Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Santana Moss —X-man

Santana Moss is going home.

No, he's not going back to Miami or even to New York.

According to my friend John Keim at the DC Examiner, he's returning to the X-receiver position, the spot where he has enjoyed his greatest success in the NFL.

The two wide receiver spots on the Washington Redskins (and, generally, around the NFL) are labeled the Z, or flanker position, and the X, the split end. In most two-receiver formations, the Z lines up on the same side of the field as the tight end while the X is alone on the other side.

The X receiver has more room to operate and can generally use his speed more to his advantage. The Z is the more physical spot, the one that has to work in traffic.

In 2005, when Moss set the Redskins team record with 1,483 yards receiving, he played the X spot. When the Skins acquired Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd, they put those two in the X and moved Santana to Z.

In his two seasons in that position, Moss has just over 100 more yards combined (1,598) than he did in that one Pro Bowl year.

I'm sure that Joe Gibbs and Al Saunders had their reason for moving Moss, listed at 5-10 but in reality not that tall, to the more physical flanker spot. But moving him back to the X certainly doesn't qualify as an act of genius on the part of Jim Zorn.

Jansen at Center a problem of altitude

During last week's OTA's, Joe Bugel said that, as of now, Jon Jansen is the Washington Redskins' #2 center behind Casey Rabach.

"Jon has been a back-up center in college and we have him working at back-up center," Bugel said. "We always want to get the five best guys on the field, so if Rabach got hurt who do you plug in? Right now I'd have to say Jon Jansen."

Casey Rabach had better stay healthy. At best, this is a dubious move, or experiment.

Jansen's college career ended in 1998. He started 50 consecutive games at tackle for Michigan. In his junior and senior years he was the team co-captain. It's possible that he occasionally moved over a couple of slots from time to time and made some snaps in practice. But it's hard to believe that Lloyd Carr couldn't comb through his roster of 85 scholarship players and find a second-string center that would allow his star tackle to focus on playing tackle.

OK, so it may be a stretch to put "college backup center" on Jansen's resume. But he's a pro's pro, right? He can learn a new position, can't he?

Well, nobody has ever accused Todd Wade of being a slacker and he was unable to make the transition from tackle to guard last year. The problem wasn't one of attitude; it was one of altitude. Wade is 6-8 and he literally couldn't fit into the position. His height prevented him from getting the proper leverage to deal with the massive bodies at defensive tackle and it was a hindrance when he attempted to pull.

Jansen is 6-6 and I took a look around to see how his height compares to that of other centers in the league. In the NFC East, Rabach listed at 6-4, the same as Jamaal Jackson of the Eagles and Andre Gurode of Dallas. Shaun O'Hara of the Giants checked in at 6-3.

I kept on checking around the entire NFL. Of the 32 centers who were listed as first string as of the end of last season on NFL.com's depth charts, 28 of them were between 6-2 and 6-4. One, Dominic Raiola of the Lions, is shorter than the standard at 6-1. Three others, Mike Flanagan of the Texans, Jeremy Newberry of the Raiders and John Wade of Tampa Bay, are 6-5.

It can't be a coincidence that 87.5% of the starting centers in the league are within that 3-inch range in height. Obviously, that's the ideal height for working in the middle of the line. It doesn't mean that anyone outside of that range can't perform there, but it tells me that it would be considerably more difficult, especially if one is playing the position on a part-time basis.

What is making Buges and the Redskins consider this option is the numbers game. The team probably will carry nine offensive linemen. The five starters are Jansen, Rabach, Chris Samuels, Pete Kendall, and Randy Thomas. Stephon Heyer, who presumably would step in at right tackle should Jansen have to go snap the ball, is safe. Wade isn't quite as secure, but there are no other tackles on the roster right now.

On the inside, Chad Reinhart, the Redskins' third-round draft pick, would have to fall flat on his face to be left off of the roster. There was talk of him being the backup center, but it seems that they have decided to let him focus on playing guard in hopes that he will be able to step in for Kendall in 2009.

Jason Fabini, who filled in for Thomas at right guard most of last year, is the pre-camp favorite to snag the last OL spot. He is a converted tackle and at 6-7 he's not a good candidate to work at center either.

Rookie free agents Andrew Crummey and Kerry Brown are long shots to make the team. But as 6-5 guards, one or both could make the practice squad and play center on the scout team.

The Redskins could pluck an experienced center off of the waiver wire but that would mean that they would lose depth at other positions.

They could keep 10 offensive linemen but that would hinder depth at other positions. Keep in mind that many teams utilize their long snappers as their backup centers, but Ethan Albright is very much the specialist and he won't be snapping to Jason Campbell.

You would think that the Bugel would have learned from the Wade experiment and that he would shy away from trying to squeeze a tall peg into a short hole.

