Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Good news for Mason-ites?

[caption id="attachment_1504" align="aligncenter" width="335" caption="An opening for Mason?"][/caption] The first round of cuts generally are insignificant. I'm not exactly sure why the NFL has teams trim about 6% of the roster on one day and then the remaining 34% necessary to get to the limit four days later. The release of Alfred Fincher, however, was a mild surprise and it lines up some tea leaves that we will proceed to attempt to read. The release of the veteran linebacker, who was on the active roster all 16 games in 2008, leaves the Redskins with seven pure linebackers in H. B. Blades, London Fletcher, Cody Glenn, Robert Henson, Rocky McIntosh, Robert Thomas and Darrel Young. In addition, Brian Orakpo and Chris Wilson are listed as hybrid DE/LB's. When I projected the final roster a few days ago, I had the Redskins keeping Fincher and cutting Glenn and Young, a rookie free agent out of Villanova. So, one might think that the departure of Fincher is a positive development for Glenn's or Young's chances for making the team. And it could well be. But I think it's good news for somebody else. In Blades, Henson, and Thomas the Redskins have good, flexible depth behind Fletcher and McIntosh. Wilson backs up Orakpo. Although they generally like to keep another linebacker for special teams they could get by with this group. By my prediction that would mean that the defense is taking 25 roster spots. With three reserved for specialists that would leave 25 for the offense: QB-3 WR-5 TE-3 OL-9 And five running backs. The Redskins have carried four for the past couple of seasons. That would mean that Marcus Mason could join Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts, Rock Cartwright, and Mike Sellers. That lets the Redskins keep their special teams stud in Cartwright, something that I believe Danny Smith will insist on given the departures of James Thrash and Khary Campbell. And it gives the Mason Masses, or whatever the group of fans out there insisting that Mason make the team, their man. And it gives the Redskins a four-tool running back—Mason can run, run with power, catch, and block. The Redskins also could be creating a spot for Dominique Dorsey, who has done well returning punts and wasn't bad running the ball against New England. But I get the feeling that since the role of Antwaan Randle El is likely to diminish with the emergence of Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly as budding starting-quality receivers, Randle El will continue carrying the punt return duties. That would leave no room for Dorsey. Something else could be going on. Anthony Aldridge, making his first appearance of the preseason, looked like a player against New England, perhaps room is being made for him. It could happen that they'll keep Glenn or Young on the roster. Or maybe a sixth wide receiver although it's hard to figure out why you would keep a D. J. Hackett and cut Dorsey or Mason. A lot can happen between now and when the final cuts are made on Saturday. Mason is battling some bruised ribs and if he can't play effectively on Thursday that will have to ding his chances. But it appears that the door has been opened for Mason and it may be up to him to put on a flak jacket and run through it.

Who can be on the Practice Squad?

[caption id="attachment_1491" align="aligncenter" width="349" caption="Westbrook could spend a third year on the practice squad"][/caption] During the live blog last night we got to discussing the practice squad and who could be on it and who couldn't. I found my PDF of the NFL collective bargaining agreement and found the rules on page 171. Here are the eligibility requirements for players to be on the Practice Squad:

• Players may not have served more than two previous seasons on a practice squad
• Players who do not have an accrued season of NFL experience.
• Free agent players who were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during the only Accrued Seasons.
• An otherwise eligible player may be a practice squad player for a third season only if the club by which he is employed that season has at least 53 players on its active/inactive list during the entire period of his employment.
• Three regular season or postseason games on the practice squad qualifies as a year.

Also, a player must clear waivers before being added to the practice squad and, during the season, a team can sign a PS player from another team with no compensation. In addition, after being waived a player cut by one team could sign with the practice squad of another team. The primary misconception that I had was that players who had a season on the roster but were inactive virtually the entire year such as Colt Brennan or Chad Reinhart could not be on the practice squad. Since both were active for fewer than nine games during their only accrued seasons, they could be signed to the PS. It says here that neither one of them will end up there. Reinhart should get another year, although it appears that he will be the second option should a guard go down; Jeremy Bridges will be the first. Colt's fate won't be decided until after Thursday's game but he clearly is on the bubble. If Chase Daniel does get the nod as the third QB I doubt that Brennan would wind up on the practice squad. It's not that he's not worth keeping around but that there is no use for a fourth quarterback in the week to week operation during the regular season. Even with three you have an extra with the starter running the offense and another one running the scout team. The third one can throw to receivers in drills and handle other such chores. A fourth quarterback would be the proverbial fifth wheel. It also appears that Byron Westbrook could be on the PS. He's been on there the past two seasons but since, as far as I know, the Redskins have had 53 players on the active/inactive roster every week. That seems like an odd twist to the rules since I've never heard of a team carrying fewer than 53 players. But apparently they don't want teams carrying practice squad players in lieu of having them on the roster. Westbrook may or may not want to hang around for another year on the PS. The practice squad may not be a player's dream destination, but it's not a bad gig. The minimum pay is $5,200 a week or $88,400 if you stick the whole season. A team can play a practice squad member more but the salaries do go against the cap. It's not as good a deal as being on the roster. The rookie minimum is $285,000 or $16,764 a week.

