The Folsom Point 9/14/2010: A Bit Surreal

First reader email. I'M RELEVANT.

Wherein we discuss three odd sights at Redskins Stadium.



Image by me with apologies to Advice Dog.

Giant Shitburger

Little bitchpants

Comedian, radio host and Redskins fan Danny Rouhier is back, one of the best parts of last season's 4-12 debacle was Danny's weekly YouTube videos, here Danny riffs on the game one victory over the Cowboys. Enjoy and head over to Danny's YouTube channel and subscribe.



YouTube from here.

Cowboys Hold On To Lose

Seriously? With four seconds left in the half?

Takeaway Drill: Quadruple witching in Landover: new coach, new QB, a satisfying win over a division rival, all on national TV; one of these teams was supposed to struggle on offense.

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Quick jump to

Monday Walkthrough :: Soapbox :: Chattering Class :: Omnibus Spotlights :: Recaps and Stats

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Monday Walkthrough: The new look Redskins fail to score an offensive touchdown, take points off the board and get nothing for it, fail to get a hundred yards rushing and still win 13-7 over the hated Dallas Cowboys to come out of the 2010 gate 1-0, there is a rule that says never do a homicide on an opponent committing a suicide, and that was the story of the Cowboys on national television last night.

The Redskins kick off to start the first quarter, Dallas looks very tight on their first possession, DeAngelo Hall basically ends this drive single handedly and the Cowboys are punting. Washington takes possession for the first time with Donovan McNabb at quarterback, Clinton Portis and Chris Cooley figure early, Santana Moss saves on third down plus a personal foul on Jay Ratliff, a busted play seventeen yard rush by Donovan McNabb, that drive stalls at the Dallas twelve yard line and Graham Gano is kicking a 29 yard field goal and the Redskins take an early 3-0 lead. Dallas gets the ball for the second time, they are executing well, move the ball to the Redskins twelve when the first quarter ends with the Redskins leading 3-0.

The second quarter begins with Dallas continuing their second possession and in scoring position, the Redskins hold on defense and Dallas kicker David Ferris Buehler misses a 34 yard field wide right goal try to keep the game at 3-0 Redskins. Washington takes over at their own 24 yard line, Washington's second possession, a three and out that features a sack of Donovan by DeMarcus Ware through Trent Williams, punt. The Cowboys get the ball for the third time, they look good through four plays and then three and out thereafter, features a holding penalty Dallas center Andre Gurode against Rocky McIntosh who still gets to Tony Romo and there is some good pass defense, the Cowboys punt. The Redskins get the ball for the third time, Santana Moss bails Donovan out two plays in a row, Washington stalls though and punt, Byron Westbrook downs Josh Bidwell's punt inside the five yard line so there's that. Dallas gets the ball for the fourth time in terrible field position, the Cowboys get out of that jam, they move well in the middle of the field and stall at midfield, Dallas punt. Washington gets the ball for the fourth time with under two minutes left in the half, they get out of the terrible field position jam but stall thereafter and punt. Dallas gets the ball for the fifth possession with 27 seconds left in the half, seventy yards from the end zone, Alex Barron gets called for holding against Brian Orakpo, that sets up first and twenty, on the final play of the half Tony Romo inexplicably swings a pass out to Tashard Choice, DeAngelo Hall, Lorenzo Alexander and Andre Carter converge immediately and make the hit, Tashard fumbles, DeAngelo scoops it up and takes it 25 yards for the touchdown, extra point good and the Redskins take a 10-0 lead into the half. Yowza.

The Redskins get the ball to start the third quarter, Washington's fifth possession goes more than sixty yards in nine plays over six minutes, they score a field goal but an offsides penalty on Dallas gives the Redskins another opportunity and they take the points off the board, Washington moves another thirteen yards, stalls and set up for a 24 yard field goal, punter slash holder Josh Bidwell fumbles the snap and the ball goes over to Dallas, nothing to show on that drive. The Cowboys get the ball for the sixth time, they move easily but stall at midfield and punt the ball. Washington gets the ball for the sixth time, a weak three and out deep in their own territory, punt. Dallas' seventh possession starts at the Washington 34 thanks to a bad punt, the Cowboys basically push their way into the end zone, scoring on a four yard pass to Miles Austin, Dallas now trails 10-7. The Redskins get the ball for the seventh time at midfield, two plays and a first down and the quarter ends with the Redskins leading 10-7.

