I suppose we're just continuing the theme from yesterday's special teams update. First, from the official site:

Special teams coordinator Danny Smith said he expects no personnel changes among his kick returners this season.

That means Rock Cartwright is slated to return kickoffs and Antwaan Randle El remains the punt return specialist...

"We'll use a number of guys to return kickoffs, because you can't have just one guy doing it," Smith said. "Rock obviously is our guy and he had a great season last year. He will be very, very difficult to beat out, in my opinion. But that's what camps and preseason games are for, so we'll see."

I don't know what to do with these mixed signals, but given the way he played in 2007, I have few issues speculating towards Cartwright to be the kick returner this coming season. I thought he played phenomenally in that role, better than anyone we've had in years. Football Outsiders had us at about the 8th best kick return unit in the league.

Forget what I said about Moss yesterday, as Coach Smith made clear:

"We'll use some other people [during preseason], but I wouldn't take it as a real challenge to Antwaan," Smith said. "We have to use some people, because he won't return all of the punts in preseason."

Speaking of Coach Smith, Matt Terl tracked him down to talk Brooks vs. Frost at The Official Redskins Blog, which I'm now calling TORB of the Mole People!:

All right, let’s talk about that battle, because when you watch some position battles, there’s noise and hitting and popping pads. Is this REALLY that heated?

It is heated in a sense – sometimes it’s more psychological than those other battles, which might make it harder. If it’s physical — and all these guys are physical specimens, so to speak — you can get out there and take out your frustrations on someone, and that sometimes helps....

We’re going to put our numbers on the table – who’s got the hangtime, who’s got the distance, who got the location, is it a plus or a minus. We’re going to put our numbers on the table and then a lot of people will be able to figure out who the best punter is.

Once more, I have to hope that Brooks ultimately wins the numbers game, not because I hate Derrick Frost, but because when teams invest valuable resources into punters a return is expected. Having said that, and I'm surprised by these numbers, FO (I'm consistent) said we were 6th last year on punting. Who knew?

Per Redskins Insider:

All of the wide receivers, except Antwaan Randle El and Santana Moss, are practicing. Randle El is the top punt returner, but coming off his knee surgery it would seem that the Redskins are taking a chance there. I also am hearing that Jim Zorn is not averse to having Moss return in certain situations as well.

Nothing here that constitutes news, but I like the thought all the same and it is an interesting concept. Keep in mind what had to happen for this to even be a consideration; without Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas on the roster, I don't see how this idea ever emerges. Santana Moss has been too valuable (and too injured?) over the past few seasons for us to give him appreciable playing time at the return position. 2005 was the last time he returned a punt (only 7 of them).

Now that we, potentially, have two guys who could compete with Moss for a #1 receiving spot and/or could cement the receiving ranks, it wouldn't baffle me to see Santanaman returning punts should Antwaan Randle-El succumb to injury. The Jets used him to great effect on special teams, particularly in 2002: he had 25 returns for 413 yards with two touchdowns. He was 4th in total punt return yards that season and 20+ returns (9) and touchdowns. His 16.7 average was good for 7th in the league.

And, if Wikipedia is to be believed, Moss:

graduated as [Miami's] all-time leader in receiving yards (2,546), punt return yards (1,196), and all-purpose yards (4,394).

Do we have a more dangerous player in space? You tell me:

First off, sorry for my absence. I work. A lot. But, like General MacArthur said and Arnold paraphrased, I shall be back. Err, something like that.

Anyway, Training Camp is the place where we finally get to see the team that was put together in the offseason. Draft picks, veteran signings and trade-brought players (word up, Jason Taylor) alike will be together. And, hopefully, everyone remembered their alarm clocks.

So, without further ado... the three biggest camp battles as I see them:

#3. The Cornerback Position. This is going to be interesting. Springs and Smoot are set. Rogers is out for a while. Leigh Torrence filled in pretty well last year (as long as he wasn't covering Randy Moss... apparently that's a bad matchup.) Rookie Justin Tryon is in a great position to step in a be the #3 guy. This could be an important position, especially with Jason Taylor putting pressure on the opposing QB, because there might be more than a few balls thrown early and up for grabs. Tryon is younger and more athletic, Torrence has no learning curve.

