Happy game day! Here is what you need to know on this long-awaited Sunday, September 9.
Redskins go old school in the backfield
No, the Redskins are not starting old players in their backfield. Quarterback Robert Griffin III is 22 and running back Alfred Morris is 23. But it has been a long time since the Redskins have started rookies in their backfield to start the season.
At quarterback, you have to go back to 1961to find a rookie starter for the first game. That was Norm Snead, who was the team’s top draft pick out of Wake Forest.
It’s a little harder to find out when the last time the Redskins started a rookie running back to open the year as records for starts by player other than quarterbacks are hard to find prior to 1980. But it looks like you have to go back at least to Larry Brown in 1969 or to Charley Taylor in 1964 (yes, the Hall of Fame wide receiver did start his NFL career as a running back).
Predicting the inactives
Seven players will not dress for Sunday’s game. We know that Brandon Meriweather, who is out for 2-4 weeks with a knee injury, will be one of them. Who will the other six be? Here’s an educated guess:
--CB Crezdon Butler—He’s only
been with the team for a week, needs to learn the system.
--LB Keenan Robinson—Lorenzo Alexander can back up at either ILB spot.
--OL’s Adam Gettis and Josh LeRibeus—It’s usually standard practice to have seven
offensive linemen active. Jordan Black will be the swing tackle and Maurice
Hurt will back up at guard. If there is a need at center, Kory Lichtensteiger
will move over and Hurt will take the left guard spot.
--WR’s Aldrick Robinson and Dezmon Briscoe—The top four receivers will rotate
in with kick returner Brandon Banks serving as the emergency WR. If they really want to go heavy on multi-receiver sets they could active Robinson or Briscoe and make TE Logan Paulsen inactive.
Chat at 12:30
Here is the lineup for today’s chat:
--Tarik El-Bashir at the
Superdome in New Orleans
--Tandler in front of the 55” Vizio in Ashburn
--Jen X in the Comcast SportsNet newsroom in Bethesda
--You with your PC, laptop, smart phone, iPad, or other mobile device
All three of us also will be commenting about the game on Twitter so if you can’t make the chat follow us @TarikElBashir, @JenXperience, and @Rich_Tandler.
We’ll get started at 12:30 with kickoff at 1:00. See you then.
Today’s schedule
Redskins at Saints 1:00 kickoff
In case you missed it
The final 20 questions in 20 days—Is RG3 the answer?
My stab at guess prediction of the Redskins’ 2012 record compared to your vote.
Days until: Redskins @ Rams 7; home opener vs. Bengals 14; RG3’s first division game @ Giants 42; RG3 vs. Cam @FedEx Field 56
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