I know most of you probably don't want to think about the debacle against Carolina, but the good news is that disaster may be the ass-booting the team needs to get back on track. It also occasioned the return of Post Game Heroes' phenomenally done Redskins game reviews. We've all gushed about the good work done at PGH which has also received high marks from a number of people, to quote one:

Post Game Heroes does some phenomenal breakdowns of games that blow what most mainstream media writers do out of the water.

And that's true, indeed they are some of the best reviews I've ever seen and continue to be today. I'm told via email that Dillweed has returned and intends to remain returned each and every week of the season. His game breakdowns against Carolina can be found here and here for offense and defense respectively. You'll need to go read both for full content, but I'll happily repeat his criticism of the offensive line. They bombed. Although no one was particularly good, both Jansen and Kendall were especially bad. Dillweed on Pete Kendall:

Started out looking confused...even flat out missing blocks due to lack of hustle. But later on he stepped it up with solid lead run blocking. Unfortunetly just when he was hitting his stride, JC and Betts coughed up the ball.

Kendall was 1/4 on +/- which Dillweed figures by watching the offensive linemen individually and determining whether they deserve high or low marks for their performance. He was equally down on Jansen (0/3), emphasis added:

Picked up where he left off last season against Miami. As far as the run game goes, we might be better off with Stephon Heyer. As far as the pass game goes...I don't know what we do with our RT position. Hopefully I'm wrong about Jansen being way past his prime and it was just lax pre-season preperation that did him in.

After starting 80 straight games for the 'Skins Jansen has since played just 32 in the last four seasons. He missed all of 2004 and virtually all of last year. In his last four years as a Redskin, Jansen has completed a full season just once, in 2006. At 32 Jansen is the 11th oldest player currently on the roster.

I hope Dillweed is wrong. There has hardly been a more quintessentially Redskin kind of guy than Jansen over the past decade, save maybe Chris Samuels -- Jansen is entering his 10th season as a 'Skin. Favorite memories are sparce for an offensive linemen and, really, the greatest offensive linemen are the ones you never hear about ("X just got beat there, John"), though I still fondly recall him playing through one broken thumb and one fractured thumb. Quite well, I might add.

Jansen gone clubbin'

via media.washingtonpost.com

Dillweed's offensive breakdown is likewise a real gift as he goes play by play explaining why and how fail happens. I'm already worried I've pilfered too much of his post, so let me just close with his blitz breakdown:

In other words we blitzed 5 out of 31 plays (that Dillweed saw) which is ~16 percent of the time. And we sucked at it; average gain was something like 11 yards a play for Carolina.

Looking forward, and a gameday open thread plus a potential game preview is pending here, NFL.com has their Redskins season preview up. It's mostly boilerplate new coach, new scene, etc. They characterize Campbell's coming season thus:

On the hot seat

Quarterback Jason Campbell. If the Redskins don't get off to a fast start, there will be calls for Todd Collins, who was superlative in the final three-and-a-half regular-season games (5 TDs, 0 interceptions, 106.4 passer rating) last season after Campbell was lost with an injury.

And that is true. Jason Campbell is approaching the NFL's age of majority. A 4th year quarterback needs to show more marked improvement from day one to the present in order to keep his status as an NFL starter. And while I think Campbell is absolutely capable of doing so, the fact remains that he has to go out there and do it. There can be no more excuses about coordinator musical chairs. Reasonable milestones would be to maintain an above 60 completion % and improve those yards per pass to 7.0 or higher. More importantly he needs to start finishing games and absolutely must put the quietus on costly fumbles and picks.

Finally... a friend of mine called me a while back to let me know that I'd reached the pinnacle of modern existence; I was found via google. He had forgotten the URL for this space and decided to find it himself by simply entering my name into the world's largest search engine. It worked and, for now at least, my name is identifiable through a google search with the fine work done by Football Guys. I recently received an email from them and they managed to tie down John Keim of the Examiner (which is also the host of Mark Newgent's excellent blog). Their lede:

In This Episode:  Cecil Lammey and Sigmund Bloom interviews John Keim, Redskins beat writer from the Washington Examiner and Warpath Insiders.  Topics Include:    is this a make or break year for Jason Campbell, does Marcus Mason make this team and will they carry 4 RBs, the 2008 outlook for Santana Moss, is Colt Brennan the QB of the future, plus more!