Tryon as Plan B

[caption id="attachment_1373" align="aligncenter" width="457" caption="Rogers may fly the coop in 2010"][/caption]

After I posted about Justin Tryon yesterday, I thought a bit more about what Darrell Green said about him. In particular, this part jumped out at me: ". . . he's a starter in 2009, 2010 or whenever the opportunity comes." What jumped out at me was the mention of 2010. Carlos Rogers will be a free agent next year, restricted or unrestricted depending on whether or not there is a new CBA. If he hits the free agent market he is likely to be a fairly highly sought after player assuming that he has a solid 2009. That's fine; you want to have players that other teams want. But you don't want to be in a position where you're forced to break the bank because you have nobody on the team that can replace that player. So, if Tryon lives up to Green's words, the Skins will be in a pretty good position when it comes to dealing with Rogers. If the bidding gets too high they can just let him go, knowing that a solid replacement, a player that they—gasp—drafted. Now, I don't want everyone to think that I believe that Tryon is as good a Rogers or that I'm trying to run Rogers out of town. Neither of those is the case. I think that Rogers is highly underappreciated. He drops passes that other CB's wouldn't be in position to get their hands on. But the world of sports is unlike that of other businesses in that the prices are set by your dumbest competitor. Often the Redskins are in the role of being that dumbest competitor. In this situation they might be able to draw a line in the stand and, if the bidding goes past that, let Rogers walk and have a cornerback who's working off of a fourth-round draftee rookie deal for the next two seasons. It's probably too much to hope to think it would be the start of a trend or anything like that, but any succession planning taking place at all is a welcome development.

Justin Tryon, Nickelback?

[caption id="attachment_1366" align="aligncenter" width="323" caption="Justin Tryon may play a key role in 2009"][/caption]

About a week or so before training camp started, I dashed off the following few paragraphs about Washington Redskins cornerback Justin Tryon. I didn't publish it immediately because I'd just posted a bunch of articles and it got buried. Here it is, below the fold:

My next candidate for 2009 camp phenom is cornerback Justin Tryon. I'll wait until the laughter subsides and then I'll continue. Tryon was an anti-phenom in 2008. He left scorch marks wherever he went whether it was on the practice field or in preseason games. The stories in the press were far from complimentary. The fan base was willing to chip in and get him on the first plane out of town. When he made the final roster conspiracy theories abounded, the buzz being that he only made it because the front office had ordered that all of the draft picks make the final 53. But for whatever reason he stuck and, when Shawn Springs was out with various injuries, he played a lot of dime and some nickel. In 14 games he made just four tackles. You didn't hear of him much. And, for a rookie cornerback, that's a good thing. He's phenom material because he has speed and he has confidence. If he can get his hands on a ball he'll be able to do things with it. SportsCenter highlight kinds of things. Having a year under his belt will increase his confidence. Tryon will make some plays and get noticed. We'll probably be seeing Tryon past August. With Springs gone he has a shot at being the regular dime back. That may or may not prove to be a disaster.

I found it a few days ago and I immediately wished that I had posted it before camp. By all accounts, Tryon is having a great camp. He's staying on the field, which is more than can be said for about a dozen and a half of his teammates. On top of that he received some help from one of the best cornerbacks in NFL history. Darrell Green didn't just give Tryon a few pointers; he spend six weeks with him, working with him in both Florida and Virginia. After the teaching sessions, Tryon drew some high praise from someone who knows a thing or two about solid cornerback play.

"I'm gonna say that Justin Tryon, if he's given the chance, he's a starter in 2009, 2010 or whenever the opportunity comes," said Green "He is definitely qualified to be a starter in the National Football League. I'm putting my reputation on that after being with him for six weeks, seeing what I've seen from him. Hopefully he'll have his chance and be a Redskin for a long time."

