Mini camp news
 

LaRon is here:

RedskinsDotCom

Just saw LaRon Landry at the facility on first day of #Redskins mini-camp. His whereabouts has been topic of conversation of late. #NFL

hopefully the first of many positive notes out of this weekend.

Re: Mini camp news
 

And Redskins.com weighs in:

[url=http://www.redskins.com/gen/articles/Redskins__First_Mini_Camp_Is_a_Low_Key_Affair_112499.jsp]Redskins' First Mini-Camp Is a Low-Key Affair[/url]

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I like that MS is looking first at the talent he has and their current level of play and willing to start the guy that brings the most, rather than starting a guy simply because he's "a starter" It's an all out competition at all potitions. And its looks like position finally has to be earned.

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/15/AR2010041505445.html]washingtonpost.com[/url] "The best players are going to play," Shanahan said. "We're going to have competition at every position. I'm looking forward to seeing which guys step up and which guys play."

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Rocky is not attending mini-camp, still upset I guess

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why on earth is rocky being such a baby - its not like the redskins are the only team tendering tendering its RFAs. pretty much no one is giving its RFAs long-term contracts. if rocky's upset, he should talk to the union that's allegedly representing his interests and yell at them for not getting something done with the owners. All that being said, does McIntosh really think he'd have gotten a mega-deal from the redskins or anyone else if he'd been a true free agent?

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beat me to it:

RedskinsInsider

RT @JReidPost: Rocky McIntosh will not attend minicamp but hopes "we'll have a resolution soon." Sounds like a trade could be in works.

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I don't think Rocky fits into their plans. I know the Skins looked to trade him earlier this off-season but there wasn't much of a market for him it seems. Maybe there will be by next weekend?

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There's going to be a shortage of LB's on the roster if McIntosh and Carter are traded, Fletcher is getting up there in age. I'm a little worried, time to rethink the draft.

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We're stealing Brandon Spikes in the 4th round anyway...that's not some sort of inside info by the way, just speculating on my part

LB is definitely a position we need to address. And I'm really curious about how HB Blades fits in

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[quote=SmootSmack;689091]We're stealing Brandon Spikes in the 4th round anyway...that's not some sort of inside info by the way, just speculating on my part

LB is definitely a position we need to address. And I'm really curious about how HB Blades fits in[/quote]

I would trade down, pick up Spikes and a OL.

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Rocky and A. Montgomery for Carriker?

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At LB, we still have Jarmon, Wilson, Alexander, Blades, Orakpo. Sure, MacIntosh would seem to be an upgrade but Carter really is a straight up 4-3 end (based on his performance in SanFran). With Blades and Jarmon inside, along with possibly Henson, I think LB is one of our positions of depth this year. Truthfully, I think, w/ or w/o AH, our front defensive front seven is pretty deep and gives us a lot of flexibility.

I will be disappointed if any of our four current draft picks are used on the front seven. If we get picks by trading away some of these guys, well then maybe we spend a low pick on a body. Even if Carter and McIntosh get traded, I would rather us throw more draft darts at O lineman. We have zilcho there.

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LaRon and Chris Horton
[IMG]http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c54102/x2_11cba09[/IMG]

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Jason Jean-Pierre, this guy is a hell of an athlete. I wouldn't mind seeing Orakpo on one side and Jean-Pierre on the other.

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Joe, I'm sure you know it but 3 of your 5 supposed LB's are DE's or so we picked them up as such. Only Wilson and Blades are true LB's. Jarmon is a DE, kinda small but they were supposed to beef him up in the off season. Alexander was a DE turned OL only to be returned to DE. Orakpo was a DE whom they are trying to convert to a tweener. Last yr for Orakpo was not bad so he might work out.

In a nut shell though it doesn't seem like the front office or HC is panicking about OL or LB so I'm not worried. They either have a plan or like what they already have. I said it once and will say it again, I don't think our problem was personel we had...especially on OL. I think our major problem was scheme and blocking for that scheme. When finally other teams figured out what we were doing we got dominated. Which was after game 6 of the first yr of Zorn.

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“I think, so far, there has been a ‘Let’s get this thing right’ attitude,’" Hicks, one of the Redskins’ free agent pickups, said. "Phillip Daniels’ locker is right next to mine and the first thing he said to me when I introduced myself to him was, ‘It’s time to get this thing right.’

Daniels has become one of my fave Skins over the past few years.

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[quote=SBXVII;689102]Joe, I'm sure you know it but 3 of your 5 supposed LB's are DE's or so we picked them up as such. Only Wilson and Blades are true LB's. Jarmon is a DE, kinda small but they were supposed to beef him up in the off season. Alexander was a DE turned OL only to be returned to DE. Orakpo was a DE whom they are trying to convert to a tweener. Last yr for Orakpo was not bad so he might work out.

In a nut shell though it doesn't seem like the front office or HC is panicking about OL or LB so I'm not worried. They either have a plan or like what they already have. I said it once and will say it again, I don't think our problem was personel we had...especially on OL. I think our major problem was scheme and blocking for that scheme. When finally other teams figured out what we were doing we got dominated. Which was after game 6 of the first yr of Zorn.[/quote]

Wilson is originally a DE as well.