Advantage: Torrence early, Tryon before the end of the year.

via media.scout.com

via cache.daylife.com

#2. The Wide Reciever Position. This seems kinda weird to be in the top 3, but the new West Coast offense, especially the variety that new Head Pooba Jim Zorn came from in Seattle, employs 3 and 4 WR sets frequently. If heathy, Moss and ARE are #1 and #2... for now. The interesting part come after those two. Rookies Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas are both the prototypical WR bodies that NFL GMs drool over. They are fighting for the 3rd and 4th spots. Anthony Mix has the 5th spot locked up so no need to even discuss the others (sorry Burl Toler, Billy McMullen, Maurice Mann, Horace Gant, and (regretfully) James Thrash.) James Thrash was a Gibbs guy, through and through. I just don't see him being a Zorn guy.

Advantage: Thomas over Kelly, Mix over the others, Thrash as the #6 guy, if Zorn keeps 6.

via www.nfldraftdog.com

via cache.viewimages.com

#1. The Safety Position. Newcomer Stuart Schweigert and old hand (despite going into his 3rd year) Reed Doughty are fighting it out to see who gets to line up next to LaRon Landry. Schweigert was a part of some very good Oakland defenses under Rex Ryan and has plenty of experience. Doughty stepped up big last year after the death of Sean Taylor and became a fan favorite... at least around these parts.

Advantage: Doughty.

via media3.washingtonpost.com

As I stated in SP's earlier post, the punting "competition" isn't a battle at all. Durant Brooks is the new punter. Get used to it (and better field position.)

As always, hit up the comments. What's your biggest position battle?

First, though, I'll open with my closing thoughts on TC from yesterday. I'm trying not to pilfer too much from the fine works of Gary Fitzgerald over at the Official Site, but he identified some compelling camp battles that deserve additional discussion. Moving along to...

Third Cornerback: Springs is number one, Fred Smoot is number two. If all goes well this is really just a battle for the temporary 3rd cornerback, as ostensibly Carlos Rogers occupies that spot (or pushes Smoot down into it) when he returns. I will be watching Rogers' rehab and subsequent return more carefully than whether Byron Westbrook can outmaneuver enough people to stay on the roster or whether Leigh Torrence ends up beating out newcomer J.T. Tryon (Note: I've also seen it spelled "Tyron" a non-trivial amount of times elsewhere; why can't we get this guy's name right?). Speaking of him, he represents a huge source of entertainment for the blogging community as heaping-big word thus far is he has a black belt in Fred Smoot style karate smacktalk.

Fifth Wide Receiver: Gary calls Moss, Antwaan Randle-El, and our two draft picks Devin Thomas and Michael Kelly as the locks. I would be extremely disappointed if it hashed out any other way. That leaves a lot of guys (six as of this writing) competing for one final receiver spot, though teams do carry six wide receivers sometimes, don't they? (Gary says prolly not because we'll have too many TEs.) Especially in this kind of offense? Anyways, I love James Thrash but I think with each passing year the likelihood he still has gas in the tank decreases, and he was a beloved man by the former offensive staff, now largely departed. However, a guy like Thrash is unique from, say, Burl Toler (who Gary Fitzgerald likes, and he'd know more about this battle than I would) because I think Toler can be tucked away on the practice squad, but unless we add Thrash to the lineup he's not going to be with the team in any capacity. I'll throw my support for Anthony Mix, perhaps irrationally. We got pretty worked up for no apparent logical reason earlier this offseason simply because Anthony Mix represented the largest receiver we have on a unit that lacked as much both in perception and actuality. Let's not discount his size: 6'5, 235 pounds, making him closer to Chris Cooley's size than he is to Malcolm Kelly's (our 2nd biggest receiver). That also gives him 35 pounds on any cornerback on our team, which should give you a somewhat good indication of how he matches up against cornerbacks in Re: size generally in this NFL. Burt Toler, on the other hand, is the 3rd lightest person listed on the roster, heavier than only Leigh Torrence and Cedrick Holt. Let me repeat, though, that Gary Fitzgerald would know a lot more about this battle than I would, and if he likes Toler than I'd suggest you pay attention to that guy through TC as well.