Even before Green gave one of the most ringing endorsements I've ever heard from any former player Tryon was a player on the move. It was thought that third-round selection Kevin Barnes would push him for the No. 4 cornerback position. That hasn't happened and it's not only because of Barnes' health and performance issues. If Tryon isn't the dime back it will be because he has beaten out Fred Smoot for the nickel position. While Tryon still have to get it done on the field to calm the skeptics, Green's endorsement makes one less to break out in a cold sweat at the thought of Tryon covering the slot receiver on a regular basis.

Warpath Confidential: QB articles X 2

[caption id="attachment_1352" align="aligncenter" width="290" caption="Colt Brennan speaks with Warpath Confidential"][/caption]

One of the cool things about being associated with a site like WarpathConfidential.com is that when you want to write an article on a subject but you're kind of stuck on a slant, there's always one over there that captures the essence of the subject. So instead of me coming up with something lame (no cracks out there about that being the standard here, now) I can just point you over there and you can be enlightened by one of the solid pros writing over there. In one, Editor John Pappas recounts a conversation with Colt Brennan about the QB's play in the scrimmage on Saturday. It's a must-read for members of the Cult of Colt and others, like me, who are interested in his progress but not yet ready to proclaim him the starter and bemoan the fact that the Pro Bowl isn't in his home state of Hawaii this year. But I digress. Here is John's article on Colt: Colt's Corner—Assessing the Scrimmage And there's also a short one about how the QB depth chart looks now and how it is likely to look on Sept. 14. The Quarterback Shuffle Enjoy, and tell 'em I sent ya.

Clunking offense in scrimmage no surprise

[caption id="attachment_1341" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Casey Rabach will have to anchor a solid line"][/caption] First, I have to say that I was wrong. My predictions of the fan appreciation day scrimmage turning into another overcrowded disaster did not come to pass. They were able to secure additional parking and there were more of Loudon Count's finest on duty to direct traffic so that things went much more smoothly. The Redskins reported that 29,000 went out to the event, more than the 28,000 that created such traffic chaos last year. Many, like Jason Reid of the Post, were skeptical about the reported turnout numbers. Evidently, there were many fans who showed up disguised as blades of grass. Those present were of the near-unanimous opinion that the Washington Redskins' offense was mediocre in its finer moments. Ryan O'Halloran at the Times pretty well summed it up in his report:

Anthony Alridge caught Jason Campbell's pass, turned upfield and showed his elusiveness by faking out a linebacker on his way to a first down. But then he fumbled and safety Kareem Moore recovered, one of two offensive turnovers in the Washington Redskins' intrasquad scrimmage Saturday afternoon.

The play epitomized the first 10 days of on-field training camp activity for the Redskins.

The offense does something good but then makes a mistake in the form of a fumble, a missed assignment up front, a deflected pass downfield or a botched handoff. And the opportunistic defense capitalizes.

I'm not about to make the case here that there isn't cause for concern regarding the Redskins offense but those concerns aren't necessarily new and based on yesterday's scrimmage. They need their offensive line to gel if they are going to have even a decent offense. Some combination of five players will have to come together and open up holes for Clinton Portis and give Campbell time to throw. They don't need to be the '82 Hogs or anything. Mere competence is called for. So it really doesn't matter if Anthony Aldridge is fumbling away passes. And it's not surprising that the timing is far from where it needs to be. Timing takes time and we're just a week and a half into camp. And you can't get your timing down if the defense is spending a lot of time in your backfield. Just as I would see no reason for celebration if the offense had clicked in the scrimmage I see no reason to view anything differently because the offense sputtered. I hate to break this to those of you who want instant answers but we're not really going to know much about this unit until they line it up for keeps against the Giants on Sept. 13. There may be a glimpse here and there during the preseason but until five guys play together for four quarters we really won't know what we have. Certainly that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with analyzing and discussing the evidence so far. But it's futile to try to draw any grand and meaningful conclusions from what we're seeing here in the second week of August.

Tandler on ESPN 980 08.05.09

Better late than never and, since the main topic of discussion is the problems along the offensive line, still topical. Here is my weekly spot with Big Al at ESPN 950 in Richmond.

