Redskins 2009 Draft Prep - Part Two

Only seven rounds?

Update Wed 22 April, thanks to reader James for pointing out that I omitted the strong side linebacker position from my pre draft breakdown, I prepped notes and references and somehow forgot to insert into final, omission corrected and thanks for the spot.

Those who fail to know their team face certain failure in the draft. Curly R's five part series prepping for the Redskins 2009 draft continues.

Part One: The Offense
Part Two: The Defense and Special Teams
Part Three: The Contract Years
Part Four: The Draft Picks
Part Five: What the Redskins Must Do

=====

Where do you start when a team needs everything? Even well managed teams need everything, there are only seven rounds in the NFL draft these days, old time football fans will remember when the draft was 21 rounds and took all week, teams could scrape every hint of talent out of the colleges and then own those players.

Now you get seven picks, maybe a couple extra supplementals if you lost a decent player in free agency and that is it. Then every team scrambles together to sign every other prospect.

So those draft picks have to count, you only get to make each one once. You need to pick the player that meets the need of the team.

Here is Curly R's review of the defensive and special teams positions and their relative state of need, these are strictly the opinions of Curly R writers and editors:

Right defensive end
Players: Andre Carter is the principle starter, he will be 30 when the season opens and in his fourth season with Washington. I will agree with Greg Trippiedi at Hog Heaven, anyone that is still stuck on his weak 2006 performance is not paying close enough attention, sure Andre is not Michael Strahan or Deacon Jones, no one is. He is exceptional against the pass but could be a lot better against the run. The last two seasons CFL veteran Chris Wilson was the primary backup, rising second year seventh rounder Rob Jackson will also be in the mix at right end.

State of the position: while the defensive end position overall is in dire need, the right side is in better shape than the left. Andre should have a better season this year than last, just do not expect him ever to be solid against the run.

Draft need: A tough case to make. With the opportunity cost of another player in need it would not make sense for the Redskins to spend a high pick on another pass rushing right end. That talk of Brian Orakpo aka Oh Crappo is interesting for its prurient value but not what the team needs most. Check back with me in the third round.


Right defensive tackle
Players: Albert Haynesworth, the bonus baby. Solid role players Anthony Montgomery and Kedric Golston will spell Albert, as he never makes every play in a game.

State of the position: all good now, at least in theory. The Redskins have had a dreadful defensive line, soft in the middle and easy to run around, for some time. Anthony and Kedric are high effort guys though really holding the position until a better solution could be found. The numbers game could catch either one of those guys in camp.

Draft need: NO WAY JOSE! While BJ Raji is a fantasy for Washington, he will not be available at thirteen and in any event if the Redskins were to trade up it would not be for BJ, it would be for Mark Sanchez or some other madness.


Left defensive tackle
Players: Cornelius Griffin is the incumbent and turned 32 last December. He is in his sixth season with the team, having signed in Joe Gibbs' first year back. Lorenzo Alexander, Anthony Montgomery, Kedric Golston and Demetric Evans variously have spelled Cornelius.

State of the position: Cornelius is a solid player with good size at 6-3 311, he does not have terrific lateral mobility and seems to be in decline. He is a hole stuffer and with the addition of Albert Haynesworth to his right, Cornelius is likely to have a better 2009 and maybe even extend his career a year or two.

Draft need: Yo quiero draft pick! While BJ Raji is the guy that gives team execs wood, think about BJ and Albert side by side, there is no way the team could draft BJ given the opportunity cost of another player. However down the draft the team should be looking for a big body to bring in and start thinking about the future.


Left defensive end
Players: Phillip Daniels is back with the team after missing all of 2008 with a knee injury, Phillip is 36 and this will be his sixth season with the team, like his line mate Cornelius Griffin, Phillip came aboard with Joe Gibbs. After two year absence from the team, Renaldo Wynn is back, Renaldo will be 35 when the season starts, this will be Renaldo's sixth season with Washington.

State of the position: after Phillip went down on the first day of training camp last year, Demetric Evans stepped up and had a great season, then the team inexplicably let him go and for a time there was no one on the roster with experience and the left, run stuffing end position. Phillip drew no interest from other teams and Renaldo is also back on a veteran minimum deal, these are tough and strong guys that are at an advanced NFL age. The presumed starter is coming back from a major injury, which does not say a lot about the main backup who is actually 18 months younger. These guys are only here to hold the line, no one will be surprised if that side of the line leaks, we just need to keep it from becoming a gusher. This position could be a train wreck in 2009.

Draft need: Yo quiero draft pick! Brian Orakpo aka Oh Crappo is not the guy for this spot and there is not another top shelf run stopper on the board, there is nothing the Redskins can get in the first round that will help this cause. They need to look hard at third or fifth round and see if they can scrape out a player that could get some youth into the snaps and develop for the future.


