Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Report: Stallworth to return to Redskins

By Rich Tandler

Another week, another spin in the revolving door to the locker room at Redskins Park.

According to media reports, wide receiver Donte Stallworth has agreed to return to the Redskins. He was released last week after the Redskins signed receiver David Anderson to the roster.

Stallworth, 31, was active for four games before being released. He had four receptions for 46 yards this year.

He takes the roster spot vacated when Leonard Hankerson was put on injured reserve after he suffered a torn labrum in his hip on Sunday.

Earlier today, defensive end Darrion Scott revealed via Twitter that he is returning to the Redskins after getting released the same day as Stallworth. It has been reported that he will replace Kedric Golston on the roster. Golston suffered a torn MCL and partially torn ACL on Sunday according to reports he is headed to injured reserve. 

 

Instant analysis: Redskins offensive roster moves

By Rich Tandler

The Redskins made some roster moves on Tuesday and on the offensive side of the ball they signed receiver David Anderson and waived receiver Donte Stallworth and tight end Dominique Byrd. Here is a look at the ramifications of the moves:

--In Anderson, the Redskins are getting a player who is familiar with Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Shanahan was the Texans’ wide receivers coach when Houston drafted Anderson in 2006. Including the year that Shanahan was the team’s quarterbacks coach, they spent four years together with the Texans.

--Since the end of July, the Texans released Anderson twice. They cut him after the lockout ended and he was picked up by the Broncos. Denver released him in the final round of cuts in September. Houston then resigned Anderson on Sept. 15 and waived him on Oct. 12 when the Texans traded for receiver Derrick Mason.

--It remains to be seen what Anderson’s role will be. At age 28 and in his sixth NFL season, he becomes the second-most experienced receiver who is now playing next to Jabar Gaffney (not counting Santana Moss, who is sidelined with a hand injury). The Redskins could be thinking that Anderson can help the team move the chains while the younger receivers like Leonard Hankerson, Niles Paul, and Terrence Austin are still learning.

--Stallworth, who will turn 31 this Thursday, had become the No. 6 out of six wide receivers so he was the logical candidate to be released. He had played in just four games and had five catches for 46 yards.

--Byrd was signed after Chris Cooley went on injured reserve. The fact that he was healthy but did not appear in any NFL games in 2008, 2009, and 2010 is an indication that he is a marginal talent at best.

 

Report: Redskins sign WR Anderson

By Rich Tandler

The Redskins signed former Texans receiver David Anderson on Monday night, according to a report on NFL.com.

Having played for Houston since they drafted him in the seventh round in 2006, Anderson is familiar with the Kyle Shanahan’s offense as he was the offensive coordinator there in 2008 and 2009.

Anderson, 28, has 82 career catches for 895 yards and two touchdowns. His best season game in 2009 when he started eight games and caught 38 passes for 370 yards. The Texans released him earlier this season.

The Redskins will have to release a player to make room for Anderson. They have seven receivers on the roster already plus kick returner Brandon Banks, who also works out at the position, so it is a good guess that the player released will come from that group. 

 

Report: Redskins add RB Tristan Davis to practice squad

By Rich Tandler

According to a report, the Redskins have made a change to their practice squad roster.

Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times reported the following via Twitter:

Redskins tried out RBs Tristan Davis and Kareem Huggins with Davis earning a practice squad spot

Assuming that this is true—and Wilson’s track record is excellent—a player has been removed from the Redskins’ practice squad. The only running back on the practice squad is Evan Royster.

After placing Tim Hightower on injured reserve on Tuesday, the Redskins need to add a running back to the 53-man roster. It seems likely that that back will be Royster, a 2011 sixth-round pick out of Penn State.

Davis signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent after coming out of Auburn in 2009. He has also been with the Dolphins, Vikings, and Steelers.

 

Redskins seem to be in no hurry to adjust roster

By Rich Tandler

The Redskins roster that does not balance out the way that typical NFL rosters do. They have seven wide receivers plus Brandon Banks, who is a part-time receiver and full-time kick returner. Five outside linebackers were kept on the roster while only four defensive ends made it. And while it is not unusual for a team to keep eight offensive linemen, the three backups have two players who can only play tackle.

The makeup of the roster has been quite a topic on Twitter ever since it was announced. Fans are wondering if the team will address these imbalances prior to the season opener and if not then, when.

Doing anything before the Giants game seems to be out of the question at this point. We are now through the main preparations for that game and if they were going to bring in another player they would have done so by now.

