1. Whether you believe in the magic that has been commercially injected into this day or not, one thing will always be true: some people need the opportunity, excuse and occasion to express their true feelings. Since I consider myself to be a true servant of the community, I have prepared some special Redskins Valentines. For the people they are intended to benefit, all you have to do is sign them!

2. From: Dan Snyder/To: Peyton Manning
"Dear Peyton,
I have chased after big name free agents before, but you would be my Mona Lisa...my Sistine Chapel. I might own the Redskins, but you own my heart. Please...and I mean this in whatever way gets this deal done: Be mine!"
xxoo
D

3. From: Rodskins/To: Jim Haslett
"Dear Jim,
There is nothing I love more than a breakfast buffet. But when you caught my eye while I was waiting in line at the omelet station, I knew that it was going to be the greatest meal for some time. We shared crispy bacon, Belgian waffles, and most of the blueprint for the Redskins offseason. Please don't be mad at me...we still have to talk about what we are going to do at safety and inside linebacker."
Love, Rodskins

4. From: Bruce Allen/To: Donovan McNabb
"Dear Don Burgundy,
From the bottom of my heart...thanks for sucking out loud in Minnesota. I am not sure I could have handled you taking the Vikings to the playoffs or beyond."
Your friend, Bruce

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Adam Carriker: From Washington Redskins Holdover To Nearly A Pro Bowler | Football News Now
Adam Carriker, one of the few holdovers from a revamped Redskins defense, posted a strong showing in 2011 and an idea from a Redskins media rep nearly landed him in Hawaii.

David Elfin On Sports: What’s Next For Landry? " CBS Washington
The sixth overall selection in the 2007 draft out of LSU, Landry is Washington’s hardest hitter and probably its best athlete, but he missed 15 of the past 23 games because of the Achilles and he’s still ailing. Do the Redskins try to bring him back?

John Beck remains confident, amazing - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post
The wonder boy of last offseason is on the radio again, and again looking forward to his next opportunity.

Redskins could dip into deep pool of CB's at draft
The Redskins will go to the combine in search of cornerback help. However, they may not go into the draft targeting a CB.

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On last weeks podcast teaser, I played a clip of Parks screwing up and calling Perry Riley, Riley Perry. However, the point he was attempting to make was a valid one (never thought I'd say that about Parks...) about the situation at inside linebacker. At this point, London Fletcher is due to become a free agent, leaving Riley and Keyaron Fox as the starting inside linebackers. Now it's assumed that Fletcher will be back, I can't see a situation where he's not playing in the burgundy and gold next year, but he can't play forever. We all are hopeful that Riley can develop into his replacement. But even if he does, that still leaves a hole in the defense, with our defense having two inside linebackers. Parks suggested a couple of names, the most likely of which was Stephen Tulloch, so I thought I'd profile him.

At 5'11", 240 pounds, the 27 year-old Tulloch is similar in size to Fletcher. Some may believe this is too small for the 3-4 defense, but Fletcher proved that height doesn't matter if you can play. Tulloch racked up 111 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions during the regular season, and followed that up with 15 combined tackles, two passes defended and a forced fumble in the playoff defeat to Saints.

I could sit here and show you a load of pictures of him stuffing the run, but instead I'm going to focus on his coverage ability. Coverage is a very underrated aspect in linebackers, particularly inside linebackers. Think about it, how many times do you hear talk about tight ends like Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham and even our own Fred Davis creating mis-matches because linebackers can't cover them. Now if you have a linebacker that can keep up with those guys and cover them, surely he's a valuable asset? The Lions liked to utilize the ability of their front four pass-rushers, and therefore asked Tulloch to drop back into coverage a lot.

Film breakdown after the jump...

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The Redskins are knee deep in rebuild mud, and extra weight may drag them down.

Mike Shanahan and Company have been assessing their options at all positions for Free Agency and the highly awaited 2012 NFL Draft. More than likely every one of the Redskins Free Agents have come up in a conversation involving their potential retention or release. I'll go through some of the Redskins players currently slotted to enter Free Agency this March.

Let's start this off with a bang, er. smoke.....

Fred Davis: Davis was on a career run this season. Before his suspension he had accumulated 59 receptions for 796 yards. In theory, he could have been the Redskins' leading receiver, with Gaffney compiling only 947 yards with 68 receptions. His off-field activities landed him a 4-game suspension and scorn from fans all over the DC Metro area. According to recent 'intelligence', Davis is likely to receive the Franchise Tag. In my opinion, Davis needs to stay. The argument has risen 100-fold for and against him, but that type of high quality play shouldn't be overlooked. He needs to be a Redskin in 2012.