Answers and commentary are available on the podcast here, though I imagine they will have a written transcript up at some point. Enjoy.

More posts will be forthcoming later, as I have some catching up to do.

The only good news is that Ben is back, the bad news chronicled well over at Redskin Report by Lee Gibbons:

Devin Thomas, Hamstring

Malcom Kelly, Hamstring

Phillip Daniels, Knee

Alex Buzbee, Achilles

Anthony Montgomery, Hand

LaRon Landry, Hamstring

HB Blades, Knee

Eric Shelton, Shoulder

Rian Wallace, Hand

Stuart Schweigert, Leg

Anthony Mix, Hamstring

Kareem Moore, Leg

Chris Wilson, Leg

The above list being Person Injured comma Place Injured. What is it with the damn hamstrings, again? Acknowledging that more of the stress one places on a body during typical football activities (running, changing directions, carrying veteran equipment, farting) manifests itself in the lower half of one's body, is there reason for concern that we've had at least 13 injuries thus far in this unborn season, 10 of which have hit below the belt? A representative example, per Redskins Insider:

Linebacker H.B. Blades, who sprained his left knee in this morning's practice, will undergo arthroscopic surgery this week, according to a Redskins source with knowledge of the situation. The exact nature of the injury is not certain, but the source expects Blades to be out at least two-to-three weeks, returning toward the end of preseason.

The acceptable news here is that he's returning before the season starts and, given the way lady luck has beaten the tar out of the team so far, maybe it's better he's safe on the sideline and not on the field where disaster strikes like the second half of a Behind the Music special. The reality, stated here as the bad news, is that our young backup middle linebacker will already have gone under the knife once in 2008 before he gets an opportunity to step on the field. Knees don't like being injured.

Don't forget: Rocky McIntosh also recently underwent knee surgery. London Fletcher is an epic iron man, but since he was born 33 years ago, I wonder whether reality won't strike him sooner rather than later. Marcus Washington is now two seasons removed from starting all 16 games, though RESPECT to him for starting 48 games in a row prior to injuries as recent as both 2006 and 2007.
Khary Campbell is three years removed from an ACL injury but, to his enormous credit, played in 16 games last season. To sum up: Rocky McIntosh and The Hamburgler won't be long removed from surgery when the season starts (ditto linebacker Rian Wallace), neither Marcus Washington nor Khary Campbell are that far removed from injury, and London Fletcher ain't a kid (but he has one, and congrats to him). Behind the starters at linebacker are a bunch of people I haven't heard of, really, but I remain irrationally optimistic nonetheless. It's all up to you, do work, Danny Verdun-Wheeler.

Just off the top of my head the Redskin Report list above (13 players) must be incomplete, perhaps only including players still with the team. The injury bug may be affecting our chances of having reliable depth at linebacker this coming season, but they are also ruining or setting back substantially the professional careers of younger players who desparately need to remain healthy just to assure themselves a paycheck in this cruel league. Appalachian State's Kerry Brown was released due to injury. Says the partisans, who my fan-heart goes out to:

Looks like Jon Jansen is gonna have to carry his own helmet again. App State great Kerry Brown has been waived by the Redskins.

He could still stick with the team per the Official Site, pending a contingency I doubt the player hopes for:

The Redskins have waived defensive lineman J.T. Mapu and offensive lineman Kerry Brown. They could be placed on injured reserve if no other team picks them up.

Oh woops, make it two names the RR list left off:

Mapu suffered a knee ligament injury... in Friday's practice.

If we have to sign fake Chad Morton or fake it's real, damn you Heath Shuler, so be it. I just want to make it through TC with a 53 man roster, mang. How does all this happen, under Icing Guru Derek Devine's watch, no less!? At least the beards are safe.

I'd open up a poll with loaded answers such as: How much do you hate Training Camp?

1. A lot

2. Even more, 'yotch.

But what's the point? I know exactly how 100% of Redskins fans feel about training camp so far, which is to say: Injuries are suck. Did Clinton Portis really hurt his ankle last week? Honestly, at this point, I might start telling people to fake it; that field is cursed.

Eric Karabell (hat tip to Extreme Skins) of ESPN has the Fantasy scoop (or does he?) on... the offensive line?