Weak side linebacker
Players: Rocky McIntosh is the incumbent, Rocky is 26 and in his fourth season with Washington. After that it gets murky, 2008 preseason spark plug Alfred Fincher and recent free agent signee Robert Thomas should compete or play roles on the weak side.

State of the position: Rocky, 26 and in his fourth season with the Redskins, started off 2008 at a Pro Bowl level, then his rapid rehab from his gruesome 2007 knee injuries caught up with him and he kind of disappeared in the second half of the season, Rocky is in a contract year and has yet to live up to his second round pedigree. That said Rocky is determined to become a team leader and if his body can hold up and he can focus for an entire season then Washington will be in good shape. Alfred and Robert may both challenge for this position, from what we saw last preseason Alfred may be able to play this position a little bit.

Draft need: Yo quiero draft pick! While the strong side linebacker position is in greater need than the weak side, there is no reason to think the Redskins cannot address both. That number thirteen pick would not be served with a linebacker and if the team's next pick was an LB, I would pick for the strong side if I could, if not I might take the best linebacker on the board.


Middle linebacker
Players: London Fletcher will be 34 and in his third season with the Redskins in 2009. He is a ridiculously consistent player, leads the team in tackles every year, can play the run and the pass. HB Blades, a rising third year sixth rounder, showed development last year, especially at the strong side in place of oft injured Marcus Washington.

State of the position: the Redskins are good to go at middle linebacker. London is ageless and the future looks at least not miserable with HB as a potential starter, though if HB were to launch into a starting spot on the strong side it could create depth issues at this position.

Draft need: NO WAY JOSE! If the team takes a linebacker and he cam play some middle spot, awsum, otherwise use your picks for something else.


Strong side linebacker
Players: with Marcus Washington departed but possibly returning for a veteran minimum deal, this is the linebacker position in the greatest state of flux. HB Blades, also London Fletcher's main backup at middle linebacker, seems to be the odds on best fit for the position, HB had a lot of game time at the strong side last season in place of Marcus and made some plays though he is a bit undersize. Alfred Fincher, a phyiscally larger player the coaches obviously like and will give every chance to find a spot, will be in the mix as well.

State of the position: there is a need here and it is based in depth more than quality for the linebacker spot most in charge of defending the run. Marcus Washington was and I believe still can be a monster at the position, his body just will not let him go with hip, ankle and hamstring problems compounding over the years. I have observed the position is well above average with him in the game and over the past two seasons with HB Blades and the departed (in a football sense that is) Randall Godfrey it is merely average which is not necessarily a bad thing if you are getting good middle linebacker, defensive line and strong safety play. HB is slightly small for the position and Alfred has the size but maybe not the burst. These two may have a terrific battle for the spot with one of them emerging as a top player, or maybe they will simply be rotating placeholders until a better player can be found. The 2009 season will be one of discovery at this position.

Draft need: Yo quiero draft pick! At the minimum a depth player is needed, if HB claims the starting strong side spot then that leaves London's backup spot empty which may not be a huge problem since London plays every down. Three starters leaves two quality reserves right now as Khary Campbell will not see much or any non special teams playing time and Robert Thomas is filler until he proves otherwise. The Redskins other needs are too great to spend the number thirteen pick on this spot and have no second round pick, barring a trade to move into that round I would start looking at best player at this spot in round three.


Cornerback
Players: Carlos Rogers, a 2005 first round pick and four year starter, will be 28 when the season starts and in a contract year. DeAngelo Hall, who turned 25 in November, signed a long term deal after slumming with Washington for the second half of the 2008 season and pulling in three interceptions. Fred Smoot, who just turned 30 and is in his seventh total season with the Redskins, remains the top back up. There is also a rumor of a rising second year fourth round pick named Justin Tryon in the mix somewhere.

State of the position: while the Redskins have some concerns for the future, the team is in great shape for 2009. Carlos and DeAngelo would be expected to win the starting jobs with Fred playing often, maybe 20 or 30 snaps in a game. Carlos is in a contract year and is therefore playing for his 2010 dinner, whether in Washington or elsewhere. DeAngelo is an elite corner and unlike Carlos for so long, seems able to make a play on the ball from time to time, he needs not to be an asshole or get complacent with the big contract. Fred has lost a step to be sure but still can play at this level, his tendency to play off his man is now his biggest weakness, he makes all his receivers possession receivers. And Justin Tryon, yeah like whatever he is in there somewhere.