Another reason for waiting until after Week 1 is that the salaries of veterans with four or more years of service are guaranteed for the season if they are on the roster for the first game. If you are going to sign a veteran off of the street it might be better to wait until next week to give yourself some flexibility if you want to make a move later.

There is less urgency to the situation than many fans may think. Seven of your players are inactive on game days so the Redskins can still handle their game day needs with who they have. For example, like most NFL teams, they will have seven offensive linemen active for a game. Between the two of them they will have to back up all five line positions. There is no particular urgency to getting someone on the roster who would be inactive.

The Redskins could wait until injury forces a move to be made. They may well roll with Erik Cook as the backup for all three interior line positions unless and until someone gets injured and causes them to juggle the roster.

Mike Shanahan and the rest of the coaches like the roster that they have assembled. It seems that they will stick with it for a while.

 

Shanahan's other decisions

By Ryan O’Halloran
CSNwashington.com

Following Monday’s practice, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan was asked about a number of different roster decisions he made to get down to the 53-man limit on Saturday. A recap:

* Mike Sellers. The Redskins kept the veteran as the fourth tight end/second fullback after he made the transition to a new position. He will continue to play special teams. Tight end Chris Cooley’s lingering knee injury didn’t hurt Sellers’ status, either.

Shanahan: “Mike helped himself by having the mindset to go in and not be disappointed that [Darrel Young] was getting a shot to be the starting fullback. It’s always tough when you’re older to go in there and work as a third- or fourth-team tight end. But he never wavered. He worked hard. He’s a guy that can help us in a number of different ways.”

* Willie Smith. Undoubtedly one of the biggest surprise ‘makes’ on the roster, the offensive tackle was the only undrafted rookie free agent to make the 53, quite the achievement considering he had such a short time to make an impression.

Shanahan: “He has a lot of talent – a big guy with long arms. I didn’t want to take the chance to put him out there [on waivers] and lose him.”

* Ryan Torain. Not surprisingly, the Redskins didn’t give up on the injury-prone running back after he played – and survived – against Tampa Bay. He got the nod over rookie Evan Royster.

Shanahan: “Torain beat Evan out in the last game and that’s why he’s the third running back. We were hoping he could come back and play well and we thought he played well against Tampa to earn himself a position.”

* Evan Royster. He cleared waivers and was signed to the eight-man practice squad.

Shanahan: “It’s going to take some time [to develop]. I’m looking forward to working with him.”

Contact CSNwashington.com Redskins Insider Ryan O’Halloran at rohalloran@comcastsportsnet.com

 

Pre-Shanahan Redskins--a clarification

By Rich Tandler

I have received some comments both here on the blog and on Twitter about my article from Monday stating that only 15 Redskins currently on the roster were here when Mike Shanahan took over the Redskins. Once the article was linked on Pro Football Talk, some said that correct number was 20 pre-Shanahan Redskins. Let me explain the difference in the numbers.

One was a mistake on my part. I had Graham Gano as a Shanahan acquisiton when in fact he was the kicker for the latter part of the 2009 season. So, by my count, the number should have been 16.

The difference in the other four is simply interpretation. Kareem Moore, a 2008 draft pick, is on the PUP list and not on the 53-man roster so I did not count him. Darrel Young, Will Montgomery, and Anthony Armstrong were on the Redskins' practice squad in 2009. I did not count them as they were not on the roster.

If you compare the 2009 roster to the 2011 roster there are 16 players still around. If you look at who was with the Redskins organization in 2009 and compare it to who is getting a paycheck from the team today, there are 20 players left. 

Redskins depth chart update: The offense

By Rich Tandler

Here is how the offensive depth chart shapes up after the cut down to 53 players:

Quarterback

Starter: John Beck
Backup: Rex Grossman

Of course, we don’t know this yet but Beck has been my choice since the start of camp. He has more upside than Rex and he needs to be on the field for that to come out. It is entirely possible that the chart will be flipped at some point during the season but, right now, I think Beck is the guy. As noted earlier, the Redskins are one of 16 NFL teams that kept just two quarterbacks on their roster, so this wasn’t some sort of wild, outside the box move by Mike Shanahan.

Wide receiver

Starters: Santana Moss, Jabar Gaffney
Third WR: Anthony Armstrong
Backups: Leonard Hankerson, Terrence Austin, Niles Paul, Donte Stallworth (pictured)

There is at least one extra body here and perhaps two (note: I’m counting Brandon Banks as a kick returner, not as a receiver). If they are all here next Sunday when the Redskins take on the Giants, one and maybe two of the backups will be inactive. Hankerson is a likely candidate for the inactive list, as he appears to have a long way to go before he is ready to contribute. The same can be said of Paul but he contributes on special teams so he might dress. Stallworth also has been playing on special teams and that might get him active as well.