Tandler on Sports Phone 08.05.09

Jim Zorn ’s quotes, RT ' s comments 08.07.09

[caption id="attachment_1335" align="aligncenter" width="322" caption="Jim Zorn"][/caption]

Here is what Jim Zorn said to the media today followed by what I have to say about what he said. On Fan Appreciation Day: "It's a big deal for us. The tradition here is the fans love the Washington Redskins. They come into our home basically, and we are inviting everyone in. We hope it's a big crowd. The big problem is there is one way in and one way out so there is traffic. Everybody has to be patient and enjoy the day. We are going to have a pretty good show, but it is going to be fast. You may not see the stars, but you are going to see a lot of great veterans and a lot of good rookies trying to make this football team. It will be spirited" Tandler: I still don't understand why this isn't being done at FedEx Field. As far as anyone knows, nothing has been done to prevent a repeat of last year's debacle. No more than a couple of thousand can comfortably watch the proceedings from the one side of the field onto which fans are allowed and last year there were 28,000. Thousands more didn't make it after being stuck in traffic. My advice if you're going—it you haven't left already, you're too late. On the number of plays he expects to run tomorrow: "I said 25 or 30 plays last year and we ended up with 68. I am going to try and run 40 plays on offense and maybe another 16 plays. I am keeping the red zone pretty much a script. We are going to just work it down; we are not going to play it out so that will limit the reps. I think each guy should get 15 to 20 reps if they are playing a whole series." Tandler: OK, so doing the math here I get 56 plays. None of those plays will feature Clinton Portis, Albert Haynesworth, Santana Moss or any other of nearly a dozen players who will be sidelined with "injuries". I put the word in quotes because of all of those who will be sitting out it seems that the only player who would be questionable if this was a regular-season affair is Carlos Rogers. His calf strain has kept him out for the past several days. On punter Hunter Smith: "I have a tremendous comfort zone with Hunter. We are going to punt tomorrow in non live situations. We are going to kick field goals and extra points. Each kicker will have a chance to do that. We are going to kick both kickers in the games in preseason." Tandler: Certainly the additions of Haynesworth and Orakpo will prove to have a more noticeable impact but don't underestimate the difference that the presence of Hunter the Punter will make. Suisham will really have to stink up the joint tomorrow and for all four preseason games and, even if he does that—a distinct possibility—there's no guarantee that Rayner will replace him. The team's 2009 kicker may not be on the roster as of now. On guard/tackle Chad Reinhardt: "I see a guy that came very prepared to this training camp. He is much more confident in what he is doing on the line of scrimmage. He knows his assignment. He is in great shape. He has changed his body strength and is competing very hard for a starting position." Tandler: I hope that by changing his body strength he got stronger. Although Zorn didn't talk about it last year, it seems to me that Reinhart, just like Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, wasn't prepared for the rigors of an NFL training camp. Unlike the rookie receivers Reinhart didn't suffer from injuries but he was lost and he never recovered. This year he seems to know what he's getting into and it's showing in improved play.

More roster changes but not on OL

[caption id="attachment_1314" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="D. J. Hackett can play--when he can play, that is"][/caption]

In a move that was not at all surprising, the Washington Redskins today waived-injured wide receiver Roydell Williams. A broken finger that required surgery would have sidelined Williams until September and the Redskins were unable to wait for a marginal veteran prospect to heal. The replacement veteran is former Seahawk D. J. Hackett, who finally joins the Redskins after a couple of flirtations. They talked to him during the 2008 free agency period and also right after this year's draft. Jim Zorn is well familiar with Hackett from the days both spend in Seattle. The irony in replacing an injured player with Hackett is that Hackett can't seem to stay healthy either. He has played in just 15 games the past two years combined due to an assortment of ailments. He is just 28 and if he can stay on the field he has a good shot at making the roster. The team also signed Michael Marquardt, a first-year defensive lineman out of Arizona State. Nobody was signed to give the ailing offensive line a boost. It seems that the preference is to give some solid practice time to some of the younger players like Chad Rinehart and Devin Clark and see how it shakes out. Certainly, it would be preferable to have someone from within that system step up and show and ability to be a quality backup rather than signing someone off of the street.

Weekly spot on ESPN 950 Richmond

I'll be doing my weekly radio spot with Big Al, the dean of Richmond talk radio (not just sports talk, any and all talk radio) this morning at 8:40. If you are in Richmond, tune in at 950 on your AM dial. Anywhere else in the world you can check it out at ESPN950am.com.