Draft need: NO WAY JOSE! Washington is set for 2009, no need to start looking for a cornerback until 2010, even if Carlos leaves in free agency after 2009, the team has options with Fred Smoot and free agency before the 2010 draft.


Strong safety
Players: Chris Horton, teh greatets 7ht round pik evar is the incumbent, having blown into the scene last season from the bottom of the draft. Reed Doughty, a rising fourth year sixth round pick, re signed with the team last month and will be in the mix. A veteran such as Mike Green may be in there for depth.

State of the position: while LaRon Landry may be a natural strong safety with his burst and hitting ability, he has moved into the Sean Taylor center fielder free safety role and will not be challenging at strong safety, at least not this year. Chris still has a learning curve and Reed has weaknesses that are easily exploited, this is a position of some concern. The team needs to lean on Chris and push him to make the jump from spark plug rookie to field leader.

Draft need: A tough case to make. The main need at this position is for experience and you ain't gonna get that in the draft. The Redskins need to stand pat and hope Chris Horton and Reed Doughty are the guys.


Free safety
Players: LaRon Landry will be 24 when his third season in Washington starts, LaRon has been able to make the transition from strong safety his first year when playing alongside Seasn Taylor to free safety in his absence. Although he may be suited to play strong safety, there is no one else at the position with LaRon's combination of speed and hittability. Rising second year Kareem Moore looks to get more involved at the position in 2009.

State of the position: like strong safety, the main concern at free safety is experience, not depth and you cannot draft experience. LaRon continues to develop into an elite coverage safety can lay a hit with the best players at his position. Kareem was on the field more in the second half of the season and will be looking for chances to improve. All in all this position is solid.

Draft need: NO WAY JOSE! With so many other needs, the team would not be wise to spend a high or middle round pick at this position. As with last season, if needs are addressed early, there is no reason the team could not take safety and see which position is best for him.


Kicker
Player: Shaun Suisham. After no competion in 2008 camp, started strong and ended weak, literally, not really reliable past 40 yards. The team has signed fourth year journey man kicker Dave Rayner to challenge Shaun in camp, I expect there will be other kickers coming through Ashburn this season.

State of the position: the Redskins have struggled to find a real kicker, Shaun seemed like the closest thing for a while and now is just not consistent enough, he needs to fight for his job.

Draft need: Are you daft? You do not draft kickers, expecially when you are down picks from previous trades.


Punter
Player: Derrick Frost lost a rigged 2008 training camp battle to sixth round pick Durant Brooks who then got himself canned six games into the season. Durant's replacement, Ryan Plackemeier, was as bad or worse than Durant and was not resigned, the position is now vacant. There are a couple of guys on the roster now, they are just placeholders.

State of the position: really bad. It is possible the Redskins punter of the future is not yet even born.

Draft need: Are you daft? After what happened last year with Durant Brooks that is a joke right?


Kickoff returns
Player: Rock Cartwright, 29 and in his eight season with the team, has found himself a nice little redoubt from which to maintain his career, averaging better than 25 yards per return the past two seasons.

State of the position: unless Rock is the victim of a numbers game, likely at the position where he is third on the depth chart, tailback, he will have this position under control in 2009.

Draft need: only in the context of a player drafted for another purpose.


Punt returns
Player: Antwaan Randle El, who will be 30 when the 2009 season starts, is in his fourth season with Washington. No other player is consistently on the field returning punts.

State of the position: weak at best, Antwaan has not been able to get over seven yards per return in two seasons, this despite returning more than 30 punts each of those two years. Whether it is the coverage or Antwaan's tendency simply to fall down, I do not know, what I do know is the team needs to impove this position.

Draft need: only in the context of a player drafted for another purpose.


Long snapper
Player: Ethan Albright. Enought said.

State of the postion: solid, Ethan is the Highlander.

Draft need: as if.


Redskins 2009 Draft Prep continues tomorrow with part three, The Contract Years.



Draft beer selection from here.

Redskins 2009 Draft Prep - Part One

Take your pick

Well it is draft week, the 2009 NFL Draft will be held next Saturday whether Redskins fans and team officials are ready for it or not. Tonight The Curly R begins a five part series looking at what the team has, what it needs and what it should do with its five draft picks, let us get prepared to add some new players to the Redskins roster.

Part One: The Offense
Part Two: The Defense and Special Teams
Part Three: The Contract Years
Part Four: The Draft Picks
Part Five: What the Redskins Must Do

=====

The draft is the cheapest way to build and maintain an NFL team, teams that apply real football smarts to the draft get better players, keep them longer and for less money. But to do that you have to have real football smarts to apply.

To say the Redskins have struggled building the team through the draft is not only an understatement, it is not entirely logical, for Dan Snyder throughout his ten years as owner in Washington has stubbornly stuck to thenotion that he can bring veteran players in from the outside, pay them handsomely and watch them make plays.