Finally, Punter: I have no hate for Derrick Frost and feel bad that it's come to this, but my position is that this ain't no jockeying for position. Teams invest resources into punters infrequently, and our team invested substantial -- for a punter at least -- resources into Durant Brooks. You don't draft a punter to give your current guy something to think about; you draft a punter to punt for you come Sunday. Derrick Frost is a decent NFL punter who will likely find a home after this battle plays out, but Brooks is loaded with potential and talent and should have little difficulty earning the spot on this team. If he doesn't, that will reflect poorly on the team's decision  to draft him, duh. If this battle drags on too long, then I'm going to be flustered.

As intriguing as positional battles are every year, the biggest story, in my opinion, will be the new offense. Coach Zorn is the newcomer here and although he has no competition for head coach, yet, he is still measured by the past moving forward. If this offense shows up equal to or better than Gibbs and Saunders offenses of the past few years, all hail Jim Zorn. If we flounder it will be all eyes on him. The word out of training camp this coming week is going to provide much insight on just how near or far this team is from getting the new offense, and that's going to matter towards the W-L department down the road.

Jason Campbell likewise has no (real) competition for his position heading into camp, but he could a year from now, or much sooner. If he can't take the next step this coming season (and this all assumes he doesn't end up watching his idol throw fooballs for us instead) then the team will begin the move in a different direction, as we are now four years into the Jason Campbell experiment. He'll have much latitude this year, from me at least, but by 2009 I'm going to need to see some improvement to remain behind him. Many of you have expressed perfectly reasonable concerns with or committment to JC and I very much look forward to seeing those two camps of fans argue over him this coming season. Whatever position you may inhabit on that issue, let's all hope he develops into a star.

Enough of me, now to the blognets:

First and foremost, a gigantic welcome to Mark Newgent, newest member of the Redskins internet chattering class and lifelong fan. His new blog, DC Redskins Examiner, is going up on the blogroll to the left here shortly and I'm looking forward to visiting his site daily. Kudos to the DC Examiner for diving into this whole "internet" thing. He also linked here, which makes him good people. This blog is comma will be big time and I encourage you to make it a daily stop. Mark Newgent is no joke; assuming his work out of the gate is any indication, he can write.

Big news for me personally is that Ben is back and all makes sense now. He's been all over the potential Brett Favre to Redskins story, more more more:

I bet if you ask Jason Campbell if bringing Brett Favre onto the Redskins would hurt his development as a quarterback Jason would say hail no son. Wouldn't you like to learn a thing or two on the job from your idol before he retires?

That's an interesting take but I think a debatable one. I think Ben would be 100% correct if JC were younger than me but, alas, he turns 27 this December. The time is now for Jason, imo. (Elsewhere, check out Sportz Assassin's take on Favre here, at Fanhouse.)

I thank Lee Gibbons of The Redskin Report for his grace in not embarrassing me.

Greg Trippiedi talks defensive backs at Hog Heaven and notes, among other things:

Reed Doughty

Reed Doughty was the biggest surprise of the season last year. He’s got a reputation as a run stuffing safety, and the numbers certainly suggest that’s his craft: No. 2 among all safeties in yards allowed per rush attempt (3.8). The team probably feels he can be a run stuffing dynamo (thanks, Mel Kiper) for the next ten years for them.

Where Doughty was more surprising was against the pass, where he actually had the numbers of a top no. 2 safety. Doughty ranked 26th in stop rate last year and 29th among safeties last year with 6.6 yards per attempt against the pass.

The training camp battle for Doughty's safety spot will be an interesting one to watch, but something to keep in mind throughout: no matter how it shakes out, Doughty will remain with the team. If he's the backup, if the defensive staff is convinced we have someone better, injury there won't kill the secondary. We know we can trust Reed to come in and play reliably, and that should never be discounted. It was circa 2006 when the defense was in shambles that an injured Pierson Prioleau necessitated the Adam Archuleta disaster, which turned into Troy Vincent into Vernon Fox into serious discussions of putting Shawn Springs at safety (even though we really didn't have the depth at corner to cover such a move). You're not going to win much of anything -- see, for example: 2006 -- unless you have injury insurance, and it's a good problem to have when your very capable starter from last year is being pushed for his position.