On the line: Keeping tackles Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen healthy is critical, especially with Campbell being a bit fumble-prone. Jansen missed the entire season because of a dislocated ankle, while right guard Randy Thomas has not been durable. It's an old, brittle line learning a new system it might be able to thrive in, although that shouldn't hold back Portis. The defensive line welcomes former Viking Erasmus James, but he's not guaranteed to start. Andre Carter can be an impact guy in deep IDP leagues, but for the most part, fantasy owners need not worry about this defensive line.

Despite the fact that the article hails from ESPN's 2008 Fantasy Football Draft Kit, the author obviously went off the fantasy sports reservation, because I've never played a fantasy football league where the offensive line garnered points. Maybe he's focused on the indirect effects a struggling line has on your RB and QB and everyone else. Who knows?

There is no news, so we'll talk about the defensive line, I suppose. Issue is which or whether either of James or Chris Wilson will make the team. I have absolutely no read on how this non-battle has played out so far, as there's sufficient print supporting both of them to give me pause. For instance, you can read about Erasmus James at ESPN or Wilson at TSN:

PERSONNEL ANALYSIS: Two backups could play prominent roles for the defense this season. Chris Wilson is a lightweight in terms of bulk, but the DE comes off the ball with a great deal of explosion. He's quick enough to get around most offensive tackles, and fast enough to get to the QB before the pass is thrown. Defensive coordinator Greg Blache plans to play to the individual strengths of his players, and that could mean Wilson gets more snaps in passing situations. ...

I think I've said it before, but if the team wants to keep both Wilson and James it could mean the end for Demetric Evans. We've got a lot of Defensive Ends, including recently signed draft pick Rob Jackson, undrafted FA Dorian Smith. Not everyone can make the team.

They weren't kidding about Wilson being on the small side, either. The team lists him at 240 lbs, which makes him the smallest by over 10 pounds. Then again, Carter was the 2nd smallest on the line last year but by far the most productive. From the looks of it, lean and mean is the strategy for rushing the bad guy's passer.

Situational defenders are great so long as the starters remain healthy.

There really is nothing going on right now, these are the offseason doldrums. Enjoy.

I don't know if I'm using fan in the right context here, but we're all worried; Coach Bugel isn't. Per a Q&A at the Official Site with Bugel:

Q: Randy Thomas and Jansen have had injuries the last few years. Is there any concern about their durability heading into 2008?
A: "No, you can't be worried because injuries are a part of the game. I hate to use a cliché, but age never worries me. I coached Ray Brown at 42 years old, so I don't care how old you are. If you can still play, you're playing. Plus, Randy and Jon are in great condition. They've had time off, plus in rehab you have to work hard every single day. I never worry about injuries. Some guys who come off major injuries have great careers. Injuries are part of the game, really."

Age never worries you? This can't possibly be true. As much as I love Coach's enthusiasm about our old offensive line, I need position coaches willing to address issues, such as the unavoidable, never-ending process whereby young football players become old ones. (And I know that Coach Bugel, despite what he says publicly, is worried about the offensive line, including their collective age.)

The good news is that he has plenty of great things to say about Chad Rinehart, Stephone Heyer, and Andrew Crummey. Stephon has already developed as a reliable backup, Chad Rinehart is treated (in the interview) as a versatile offensive linemen who can play both guards and tackle, and Andrew Crummey receives heaping big praise along with his alma mater, generally. Apparently Bugel has a high opinion of Maryland prospects.

One issue unaddressed in the interview is our backup center situation or, more precisely, the non-existence of a pure backup center on the roster. No offense intended to Kyle Devan but I'm suspicious of his ability to make the team. The more likely scenario is that we ultimately brings in a veteran to fill that spot, as Jon Jansen is more useful as a starting tackle than he is as a backup center, should Rabach go down to injury.

Elsewhere, I know a couple of reader(s) are big on Byron Westbrook, but he got some bad print out of Redskins 360:

Highlights from the 7-on-7 passing part practice: James Thrash beating Byron Westbrook for a long catch, a one-handed catch by Devin Thomas and two Malcolm Kelly catches -- beating Westbrook to catch a long ball from Jason Campbell and, moments later, catching a pass from Todd Collins on a stop-and-go route. Defensively, LaRon Landry intercepted a pass that was deflected off Santana Moss.

