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Redskins vs Vikings: Five Things to Look For

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219189 10151270609824574 249243365 o 1024x802 Redskins vs Vikings: Five Things to Look For
The Washington Redskins will face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at FedEx Field as Washington tries to break it’s current home losing streak, which stands at 8 (a number which stretches back to week two of the 2011 season). This game is a must-win for the Redskins with them heading to New York to take on the Giants next week and Pittsburgh the following week after.

  1. Robert Griffin III - Easily the biggest story-line of them all, Griffin still has yet to be cleared to play this weekend but all signs point to him making a comeback this week from last week’s “mild” concussion. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has already said that the game-plan will stay the same no matter if RGIII plays or not. Griffin’s play making ability is hard to match, so obviously the chances of winning are greater if he is the signal caller who is under center on Sunday.
  2. New Kicker, hopefully better results – Earlier this week Redskins place kicker Billy Cundiff was released and Kai Forbath was signed to replace him. Forbath, a former Lou Groza award winner from UCLA, has never kicked a field goal in an NFL game but was 5-5 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in preseason this year. In the last few weeks the kicking game, or lack there of, has taken the wind out of the offense on more than one occasion and has hurt the time as far as momentum has been concerned. The Redskins are hoping Forbath can at least be an answer in short range after Cundiff proved inept in that department.
  3. Containing Percy Harvin – With the Redskins secondary being the weak-link of the unit this year, seeing Harvin lined up across the line should be something that defensive coordinator Jim Haslett worried. Harvin has 38 catches on the season for a total of 407 yards and a touchdown, thing is, Harvin has gotten 77.6 % of his yards after the catch, which is amazing. Washington will need to find an answer to Harvin early or look for a long day on defense.
  4. Pressure on the QB – Minesota finds itself near the top of the league in this department and the Redskins offensive line will need to pay extra attention to defensive end Jared Allen if they want to control the tempo of this game. The Redskins have found themselves in un-familiar territory this year as Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker both went down early on this year. Second year linebacker Ryan Kerrigan has shined and will need to get to Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder early and often. The defensive unit needs one or more people to step up and give Kerrigan some help if the Redskins are to get any better this year, keep an eye on Barry Cofield and Jarvis Jenkins in this one.
  5. Control the clock –  For Minnesota  this game will mark the first time Adrian Peterson has returned to FedEx Field since a season ending knee injury last year, Peterson’s performance will dictate whatever the Vikings do on offense. For the Redskins they will need to get rookie Alfred Morris going early and make the game as simple as possible for Robert Griffin III to be able to manage without mistakes or injuries. Morris will try to become the first running back in NFL history to rush for 75 or more yards in his first six games, he is tied with Eric Dickerson currently with 5.

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Washington Redskins Final 53 Man Roster Projections

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So now that preseason has come to an end, the Washington Redskins will start cutting players to get from 75 (where the roster is at now) to the final 53-man roster, which will be set on Friday night. Since I posted my 53-man roster predictions (which you can check out by clicking here) a lot of things have  happened to change the landscape of everything. Here is how I think the final 53-man roster will look.

Quarterbacks (3)

  1. Robert Griffin III
  2. Rex Grossman
  3. Kirk Cousins

No surprise here, Cousins may pass Rex in the pecking order further down the road, but the backup spot belongs to Rex at the moment.

Halfback/Fullback (5)

In my previous roster prediction post, I talked about players on the bubble, well it just so happens that one of those players, Alfred Morris, has played his way onto the team. It should be real interesting what happens in terms of the Redskins running back position. Will they keep four halfbacks or only three? If only three, then who gets cut? I believe barring a last minute trade, that the Redskins will go with four. Not sure if a depth chart is truly needed as we all know Shanahan normally goes with whoever has the hot hand in the backfield at the moment.

Halfback

  1. Tim Hightower
  2. Alfred Morris
  3. Roy Helu Jr.
  4. Evan Royster

Fullback

  1. Darrel Young

Wide Receivers (6)

The wide receiver race was possibly where the best competition of the preseason to make the final 53 occurred. The only change to this list that I think has occurred since my last breakdown is that Anthony Armstrong has lost his spot to Aldrick Robinson. Some may argue that the Redskins should keep seven receivers this year, I believe that may be the only way that Brandon Banks makes the roster.

