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Best moves:
1. Using the recouped second round pick to draft Jarvis Jenkins who could be the 'impact’ player from this draft down the road
2. Going 'all in’ on the defensive line and picking up both Bowen and Cofield. The Redskins really needed to replace the entire unit, and by signing both players and drafting Jenkins that is what they did.
3. Trading Vonnie Holliday, a 35 year old DE, and a late draft choice to the Cardinals for RB Tim Hightower. Hightower fits the system, he has been durable and he seems to have a great work ethic and attitude.
4. Allowing Albert Haynesworth and Donovan McNabb to depart early in the offseason. These players were going to be nothing but distractions and everyone knew they never were going to take the field again as Redskins, so trading them early and being able to have a relatively quiet training camp and preseason was the right thing to do for the 2011 team. The fact Shanahan was able to get a #5 pick for Haynesworth was a mild surprise. Now New England is finding out why.
5. Signing OJ Atogwe in January before the lockout. The Redskins have not had a true free safety since Sean Taylor during the 2007 season and the team wasted 2 years playing LaRon Landry over at that spot despite disappointing results for him and the club. Atogwe gives the Redskins a playmaker in the secondary who can cover down the field.
Questionable Moves:
1. Resigning Jamaal Brown to a 5 year deal at age 30 to play RT. I find it hard to believe that Brown would have been a better fit for Shanahan’s offense than Ryan Harris, who was also available in free agency, and who at age 26 seemed more like the kind of player the Redskins could build with over the next couple of years. Brown was a pro bowler at LT when healthy in New Orleans. He is now 30, playing RT for Washington after having undergone season ending surgery in 2009. Brown may pan out and rebound to being a solid contributor, but there is a definite bust factor there largely because of the injury history that I don’t see with the other free agents like Bowen and Cofield.
2. Not doing more at the cornerback position. DeAngelo Hall is a playmaker but he is also a notorious gambler who can get beaten down the field. He is also 5’10. Josh Wilson to me would have been a solid signing as a #3 corner at 5’9 and 189. But as the #2? I don’t know that the Redskins are prepared here to compete in the NFC East with the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles on the outside. Making things less certain is the 4 game suspension of Phillip Buchanon, who was up and down in 2010, and is now 31 and the fact Kevin Barnes has not developed faster into a guy you can’t keep off the field.
3. Lingering uncertainty at ILB. While the Redskins have drafted to acquire starting OLB for the 3-4 defense, other than London Fletcher the team hasn’t been able to identify any sure fire performers on the inside. McIntosh was resigned despite being a poor fit at 229-230. Perry Riley, the #4 pick last year, may have a future at the position but it doesn’t appear as if the coaches are expecting a breakout in 2011. The team signed Keyaron Fox, a 31 year old veteran who was a career backup in Pittsburgh, and has HB Blades returning. But neither acquisition really seems to move the needle much at the position. It appears the Redskins are treading water here until 2012.
4. Not acquiring better depth on the interior of the OL. With Casey Rabach’s departure and Will Montgomery’s move to center, the Redskins signed Chris Chester to play RG. But that is all they did. Kory Lichtensteiger, who at 290, is a bit undersized even for Shanahan’s scheme, was up and down in 2010. Whether he is a 16 game starter to me is still a question mark. And yet the only experienced depth is Artis Hicks. Hicks, 32, is 6’4 and 330 and to me has been a disappointment since coming here from Minnesota. When watching him he doesn’t appear to have the agility and athleticism to run this system and he has been beaten in pass protection like a drum at times at both guard and tackle. From the camp reports Selvish Capers, who was switched from tackle to guard, has struggled. No one has come forward to nominate Erick Cook for a prominent role off the bench as a ready substitute. Willie Smith looks like a practice squad candidate. While the Redskins did pick up OT Sean Locklear to backup the tackle spots, I think we are still short one veteran offensive lineman. Perhaps that player will be found before or after the final cuts?
5. We are all waiting to see if John Beck is the real article as a starting quarterback in the NFL and to me that is the biggest question mark on the team. If he fails to establish himself, the Redskins would have spent 2 years under Shanahan operating without a quarterback of the present or the future. After the fiasco of 2010 with Donovan McNabb the decision to go with stand pat with Beck and Grossman in 2011 needs to be validated on the field.
