OTA's came to a close Friday, and with the releases of Jon Jansen and wide receiver James Thrash, questions about the offenses direction were answered. On the defensive side, however, there are still some decisions that have to be made, and probably the most important is which position number one draft choice Brian Orakpo will play at.
Orakpo was drafted because of his relentless play off the edge as a defensive end in college. He racked up 11 sacks during his senior year at the University of Texas, and was viewed as a great fit as a defensive end in the a 4-3 system, which the Redskins run. So in his first practices as a professional football player, the Redskins made the obvious decision of playing him at strong side linebacker.
Come on guys. Really?
The Redskins have long been awaiting a dominant defensive end, and when they draft a kid who has the potential to do it for years to come, they want to switch his position? That's just ridiculous. Especially since he'd be playing next to one of the biggest forces at defensive tackle, Albert Haynesworth, who will boost his game even further without having to face double teams.
Maybe they're just trying to get see how he does at OLB so they don't have to use time doing it in training camp...and let's hope that's all it is. To win in this league, and definitely in the NFC East, you need a superb pass rush, and Orakpo might be the best shot at getting that.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Back in Action
To all my loyal readers (Hi Mom!), I want to apologize for my lack of posts the past month. It's been a busy time for me, and it's been hard to get my thoughts down. Things should still be slow as training camp approaches, but I'm going to try to get posts up with a little more regularity.
On that note, there has been some action at Redskins Park as of late. The biggest move has been the release of longtime right tackle Jon Jansen.
This move has been speculated over for sometime, but the timing was a bit of a surprise. It seemed like the team was committed to letting him challenge for a starting spot. If that didn't happen, he would have had the opportunity to be the main backup up at essentially all positions across the line.
As the OTA's progressed, coaches noticed that Jansen had not made any improvement since last season and it was in the best interest of the team for the two to part ways.
Jansen has been a fighter for this organization for a long time, but it was his time to go. He's be a mainstay of this line for the past decade, and it will be difficult to fill his shoes. He was a leader in the locker room and was a consummate 'Redskin'.
The release of Jansen will allow younger players to step in and get his reps along the line, but more importantly clears up the competition for starting right tackle. The players going after the position will now be Jeremy Bridges, Stephon Heyer and Mike Williams. This competition, however, should not show a true front runner until the pads are on, but it's probably between Bridges and Heyer as Williams battles to get his weight down and back into football shape.
On that note, there has been some action at Redskins Park as of late. The biggest move has been the release of longtime right tackle Jon Jansen.
This move has been speculated over for sometime, but the timing was a bit of a surprise. It seemed like the team was committed to letting him challenge for a starting spot. If that didn't happen, he would have had the opportunity to be the main backup up at essentially all positions across the line.
As the OTA's progressed, coaches noticed that Jansen had not made any improvement since last season and it was in the best interest of the team for the two to part ways.
Jansen has been a fighter for this organization for a long time, but it was his time to go. He's be a mainstay of this line for the past decade, and it will be difficult to fill his shoes. He was a leader in the locker room and was a consummate 'Redskin'.
The release of Jansen will allow younger players to step in and get his reps along the line, but more importantly clears up the competition for starting right tackle. The players going after the position will now be Jeremy Bridges, Stephon Heyer and Mike Williams. This competition, however, should not show a true front runner until the pads are on, but it's probably between Bridges and Heyer as Williams battles to get his weight down and back into football shape.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