Previous list:

Pierre Garcon, Josh Morgan, Santana Moss, Leonard Hankerson, Anthony Armstrong, Dezmon Briscoe

Final list:

  1. Pierre Garcon
  2. Josh Morgan
  3. Santana Moss
  4. Leonard Hankerson
  5. Aldrick Robinson
  6. Dezmon Briscoe

Tight Ends (3)

Well, a move that I myself was not expecting, but one that probably had to be made because of cap issues happened this week, veteran Chris Cooley was released. Beyond a re-signing by the Redskins, Cooley’s release answers the question that many had about how many tight ends should the Redskins keep, I predicted they would keep three. Logan Paulsen looks to benefit the most from this scenario.

  1. Fred Davis
  2. Logan Paulsen
  3. Niles Paul

Offensive Lineman (9)

Jammal Brown finally found his way onto the PUP list last week after having surgery, so I believe my projections from before will come out right as far as the offensive line is concerned.

Tackles:

  1. Trent Williams
  2. Tyler Polumbus
  3. Willie Smith

Guards:

  1. Kory Lichtensteiger
  2. Chris Chester
  3. Maurice Hurt (Hurt can play tackle and guard)
  4. Josh LeRibeus
  5. Adam Gettis

Center:

  1. Will Montgomery

Defensive Lineman (6)

Originally I had Chris Neild making the roster, since that time Neild had a season ending knee injury. In his absence, Chris Baker has certainly stepped it up during the preseason.

Nose Tackle:

  1. Barry Cofield
  2. Chris Baker

Ends:

  1. Stephen Bowen
  2. Adam Carriker
  3. Jarvis Jenkins
  4. Kedric Golston

Linebackers (8)

If the Redskins go with three running backs, it may be a move that leads to nine linebackers being kept, if that happens  Bryan Kehl will be the extra man in. I almost penciled Kehl in, but I’m not sure Shanahan will take the chance of Keenan Robinson not clearing waivers and making it to the practice squad. Chris Wilson made his case with a solid showing this preseason, but I believe Shanahan will go with the youth of second year lb Markus White.

Outside:

  1. Brian Orakpo
  2. Ryan Kerrigan
  3. Rob Jackson
  4. Markus White

Inside:

  1. London Fletcher
  2. Perry Riley
  3. Lorenzo Alexander
  4. Keenan Robinson

Defensive Backs (10)

I predicted that this year Kevin Barnes would be cut, well he was traded to Detroit last Friday. I’m sticking with my original predictions here, it should be noted that I said Richard Crawford would make the team before preseason. I honestly have no clue how they will stack up on a depth chart at this point though, this unit worries me the most on the team.

Josh Wilson, DeAngelo Hall, Cedric Griffin, Madieu Williams, Tanard Jackson, Brandon Meriweather, Reed Doughty, DeJon Gomes,  Brandyn Thompson, Richard Crawford

Special Teams

Last week this category got real different, real quick. Billy Cundiff was brought in after being released by the Baltimore Ravens, and Graham Gano and Neil Rackers were released.

Kicker:

Billy Cundiff

Punter:

Sav Rocca

Long Snapper:

Nick Sundberg

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What Did we Learn From the Bears Game?

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A good test is often the best way to gauge just how far along a football team is. In the case of the Washington Redskins, there is still much work to be done after their second preseason game against the Chicago Bears. I don’t much care for scoreboards in the preseason, but for the record the Redskins lost 33-31.

That score is somewhat deceiving as the Redskins made a game of it in the fourth quarter behind Kirk Cousins catching fire against the Bears back-ups. Up to that point the two glaring weaknesses that have me afraid this year shined their ugly faces, the offensive line and the secondary. The o-line is dinged up a bit and has some backups playing but you could just tell they were over-matched against the Bears defense. Words can’t even describe how the Redskins secondary looked at times in the game, let’s just say Raheem Morris’s job is far from complete when it comes to strengthening the unit.

Robert Griffin III had a somewhat bumpy game fumbling deep in Bears territory on a play he was under serious pressure on (not directly his fault), he finished 5-8 for 49 Yards and 3 rushes for 17 yards.

Rookie Alfred Morris looked REALLY good early on but somewhat leveled out once protection slacked up some, he finished with 10 carries for 34 yards but also blew a blitz pickup read that lead to the RGIII sack/fumble.