It is almost as though George Allen, with his preference for veteran players, started a game of Operator 35 years ago with a story about how a team can get good quickly with veteran players in exchange for the uncertainty of draft picks and by the time that story got around to Dan Snyder it had morphed into DRAFT PICKS DON'T MATTER.

Well it does not work, and for one shining moment Redskins fans thought the team had gotten religion last year when the team parlayed two draft day trades into ten total picks... until the three pass catchers picked in the second round failed to make a meaningful contribution, the offensive lineman selected in the third round never played a snap despite season ending injuries and demotions and remotions among the starters, the cornerback selected in the fourth round could not get on the field and the punter selected in the sixth round was cut six games into the season.

Unless Colt Brennan turns into Drew Brees then the Redskins 2008 draft is going to look a lot like Chris Horton and a bunch of short timers.

So how will the team approach 2009? How is the team evaluating needs and players? Will Vinny Cerrato get the free hand he did last year to make picks, perhaps even better ones than last year, based on needs, or will Dan Snyder return to the draft room after a one year absence and get back to drafting the shiniest thing on the board?

Well that is the question is it not.

Here is Curly R's review of the offensive positions and their relative state of need, these are strictly the opinions of Curly R writers and editors:

Quarterback
Players: Jason Campbell is the incumbent starter, but with no contract after this 2009 season. He had the best season of his brief career in 2008 and will be playing in the same offensive system for the second consecutive season. Jason is backed up by talented and touted but raw and undeveloped rising second year Colt Brennan and the cagey veteran Todd Collins, who may or may not be in the team's plans.

State of the position: the team is stocked at the position but may well not realize it. To look elsewhere at this point will hurt the offense and defense and the coach, basically everyone.

Draft need: DO NOT WANT!!!1!! Drafting Mark Sanchez would be a HORRIBLE mistake. Note to Mark Sanchez if you are reading, if you get drafted by the Redskins that means they did nothing to youthen their 33 year old offensive line. Think about that while you spend your money.


Tailback
Players: Clinton Portis is still Clinton Portis, some may argue ball carriers are fungible, even if that is the case, head case Clinton is a special player. He grinds, he blocks and plays hurt, all of which more than compensate for the step or three Clinton has lost over the years. Ladell Betts is trucking along as the primary backup, Ladell is a good change up and the team worked last season to minimize his fumbling problem.

State of the position: the team needs to be thinking of the future, but not this year.

Draft need: DO NOT WANT!!!1!! These stories of Knowshon Moreno are giving me heartburn.


Receiver
Players: Santana Moss begins his fifth season with the team, he is a legitimate downfield threat but accumulates injuries every year, limiting him at the end. Antwaan Randle El begins his fourth season with the team, shows flashes as a possession receiver and is a number three kind of number two. Rising second year players Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly were for all intents and purposes both busts last year.

State of the position: the team should be concerned. Year after year no legitimate second receiver emerges to complement Santana, meaning opposing defenses simply double Santana and take away the deep ball. Unfortunately the team is more or less stuck for another season, waiting to see if Devin and Malcolm can play at the NFL level.

Draft need: Tough argument to make. The team could spend a later draft pick on a receiver but I doubt it, if you were a Redskins executive would you want to risk seeing a fifth or sixth round pick beating out the second rounders from 2008? Or even worse, see them beat out Devin and Malcolm then simply pretend they did not?


Tight end
Players: Chris Cooley is morphing before our eyes from a football player into a media player though there is no reason to think he will not be a big part of the offense, especially if Jason Campbell is under center. Veteran Todd Yoder is more of a blocker and comes up with one or two big catches each year. Rising second year Fred Davis apparently cannot remember the plays, has room to improve.

State of the position: the team is set at tight end, unless Chris Cooley's desire to be a media figure derails him.

Draft need: DO NOT WANT!!!1!! The team is set in theory for years to come with Chris Cooley and whereas the fleeting rumor about trading Chris to Cleveland never got any traction, if you could get a first or second round pick in trade for Chris, a third rounder in 2004 then you have created value. That of course would mean you knew what to do with the pick...


Left tackle
Players: Chris Samuels will be back after ending the 2008 season on injured reserve with a torn triceps, Chris will be 32 when the season starts. The backup situation is unclear as rising third year undrafted tackle Stephon Heyer was Chris' primary backup, a notion complicated by the fact that Stephon is also the backup at right tackle and seems to be solidifying at that position.

State of the position: the Redskins need to line up a replacement for Chris Samuels as soon as possible, while not as dire as right tackle, this position is now of serious concern.