Anecdotes such as these hardly tell the entire story on a player's development or performance in practice, but they don't encourage, either. Rather than dwell on the negative, though, let's be happy that both Kelly and Thomas are making noise in the receiving game. In the Q&A with Bugel cited above, he mentioned that the people this offense is toughest on are the quarterbacks and receivers, as it is largely the passing game that has been altered (the offensive line's pass blocking has not changed, per Bugel). It immediately struck me that, assuming -- and this is aggressive -- that both Kelly and Thomas find their way into the top 4 receivers on the depth chart, half of our starting receivers aren't really having to learn a new professional passing system, rather they're being groomed into from the get-go. For Moss and Randle El, this is a new offense. For Kelly and Thomas, this is no more a new scheme than it is for any and every rookie receiver in the NFL.

Finally, transaction news per Redskins Insider:

[T]he Redskins made two rosters moves - re-signing LB Rian Wallace and DE Dorian Smith and releasing Bryan Wilson and Eddie Jackson.

Don't know what to add besides best wishes and happy trails to Bryan Wilson and Eddie Jackson and welcome back to Wallace and Smith. I don't know enough about any of these guys to comment usefully. I will say I'm thrilled to see that Hogs Haven favorite Pete Schmitt is still with the team. Yes, it is true, I will never shut up about him.

My apologies for a short absence; I'm not used to disappearing for nearly a week, but real life monopolized my life. All I ask is that reader(s) stick with me -- regular updates this week.

Let me first state what this is not: I am not panicking. I am not actually all that concerned with the age of our offensive line at this moment, because I think they have enough juice in the tank to at least get the replacement parts installed before the whole thing crumbles. And, indeed, some of those service orders have already been placed; we just drafted Chad Rinehart and last year we developed undrafted rookie free agent Stephon Heyer. We also have a couple young bloods on the roster currently. Although they are mostly undrafted free agents, we've had success with Heyer and there is reason for optimism that lightning will strike twice on one of these guys. As reader Romans12 reminded, don't overlook Kerry Brown, who DraftGuys called a future Pro Bowler. Also, he can see into the future:

We also have one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL in Joe Bugel. The list of "legendary" offensive line coaches is pretty small, but Bugel is on it. He's also been in the coaching business since 1964. I have enormous faith in Bugel to develop the next generation of Redskins linemen.

And I need it, really, because this unit is old, the oldest in the NFL. Fantasy Sports Forum recently did the statistical and data collection heavy lifting and observed the following:

1. As old as we are, the Redskins still get a fair great, which means we're around middle of the pack.

2. Our 3.8 YPC was pretty bad. There are only 3-4 teams with worse YPC in the entire league.

3. Our pass protection, by contrast, was quite admirable. With just 29 allowed sacks, we ranked around 13th in the league.

4. We received a good depth ranking, which I think is fair. We have Jason Fabini to backup the entire unit with Stephon Heyer looking like a reliable future starter in the NFL. The aforementioned Chad Rinehart doesn't hurt, either.

5. The average age of the Redskins offensive line is 32. That's the highest average in the league by a substantial margin. The 2nd highest were the Cowboys, at 30; everyone else is comfortable around 26-29.

6. Five of our starters are 30 or older. Exactly one other team has three players who are 30 or over: Da Bears. Everyone else is 2 or below.

All of which is said not to encourage panic but there's also no point shoving our heads in the sand, either. The team is in need of a youth movement on the offensive line, has taken steps towards that end, but we're far from finished. Chris Samuels is a Pro Bowl tackle; you don't replace him overnight. I consider Randy Thomas a pro bowl caliber guard, and he won't be replaced over night.

It is unlikely that the entire unit craps out all at once. Jon Jansen might miss some time next season, Casey Rabach might miss some time next season, Samuels and Thomas and Kendall might all miss some time next season, but they won't all miss all the time next season. Replacement parts can be brought in piecemeal, but they still need to be ordered. I see us addressing this position more in next year's draft and perhaps in free agency.

A brief note on Kendall... After we lost Derrick Dockery to Buffalo I was concerned how that guard position was going to shake out. We added Kendall and he played well in Dockery's stead. On the other side we brought in Fabini to replace an injured Randy Thomas, and he played well for the majority of the season (not great, but very well). I'm convinced that there are a lot of serviceable backups in the NFL that can help us ease towards transitioning from an old offensive line to a new offensive line as injuries become more prevalent. And a lot of the old guys, like Thomas and Rabach and Samuels and Jansen, are still playing at an extremely high level, so long as they can keep themselves on the field. There's no indication that any of them is getting substantially worse, merely more injury prone.

We need to ask Kerry Brown what's going to happen, because he can see into the future.