Again, Redskins fans should be hoping for good health for Casey Rabach.

Back from OBX; more archive updates

I've been away the past few days. Awfully inconsiderate of the Redskins to schedule OTA's during the only four days of the year that I'll get out of town.

The beach house in Corolla, NC (Northern Outer Banks) was nice, although the color wasn't one that I would choose.

But, as seems to be the case too often in places you spend a couple of hundred bucks a day to occupy, the promised wireless internet connection was spotty at best. All I could do about it was just relax some more.

Not much news generated at the OTA's besides the continuing absence of Springs and the pronouncement that Jon Jansen is currently penciled in to be the backup center. I'll take a look at both of those subjects in the coming days.

I'll spend some time over the next few days continuing to update the archives so those of you who subscribe by mail might be getting some more blasts from the past in your inboxes.

Moss had the Irish flu

As it turns out, the "flu" that caused Santana Moss to sit out Monday's OTA practice came not from a bug but from a bottle.

The wide receiver had a weekend extravaganza to celebrate his 29^th birthday. Two "celebrity" events (the adjective is in quotes because some of those attending were the likes of Mike Rumph and Sinorice Moss) raised money for charity. Apparently, though, Moss spent a little too much time hanging out with his good friends Jack Daniels and Jim Beam.

It was reported on Monday that Moss went to Redskins Park but he was not on the field due to the flu. However, when asked about it he 'fessed up and said that the weekend activities were the reason why he was feeling under the weather, not any germ or virus.

"All they (Moss' teammates) did is laugh because they knew it was going to happen like that," Moss said. "I told them, 'You think you're still young and you can still hold up,' but they all know what time it was. You have to chalk it up and be ready the next day."

I guess you have to give Moss some points for his candor, but this is a little bit ridiculous.

It's one thing for a college kid to fly across three time zones and then oversleep as Fred Davis did during minicamp.

It's quite another for a veteran player to throw himself a two-day bash and not be able to control his alcohol consumption to the point where he can't function at his job on Monday morning.

Moss is a good player who has had some great moments during his three seasons as a Redskin. He's had some low moments too, like when he pulled himself out of the game at Green Bay while the outcome still was in doubt. Yes, he was having an awful game but it's the coach's decision to pull a player from a game, not that player's. Some have said that he quit in that game. I think that's going a bit too far, but I have no logical comeback for those who use the "q" word.

And now this. Like Davis oversleeping, the story will have a shelf life of a few days on talk radio and in places like this and then it will die down.

It's up to Santana Moss to make sure it stays dead.

Schweigert signed for one year

The contract that Stuart Schweigert signed with the Washington Redskins was a one-year deal.

From David Elfin at the Washington Times:

The Washington Redskins signed former Oakland Raiders free safety Stuart Schweigert to a one-year deal yesterday. The 26-year-old Schweigert, who will receive a bonus if he makes the team according to a team source, started 42 games for the Raiders over four seasons.

Several other teams were interested in landing the fifth-year player out of Purdue including Atlanta, Denver, St. Louis and Tennessee, according to Elfin's story.

The veteran minimum for a fifth-year layer is $605,000 and I'll take a stab at his roster bonus being in the neighborhood of $100,000. I will pass along contract details when they become available.

In his Times report on Monday's OTA's, Elfin had a slightly different take on the participation of Rocky McIntosh in practice. Yesterday in his blog, he said that McIntosh was lined up at his weakside linebacker spot. Today in the paper edition of the paper he said that the is "getting close to returning to full-time duty." Still, quite an optimistic outlook for McIntosh.

Rocky practices?

While accounts by both Jason LaCanfora and the Associated Press both said that Rocky McIntosh was on the sidelines during today's OTA session, Dave Elfin of the Washington Times apparently saw something different.

Per the Redskins 360 blog:

The Redskins are back on the field for the first time since May 8 and the big news is that Rocky McIntosh is back at his usual weakside linebacker spot for the first time since he tore an ACL against Chicago last Dec. 2.

There were questions about whether or not McIntosh would be ready for the start of training camp due to the lateness and severity of the injury. The Redskins have said all along, however, that Rocky would be ready for training camp and, if Elfin is accurate here, that would appear to be the case.

Schweigert brings starting experience

On Friday, the Washington Redskins signaled that they were not happy with their situation at safety and signed a potential backup in Justin Hamilton.

Today, they made it loud and clear that they wanted to upgrade the position substantially when they signed a potential starter at safety in Stu Schweigert.

In four seasons with the Raiders since the drafted him out of Purdue with the fourth pick of the third round, Schweigert, who will turn 27 later this month, started 42 games. Thirty seven of those starts came consecutively before an injury forced him out of the lineup for a game late last season. The Oakland coaching staff reportedly was unhappy with his tackling and when he was healthy, he was relegated to the bench.