The fourth quarter starts with the Redskins continuing their seventh possession, a penalty and a sack to get things going and the Redskins punt. The Cowboys get the ball for the eighth time, Dallas commits three penalties that move them back, on third and 26 from the Dallas 29 Tony Romo hits Jason Witten for fourteen yards, Dallas punts. Washington gets the ball for the eighth time, a five and out with one good play to Anthony Armstrong and the Redskins are punting. Dallas gets the ball for the ninth time, a pathetic three and out featuring a London Fletcher hit of Tashard Choice for a loss, the Cowboys punt. The Redskins get the ball for the ninth time, biggest play of that drive is Donovan McNabb to Santana Moss for the first down, Larry Johnson nails DeMarcus Ware in the head with his kneepad on the next play, Chris Cooley catches the next pass, tick tock, Clinton, there is some more win on this drive before stalling at the Dallas 31 yard line, after first lining up to punt the team then lined up to kick a 49 yard field goal, dead straight and the Redskins now lead 13-7. Dallas gets the ball for the tenth time, it is very stressful as the Cowboys are increasingly desperate, Carlos Rogers misses an interception, Miles Austin catches a ball to keep the game alive with twelve seconds, timeout Dallas, two more incompletes by Tony Romo and Dallas is taking its last timeout, with three seconds left in the game and Dallas on Washington's thirteen yard line Tony scrambles for time before finding Roy Williams in the right corner of the end zone, touchdown Dallas to make the game -- wait is that a flag? Yep, replacement right tackle Alex Barron was called for holding Brian Orakpo... again, that is Alex's third holding call against Brian and Dallas' fourth overall holding penalty, time had expired and game over, the Redskins win their season opener, Mike Shanahan's first game in Washington and Donovan McNabb's first game in burgundy and gold, 13-7, over Dallas and on national TV to boot. Welcome to 2010, the year football came back to Washington.

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Soapbox: The moments that make the game: Cowboys kicker David Ferris Buehler missing a 34 yard field goal in the second quarter. Dallas offensive coordinator and former Cowboys quarterback Jason Garrett inexplicably allowing quarterback Tony Romo a swing pass option out of field goal and hail mary range in his own territory with four seconds left in the half, putting tailback Tashard Choice in position to give up a defensive touchdown.

Dallas replacement right tackle Alex Barron being called for three holding plays, all against Brian Orakpo including the fateful last play of the game. The Redskins taking three points off the board in the third quarter then getting nothing for it, Dallas cornerback intercepting quarterback Donovan McNabb in the end zone on that same drive, the play nullified by a chuck penalty on safety Gerald Sensabaugh, three plays later Josh Bidwell would mishandle the field goal snap and what was a 13-0 game is now back to 10-0. Two possession later with an intervening Redskins three and out and the Cowboys would score their only points, a touchdown.

The Redskins sticking to the running game, 51 of Clinton Portis' 63 yards on the ground came in the second half with the game close, if this had been Jim Zorn or Al Saunders in charge of the offense the team would have come out in the second half with that slim lead and started chucking it all over the place and the Redskins would have made mistakes on offense and lost the game.

Cornerback Carlos Rogers missing his first surefire interception of the year, the more things change the more they stay the same. Carlos played well in coverage, he will never be the ball hawk this defense needs him to be, therefore the coaches will be looking to replace him as soon as they can find someone with eighty percent of his coverage skills and the ability to catch a ball.

As a fan I can only say this was one of the more rewarding moments as a Redskins fan in some time. Plenty of room for improvement, yes. The curve is pointing upwards though.

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Chattering Class: The Washington Post front page section A page one story is back with a vengeance, Mark Maske delivers the game recap for the everyman, sandwiched on the front page between a stories on tax cuts consuming Congress' energy and how president Hamid Karzai is not really an ally in the war on Afghan corruption.

Also over at the Washington Post, Tom Boswell writes about a good start for the Redskins and reminds Redskins fans that other coaches have come into Washington and started hot before struggling.

Curly R favorite Tracee Hamilton writes about tailback Clinton Portis' obvious transformation from owner-brownnosing, teammate throwing under the busing malcontent to quiet contributor and reminds us there may be no other ball carrier in the league that can block like Clinton.

Michael Wilbon has mostly dropped off the pages of Curly R, I have outgrown his work, or he has been on cruise control for half a decade, pick one, he gets it right today, this is a game the Redskins would have lost in years past, a solid but mediocre performance, the difference this time is that it was the other team making the mistakes.