Yahoo! Sports has a weekly rundown on all the NFL teams, and the report for your Washington Redskins came out today. Inside it is all sorts of fun information, like how Buges is defending Jansen and Thomas against calls of their untimely demise and how Zorn says that Alexander might have to go both ways... again.

But the best part of the article is the closing quote, from special teams coach Danny Smith regarding Cooley:

"He’s a knucklehead. He messes with me all the time. He’ll say, ‘Do you want to see it? Do you want to see it?’ I say, ‘No, we’ll work it tomorrow’ and he’ll snap three perfect ones, laugh his butt off and go. The kid can do anything."—Special teams coach Danny Smith on Pro Bowl tight end Chris Cooley being one of his emergency long snappers along with right tackle Jon Jansen.

Yes, Cooley is Ethan Albright's backup. Yes, that is Ethan "I'm the worst fucking player on Madden" Albright. This is an interesting part of the depth chart that I didn't know. I wonder who, between Cooley and Jansen, is 2nd string and who is really, really the emergency backup long snapper.

Anyways, that's your Redskins news for now. I've got to go get ready for apartment hunting and then work. Oh, and Danny Smith, yes Cooley can do anything.

Football Outsiders has their post-draft analysis of the NFC East up, go enjoy. Author is a guest, one Mike McGibbon, and all seems to be in order in the story. I found no glaring errors, though I'm not sure the Redskins got, as McGibbon wrote, 10 draft picks as a result of our 1st round draft pick trade (I thought we gave up a 1st, 3rd, 5th ro a 2nd, 2nd, 4th. It's been a minute, though, so maybe my memory doesn't serve).

Either way, McGibbon knows a lot more about our undrafted free agents than I do, and thus I direct your attention to some guys to watch, per him:

Undrafted Free Agents

In all, the Redskins brought in 13 undrafted rookie free agents. Of those 13, four were offensive linemen. And of those four, Florida State’s Shannon Boatman and New Mexico’s Devin Clark may have the best chance to make the team, given that both started for most of their final two seasons. Dorian Smith, an All-Pac 10 first-team defensive end from Oregon State, will also challenge for a spot.

Quick look at the roster reveals that Shannon Boatman has already been lost. He, uhh, failed a physical. Tough break, guy. But both Dorian Smith and Devin Clark are, as of this writing, still with the team. The team has a lot of defensive ends (nine) and certainly more than we will by final cuts. Locks would be, in my opinion, Phillip Daniels and Andre Carter as starters with Demetric Evans and Chris Wilson backing up. Let's speculate that the team keeps 9-10 defensive linemen, and you have to imagine Kedric the Barbarian, Mt. Gomery, and Cornelius Griffin, with Lorenzo Alexander and Ryan Boschetti both in good position to make the team (although Alexander could make the team in any number of his superhuman capacities, so maybe he wouldn't even count as a D-Linemen). We're in need of upgrade on the defensive line, but that doesn't mean any rookie can just step in and take the spot of one of the more established veterans. That might've been the case a few years ago, but young linemen Anthony Montgomery, Chris wilson and Kedric Golston have started a youth movement at that position. Until Griffin and Daniels take the long walk, the Dorian Smiths of the world will have to earn a place on this team.

At offensive line I think recent injuries may encourage Coach Zorn -- a former expansion team quarterback who knew a thing or two about the perils of a bad offensive line -- to keep a larger than normal contingent of offensive linemen on the roster. Locks are the starters, obviously, in Jon Jansen, Randy Thomas, Chris Samuels, Casey Rabach, and Pete Kendall. I think Fabini and Stephon Heyer will probably be around as well. I hope Chad Rinehart makes the team, and he should. On Todd Wade I'm indifferent, as he hasn't done much to impress. We'll need to keep someone about to backup Casey Rabach at center; with versatile Mike Pucillo gone, the spot as of now belongs to Kyle DeVan, unless there is someone else on the team who can snap the football and block effectively.

Question to readers is: We've got a good crop of undrafted rookie free agents. These things are remarkably difficult to predict, and we are really at the mercy of the team in telling us who has impressed thus far, but is anyone willing to go on record on who will or will not make the roster? Who will be this year's Stephon Heyer (acknowledging that his position was aided in large part by factors outside control or prediction: injuries)? I'm aspecifically soliciting commentary on players local to reader(s) markets that maybe the rest of us haven't seen play so much.