Beating the Cowboys is huge, enough to justify even a bad season. It’s even bigger to beat them in Dallas. Even bigger than that is doing it Monday Night Football. Even bigger than that is being the unanimous underdog.
The biggest shocker however was the incredible performance by rookie Bashaud Breeland and 2nd year newbie David Amerson against perhaps the best offense in the NFL right now. Even Breeland was surprised, crediting special divine assistance to his performance.
Breeland as the fourth-round pick is officially the draft steal at this point in the season. Feeling there is a draft steal on the team lifts not just the fans but also the players, helping them feel they have an inside advantage in the razor tight NFL race.
The Redskins are still missing confidence and big plays, and Breeland is too new to the NFL and too young (both he and Amerson left college early) to know he shouldn’t be so confident. Perhaps this is the spark of the rest of the season to help build the team’s confidence and get more players to make big plays. Time will tell.
What has become clear is that for all the horrific draft choices of the Washington Redskins, Raheem Morris has either purposely or accidentally stumbled into a Cornerback drafting strategy that could be the next big thing in the Seahawks Secondary copycat mania.
Instead of copying the Seahawks with 6’3″ tall Cornerbacks, the Redskins took their biggest asset – very long arms – and added to that speed instead of unusual height. They also added looking for Cornerbacks that hit like Safeties and could play Safety position in a pinch.
With the NFL’s newfound religion on defensive pass interference calling, long arms have become a crucial asset for Cornerbacks that must keep their distance. Hitting like a Safety has become even more crucial for disrupting receivers off the line of scrimmage, the only place non-tackling Wide Receiver contact is allowed in a pass happy NFL. That said, tackling is also key and laying a legal yet explosively hard hit can literally change the momentum of a game.
David Amerson is around 6’1.5″ with VERY long arms. He has sub 4.4 40-meter dash speed, making him much faster than Richard Sherman. Amerson can also lay the lumber when he hits and doesn’t shy away from tackling.
Bashaud Breeland is around 5′ 11.5″ and has VERY VERY long arms. He clocked a slow 40 time because he was never coached in how to run the 40. In reality, Breeland is also 4.4 runner given how he shadowed DeSean Jackson in training camp and his game speed. And Breeland LOVES to hit and hit hard. With those big eyes and his youthful bounciness, watching Breeland excitedly ram those big hits is like watching a dog when going after a bone.
With questions about RG3 becoming a pocket passer, Morris slowing down at RB and problems with virtually every group position, having visionary young personnel in a core position is something the Redskins can use to build. Don’t be surprised to see other teams copy this strategy in the future.
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