Over at Chris Cooley's blog (hat tip: Dan Steinberg), and I'm about a week late to this show, BEARD GROWING CONTEST:

I'm ready for a new adventure...Greatest facial hair of training camp is going to be this years motif. After leaving Wyoming for my summer vacation I came home with quite a start on my new project. It's been a little over two weeks since I've shaved and I'm as proud as I can be! One thing about my little endeavors is that it is much more fun if I can have a partner in crime, or as many participants as possible. So I've decided to start the Chris Cooley Beard Growing Contest.

Check the site for more details, all of which are awesome. I've already told my girlfriend (she said whatever, I suspect she doesn't take me seriously) that I intend to grow a mustache by the end of 2008, making me the only 25 year old in the continental United States with one. I look absolutely hideous without 1970s era facial hair, but with? Even more hideous, and it will be glorious. Pictures will be pending. In the meantime, I encourage all to participate in Cooley's Beard Growing Contest. Tickets can be won.

Speaking of tickets, CptChaosSidekick won the Redskins Rides contest. The good Cpt needs to email me so I can hook him up with those. For those of you who would likewise like to attend, perhaps with CptChaosSidekick, I'm told that more tickets will become available in the near future. Stay tuned, but while you wait you might keep an eye on Riggo's Rag, since free tickets will also be available there at some point. It is the blogosphere's position that no one should have to pay for tickets.

Homer McFanboy has an interview with Washington Times and Redskins 360 writer Ryan O'Halloran, who I read daily. Here's a teaser than I'll force you to go read the entire interview:

5. If you had to pick one Redskins player, who is most likely poised for a breakout season? Why?

Safety LaRon Landry. I got ripped pretty good for this last year but I think Landry is light years ahead of where Sean Taylor was at the same point of their career. Landry is athletically gifted like Taylor but, entering his second season, is already excellent at anticipating plays, making up for a teammates' mistake/blown assignment and sending messages with physical play. He might not make the Pro Bowl this season but he'll turn out to be the defense's best player.

David Elfin is also a Redskins 360 writer, and he has his take on Don Breaux retiring. I'm going to try and get an Ode post to Don up here later this week, as I think he's deserving of much more praise and admiration than he's received, given what he has done for/and thus what he means to Your Washington Redskins.

Finally, Chris Mottram is cool.

I've run out of time. Enjoy Training Camp; I'll be around to keep you updated to the extent that's possible, but don't be shy about posting FanShots or FanPosts. You never have to wait on me to get the word out on a story here at Hogs Haven. What I'm saying is, explore this space, register, comment, etc. This place is so much more entertaining when it isn't me talking to myself.

I'm going golfing. Enjoy all these tags.

The amount of money I'm willing to bet that Brett Favre will be a Washington Redskins next season = zero, pending some really alluring odds that could make me rich rich rich so long as I box it with equally unlikely scenarios such as the Patriots sacking Tate Glasscock in the endzone to ultimately win 8-6. What am I talking about? Glasscock.

The only reason I mention this Brett Favre to Redskins nonsense is because it is now the 2nd time I've heard it, though don't ask me to recall from whence it came in the first. All I know is, an anonymous gambling entity (I call him Gamblor!) known only as "LazerWager" makes the case in strong terms. See for yourself:

While most sports journalist and radio hosts are hyping the Minnesota Vikings as Favre's next team, LazerWager suggests the Washington Redskins are the perfect fit for Favre's return this year. 'Favre has too much respect for his former teammates and fans to join a rival from the NFC North. And the Packers don't want to face him two times this season,' stated DelGato.

Washington's roster provides plenty of targets in Chris Cooley, Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El. All three receivers caught 50 passes or more for at least 700 yards, even with Jason Cambell and Todd Collins splitting time at the quarterback position.

One might go on to say especially with Todd Collins splitting time at quarterback as he was a full 2 yards an attempt better than JC last year, which may not sound like much but is a magical number of magnitude that also partially distinguishes the career of Joe Montana from that of Chuck Fusina. Who knew?