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[quote=SBXVII;689102]Joe, [B]I'm sure you know it but 3 of your 5 supposed LB's are DE's or so we picked them up as such. Only Wilson and Blades are true LB's.[/B] Jarmon is a DE, kinda small but they were supposed to beef him up in the off season. Alexander was a DE turned OL only to be returned to DE. Orakpo was a DE whom they are trying to convert to a tweener. Last yr for Orakpo was not bad so he might work out.

In a nut shell though it doesn't seem like the front office or HC is panicking about OL or LB so I'm not worried. They either have a plan or like what they already have. I said it once and will say it again, I don't think our problem was personel we had...especially on OL. I think our major problem was scheme and blocking for that scheme. When finally other teams figured out what we were doing we got dominated. Which was after game 6 of the first yr of Zorn.[/quote]

Actually, only two are career LB's - Wilson is also a converted 4-3 DE.

Jarmon, Orakpo, Alexander and Wilson are all guys who seem to have talent to play with the big boys. Yes, there is the conversion issue. Orakpo seems to be making a rough but solid transition. Hopefully Jarmon & Wilson can do the same. As for Alexander, the man is a beast and a workaholic with enough talent to play in this league - the LB position requires some versitility and he has shown that in spades. Plus, as I said, these converted DE's give us a lot of flexibility to rush the passer from a variety of places and to switch into and out of a 4-3 almost at will. Hell, with a creative DC, we may just play a "Front 7" defense and let the other side try and figure out who's doing what.

Bottom line, I can understand the FO's confidence in the LB depth b/c of the raw talent that the roster seems to possess there. I simply don't see much talent, raw or otherwise, along the OLine.

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He's got to be more inventive than Blache, but I don't think anyone would rank Haslett among the more creative DC's in the league. Hopefully i'm wrong, but I expect our defense to pretty much be a disaster.

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I agree, Haslett doesn't scream "Innovator" to me - but I am willing to wait and see. I think he's got a good track record as a D-Coord.

Let's face it. 4-12 is 4-12. Not only that, I don't think we can say, without just guessing, what the real talent level of our team is. Under Zorn/Cerrato/Blache, I think we can all agree that the teams' talent was not maximized and, as such, it's really hard to say if some of these guys have the talent to succeed at this level. I guess I just feel from what I saw, guys playing pretty well in a vanilla defense, that with [I]any[/I] type of scheming or flexibility, the defense will be fine.

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[quote=JoeRedskin;689125]I agree, Haslett doesn't scream "Innovator" to me - but I am willing to wait and see. I think he's got a good track record as a D-Coord.

Let's face it. 4-12 is 4-12. Not only that, I don't think we can say, without just guessing, what the real talent level of our team is. Under Zorn/Cerrato/Blache[B], I think we can all agree that the teams' talent was not maximized and, as such, it's really hard to say if some of these guys have the talent to succeed at this level[/B]. I guess I just feel from what I saw, guys playing pretty well in a vanilla defense, that with [I]any[/I] type of scheming or flexibility, the defense will be fine.[/quote]
Oh so you come to a different thread to acknowledge my point. Weak stuff there. We will see how well a lot of the underperformers play when they are coached up and put in good positions.

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I don't get he concern about the OLB position. Aren't many 3-4 OLB's converted college DE's to begin with? I think so. I think we have plenty of talent to man those positions.

Now, if you're talking 3-4 ILB then you've got a point. I think we could use some help there, even moreso than before since Rocky is apparently on his way out of town.

Brandon Spikes at ILB? Pul-eeze! You'd need a sun dial to time him in the 40. Plus, I've seen him get run over more than once. I don't like him as a player and I wouldn't want him. Got anybody else in mind?

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This is why I don't like the switch to the 3-4. We're basically having to completely retool a defense that was more than adequate before. I agree it needed more punch and takeaway ability but to essentially start gutting immediately when our offense is in need of such great focus is disappointing. Seems like a less than ideal way of going about this. Might as well just cut the whole team and start over.

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[QUOTE=CRedskinsRule;689127]Oh so you come to a different thread to acknowledge my point. Weak stuff there. We will see how well a lot of the underperformers play when they are coached up and put in good positions.[/QUOTE]

<sigh> You'll notice I didn't disagree with you in the other thread that better coaching and a better system will improve our crappy O-Line. Further, I agree that we can't be sure what our talent level actually is. With that said, however, we can draw some conclusions about the talent level of the DL/LB's and O-Line based on last year's performance.

What you fail to see, b/c you are stupid, is that, whereas the un-maximized talent along our front seven on Defense still managed to play well and support a defense that finished in the top half of the league, the unmaximized talent along our O-Line played like crap and was considered by most analysts to be one of the worst, if not [I]the[/I] worst, O-lines in the league.

Thus, based on last year's performance, while we can't tell the real talent level of various positions, we can safely assume that the talent level of our defensive line/LB's is of the quality that can support a top tier defense. On the other hand, and based again on last year's performance, we can safely assume the talent level of our O-Line would barely be able to support a top-tier toilet much less an explosive NFL offense.

