By Rich Tandler
RT's 5 thoughts possibly related to the Washington Redskins and other matters.
5. Mike Shanahan and the rest of the team’s coaches will coach the South team at the Senior Bowl in Mobile later this month. I’m not sure if the opportunity to work up close with the draft prospects for a week is a great advantage when the end of April rolls around. But it certainly can’t hurt.
4. As of now, the position coaches who will be going to Mobile are the same ones who finished the season with the Redskins. That could change between now and then. Their interview with former Bucs coach Raheem Morris about a job as an assistant was no secret and there could well be more contacts being made. It would not be surprising to see a change or two made. The rumor mill is saying that Bob Slowick and Steve Jackson, both defensive backs coaches, and wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell could be in trouble. Again, just rumors there, nothing solid. There hasn’t been much urgency since assistants from playoff teams have been tied up and the head coach openings have remained vacant. That’s changing this week so if something is going to happen it should be relatively soon.
3. I am not so much in favor of the 18-game season as I am opposed to the four-game preseason. Two warmups is plenty; college teams, you’ll note, don’t play any exhibition games. If 18 regular-season games was the price to pay to get rid of the two preseason games that would be fine with me. But if there were an 18-game schedule the Redskins would be getting ready for their season finale. They still would have been out of realistic playoff contention in mid-November and probably mathematically eliminated in early December. Maybe 18 is not the way to go.
2. I still see nose tackle being mentioned a lot when the Redskins’ team needs are listed by the various so-called experts around the web. The thing is, they have a nose tackle. His name is Barry Cofield. Mike Shanahan and Jim Haslett are dead serious about him being the nose tackle in the long term. They are not in search of some 360-pound “traditional” nose tackle. Cofield played just fine and should be better with a full offseason to further learn the position.
1. It will be interesting to see who lines up at left guard for the Redskins’ season opener next September. I’m not completely convinced that it will be Kory Lichtensteiger. The Redskins will have to guard against the possibility that he won’t be recovered from his knee injury in time for the season and they may get a starting-caliber guard in free agency. Or Maurice Hurt, who was competent in replacing Lichtensteiger the last half of the season, could step up and beat him out. I do think that the odds favor the ‘Steiger but it’s far from a sure thing.
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