Brandon Banks returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown, but I still think his chances of making the team are slim, especially since Aldrick Robinson had the night he did, he finished with 6 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Mike Shanahan has already been clear that Banks will have to be able to produce at BOTH positions and that receiver competition is pretty tight right now, Robinson may have made the team with his showing against the Bears. Dezmon Briscoe also looked good catching 3 balls for 51 yards and a touchdown, I believe Briscoe could be the red-zone receiver we desperately need.

Brian Orakpo injured his left shoulder (same one he hurt last year) and Brandon Meriweather injured his left knee in the first quarter. Both will undergo MRI’s tomorrow but Homer McFanboy tweeted this after the game in reference to Orakpo.

There is a quarterback controversy in DC, but it will never be one that involves Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins and Rex Grossman are battling for the number two spot in the lineup and Rex better watch himself as Cousins was 18-23 for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns in the second half of the Bears game. Rex didn’t take a snap in the game.

Ryan Kerrigan, Jarvis Jenkins, Perry Riley and Delvin Johnson each had a sack.

The main thing to take from all this is that it’s only preseason and these game don’t count. The love of having these games is the ability to be able to try new things/players out while not really giving the game-plan away to anyone. Of course, the injuries are the downside of preseason and the reason I believe they play to many exhibition games.


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Robert Griffin III Impressive in Short Preseason Debut

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In what turned out to be a short, 14 snap outing, Robert Griffin III looked impressive as the quarterback of the Washington Redskins going 4-for-6 for 70 yards,  a TD and a 145.8 QB rating.  Of course, we all know this was only preseason but Griffin looked impressive in the pocket and was never touched by a defender despite having 60% of the starting lineup not in action due to injury. There was a fumble on a hand-off to second year running back Evan Royster on the second drive that was credited to RG3, but other than that the young rookie looked good.


Washington Redskins 53-man Roster Projections

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rg3aaa Washington Redskins 53 man Roster Projections

As camp is now a week in the books, I figured I would take a moment to preview the 53 man roster as I see it panning out. Some questions are still open in my mind on if we should keep more than 3 TE’s, 6 defensive lineman, 10 defensive backs or seven wide receivers,  so I’m going to give a 52 man projection and have the last spot be sort of a wildcard. Look for the section titled “bubble players” at the bottom.

 

Quarterbacks (3)

Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins, Rex Grossman

After Mike Shanahan made it known very early on that Robert Griffin III would be the starting quarterback of the Redskins this year, any thought of a battle for the number one spot was gone. But there is an interesting battle that is on-going in camp between Grossman and Cousins for the backup spot. Cousins has been getting a lot of the second team reps in practice but I would be highly surprised if Rex doesn’t start the year off as the backup. I do however believe Cousins will be the backup by mid-season as Rex is destined to hold the clipboard and ride the pine this year.

Cuts

Jonathan Crompton

I think we all know that Crompton is nothing more than a camp body.

Halfback/Fullback (4)

Tim Hightower, Roy Helu Jr., Evan Royster, Darrel Young

If Tim Hightower is healthy I believe the starting job at running-back is his to lose. While Hightower has been recovering from his knee injury suffered last year, Evan Royster has been getting a lot of the first team snaps in camp and he and Helu look to get a fair amount of carries this year. Darrel Young has been a little banged up so far this year but his spot is all but locked up on the roster.

Cuts

Alfred Morris, Antwan Bailey, Lennon Creer, Stafon Johnson,Tristan Davis

The interesting name in this cut list is Alfred Morris who I believe could make the team if Hightower is unable to go, otherwise I see him starting the year on the practice squad. Should also be noted that Tristan Davis is currently on the PUP list. (UPDATE: Tristan Davis has been activated)

Wide Receivers (6)

Pierre Garcon, Josh Morgan, Santana Moss, Leonard Hankerson, Anthony Armstrong, Dezmon Briscoe

This will ultimately be a battle all the way through preseason but I believe that the top four are set in Garcon, Morgan, Moss and Hankerson. From there I believe Armstrong knows the playbook well enough to be a decent five or six and Briscoe gives the Redskins a red-zone threat if he can keep his head on football.

