Well football season is finally upon us, in a few days whistles, screaming coaches, pads hitting and everything else that comes with training camp will fill the air in Ashburn VA. After a dismal 4-12 season last year the Redskins have somewhat cleaned house. Gone is Vinny Cerato and Jim Zorn, replacing the two are Bruce Allen as the GM and 2 time Super Bowl champion Mike Shanahan and I almost forget Donavan McNabb is the Skins’ quarterback. Here’s a look at position battles and storylines as camp unfolds.
Offensive Line:
Right now the Redskins starting o-line looks like this, from LT to RT, Trent Williams (#4 overall draft pick) Derrick Dockery (7th year), Casey Rabach (8th year), Artis Hicks (8th year) and at RT Jamal Brown (5th year) who comes off of an injury plagued year. As you can tell we have a very old and experienced o-line. This can be good and bad, the experience can play a key role if this team is somehow in the playoff race come December and the experienced guys can show the young guys the ropes ( after the rookies carry their pads and because we ain’t no cowgirls our rookies will carry the vets pads). Ok time to stop with the optimism, its training camp I can be optimistic, but now back to reality. The truth is that when you play in the NFC East, one of the toughest divisions in football, injuries are going to happen and usually the team with the most depth usually comes out on top. Our o-line backups Selvish Cappers, Stephon Heyer, Kevin Barnes, Will Montgomery and Edwin Williams just to name a few. I don’t know about you but I only recognize one or two of those names, not good for an offensive line that went through multiple injuries last season and will most likely have injuries again this year as aging linemen have trouble staying healthy through 16 games. What to look for during the o-line drills this August is to see if these backup linemen can do the job, watch to see how they do in one on one drills vs the d line, in scrimmages and pre seasons games. If these guys can hold their own in one v one drills and in games the Skins will not have the same JV offensive line they had last year, but if they struggle in August be prepared to start goggling names on the offensive line like last year and be ready for another long season.
Donovan McNabb:
When the rumors came out that the Eagles were thinking about trading McNabb to the Skins, I thought now way would the Eagles trade their star QB, for the past decade, to a NFC East rival. Little did I know as I turned on the TV to see that the Eagles had traded their boy to the hated Redskins. Now a QB that I have hated for the past 10 years (respectively) is going to be playing for my favorite sports team, I still can’t picture McNabb in burgundy and gold. With that said McNabb’s leadership is very valuable to this team as the Skins have not had a true leader on offense in a while. McNabb has already brought out receivers to his home in Arizona for “hell week” as McNabb and receivers worked out together and hopefully developed a rhythm with each other. McNabb can also make people around him better like he did with Todd Pinkston in Philly. Maybe McNabb can do the same with Malcolm Kelly and or Devin Thomas so Santana Moss isn’t doubled teamed all the time. At camp look for any type of rhythm with McNabb and receivers if this is present early the Skins can have a legit offense for the first time in a while.
Runningbacks:
Well Dan Snyder said that he would change his ways and let Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan run the show, the signings of Larry Johnson Willie Parker and possibly Brian Westbrook seem like classic Snyder signings to me as these backs are old and passed their prime. By the end of this year all 3 RB’s (Larry Johnson, Willie Parker and Clinton Portis) will all be 30 or older in age, not good when the average career of a NFL RB is 2.5 years. I’m not throwing out the possibility that Shanahan wanted these players, since it’s been rumored that he initiated the Portis for Champ Bailey trade, but why isn’t Shanahan stocking up on young RB’s through the draft like he did in Denver? Anyways, Portis, Johnson and Parker are our backs for this year. Portis comes into camp as the #1 back, but if he’s injured at any point this year Johnson or Parker could come in and take his role or even during training camp if Portis decides to sit out because of fear of injury. Another interesting storyline that can unfold with these guys is if anyone’s gonna bitch and complain about not getting carries. All of these backs have been starters before and all 3 most likely think they can start on this team, if someone starts complaining this could cause turmoil in the locker room and become another problem for the Skins. During camp look to see if the backs get after each other in drills and if Portis does sit out see if Johnson or Parker will take over that starting role.
Haynesworthless:
I’ve already expressed my opinion on this matter, so all I’m gonna say is that it seems he is coming to training camp, apparently he’s lost 30 to 40 lbs, maybe he will come in shape and we’ll see if he goes through camp without an “injury” and if he does that means he really was in shape. I still think the Skins will try to trade him if the right opportunity is there as his teammates have already turned on him and the organization as whole as moved on from him.
