Shish! The Washington Redskins have lunch with former Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris and everybody has Morris drawn, quartered hired and changing the Redskins defensive strategies.
It was just lunch, people. The only ones who should be stressed over the event are incumbent coaches Bob Slowic (defensive backs) and Steve Jackson (safeties). I know it would worry me if my boss were having lunch with someone else to discuss my job. That implies that decisions have already been made.
I hope that Executive Vice President Mike Shanahan had the compassion to inform those guys where they stand with the team. Management transparency is hard, but always for the best.
The lunch meeting with Morris did not have to be about a coaching vacancy—although a good interview question might be, “How would you have coached a Pro Bowl performance from Carlos Rogers while he was with Washington?”
Tampa Bay has the fifth pick in the 2012 NFL Draft; that’s immediately ahead of the Redskins. So tell me, Raheem, are the Bucs more likely to move up in the Draft order in a grab for Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin 3rd, or to stay put?
Morris left Washington for an interview with the Minnesota Vikings, who have the third pick in the Draft. The Vikings describe the talks as exploratory about a high-level defensive position. There are no, yet, vacancies on Minnesota’s coaching staff.
I will bet you a pocket of pennies that Morris visits Cleveland, who holds the fourth pick and are a real threat to grab RG3, for more exploration.
This is all conjecture, of course, but Shanahan had better not fire any coaches before the Draft if he wants to keep secrets from Minnesota, Cleveland or Tampa Bay.
Point after
Our friends at DC Pro Sports Report tracked 41 more Mock Drafts on their board for a total to date of 174 Mocks. The sports writers who do these things see Robert Griffin III more firmly in Cleveland than in Washington. The total mocks that put RG3 in Ashburn dropped to 27 percent from about 34 percent when last I checked. The mockers see Alabama RB Trent Richardson or OK State WR Justin Blackmon falling to Washington. Warren Moon compares Blackmon to Dez Bryant, only better.
Mike Shanahan bargain hunts for running backs. It’s how he rolls. I don’t see him spending a first round pick on a rusher. A wide-out with playmaker potential is another story.
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