Draft need: I CAN HAS DRAFT PICK? The Redskins need to be looking at the best tackle on the board and then worry about where he can play.


Left guard
Players: Derrick Dockery is back after two years in Buffalo, Derrick is 28 and 6-6 330, he is in his prime and it is nice to have Derrick back. Pete Kendall started all of 2007 and 2008 at the left guard spot but is a free agent at this time. Chad Rinehart in theory could be a left guard, some day.

State of the position: you always want depth because a starter could go down. Pete Kendall has drawn little interest on the open market and the Redskins need to step up and bring him back as a backup, I know Pete wants to start somewhere but he is eight years older than Derrick and if Pete can swallow his pride and be a role player then he may extend his career a by a few years.

Draft need: Tough argument to make. With needs at both tackles, right guard and center, left guard is in good shape relatively speaking. If the team can lock down Pete or develop Chad or one of the other reserves then they will be ok.


Center
Players: Casey Rabach is the incumbent in his fifth year with the team, Casey will turn 32 during the 2009 season. Currently the backup spot is open.

State of the position: Casey has been a good center though has a tendency to run off penalties and bad plays in clusters. The team could use an upgrade and to get younger at center. Casey's backup from 2007, Mike Pucillo, is currently out of football and 2008 backup Justin Geisinger is currently a free agent.

Draft need: I CAN HAS DRAFT PICK? After the first round the team needs to look at the best center on the board and weigh him against the relative quality of the other players, this team needs a center not necessarily to start in 2009, but definitely able to compete in 2010.


Right guard
Players: Randy Thomas will be in his sixth season with the Redskins and just turned 33. Randy was not terrific in a 2008 comeback after missing nearly all of 2007 with a torn triceps, but then again Randy was forced to play next to a right tackle that was never consistent no matter if it was Jon Jansen or Stephon Heyer. Randy's principle backup the past two seasons was Jason Fabini, now a free agent.

State of the position: although reports of Randy's imminent talent collapse I feel are premature, Randy was not terrific in 2008 and like the rest of the line is getting to an advanced age. Even if the team was to re sign his backup Jason Fabini for depth, Jason Fabini will be 35 when the season starts. The team may be able to squeeze another good season from Randy and then needs to deal with the future.

Draft need: I CAN HAS DRAFT PICK? Though not as dire as the need for a new and talented tackle, any tackle, right guard is a matter for consideration. If the team could get a right guard for development with their third or fifth round pick then that would be great, we are looking at no later than 2010 to get some competition for Randy.


Right tackle
Players: Jon Jansen is the longest tenured Redskin heading into his eleventh year and just turned 33. A stalwart, Jon lost his starting spot to backup and rising third year undrafted Stephon Heyer, but regained the spot after four games. The two will both be back in 2009.

State of the position: Jon seems to have declined in his ability to pass block and Stephon seems unable to run block to the level of competition in the NFL. This creates a problem. A big one. The Stephon Heyer Experiment to evolve him into a starting caliber tackle likely will last another season and the team cannot afford to sit back and hope Stephon comes a long someday. Offensive linemen can take years to develop and between the aging veteran and an unsure youngster the team need to improve this position through the draft.

Draft need: I CAN HAS DRAFT PICK? Both offensive tackle positions I rate as the most serious needs for the team. The Redskins need to use that number thirteen overall pick to select the best tackle on the board, then we will worry about whether he looks better at the right or left spot.


Redskins 2009 Draft Prep continues tomorrow with part two, The Defense and Special Teams.



Draft beer selection from here.

Thank You John Madden

Calling it a career

John Madden has retired. After an all to brief career as a high school and college standout offensive lineman, a playing career cut short by a knee injury in 1958, John went immediately into coaching. By 1964 John was a defensive assistant to head coach Don Coryell at San Diego State, John stayed with Don and the Aztecs for four years, his colleague all four of those year at SDSU? One Joe Gibbs.

John moved to the Oakland Raiders in 1967 as linebacker coach, in two years he was the NFL's youngest head coach at 32. In his first seven seasons as Raiders head coach, John's teams lost five AFC Championship games. Finally in his eighth season the Raiders won the big one, Super Bowl 11 over Fran Tarkenton's Minnesota Vikings.

The next season John's Raiders lost the AFC Championship, Oakland's seventh appearance in that game in John's nine years. One more season in 1978 and John called it quits from the sideline.

As he did in the transition from player to coach, John moved immediately to his new endeavor, broadcasting. By 1981 John was paired with Pat Summerall, calling NFC Sunday afternoon games. It is during this time that I came to know John Madden. John's former coaching colleague Joe Gibbs rose with the Redskins as John rose in the booth. Many Sundays for me in high school John and Pat called Redskins games and with his ability to advertise anything, John truly became a household name in the 80s.