When Oakland signed free agent safety Gibril Wilson away from the Giants, the handwriting was on the wall and the Raiders released Schweigert on May 21.

The acquisition of Schweigert gives the Redskins the option of moving LaRon Landry back to strong safety. That's where he played his rookie season until Sean Taylor went out of the lineup with a knee injury. Taylor, of course, never returned and Landry stayed at free safety while Reed Doughty assumed the SS position.

Schweigert has four career interceptions, but this tribute video from his days at Purdue shows that he has considerable ball hawking skills:

Note that a couple of the picks in the video are at the expense of his new teammate Antwaan Randle El, a QB at Indiana.

He can lay some lumber as well. Here's a shot he took at Tony Gonzalez of the Chiefs:

A good stick, but I have to say that I've seen taunting call for much less than what he did after the hit.

In not-unrelated news, safety Vernon Fox underwent his second knee operation of the offseason recently. He had one procedure done in January and then after he tweaked it again in minicamp he had a second surgery performed.

With sixth-round pick Kareem Moore also hobbled with recent knee surgery, the Redskins were getting rather thin at safety going into the final round of OTA's.

Not any more.

Skins sign S Schweigert

The Washington Redskins further bolstered the safety position by signing ex -Raider Stuart Schweigert. Here's the press release, more later.


Ashburn, VA - The Washington Redskins announced today that they have signed free agent safety Stuart Schweigert (pronounced Shwi-gert).


  In addition, the team released linebacker Rian Wallace.


Schweigert (6-2, 210) played his first four NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders (2004-07).  He was released by Oakland on May 21, 2008.  In 63 career games (42 starts), he compiled 315 tackles, four interceptions and 18 passes defensed.His best season occurred in 2006, when he totaled a career-best 107 tackles and four passes defensed in 16 games.  Last season, he totaled 69 tackles and tied his career-high with two interceptions in 15 contests.


Schweigert originally entered the NFL as a third-round draft pick (67th overall) with Oakland out of Purdue.  He was named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and totaled a school-record 17 interceptions at Purdue (besting the previous mark of 11 picks set by Rod Woodson)

Is Justin Hamilton more than camp fodder?

The Washington Redskins signed safety Justin Hamilton, who was out of the league in 2007, on Friday. Normally, that's all the mention that the acquisition of a street free agent would merit. But Hamilton may, just may, be more than mere camp fodder.

Hamilton is 6-3, 217 and at the 2006 combine he ran 4.55 in the 40. He is a product of Virginia Tech. As a Hokie, he played running back and receiver his first couple of seasons before switching to defense. The Cleveland Browns drafted him in the sixth round and he made the team with a role playing special teams, as many low-round draftees do. In 10 games, he recorded 15 tackles.

In the final round of cuts in 2007, Hamilton was let go. The team said that he was injured in the final preseason game and, although it was only supposed to keep him sidelined for a month, they reached an injury settlement and waived him. That left the team with three safeties, a very low number on a 53-man roster.

I did some poking around to try to find out the nature of his injury. And I found nothing definitive. Someone said it was a knee tweak. Chris Pokorny of Dawgs by Nature told me that the team never said but he thought it might have been a back problem.

The nature of the release would allow him to return to the Browns at any time during the season. And, when Gary Baxter, who was considered the fourth safety, went on injured reserve, those occupying the Dawg Pound thought it was a no-brainer to re-up Hamilton. But he remained unemployed despite the generally dismal state of the Cleveland defense.

And he stayed out of football until the end of May when the Redskins picked him up.

Sometimes there are valid reasons why a guy is out of the league for a year. Sometimes there are not. Gregg Williams used to love to say that there were hundreds of players on the street who, given the right role with the right team, could play.

Hamilton has the size and, if he hasn't lost more than half a step, the speed to play in the NFL. Whatever the nature of his 2007 injury was, it would seem to be something that could heal in eight months. There are no off-field issues that we know of. He could compete for a roster spot.

The tea leaves indicate to me that the knee of sixth-round safety Kareem Moore, which was scoped just after the draft, is not recovering as well as the Redskins would hope.

James ’ deal has two years left

I made a mistake last night.

Without checking, I reported something about the Washington Redskins that came directly from the team's primary beat reporter for the largest paper in Washington. I should know better than that and I apologize to my readers for doing so.

Erasmus James has two years left on his rookie contract, not one as was state here yesterday. He will make $695,000 this year and $1 million the next.

That avoids the unpleasant potential scenario of James rehabbing with the Skins, reviving his career, and then cashing in on the free agent market in 2009.