I still have to punch you. Twice now for being doubly idiotic.

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I would think that Spikes would make a fine ILB, especially in the 4th round. He's not an explosive speedster but between the hashmarks I think he's skilled enough and smart enough to hold his own.

Also, I think people are getting carried away with this whole 3-4 thing. We're not going to be running a 3-4 100% of the time

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Comment: Blades had a very solid year in his second season with the Redskins. He plays with good pad level and [B]power attacking the line of scrimmage.[/B] He has good foot agility, balance and quickness but lacks great speed which hinders his range in pursuit. He has improved his reactions as plays unfold and leveraged the ball better this past season than he did as a rookie. He has burst to close inside out to the ball as a run defender and a solid tackler in space. Blades can be effective in short combination zone coverage but can get exploited when in man schemes. Blades has tools to develop but is limited and likely will be relegated to a back up roll and special team's contributor.

Blades right now is listed at 242. Maybe he should be the one to get the start at ILB opposite Fletcher.

By the way, whats the deal with Landry? Is he bulking up to play ILB?

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[quote=SFREDSKIN;689089]There's going to be a shortage of LB's on the roster if McIntosh and Carter are traded, Fletcher is getting up there in age. I'm a little worried, time to rethink the draft.[/quote]

Where are those draft picks when we need them? Unless we're fortunate enough to be able to obtain some value picks via trade the cubbard is bare having only one pick in the first 103. Players with the ability to make an immediate contribution will not be available.

The experiment with moving players from their natural position to LB is going to be just that, an experiment. Could it be that what once was our strength, now has become a weakness?

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[quote=KI Skins Fan;689135]I don't get he concern about the OLB position. Aren't many 3-4 OLB's converted college DE's to begin with? I think so. I think we have plenty of talent to man those positions.

Now, if you're talking 3-4 ILB then you've got a point. I think we could use some help there, even moreso than before since Rocky is apparently on his way out of town.

Brandon Spikes at ILB? Pul-eeze! You'd need a sun dial to time him in the 40. Plus, I've seen him get run over more than once. I don't like him as a player and I wouldn't want him. Got anybody else in mind?[/quote]
Yes, it's common for them to go after college DE's; I think that it's the coverage responsibilities of the OLBs and one of the ILBs.

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[quote=Dirtbag359;689157]By the way, whats the deal with Landry? Is he bulking up to play ILB?[/quote]No kidding, if he's still got his speed and MS/Haslett can find a way to put him in position to attack rather than react, he should have a solid year.

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[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;689118]He's got to be more inventive than Blache, but I don't think anyone would rank Haslett among the more creative DC's in the league. Hopefully i'm wrong, but I expect our defense to pretty much be a disaster.[/quote]

I agree with the BigheadDemocrat.

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How about 2 DTs/NTs to play the guards and centers, with 4 OLBs (2 on each side) with Fletcher in the middle to get in on every tackle until he's 43 yrs old?

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^^ Hey look, it's the defensive version of the swinging gate play!!

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Rocky McIntosh's agent:
[YT]jcd-8oIi79U[/YT]

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[quote=Dirtbag359;689157]

By the way, whats the deal with Landry? Is he bulking up to play ILB?[/quote]
wonder what he's weighing in at

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[quote=franklinhimself;689178]How about 2 DTs/NTs to play the guards and centers, with 4 OLBs (2 on each side) with Fletcher in the middle to get in on every tackle until he's 43 yrs old?[/quote]
[url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/238335-the-2-5-4-formation-corey-mays-and-other-preseason-week-1-ramblings]The 2-5-4 Formation, Corey Mays, and Other Preseason Week One Ramblings | Bleacher Report[/url]

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[quote=tryfuhl;689185][url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/238335-the-2-5-4-formation-corey-mays-and-other-preseason-week-1-ramblings]The 2-5-4 Formation, Corey Mays, and Other Preseason Week One Ramblings | Bleacher Report[/url][/quote]

The Patriots also have been known to use it on passing downs.

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A link to the redskins blog with a few pics from minicamp

[url=http://blog.redskins.com/2010/04/16/back-on-the-field/#continued]Back On The Field[/url]
How can you not like THAT line LOL. McNabb is smiling must be because it's a GREAT line.
[IMG]http://redskinsblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/02-mcnabbedwinstretching.jpg[/IMG]

[img]http://redskinsblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/06-marko.jpg[/img]

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[quote=Dirtbag359;689189]The Patriots also have been known to use it on passing downs.[/quote]

Skins are actually planning to implement some 4-2-5 defensive schemes. I think maybe Texas A&M or TCU runs it?

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[quote=SmootSmack;689199]Skins are actually planning to implement some 4-2-5 defensive schemes. I think maybe Texas A&M or TCU runs it?[/quote]

Given the overwhelming number of defensive linemen and defensive backs, compared to what we have at LB, this actually would seem to suit us - much more than the 3-4 would. I say:

60% - 4-3
20% - 4-2-5
10% - 3-4
10% - everything else

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Pretty sure TCU was running it vs Boise St.. not sure I watched any A&M games