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Omnibus: Broadcasters: Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, Cris has really grown on me, he is a quick wit and knows his shit, NBC knew what they were doing.

Uniform watch: Worst kept secret in Washington: The Redskins were going to bring back the gold pants from the Sonny Jurgenson days and they did with the Redskins taking the field in burgundy jerseys and yellow pants, with a new era of Redskins football upon us and I need to rethink my well known prejudices on uniform combinations.

Miscue roll call: Reed Doughty with a missed tackle on the first play of the game, Carlos Rogers with a missed tackle in the Cowboys fourth drive, Rocky McIntosh on same drive, hits Felix Jones in backfield and can't bring him down, Brian Orakpo on same drive had a chance to take down Marion Barber in the backfield and whiffed, Carlos Rogers missing the interception in the Dallas tenth drive, Carlos has hands of stone.

Plus internets roll call: Rocky McIntosh with a nice strip attempt in Dallas' first drive, DeAngelo Hall figured into three plays on that drive. Dallas second drive Felix Jones got a good run ended by a big LaRon Landry hit. Dallas fifth possession, Brian Orakpo makes mincemeat of guard Doug Free, Andre Gurode called for holding Ricky McIntosh and Rocky still gets through for the hit. Clinton Portis can black just about anyone in the backfield.

Starting defensive line: Adam Carriker, Maake Kemoeatu and Kedric Golston, no Albert Haynesworth to be found to start the game. He was in on that first drive on third down and was at the nickel.

Just. A. Little. Weird. to see Donovan McNabb taking the field in burgundy and gold.

Shot of Dan Snyder whooping on Dono's big run in Redskins first drive.

Total bullshit personal foul call on London Fletcher in Dallas' second drive, the receiver's knee was not even down.

End of Dallas second possession, second quarter, Albert Haynesworth was pulled from the game and was not happy about it, the cameras saw him stomping around after being pulled, he is a total bitch.

Second quarter, Redskins third possession, Stephon Heyer is in the game at right tackle in place of Jammal Brown, what is up with that? Later I saw Kory Lichtensteiger in at left guard in place of Derrick Dockery, are these related to performance, injury or are they part of a new standard rotation?

Game management problems: Washington called two of their three timeouts of the second half in the first possession of the half. Does everyone that coaches Donovan become Andy Reid?

Washington's fifth possession illustrated an age old football truism: Do not take points off the board, after dodging a Terrence Newman interception and two left corner fade incompletes to Anthony Armstrong, Josh Bidwell fumbled the field goal snap and the Redskins get nothing. See more about that here.

1:33 left in third quarter, NBC shows us a replay of Miles Austin's touchdown catch, they somehow reverse out the field and the grass is black, it was weird.

Great stat: London Fletcher has played 99.2 percent of the Redskins defensive snaps. Missed the time frame, whether it is last season or in all four seasons he has been here it is a great stat.

MIKE SELLERS YOU SUCK!!

Gamewrap headline workup: The Boys Aren't Back In Town, It Just Hit Me, Cowboys Super Bowl Plans On Hold, Cowboys Hold on to Lose.

Nice to see the other team score a let down in the final seconds, it seems like the Redskins have been the team that cannot shoot for about four seasons now.

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The Mastermind: Head coach Mike Shanahan was mostly in place for this game, a departure from the preseason where he prowled like a big cat, at the end of the game though he was in full pace mode, getting used to seeing that guy on the sideline is going to take a while. For a good look at coach Shanahan at work on the sideline, check this out.

Number Five: Quarterback Donovan McNabb did not have a stellar night, fifteen of 32 for 171 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions and a 63 passer rating. One INT was called back on a penalty in the third quarter. Dono found connections to receiver Santana Moss and tight end Chris Cooley so let us look at this game as the beginning of the beginning.

Silver and Back: Rookie left tackle Trent Williams held his own against Cowboys Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware, Trent gave up one sack which about the least any left tackle in the league is going to give up, a solid performance in his first regular season game after tangling with Terrell Suggs and Calvin Pace in the preseason.

Albert the Butthurt: Oh Albert. He was not in the game to start though he did play in that first drive and was in for most of the game at nose tackle, the highlight of the Albert Experience was near the end of the second quarter, the Cowboys were driving and Albert was pulled on a third down, the cameras captured him in all his petulant glory standing by himself on the sidelines with hands out, clearly wondering to anyone that wold pay attention, why o why cruel woild would coach evar take me out? Albert is going to be a lol all season.

