Will Mike Sellers escape the Grim Reaper and make the 2011 roster? Tonight is his last chance to make a statement as a tight end and special-teamer. He is swimming against the tide of the Washington Redskins youth movement and the decision may rest entirely on Chris Cooley’s availability. I am emotionally prepared to say good-bye to a warrior.
John Beck or Rex Grossman? The question bores me. If Joe Gibbs were here, the answer would be…Donovan McNabb because Grossman would not be here because Kyle Shanahan would not be here because Mike Shanahan would not be here because the Redskins would have avoided that whole goat rodeo of mining ideas from the mind of Jim Fassel then not naming him head coach and backing into Jim Zorn, a legend in Seattle whom the Seahawks did not see as OC-material.
Wait. How did I get here? Oh yeah, the quarterback question. The Redskins’ prospects for 2011 rest with the defense and the running game. While quarterback is not an irrelevant question, it’s just not as critical as folks make it out to be. We are only speaking of who starts for the first two or three games with any certainty. Shanahan has a quick hook. So did Gibbs. Just ask Patrick Ramsey.
Beck was not available to play the Steelers in preseason game one. Grossman made 53 pass attempts in three games to Beck’s 27 attempts in two. That is not the way Coach Shanahan wanted it I’m sure. If Beck were the guy, the coach would have preferred that Beck get the majority of the reps in practice and in games. NFL competition demands it. That’s why coaches hate quarterback controversies…and why the football world looks askance at Shanahan for engineering one.
What is Ryan Torain’s place on the depth chart? Does he even have one? Torain returns to the roster after recovering from a hand injury that kept him out of preseason practice. He should appear in tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the same Bucs he victimized for 172 yards last season. While he was out, Tim Hightower was all but named as starting running back and rookies Roy Helu and Evan Royster displayed playmaking abilities that we did not see from Torain. Torain followed Shanahan from Denver, so I suspect coach wants to keep him. Torain would make that an easier decision with a big show tonight.
There is a thought that Torain might be surplus talent at running back…that whole “injury-prone” thing. Slow down on that thought, cowboy. We don’t know if Helu, Royster or Hightower for that matter are any less prone to injury than Torain, who has 179 more rushing attempts than the rookies do. Of course, 179 attempts are not that much of an advantage.
If I were the coach, the depth chart would read: Hightower, Helu, Torain while hoping Royster clears waivers to make the practice squad. Last year, Torain had to clear waivers to be available to the team on the practice squad.
The Bucs stop here. Tonight marks the 11th time that the Redskins and Buccaneers have met in a preseason game, but only the second time they have met on the ‘Skins home turf. The preseason series is tied 5-5. I know that after reading Redskins Memories – Video Recap of Past Battles 1986-2009 on BucStop.com, the Bloguin network site that covers the Buccaneers. Yes, it is Buc-centric, but still a good, quick read. Go take a look. We’ll be here when you get back.
Hog Heaven did a Q&A exchange leading up to tonight’s game. See BucStop’s answers to my questions here and my answers to their questions here.
Danny Smith, the rookie’s best friend. Rick Maese’s story in today’s WaPOST makes clear that for many rookies and players on the bubble that making special teams is the key to making THE team. I wish any man (and woman) well who is living his dream. But, those guys have to do better than they did last week against the Baltimore Ravens. With a minute to go and the ‘Skins in the lead, special teams allowed a 35-yard return of Sav Rocca’s 55-yard punt. Yes, that was our 3s and 4s against their 3s and 4s, but that’s who is trying to make the team by way of special teams play.
Smith is not your friend when you do that.
Fare thee well, Malcolm Kelly. When he was drafted in 2008, I had higher expectations for Malcolm Kelly than for Devin Thomas. Kelly was a three-year starter from his freshman year at Oklahoma. I always like that in a pro prospect. Thomas was a flashy flash in his last season at Michigan State. I am always suspicious of that. Kelly was the draftee with the better track record and higher probability for success at the next lever.
We see everything better in hindsight. The Sooners featured running back Adrian Peterson whose presence surely helped the passing game. Kelly missed the 2008 Combine because of a knee injury and he performed poorly at his Pro Day. He says the Sooners medical staff misdiagnosed his injury. The story emerging now is that Washington’s medical staff advised against drafting Kelly out of concern for his knees. Jim Zorn was candid in his criticism of Kelly and Thomas for their conditioning coming into their rookie training camp. In Kelly’s case, he may not have been able to train between the NFL Draft and camp.
By all accounts, Kelly is the character-type you want to represent your team. He was well liked by the players. He had the hands of a receiver. It turns out that you do need knees and feet to catch a ball. I wish him well where ever he goes. He has a talent for freestyling. Perhaps that is his future.
Success is the next challenge for Michael Vick. And he will be poorly rewarded for it. That comes despite the reported six-year, $100 million contract he just signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. If you doubt that, go read Why Michael Vick’s Contract is Worth $11 Million — Not $100 Million on opposingviews.com.
The long and the short of it is that Vick can only take the first $300,000 of the after-tax $10 million he will earn annually. The rest goes to pay off his creditors. So, Eagles rookies and players making the vet minimum may be better off financially than Vick. For that matter, John Beck may be better off than Vick.
Michael Vick is in his predicament because he failed to handle success well in Atlanta. Now his bank account is a mere pass-through for his newly recovered wealth. His only hope of cashing in is to prolong his career by becoming a smart, pocket passer more than a gifted phenom who ad-libs. He has to become Donovan McNabb. It’s a challenge.
A morality play on so many levels. Kids, don’t try this at home.
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