Cuts

Terrence Austin, Aldrick Robinson, Brandon Banks, Darius Hanks, Sam Kirkland, Lance Lewis

Reports have been saying that Austin has been having a really good camp and that Robinson has not. There is still a very good possibility that Austin, Robinson or Banks could beat out Briscoe or Armstrong or the team could keep 7 receivers. So who knows yet fully, but I’m thinking Banks may not make the roster this year. (see bubble players)

Tight Ends (3)

Fred Davis, Chris Cooley, Niles Paul

First and foremost, I think we can all agree that this is Davis’s job to lose. Cooley is on the outside looking in at this point and will need to have a strong camp and an injury free preseason to make the team. Niles Paul is making the transition to tight end and could surprise some this year with some decent production in his first year at a new position.

Cuts

Logan Paulsen, Richard Quinn, Beau Reliford

The tight end position could be tricky this year, some think that Shanahan may go with four tight ends, in that situation, Paulsen will make the team.

Offensive Lineman (9)

Trent Williams, Willie Smith, Tyler Polumbus, Maurice Hurt , Will Montgomery, Kory Lichtensteiger, Chris Chester, Josh LeRibeus, Adam Gettis (Jammal Brown?)

Offensive line poses a difficult situation as Lichtensteiger recently had his knee scoped and will miss the preseason in a move so that he doesn’t re-injure himself. A few days ago I would have had Jammal Brown penciled down in this list, now I’m left with that not so sure feeling inside about him since he is currently on the PUP list. Polumbus has been taking a lot of the snaps with the first team in camp in place of Brown, but obviously what most would want would be for Polumbus to be a depth piece instead of a starter. I believe the key here will be how well the rookies can step in when needed as Gettis and LeRibeus could end up playing vital roles if injury strikes. An argument could be made that keeping ten offensive lineman wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Cuts

Tom Compton, Jordan Black, Nick Martinez, James Lee, Grant Garner, Cole Pemberton, Erik Cook  (Jammal Brown?)

Again Brown will be a deciding factor in this as I am unsure of his availability at this moment. I for one would really like it if Tom Compton could step up and make the team and be effective in a situation we need him in (right tackle), but I believe he will need at least a year on the practice squad before being ready for the NFL.

Defensive Lineman (6)

Barry Cofield, Stephen Bowen, Adam Carriker, Jarvis Jenkins, Kedric Golston, Chris Neild

Cuts

Kentwan Balmer, Chris Baker, Darrion Scott, Doug Worthington, Delvin Johnson

Balmer has apparently gone AWOL from camp, which is highly peculiar to say the least, but I don’t believe he would have made the roster anyways. Scott and Baker could perhaps make a push towards a roster spot.

Linebackers (8)

London Fletcher, Brian Orakpo, Ryan Kerrigan, Perry Riley, Rob Jackson, Markus White, Lorenzo Alexander, Keenan Robinson

Cuts

Bryan Kehl, Chris Wilson, Brian McNally, D.J. Holt, Monte Lewis

Defensive Backs (10)

Josh Wilson, DeAngelo Hall, Cedric Griffin, Madieu Williams, Tanard Jackson, Brandon Meriweather, Reed Doughty, DeJon Gomes,  Brandyn Thompson, Richard Crawford

I think the bigger question here is who can the Redskins keep that can help the team, I must admit some of the names above would not strike fear in me as an opposing fan but I believe the idea is to use our strength (front seven) to put pressure on the quarterback, which will disrupt timing in the play. If Meriweather can return to the way he played in New England, this unit will be a lot better than most have given them credit for. The word out of camp is that D. Hall is enjoying playing the nickel back so far, that’s worth keeping an eye on.

Cuts

Kevin Barnes, Morgan Trent, David Jones, Jordan Bernstine, Michael Hamlin, Travon Bellamy

In a perfect world Bernstine would make this team, of course in the world we live in he will have to spend a year on the practice squad. I believe the long needed cutting of Kevin Barnes will happen this year.

Special Teams

Graham Gano, Sav Rocca, Nick Sundberg

Cuts

Neil Rackers

I think most Redskins fans were happy to hear that Rackers was brought in to push Gano, but I just don’t think Rackers has the leg to beat Gano out for a roster spot this season. As a matter of fact, I believe Gano will have the best year of his career this season.

Bubble Players

Terrence Austin, Aldrick Robinson, Brandon Banks, Alfred Morris, Chris Baker, Bryan Kehl, Logan Paulsen, Kevin Barnes, Tom Compton, Jammal Brown

The list above could very well hold the names of players who will make the 53-man roster but at this point I believe they need to show more in either camp or preseason to be able to make the team.

I will give another update on this after week two of the preseason.

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