Breaking down the Redskins position battles part 1

Aug 27, 2011

For most NFL teams the third preseason game represents the closest thing to regular season preparation, game-planning, and (hopefully) execution that they’ll experience throughout training camp and preseason games. Now that we’re headed into week 4, traditionally the time of year when coaches summon whatever good luck charms possible to help their players avoid injury, what’s left of the preseason? That’s right — it’s cut time! The rules are a little different this year, due to the abbreviated (ed: super exciting!) off season, free-agent signing period, and training camp there are two cut dates to keep in mind: teams must be down to 80 players by August 30th (generally easy cuts time!) and down to their regular season number of 53 players by September 3rd.

The Redskins, GM Bruce Allen, and Head Coach Mike Shanahan are approaching the final preseason game of the year certainly having made many decisions about who will stay and who needs to go already, with several tough decisions yet to come. In this, part 1, we’ll look at the timeline for the next few weeks and how the team is likely to use it’s last preseason game to help prepare the roster, and in part 2 we’ll make predictions about who will make the final roster because predictions are fun, often embarrass the writer, and are almost never right!

Week 3, Preseason: The Redskins played most of their healthy starters throughout the first half, with most of the media attention focusing on what Mike and Kyle Shanahan (Offensive Coordinator) would do with the Quaterback battle. As it turns out, the Redskins used a flip-flop of both quarterbacks with other starters on offense (and against the Baltimore Ravens starting defense, mostly) with Rex Grossman starting off first and then alternating with John Beck after two series. Coach Shanahan remarked simply that there was nothing to read in to Grossman getting the first crack at things as it was simply “his turn” (Grossman having started Week 1, and Beck Week 2), but what fun is this at all if we can’t over-analyze and read in to things? Other than the QB battle, the Redskins clearly used the game to get RB Roy Helu a lot of work, develop some consistency with the offensive line, and attempt to sort out their wide receiver position battle by getting some of those hovering the cut line some action. As for the defense, Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett welcomed back starting safety OJ Atogwe to the lineup, and used his time to try out several blitzes, evaluate his line-backing group, and get some work for the members of the secondary who will need to step up big starting in week 1 (projected nickel cornerback Philip Buchanon faces a 4 game suspension to start the season).

Aftermath: The Quarterbacks kept their dead heat very close, with Beck starting off hot and Grossman much more slowly, only for the two to reverse roles midway through the first half. Beck tossed his first interception of the preseason to generally even up their stats, but both QBs looked like they understood the goals of the offense, could get the team into the right plays, and generally seemed like capable if unspectacular choices. So, really, we didn’t learn a whole lot about this starting battle. However, in the WR group Terence Austin clearly separated himself and has to be considered a lock to make the final cut, and the offensive line displayed, generally, an ability to run block with serviceable pass blocking and no depth what-so-ever. On the defensive side, rookie LB Ryan Kerrigan flashed a few times with a nice sack and several tackles, but also committed two penalties — this, really, was the mantra for most of the starting defense — one step forward, one step back. DeAngelo Hall displayed big play potential with a pick-six early in the game, but was also burned for a TD by Baltimore’s Lee Evans in return. The linebackers as a group missed a few tackles, and had some issues in coverage, but also flashed pressure and big play potential. The team is clearly improving, still has depth issues, but as for position battles things largely remained the same as they’ve been most of training camp except for WR Austin.

1st cuts due August 30th: Really, these are the “easy” cuts — at least for team management. The cut list will read like a whose-who of guys that haven’t played, people who were brought in simply so more important players didn’t exhaust themselves, “practice-only” quarterbacks and the like. The only real possible surprises for the Redskins for the August 30th cut deadline revolve around injuries, where some lack of cuts could be read as a sign of the health of players such as TE Chris Cooley, SS LaRon Landry, and DE Jarvis Jenkins who suffered a torn ACL against the Ravens.

In Part two, we’ll talk about the Redskins 4th preseason game and predict the final 53 man roster, including one possible risky move the team could make to solve some of its number-crunching problems.

Photo courtesy of Keith Allison