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.