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Washington Post recap, photo gallery. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos, video highlights.


Next up, the Houston Texans, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's old team, and their high powered offense come to town, last week the Texans snookered the Colts, a team accustomed to playing with a lead, therefore Indianapolis' defense would be more comfortable playing against the pass, instead of unleashing Matt Schaub (Wahoowa!) and Andre Johnson in the passing game, Houston kept it on the ground with undrafted Arian Foster, the Colts could never compensate and now the Texans are 2-17-0 against the Colts. Sunday's game figures to be a real test.



DeAngelo Hall: Jonathan Newton / Washington Post from here. Matt Schaub: Getty Images from here.

Game 1: Redskins (0-0) vs. Cowboys (0-0)

vs.

Out of the Box: The day is finally at hand, the 2010 NFL season starts tonight with an epic game, Dallas comes to Washington, 8:30 pm on NBC, time to see how all this stuff really works.

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Quick jump to
The Story So Far :: Curly R Aside :: Oppo Research :: Trainer's Table Gameplan :: My Take in 60 Words or Less :: Preview Generalia
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The Story So Far: The preseason ended two wins and two losses, there were some cuts, a practice squad was formed, defensive nose end Albert Haynesworth was almost traded. Or not, depends on who you ask, and it is looking like Albert will not start but will play lots (op. cit.) after practicing this week with the scout team which is cool because actually everyone practices with the scout team according to coach Shanahan. Quarterback Donovan McNabb thinks the Redskins cannot win without Albert. I think Dono needs to get up a baww thread.

It was a busy week in Ashburn as the Redskins readied for another regular season of games, the amount of activity and gear and logistics of running an NFL team are staggering.

Tailback Clinton Portis, once known for wearing hilarious getups and assuming fake identities, has returned to Earth from where he lived much of the past four seasons, owner Dan Snyder's butt, Clinton has lost weight, regained focus and is working on just being a better teammate this year, I really thought Mike Shanahan's arrival in Washington was going to herald the end of the Clinton era, it looks like he is ready for 2010.

When Seattle, continuing the post Jim Mora purge, released ten year veteran receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh, he of six straight seventy catch plus seasons with nine hundred yards or more in each of those years, the Redskins took a look at him, TJ would have been a good addition to the roster, ultimately TJ went to the Ravens who are now stacked at receiver.

Rookie left tackle Trent Williams got a new uniform number, he will no longer be number 72, he will now be 71, his preferred number since Trent was a kid, previously former 400 pound man and guard slash tackle reserve Mike Williams was number 71, Mike is is out this season with a blood condition, so Trent got his desired number.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb and linebacker London Fletcher were named captains in today's candidate for world's smallest surprise. Also, that story from July and August about Team Dono's business development meeting in Arlington is baaaack. It surprises me that Dono needs to sell himself at all and that he needs to have these press the flesh events, he is a known quantity and has plenty of cash, his touted advisors should have no end of opportunities lined up for him.

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Curly R Aside: Nice work by the Washington Post on the big season preview special section in the paper this week and on line. Not as nice as last season's or the one before that, that is the way this business is going as shit disturbers like me dilute their market, just wanted to be sure everyone got these links: Front page, enterprise profile of head coach Mike Shanahan, a summary on the offense, one on the defense, columnist Tracee Hamilton on the difficult work of rebuilding an NFL roster, Michael Wilbon on how the start of NFL season is the new Christmas (it is), two interactive graphics, one on the Shanahan playbook and one on Super Bowl winning coaches, like Mike Shanahan, that left their teams and tried to do it with another, none ever has, here is a print edition version of this same piece. Nice looking pages with the projected starting offense and starting defense, and former Redskins beat writer and current Washington Post NFL writer Mark Maske ends on a downer with the all too real prospect of a work stoppage in 2011.

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Oppo Research: The temperature keeps going up in Dallas as owner Jerral W. Jones has made it plainly clear that there is no more building, there are no more long term projects, this is it and this is now, time to win. Jerruh was critical of his team's effort early in what turned out to be a miserable Dallas preseason and the look of disgust on his face watching the Cowboys take a shellacking while looking incompetent against the admittedly now awesome Texans was priceless. I think the Dallas team is a year past its window, they may still do well in 2010, I do not think they are as good as most of the chattering class seems to think.