1. Using the recouped second round pick to draft Jarvis Jenkins who could be the 'impact’ player from this draft down the road
2. Going 'all in’ on the defensive line and picking up both Bowen and Cofield. The Redskins really needed to replace the entire unit, and by signing both players and drafting Jenkins that is what they did.
3. Trading Vonnie Holliday, a 35 year old DE, and a late draft choice to the Cardinals for RB Tim Hightower. Hightower fits the system, he has been durable and he seems to have a great work ethic and attitude.
4. Allowing Albert Haynesworth and Donovan McNabb to depart early in the offseason. These players were going to be nothing but distractions and everyone knew they never were going to take the field again as Redskins, so trading them early and being able to have a relatively quiet training camp and preseason was the right thing to do for the 2011 team. The fact Shanahan was able to get a #5 pick for Haynesworth was a mild surprise. Now New England is finding out why.
5. Signing OJ Atogwe in January before the lockout. The Redskins have not had a true free safety since Sean Taylor during the 2007 season and the team wasted 2 years playing LaRon Landry over at that spot despite disappointing results for him and the club. Atogwe gives the Redskins a playmaker in the secondary who can cover down the field.
Questionable Moves:
1. Resigning Jamaal Brown to a 5 year deal at age 30 to play RT. I find it hard to believe that Brown would have been a better fit for Shanahan’s offense than Ryan Harris, who was also available in free agency, and who at age 26 seemed more like the kind of player the Redskins could build with over the next couple of years. Brown was a pro bowler at LT when healthy in New Orleans. He is now 30, playing RT for Washington after having undergone season ending surgery in 2009. Brown may pan out and rebound to being a solid contributor, but there is a definite bust factor there largely because of the injury history that I don’t see with the other free agents like Bowen and Cofield.
2. Not doing more at the cornerback position. DeAngelo Hall is a playmaker but he is also a notorious gambler who can get beaten down the field. He is also 5’10. Josh Wilson to me would have been a solid signing as a #3 corner at 5’9 and 189. But as the #2? I don’t know that the Redskins are prepared here to compete in the NFC East with the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles on the outside. Making things less certain is the 4 game suspension of Phillip Buchanon, who was up and down in 2010, and is now 31 and the fact Kevin Barnes has not developed faster into a guy you can’t keep off the field.
3. Lingering uncertainty at ILB. While the Redskins have drafted to acquire starting OLB for the 3-4 defense, other than London Fletcher the team hasn’t been able to identify any sure fire performers on the inside. McIntosh was resigned despite being a poor fit at 229-230. Perry Riley, the #4 pick last year, may have a future at the position but it doesn’t appear as if the coaches are expecting a breakout in 2011. The team signed Keyaron Fox, a 31 year old veteran who was a career backup in Pittsburgh, and has HB Blades returning. But neither acquisition really seems to move the needle much at the position. It appears the Redskins are treading water here until 2012.
4. Not acquiring better depth on the interior of the OL. With Casey Rabach’s departure and Will Montgomery’s move to center, the Redskins signed Chris Chester to play RG. But that is all they did. Kory Lichtensteiger, who at 290, is a bit undersized even for Shanahan’s scheme, was up and down in 2010. Whether he is a 16 game starter to me is still a question mark. And yet the only experienced depth is Artis Hicks. Hicks, 32, is 6’4 and 330 and to me has been a disappointment since coming here from Minnesota. When watching him he doesn’t appear to have the agility and athleticism to run this system and he has been beaten in pass protection like a drum at times at both guard and tackle. From the camp reports Selvish Capers, who was switched from tackle to guard, has struggled. No one has come forward to nominate Erick Cook for a prominent role off the bench as a ready substitute. Willie Smith looks like a practice squad candidate. While the Redskins did pick up OT Sean Locklear to backup the tackle spots, I think we are still short one veteran offensive lineman. Perhaps that player will be found before or after the final cuts?
5. We are all waiting to see if John Beck is the real article as a starting quarterback in the NFL and to me that is the biggest question mark on the team. If he fails to establish himself, the Redskins would have spent 2 years under Shanahan operating without a quarterback of the present or the future. After the fiasco of 2010 with Donovan McNabb the decision to go with stand pat with Beck and Grossman in 2011 needs to be validated on the field.
