro Football Talk):

I thought it was in my best interests not to come and throw to guys I haven’t thrown to before, running a game plan I’m not familiar with, and in an environment that I’m not prepared for. So I’ll do it at my Pro Day, it kind of helps out the guys at Baylor that are coming out, they can get more scouts there and watch us do our thing.

Draft analyst Mike Mayock challenged Griffin’s decision.  “Don’t your juices get going a little bit when all the boys are throwing out there and you’re standing there in sweats?” Mayock said.  “Don’t you just want to get there and rip it?”

Griffin said that he did but not badly enough to go against what surely was the advice of his agent. And it was sound advice. RG3 had absolutely nothing to gain by throwing at the combine. If he looks good, it’s what’s expected. If he doesn’t, it ends what was a great few days at the combine on a sour note.

Not that it tends to matter much in terms of a player’s draft stock. A year ago, Cam Newton decided to throw and he displayed awful footwork and his passes were not accurate. He still went first overall in the draft.

There’s no doubt that Griffin will put on a show throwing the ball at Baylor’s pro day next month and then all he will have left to do is sit back and watch teams haggle over the second pick in the draft to determine who gets him.

 

WR's Hill's fast 40 pushes him out of Redskins' reach

INDIANAPOLIS—We knew that Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill was big. We now know that he is fast.

When we talked to the 6-4, 215 Hill at the NFL Combine on Thursday he said that he hoped to run well in the 40  “I’m thinking about running a 4.3 but, you know, whatever happens on Sunday happens,” he said

What happened was exactly what he thought would happen. He ran the fastest time of any wide receiver at 4.36.

That is good for Hill but maybe not so good for the Redskins. He rarely was able to run away from defenders at Georgia Tech. Since he has posted that time, coaches now know that he has the capacity to do so. They may think of him as less of a project and more of one who can contribute right away and be a solid player with some polish. That could well prompt a team to take a chance on him somewhere in the latter part of the first round. He almost certainly won't be around for the Redskins to take with the sixth pick of the second round and there is zero chance he will slide down to the third.

 

RG3 likes to run but passes first

By Rich Tandler

INDIANAPOLIS—Robert Griffin III was asked what misconception he believed he needed to clear up as he talked to teams at the NFL Combine.

“I think it’s just a misconception that comes with being a dual-threat quarterback,” the Heisman Trophy winner. “You’re run first, throw second. I think I’ve proven I’m throw first, then run if I need to.”

The numbers show that Griffin ran a lot. Last year, he passed 402 times and he had 179 rushing attempts.

The NCAA counts sacks as a rushing attempt for the quarterback so to make a more accurate comparison we’ll back out the 29 sacks that Baylor counted on its team. That would leave RG3 with 150 rushing attempts and a run-pass ratio of about 1 run to every 3 passes.

That seems high for a pass-first player but Baylor’s offense has to be taken into consideration. In Baylor’s spread offense there are a lot of zone read plays when the quarterback is called upon to run.

According to one analyst who had seen every one of Griffin’s 2011 games, fewer than half of RG3’s runs were of the planned variety. But he pointed to Baylor’s offensive line as a major factor in why Griffin took off so frequently. The line was, in his estimation, one of the worst in major college football. Griffin frequently dropped back only to find the rush in his face immediately. He often had to take off running for reasons of self-preservation if nothing else.

The analyst said that while Griffin would occasionally run when he had more time to check more options but that his statement that he’s “throw first, run when I need to” is largely true.

Rich Tandler will be covering the NFL Combine from Indianapolis all week. Any questions? Hit him up on Twitter @Rich_Tandler.

 

Breaking: RG3 is fast

By Rich Tandler

Robert Griffin III wowed everyone with his appearance before the media on Thursday and he’s raising eyebrows again this morning.

In the 40-yard dash, the Heisman winning quarterback from Baylor ran times of 4.38 and 4.41 seconds. Most wide receivers would love to have times that fast and it certainly will be among the fastest times for a quarterback.

At Baylor, he showed that he was able to pull away from defensive backs in pursuit. The 40 time shows that he has the potential to leave NFL defenders in his dust as well.

 

Which way are the Redskins going?

By Rich Tandler

INDIANAPOLIS—If you want evidence that the Redskins are looking anywhere and everywhere for a franchise quarterback, just look at this post from the site of noted draft analyst Tony Pauline.

The first entry has them being aggressive about getting a deal done that would net them the best young quarterback in the draft.

- The word in Indianapolis is the St Louis Rams will do everything possible to move the second pick of the draft.  We hear there have been exploratory talks with the Washington Redskins in the early going.

Immediately after that, the Redskins are reported to be all over a Hall of Fame quarterback if he becomes available.

- If Peyton Manning is cut by the Indianapolis Colts word is the Redskins will be front and center with an offer for the future Hall of Famer.

So what is "the word"? It’s possible that the Redskins’ smoke machine is operating at full capacity these days. It also could be that they are seriously considering all options and are piling contingency plans on top of each other.

Stay tuned.