For his part this season, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, who worked with Mike Shanahan in Denver and does not think a weak preseason presages a weak regular season, thinks the Redskins in 2010 are a quote unknown unquote. Something something Cowboys, something something unknown is going to be a meme with Dallas all the way until Wade gets fired in January. Quarterback Tony Romo is similarly unaffected by the Cowboys rough preseason, making him either coolly confident or completely oblivious.

At a more tactical level, the timing of this game is good for Washington, the Cowboys come to town without both starting tackles, see Gameplan below for more detail.

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Trainer's Table: The injury report is surprisingly short, quarterback Donovan McNabb's ankle is good to go and tailback Clinton Portis is feeling no ill effects from the fake injury he suffered in preseason game two. The only serious injury to report for the Redskins is safety Kareem Moore, still out with the knee injury suffered in preseason, Kareem participated in some limited drills this week, his return is still a couple of weeks out. Reed Doughty will start at free safety in Kareem's place.

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Gameplan: Lots of intriguing matchups in this game, rookie left tackle Trent Williams will be going up against Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware (also here), center Casey Rabach going up against the much bigger defensive tackle Jay Ratliff. On the flip the Cowboys are missing both starting tackles Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier, expect that linebackers Brian Orakpo and Andre Carter will be working backups Alex Barron and Montrae Holland all night to expose them.

What will we see tonight from the Redskins? Hard nosed run first ball control shorten the game football like Mike Shanahan likes to play and Redskins fans love to see? Or toss it around the field spread the receivers aerial attack like Kyle Shanahan likes to run and Donovan McNabb likes to execute? Hard to know, one thing is for sure though, we will be basing every other game on what we see tonight.

Rookie receiver slash returner Brandon Banks is the only mild surprise on the inactives list, with the season starting on national television against a division rival, coach Shanahan is not going to trust the fumble prone speedster to stay calm.

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My Take in 60 Words or Less: Oh am I a happy guy, football is back.

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Broadcast coverage: NBC, this is a national game baby; SkinsCast weather, in the 60s, it rained earlier and now is going to be a great night for football. Gold pants tiem?


Enjoy the game, after four night games in the preseason a late start feels perfectly normal, I will be with neighbors and ShedTV, welcome 2010.


This is a gameday open thread.



NFL helmet logos from here.

A Correction

Not mines though

Tuesday the big Washington Post Redskins 2010 preview section dropped, every year the Post puts together a special section in the paper assessing and hyping the coming season, as the Redskins journal of record it is in the best interests of the Post to do so.

This year it was pretty spare, with the main graphical feature being an awkward shot of head coach Mike Shanahan superimposed over a kind of trippy retro collage of Redskins and Washington DC imagery, it pretty well reflects the state of the newspaper business in comparison to 2009's Washington Post Redskins preview section.

Remember September 2009? Scandalous stories of the team suing fans, including a 66 year old grandmother and lifetime fan, of team sales reps selling tickets directly to ticket brokers, and an environment so explosive that the Commissioner himself, Roger Goodell was drawn to town help fight the fire and so stressful that defensive coordinator Greg Blache lost it in a press conference on a former Redskins player and current local journalist, ah yes you nostalgia you lose.

Into that environment the Post launched as the anchor piece of the 2009 team preview a long retrospective on the first decade of Dan Snyder's ownership, including a super cool interactive graphic, better than the two lousy ones this year, one of which is just a piece on Mike Shanahan's offense from May. The Dan Snyder piece was pretty unforgiving and in retrospect was the perfect amuse bouche for what would later become an all time trainwreck of a season.

Continuing the trend, 2008's Washington Post Redskins preview section was better than 2009's, in fact it was truly awesome kitsch, the lead graphic a conveyor belt, former shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato places uniformed Redskins players on the belt, they then run through the Zorn-A-Mator which is a little building with a giant Jim Zorn head on it, they then travel through an electrically charged West Coast Offensisizer and a giant Star Power mixing bowl before being placed lovingly placed into a box of packing peanuts by owner Dan Snyder.

The main infographic was a good, though not interactive, it looks exactly like it did in the paper, breakdown of the Jim Zorn offense, and within the preview was a summary of management, coaching and player moves around a second lead graphic that portrayed the Redskins as a mature product in a new and improved package, on the front of the package above and below the Redskins logo are the marketing exhortations: Bold New Look! 50% More Passing! Now With More Star Power! Improved, More Efficient Offense!