Check out the rest as well as your chance to vote, after the jump...

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1. There are very few slow weeks/slow periods on the NFL calendar. Indeed, these days there are just times when things are slightly slower than warp speed and we are currently in one of those pockets. Thankfully, we have a team that has barely managed double digit wins in two years, an owner that employs desperation and trucks full of money to chase championships, a full-blown quarterback crisis, huge question marks at multiple starting positions and a fanbase that has never considered a dead horse to be underkicked. You have to love this town.

2. Last week's news that the Redskins were noodling the possibilty of franchising Fred Davis caused me to stop and think--and that isn't good for anybody. I have been adamant about the importance of Chris Cooley to our offense, but that is not to suggest that Fred Davis is not a beast that our passing game can ill afford to lose. If both of these guys are healthy, you would think our offense would explode. Unfortunately, the Redskins have been either hesitant or unable to feature an effective two tight scheme that exploits the abilities of both guys. Perhaps a fully recovered Cooley and a more seasoned Davis can work together better in 2012. One would think that defenses would be hard-pressed to take away both of those guys. Actually, thousands would think that...hundreds of thousands. Regardless of how healthy Cooley is, it makes sense to assume that Davis would remain a primary target in the passing game, to the tune of 80+ catches and plenty of YAC.

3. I could care less about total stats. If we have Cooley and Davis on our offense, we have ZERO excuse not to be more effective in the red zone. It looks like we are turning the corner a tiny bit in that department from epic lows, but our touchdown percentage inside the red zone needs to be higher. It is easier said than done, but the only way to get us to stop saying it is to go out and do it.

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Since Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen have taken the reigns for the Redskins we have been one of the most active teams there has been on trade market. Some have been good, Adam Carriker and Jabar Gaffney come to mind, and some bad, Donovan McNabb. ShanAllen have also been very active in trading within the draft, something I won't be surprised to see again. But outside of the draft, who are some guys the Skins could target this year to improve their 2012 squad? I don't think we have as many trade chips this year, but you never know what kind of junk other teams may want.

Ryan Clady, OT: Community question, would you trade the #6 overall pick for Ryan Clady? I would and I think that would be a steal. I think he'd cost more than that, but why not give John Fox a call. Clady was originally drafted by Shanahan, is 25, and is already a two-time Pro Bowler. This move makes even more sense if Peyton Manning is brought in, rather than a young QB.


Brandon Marshall, WR: I'm not big on headcase, bi-polar wide receivers but will Joe Philbin want to deal with Brandon Marshall's "baggage"? I think if anyone can control Marshall its Shanny. Isn't Marshall the big play guy we're looking for? BMarsh may not garner as much as he used to and we could be able to obtain him for a 3rd or 4th round pick.

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John Beck was on the Gordon Monson Show recently to talk about hunting, Redskins, and BYU football. It's quite a long interview, but John Beck is still confident he can be the guy:

I feel without a doubt I can be a better Quarterback. I told our coaches this at the end of the season. I went into Coach Shanahan's office and said, "I want to play right now." This is very frustrating for me to have had my opportunity, to made the most of it when he put me in, I made the most of it, but the games following it didn't go the way we wanted. It's tough for me to say now I'm not playing. I'm like "Coach, I want to play because having that experience I know I can play better." And he said, "I know you can too, but right now we're in this situation. There'll be another opportunity down the road and you just got to make sure you're ready for it." So, there's where my mindset is at. I believe there will be another opportunity. When it comes I have no control over.

Beck is quite candid in this interview talking about a couple conversations he had with Shanahan after the Buffalo game. It is very clear Beck has a lot of respect for Shanahan, highlighting the fact he's always been honest with where other coaches have not.

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The Redskins Blog | New Practice Bubble Turf Surface In Place
Only three weeks ago, Redskins fans saw the long-awaited rise of the new indoor practice bubble at Redskins Park.

Matt Flynn: Why he might be a big risk for the Redskins - The Insider - The Washington Post
Peyton Manning naturally dominates all free agent quarterback discussions, even though he has yet to receive a release from the Indianapolis Colts or shown that’s close to returning to full strength following the neck surgeries that forced him out of all of last season.

Steelers adopting Redskins' old methods - Rich Tandler's Real Redskins
Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Pittsburgh Steelers have restructured the contract of cornerback Ike Taylor. They have converted about $4.9 million of his 2012 salary into signing bonus and it saved them some $3.28 million in cap space by pushing it into future years.

Roster Review: Offensive Tackles
With free agency and the NFL Draft fast approaching, Redskins.com's Brian Tinsman breaks down the Redskins' roster position by position. Up first: offensive tackles.

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