Redskins Sign OJ Atogwe

After releasing Andre Carter, in what I think is a horrible move, the Redskins made a somewhat decent move by signing 29 year old FS OJ Atogwe from the St. Louis Rams.  Atogwe has 22 career int's and 339 career tackles.  Last year he had 3 int's and 64 tackles averaging 8 per game.  This move will somewhat solidify the FS spot has Reed Doughty and Chris Horton have continually showed they can not play this position in the NFL. Averaging 8 tackles a game, last year, Atogwe has shown he is a solid open field tackler and has the athleticism to cover receivers deep, but will get burned every now and then.  While Kevin Barnes played well at this position, his natural position is CB, so adding Atogwe while knowing Barnes can play safety adds depth at this position.   While this seems like a good move Atogwe is 29 and will most likely not be able to fill this role in about 2 to 3 years.  What I thought the Skins should've done was draft Robert Sands the 6'5 221 lb safety from West Virginia.  Sands is basically another Sean Taylor, but of course not as good.  Sands has great range and is basically a LB playing safety like Sean Taylor and can hit like Sean Taylor.  Atogwe will be good for now, but definitely should not be in the long term plans for the Burgundy and Gold.

Redskins Release Clinton Portis and Andre Carter

Coach Mike Shanahan and GM Bruce Allan, have decided to get rid of some of the old regimes players, but some of the moves still have me thinking that good old Dan Snyder still has some control over the organization and some of these moves continue to show the new coaching staff's stubbornness.

Lets start off with the good moves, gone is RB Clinton Portis and G Derrick Dockery.  Portis spent 7 years with the Redskins rushing for 6,824 yards and 49 TD's.  Good enough for 2nd all time in Redskins history only behind hall of famer, John Riggins.  He started off his career as a fan favorite to most of the fans base and rushed for over 1,000 yards 4 times as a Redskins.  After the 2008 season, the toll of being a NFL running back wore off as the past two years Portis has suffered from multiple injuries.  Due to Portis sitting out, his fan club began to decline in DC as many started to question his toughness.  Portis will be mostly likely remembered for his multiple 1,000 yard seasons in DC, his pass blocking skills which is rare in a NFL running back these days and of course his multiple characters he dressed up in on media day at Redskins Park.  Despite that it was time to go for CP not only had the fans turned against him, but he had multiple run ins with Jim Zorn and of course we all remember the confrontation CP got in with Doc Walker on the John Thompson show.  I believe that Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams showed this year that they can fulfill the role at RB just fine.

The Skins also released LG Derrick Dockery, Dockery played 6 seasons for the Skins and showed his toughness as he played in 85 games and started 79 of them.  Dockery was replaced by 25 year old Kory Lichtensteiger as Shanahan thought that Lichtensteiger fit his system better as Dockery only started 2 games this year.  Lichtensteiger made many typical young lineman mistakes, but we'll see what he becomes over the next few years.

Now to the move that pisses me off, Andre Carter. I think everyone in the organization is to blame for this. One this seems like a typical Dan Snyder a la Ryan Clarke, two Bruce Allan for letting this happen and 3 Mike Shanahan and Jim Hasslet for being so stubborn by having the mentality of my way or the high way.  This team is built for the 4-3 not the 3-4.  Just look at Andre Carter's stats 11 sacks in the 2009 season when he was a DE in a 4-3 defense and in the 3-4 this year 2.5 sacks.  Also why all of a sudden did Hasslet think he can run a 3-4? He has always ran a 4-3.  Hasslet has to work with the players he has, Orakpo and Carter fed off of each other last year in the 4-3 and didn't at all this past season in the 3-4.  Orakpo stats also went down this year, now that could have been because other teams now have film on him, but its also because Orakpo, along with everyone else, is better suited for the 43.  Bruce Allan better hope that Von Miller is still available when its our turn to draft or else Orakpo and the rest of the D is going to suffer greatly from this.  This just shows that this coaching staff would rather have it there way than rather win and that is not fair to the players or fans.  The great coaches are able to change the game plan to put players in the best position to win, that has not been seen from this coaching staff and if it continues we maybe looking at another coaching change once again. 

Dan Snyder said he was going to change, the move of letting Andre Carter go shows that nothing has changed at all.  Snyder lets the good players walk and always overpays the players that don't deserve the money.  Actions speak louder than words Mr. Snyder and once your actions have proved why you should not be running a football team.  

PS: Please don't sue me for that last paragraph since it hurts your feelings.