When NFC coverage moved from CBS to Fox in 1995, John moved with it, working Sunday games until 2002 when John left Fox to move into the Monday Night Football booth with Al Michaels. After four years on MNF, John moved again, to NBC to cover Sunday night games, working three seasons from 2006 to 2008. Last season when John surprised football fans by taking a week off, little did we know he was ending a 476-week streak in the booth.

At the end John had become something of a caricature of himself, with the banging and the booming and the stuff hanging out, and eighty percent of anything John said was something you had already heard him say, and therefore had also heard every little Madden say, from Matt Millen to Tim Ryan to Brian Baldinger to Randy Cross.

But if you were a football fan and you listened to John, every game you got some new nugget, some insight into the game, the positions or the personalities.

John Madden changed the way NFL games are consumed by people watching television, and it is people watching television that make up the most marketable segment of football fans. He made the networks happy, he made the viewers happy and he did it all from the position of experience in the game. As a football fan I am happy I got to see him in his prime.


New York Times on John Madden's retirement. | A hilarious piece confirming John will not be joining the Raiders as a consultant, as if John was fool enough to get near the 2009 version of Al Davis with a ten foot telestrator.



Madden 93 for SNES, a game I played around the clock for a year, from here.

Happy Birthday Fred Smoot

21 turns 30

Please join me and the entire staff of The Curly R in wishing Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot a happy birthday, Fred turns 30 years old today.

Fred is a boomerang Redskin, he was drafted by Washington in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft and proclaimed himself the steal of the draft, promising big things, even taking recently departed Redskin Deion Sanders' number 21 jersey.

A native of Jackson Mississippi, Fred played at Provine High in Jackson, after graduating in 1998 went to Hinds Community College in Raymond Mississippi and played a year there before signing with Mississippi State in 1999.

With Fred in the lineup Mississippi State had the nation's top defense his first year on the team in 1999 as the Bulldogs went 10-2, Fred pulled in five interceptions and the team earned a berth in the New Year's Eve Cotton Bowl against Clemson, a game Mississippi State won 17-7 despite committing 21 penalties.

In 2000 the Bulldogs slipped to 8-4 and Fred, despite his great performance on the field with five interceptions in eleven games, was ruled academically ineligible and was not permitted to travel with the team to play in the Independence Bowl in always raining Shreveport Louisiana where the Texas A&M Aggies fell to Mississippi State in a barnburner 43-41. Fred had first round talent but scouts were trying to figure out if his head was in the game.

Declaring himself eligible for the 2001 draft, Fred was considered confident and unafraid to challenge the opposing team's top receiver. When draft day came many mocks and draft boards had Fred rated as the top cornerback in a draft deep in the position. Up came the Bills at number 21 in the first round but passed on Fred for Oklahoma State University corner Nate Clements, whom Buffalo preferred for both his size and his strength.

Buffalo's decision proved beneficial to the Redskins as Fred hung around until the fourteenth pick of the second round, a round that included Drew Brees, Alge Crumpler, Chad Johnson, Kris Jenkins, Aaron Schobel, Matt Light, LaMont Jordan, Chris Chambers, Travis Henry and Shaun Rogers.

Fresh with a four year contract in 2001, Fred cracked the starting lineup immediately in Washington, playing alongside Champ Bailey and with future Hall of Famer Darrell Green. Fred continued his productivity from college in 2001 with the Redskins, pulling down an interception and scooping up a fumble in his first NFL game and earning NFL Rookie of the Month honors in September on his way to a 30 tackle, five interception season.

Marty Schottenheimer was gone, making way for Steve Spurrier in 2002, defensively Champ Bailey and Fred Smoot were not worried about the offense, they had visions of going to the Pro Bowl together, in a live chat with the Washington Post in August 2002, Fred set his sights high for the Redskins: a Super Bowl for the team and a Pro Bowl for him. Although 2002 was a challenge for the team overall with a 7-9 record, the defense improved from 10th overall to 5th as Fred racked up 49 tackles and four interceptions.

Heading into the 2003 offseason rumors began flying that the Redskins were going to package up Fred and Washington's number thirteen overall pick and trade them to Detroit for the Lions number two overall pick, presumably so the Redskins could select a receiver for Steve Spurrier's offense, either Charles Rogers or Andre Johnson. The trade did not happen and despite being knocked unconscious in practice in September and suffering a fractured sternum in October, Fred still managed to start fourteen games, register 50 tackles and pull down four interceptions. Overall the Redskins defensive unit suffered an embarrassing and dismal season as the team went 5-11 and the defense fell from 5th to 25th overall.