Look carefully though on the side of that package, there are two warning labels, they read Actual results may vary and Caution: Contents under pressure. Truth in advertising.

So back to this year's special preview (op. cit.), I am reading the paper and I go through the schedule section on page two and I review the season, glazing over as I think of each time the Redskins last played these teams, guest divisions the NFC North in 2007 and the AFC South in 2006, the Post helpfully tells us what happened in the last matchup for context, in the entry for Washington's 2010 game two opponent, the Houston Texans we see a sad reminder of what happened when these teams played on 24 September 2006, a game the Texans won 31-15. Wait what?

No the Texans did not win that game 31-15, the Redskins won that game 31-15! It was Curly R's third ever regular season gamewrap and I remember the game well, quarterback Mark Brunell tied the NFL record for consecutive completions with 22, as Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post wrote of Mark's achievement,

The ball rarely traveled even 10 yards through the air

Tailback Ladell Betts had 123 yards rushing, the team had 234 total yards on the ground and 495 yards of offense overall, much maligned replacement for Shawn Springs Kenny Wright had an interception and the Redskins scored 31 points, a total the team would only match or exceed once more in the season on the way to a 5-11 record.

The 2010 schedule is helpfully available online here with the error still there in game two and a link to the Post recap of that game, this is your correction if the Washington Post never catches it.



Image credit: screencap detail of schedule page here.

The Folsom Point 9/7/2010: A Known Known for 2010

First reader comment. CALL MOM.

Wherein we discuss how Washington's offensive line cannot possibly be worse in 2010.



Image by me with apologies to Advice Dog.

Practice Squad Formed

Hanging on

Final cuts came down Saturday by 6:00 pm, once all players are released teams have the right, in reverse order of finish last season, worst to best, to claim available players off waivers, those players get another shot at NFL life. The players that are not claimed are now free agents, able to sign with any team with a contract offer. Teams will now begin building their practice squads.

The practice squad is basically an eight man mini roster for developmental players, they are not on the active roster hence cannot play in games. In every other way they are just other players on the team. Practice squad players are considered free agents and can be signed by any team at any time, with the player's current team having the right of first refusal to match the offer and keep the player. There are other rules governing practice squad eligibility and salary, a good recent round up of those rules is here.

The practice squad roster changes continually as players are released, added and promoted to active roster. Here is your Redskins 2010 season opening practice squad:

WR Terrence Austin
LB Mike Balogun
T Selvish Capers
C/G Erik Cook
DE/LB Rob Jackson
T Will Robinson
S Anderson Russell
TB Ryan Torain

Receiver Terrence Austin, seventh round draft pick this year, was part of a generally undistinguished group of receivers in camp, Terrence came on strong in the third and fourth preseason games and was just beaten out by Anthony Armstrong and Brandon Banks who will primarily be a returner.

Rookie Mike Balogun was not with the Redskins in camp or preseason, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the 49ers and released in final cuts, he is a local, from Upper Marlboro Maryland.

Offensive tackle Selvish Capers, also a seventh round draft pick this year, saw plenty of preseason action and got pushed around a lot, perhaps the team sees something in him, the quality of the typical practice squad offensive lineman is not terrific.

Guard slash center Erik Cook was yet another seventh round pick in April, another depth player I do not know much about.

Defensive end slash linebacker Rob Jackson was a seventh round selection in the doomed 2008 Redskins draft, he barely made it at this point and is not likely to make the season given the good performance of the outside linebackers so far.

Third year offensive tackle Will Robinson who has one of the best football names ever was on the Redskins practice squad last year and saw some action as a reserve at the end of the season, he is a prospect.

Safety Anderson Russell, signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in April, he is more naturally a strong safety than a free safety and there are no openings at the strong spot with LaRon Landry, Chris Horton and Reed Doughty there, with Kareem Moore hurt it pays to keep another guy around.

Tailback Ryan Torain is a two year veteran in his third season, he played for head coach Mike Shanahan in Denver, as a rookie in 2008 he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, it cost him 2009 as well, he was not on a roster last season. For my part I thought Ryan outplayed fellow backfield youngster Keiland Williams. Ryan looks frighteningly like former Redskins tailback Ladell Betts, right down to the number on the jersey.


Let the games begin.



Terrence Austin: Getty Images from here.