Tight end

Starter: Fred Davis
Backups: Logan Paulsen, Mike Sellers
Injured: Chris Cooley

Cooley hasn’t been officially shelved for the Giants game yet but from the way he sounded in the locker room on Thursday night the situation bears watching. The Redskins were reportedly so concerned about Cooley’s knee that they kept Mike Sellers, who can back up at both tight end and fullback, rather than fullback Keiland Williams. In any case, Davis has proven to be a capable starter. Paulsen looked pretty good catching the ball during training camp and although he is not going to be a prime target look for a few balls to be thrown his way.

Running back

Starter: Tim Hightower
Backups: Roy Helu, Ryan Torain

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. One of the backups could well be inactive on game day. Will the carries that Hightower doesn’t get go to Helu, who has shown gamebreaking abilities? Or to Torain, who displayed some of his 2010 form on Thursday against the Bucs?

Fullback

Starter: Darrel Young
Backup: Sellers

The Redskins used a fullback on about a third of their plays last year. That number could rise this year if the Redskins attempt to run the ball more than the 35 percent of the plays they did last year.

Offensive line

Starters (left to right): Trent Williams, Kory Lichtensteiger, Will Montgomery, Chris Chester, Jammal Brown
Backups: Tackles Willie Smith and Sean Locklear, center Erik Cook

The astute reader will note that there is not a backup guard listed. If there are no changes made and a need arises at guard, Montgomery could slide over to the guard spot and Cook could go in at center. Smith probably will be inactive much of the time.

 

All three released draft picks make Redskins practice squad

According to media reports, the Redskins have signed Evan Royster and Doug Worthington to their practice squad.

Royster was a fifth-round pick of the Redskins last April. He played in the first and fourth preseason games, picking up 110 yards rushing on 26 attempts and scored a touchdown. 

Worthington was picked up as a free agent during training camp. The defensive end was drafted by theSteelers in 2010 and has not played in an NFL game. 

The Redskins have six more spots to fill on the eight-man practice squad. 

Update: Multiple sources are reporting that guard Maurice Hurt, the team's seventh-round pick, and Wide recevier Aldrick Robinson a sixth-round pick, have signed with the practice squad. That means that the Redskins have all three of the 2011 draft picks they released on their practice squad. 

Update: Defensive back Reggie Jones will return to the Redskins' practice squad where he spent part of last season. Five of the eight spots on the practice squad have been filled. 

 

 

Breaking down the 53

In this morning's article on CSNwashington.com, I pointed out that of the 53 players on the roster, 38 were brought on board by Mike Shanahan. That is a 72 percent turnover of the roster in the 20 months since the Shanahan-Bruce Allen regime took over.

Here are a few other facts and figures about your 2011 Washington Redskins (as they stand as of about 10 a.m. on Sunday):

Draft status

21 drafted by the Redskins
20 drafted by other teams
7 undrafted free agents origianlly signed by the Redskins
5 UDFA's originally signed by other teams

10 drafted in first round
6 second
7 third
4 fourth
4 fifth
2 sixth
7 seventh 

Eight of the Redskins 12 draft picks from 2011 made the team (one, Jarvis Jenkins, ended up on injured reserve). According to John Clayton, the three draft picks the Redskins cut (Evan Royster, Aldrick Robinson, Maurice Hurt) were the most in the NFL. Of course, the Redskins had 12 draft picks so they would be expected to release more of them. Clayton said that 29 draft picks were released league wide.

Age

The players on the roster average 27.1 years old as of today. Towards the end of last year, the team averaged about 27.8 years old and the team that Shanahan took over had an average age of over 28.

Punter Sav Rocca is the oldest player on the roster. He will be 38 in November. The oldest position player is London Fletcher, who turned 36 last May. 

Safety Dejon Gomes will be 22 in November, making him the youngest player on the team. Cornerback Brandyn Thompson is just a couple of weeks older. 

The roster averaged 3.9 years of NFL experience going into the season. Fletcher and Mike Sellers have the most experience with 14 years.

There are 24 players who are 25 or younger and 11 who are 30 or older. 

Positions

CB: 5
S: 4
DE: 4
NT: 2
ILB: 4
OLB: 5
FB: 2
HB: 3
QB: 2
C: 2
G: 2
T: 4
K/P/LS: 3

Many raised their eyebrows over the fact that the Redskins kept just two qaurterbacks, but the decision was not really outside the box. Washington was one of 16 NFL teams that kept two quarterbacks on the roster.