In 2004 Joe Gibbs returned to the Redskins and traded cornerback Champ Bailey to the Broncos for tailback Clinton Portis, Shawn Springs and Walt Harris were brought in to shore up the position and compete with incumbent Fred. As the 2004 season approached the pressure was mounting what with coach Joe back in town and Fred was not afraid to predict great things for himself and for the Redskins. Although the 2004 Redskins finished 6-10, Fred finished with 63 tackles and three interceptions as the Redskins and new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams climbed from 25th overall to third overall in defense.

For the 2005 offseason, the Redskins had quite a dilemma: twenty free agents, including Fred Smoot. From the very first of the year Fred had a gut feeling he would not be back with Washington, that feeling became a self fulfilling prophesy when Fred and the team could not agree on a contract, the principle sticking point being the size of the signing bonus, Joe Gibbs and the team were not preprared to offer the player more than eleven million dollars up front (op. cit.), Fred had requested a fourteen million dollar bonus, and the franchise tag number, the average of the top five salaries at the position, came in higher than expected at 8.8 million dollars for cornerback, causing the team not to apply the tag to Fred. The first day of free agency saw the team standing firm on its now ten million dollar bonus offer and Fred shopping for another deal. That deal came four days later, from the Vikings in the form of a six year 34 million dollar contract with an eleven million dollar signing bonus, the same eleven million dollars by the way that Joe Gibbs had said he was willing to give Fred. Between losing Fred along with linebacker Antonio Pierce and trading away receiver Laveranues Coles, it looked like the Redskins were flailing at personnel management.

Fred had two years in Minnesota, seasons I imagine personally and professionally Fred wishes he could have back. Over 2005 and 2006 Fred endured a number of challenges, his relationship with the Vikings soured and the team cut him the night before the start of 2007 free agency.

Forty-eight hours later Fred was back in Washington, along with London Fletcher the Redskins other top free agent target for the 2007 season, Fred came back to Washington for five years and twenty-five million dollars, Joe Gibbs brought back the player he let go two years earlier over money.

The 2007 season saw Fred join Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers, the player Washington drafted after losing Fred, in the defensive backfield. Fred started eleven games and made 44 tackles as Washington rotated cornerbacks and finished 9-7 on the way to a playoff berth. With Fred back on the team Washington's defense improved from a dismal number 31 overall to a familiar spot in the top ten, number eight overall.

That rotation of Shawn, Fred and Carlos stayed in place for the 2008 season and saw Fred start eight games, make 43 tackles and grab one interception as the team started strong and ended weakly to finish 8-8. The defense though cannot be blamed for that record as the unit overall improved from number eight overall to number four overall.

Going into the 2009 season Shawn Springs is gone, Carlos Rogers is in his contract year and the Redskins signed cornerback DeAngelo Hall to a long term deal. No doubt Washington even in the best situation Washington will continue to rotate cornerbacks and Fred will be an important role player, with these three players the Redskins are loaded at cornerback.

Happy birthday Fred!



Fred Smoot from the Redskins 2008 training camp: AP photo from here.

23rd Psalm Majordomo

Nice to have you back boys

Two nights ago I had the fortune thanks to lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery to attend the Dead show at MCI Center Verizon Center in downtown Washington DC. We got prime parking right down the block and took in the sights and sounds of the nearest thing to a Grateful Dead show in Washington since RFK in 1995.

It was great, a departure from a classic Dead show, I guess that is not surprising since it is almost fifteen years later, the energy in the venue ebbed at times and the stage set and sound were not what I would have expected from a show back in the day.

There were some interesting moments, the show starting the minute the boys took the stage without as much as a tuneup, Warren Haynes' vocals sounding eerily like Brent Mydland's, the acoustic mini set, Space and Drums being inverted and separated, and some songs the Grateful Dead never or rarely played in their time. The show can be streamed or downloaded from the Archive here. Before the show the band met with president Obama at the White House, dose anyone else wonder what they talked about?

Oh and Frank Zappa rolled over in his grave when none other than Tipper Gore came out and played percussion with the band near the end of the show. If you have no idea what I am talking about then you are too young to remember the PMRC. The setlist:

First set
Cassidy
Passenger
Pride of Cucamonga
Easy Wind
Lazy River Road
Alabama Getaway
Big Railroad Blues

Second set
Peggy-O (acoustic)
Glory Road (acoustic)
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (acoustic)
Space >
Dark Star (first verse) >
King Solomon's Marbles >
Drums >
Come Together >
Dark Star (second verse) >
Sugar Magnolia / Sunshine Daydream

Encore
Uncle John's Band >
Ripple


Thanks to Wilbert Montgomery for a great evening. I miss Jerry Garcia.



