Sunday, February 28, 2010

Albert Haynesworth

[This started out as the defensive line review, but my speech on Albert Haynesworth got longer than I expected. So I'm putting this up as its own post and the rest of the DL discussion will follow shortly.]
I want to start by blowing up one myth. It was popular throughout the 2009 season to blast Albert Haynesworth for frequently rotating out of the game. He was routinely decribed as lazy, fat, out of shape, and uncommitted to winning. That is total crap.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Redskins and the 3-4 defense

Before getting into the defensive position reviews I wanted to very briefly lay out some thoughts on the rumored switch to a 3-4 defense.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

2009 Quarterbacks Review


It is quite clear that, on a personal level, most all of us like and root for Jason Campbell. And no one can deny that he was given a raw deal. As I said back in the offensive line review, the state of tackle play on this team was not merely bad – it was totally unworthy of the NFL. Unfortunately, the fact that he has had some bad luck and that he’s the kind of guy who you wouldn’t mind dating your daughter doesn’t mean he is the quarterback the future Redskins should be built around.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

2009 Tight Ends Review

At the beginning of the season I for one did not suspect that Fred Davis would be the main focus of the post-season tight end review, but nothing went quite as planned in 2009. With Chris Cooley’s injury (his first ever) most people, including me, thought that what little productivity the Redskins offense had displayed would disappear. Instead, Davis stepped in and steadily earned the confidence of Jason Campbell.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

2009 Receivers Review

One of the few bright spots of the 2009 season was watching the development of Devin Thomas. He first started to shine when Jason Campbell was (frequently) under pressure. He showed a knack for breaking off his route and making himself available as a safety valve, turning a lot of broken plays into drive-sustaining first downs. This appears to be how Campbell gained confidence in him.

As the season wore on, Thomas was a primary read on more and more plays. And a lot of the wide receiver screens and quick hitches that has long been directed to Santana Moss were now called to Thomas. Think of how long Moss has been the one playmaker who justified finding ways to get the ball in his hands in space – by mid-season Devin Thomas had taken over that role. Santana had once been the most important man to keep healthy; without him the offense collapsed. But the last two weeks of the season, when Thomas was out with injuries, a similar decline occurred. And Santana Moss was not enough to overcome the loss of Thomas.