Photo by me.

Is It Baseball Season Already?

Yeah we'll be seeing a lot of that this year

This always happens to me, this year's NFL draft will be the third I have covered for the Redskins, and while noodling away my time on Curly R with concerns like free agency, mock drafts and the detritus of seasons past all of a sudden I look up and baseball games are happening every day.

I try to get excited but I cannot.

I love baseball, I really do. But football is the sport I love so much I have chosen to spend hours every week writing about it for an audience I cannot see and is really nothing more than a list of entries in a Sitemeter. I love a baseball game, the hot dogs, the beer, the crack of the bat and all, sadly though I would almost always rather sit here in my disgusting home office and gin up 500 words on the Redskins than head across town and spend fifty bucks at a game, and that is after the free tickets.

The funny thing is I got started as a blogger writing about the Washington Nationals. After incessant water cooler conversations on the Nationals, a friend invited me to join his blog, The Curly W. Together we turned it from an irregular publication to a daily, added new features and together we were the first blog on teh webs to post up a regular Five Questions feature, wherein we exchange questions with a blogger covering the other team in a series. By 2007 it was de rigeur on sports blogs and I had more or less abandoned it here at Curly R. We still run it occasionally, when I get asked and when for old times' sake with partners from 2006.

I wrote pretty reguarly for Curly W from July of 2006 to April of 2007, by that point I was pushing one post a day on Curly R and had come to the kind of sad conclusion that despite my desire to be a baseball guy, it just was not there for me. I would sit down to write a post on the Nationals and have to surf stats or read Barry Svrluga or check the Nationals blogroll before I was inspired.

With football I can sit down and rip off a post with no prep any time of day or night, twenty-four hours a day. Being a lifetime football fan and Redskins fan will do that to you.

No, the biggest time consumer here for me is not coming up with a story or an opinion or an angle, rather the challenge is often finding the link I need to back up an assertion, we are very much focused on citing sources and standing up for the work we publish.

So baseball is here, I plan to see some games and have some fun and troll some blogs. The Nationals have a large and growing blog network, baseball blogging being a few years more mature than football blogging, and the meth addicts at DC Pro Sports Report helpfully published a Nationals blog viewers guide for this season. If you are local to the Washington DC area or otherwise follow the Nationals, pick through here and find some sites to visit for this season.

I will mostly be over here in the corner writing about the Redskins...



Ryan Zimmerman and Cristian Guzman missing another one: Reuters Pictures from here.

Older and Smaller: Not a Good Combo

Time waits for no man and the buffet is open 7x24

There is a lot of good Redskins content out there in this supposably slow period before the draft. Over at Hog Heaven Tony Brown just posted up an excellent wondering what's on Jason Campbell's mind piece after that big clear the air meeting with Dan Snyder. I would call Tony's tone er, skeptical.

Rich Tandler, whose catalog like memory of everything that has ever happened to the Redskins is so sharp he has written not one but two books of team history, walks fans back through the biggest Redskins player deals that never happened. I remember the Reggie White to Washington deal, I did not remember the Darrell Green to Denver deal.

The guys at DC Pro Sports Report must have a meth habit to support or something, I just turned around and these guys are putting out like French Quarter hookers, seven posts dated today, headlined right now by their mock draft round up, looking like Andre Smith and Michael Oher are tied for the most likely. Both you will note are offensive tackles.

And Kevin Ewoldt, now well settled in at Hogs Haven, managed to find the poster for Santana Moss' 30th birthday party down in Miami. I am tempted to make a sarcastic comment about the ego on these guys, throwing these Cristal and cocaine parties for a thousand people like they were gangsters then I thought wait, none of these guys will hit 40 as a player so 30 is really it, last chance to revel in the NFL life.

The most tactical one to read right now though is Mark Steven's over at The Om Field. He had a notion:

During the Pittsburgh and Baltimore games in weeks nine and ten last year, it became crystal clear to me that the Redskins were simply overmatched on the offensive line of scrimmage. As a result, I have been thinking (okay borderline obsessing) about how the Redskins stack up against the NFL in those areas ever since, and the notion I’ve had in my head is that the Redskins were not only older than most teams on the line, but smaller as well.

So he went and did the math and yup, the Redskins offensive line is older and smaller than their NFC Beast counterparts. I do not usually disagree with Tony Brown, defense is not where the Redskins need to spend that number thirteen pick. Head over and read Mark's piece, as if we needed any more direct incentive to urge the team to draft a young tackle, please for the love of god Dan Snyder, youthen up the offensive line!



The Redskins 2008 offensive line, with line coach Joe Bugel from July 2008: AP photo from here.