None of which is said to dog Jason Campbell, or Chuck Fusina for that matter, but let's not forget that Todd Collins was very much the cause and not a hinderance of having three receiving targets accomplish arbitrary goals that may interest only those of us who write Redskins blogs as a hobby.

More than what Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, and Cooley accomplished, the devil or angel on Favre's shoulder shouldn't forget that we also drafted a few really tall, really hyped kids in Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly. Brett loves to throw passes into coverage and against many nickel and dime backs that won't necessarily hurt him so long as the people on the receiving end are as large, strong, and sure-handed as two of our 2nd round picks. Fred Davis? He's not small.

Although I think rumors of Favre-to-Washington are greatly exaggerated, don't interpret my repeating them as evidence of me wanting Jason Campbell anywhere but as the starting QB of the Redskins. Like Tandler, I have my questions in Re: Campbell, but remain optimistic that he's the player who serves to gain the most from having Head Coach and former QB and former QB Coach Jim Zorn tending shop. My concerns with Jim Zorn do not involve his ability to develop zee quarterbacks, a skill he's proven almost beyond reproach, but rather with ability to captain the entire ship, for which he's as proven as this author.

Hey so what about that Brett Favre guy, yea?

This post cannot promise to answer that question as it's really a who knows, but Redskins 360 did the math on at least one recent snapshot in time relevant to the above inquiry. He explains:

A question posed on a recent Redskins message board wondered what Seattle ran offensively against the Redskins in the teams' January playoff game, won by the Seahawks 35-14. This is obviously asked to start predicting what kind of formations Jim Zorn will use as the Redskins' coach.

He did the actual math, provided below, but let's quickly point out that a) Jim Zorn wasn't calling the plays in that game and b) I am sure his overall offensive philosophy is subject to change given varying circumstances, including his own and opponent's personnel, down and distance, scoreboard, etc. Redskins 360 counts:

54 total snaps of which the breakdown is as follows:

14 WR and 1RB set (~26%)

10 3WR and 2RB sets (~18%)

17 3WR and 1 RB sets (~31%)

8 2WR and 2 RB sets (~15%)

4 1WR and 2RB sets (~7%)

1 5WR set (~2%)

As I stated above, this is a tiny snapshot -- one game -- of a different team's offensive sets, with different players, under a particular set of circumstances. As Ryan O'Halloran points out, the presence of at least one great TE in Cooley plus another high potential guy in Fred Davis would alter the above substantially, since 3WR and 2RB sets, for instance, wouldn't provide any space for a TE (unless Cooley or Davis is lined up wide). Only the 1WR 2RB set provides for dual TEs, and the article notes that Seattle fell on that only after they managed a solid lead.

But I don't want to wait for a solid lead to see my potent two TE, Cooley and Davis and Moss and Portis and Sellers set, I want to run it noooooooooooow.

Here's the problem for the other poor bastard... Davis and Cooley and Sellers and Portis together makes for a fearsome running group that cannot be ignored. Cooley and Davis in that set, though, along with Moss, also makes for a fearsome passing group that cannot be ignored (pretty good pass protection, too, ignoring whatever nonsense [hat tip to Fanhouse] Mike Lombardi is talking about Clinton Portis in pass protection -- name me a RB that's better). And so that guy gets to make a business decision about who and how he's going to deal with a multi-threat formation.

Then again... With both Kelly and Thomas on the team now, I kind of like a 4 WR set, which would've been hazardous when it was just Moss and ARE and then James Thrash + whoever? Brandon Lloyd?

Do I know that Kelly and Thomas are necessarily better than Thrash and Lloyd? Not really. I know they're taller at least. And when it comes to WR combos, I'll take the unknown duo with potential over the known meh group. (Note: I like James Thrash.)

And while we're on the subject of our newest Redskin WRs, and Mike Lombardi, he makes an inadvertent point about the future of another Redskin:

Zorn will try change the "Redskin Joe Gibbs" offense into his version of the west coast offense. That will be a slight challenge and there will be some adjustment time for the players as well as the coaches. Some of the assets he has on offense, like Santana Moss and Clinton Portis are not best highlighted in the west coast offense. Moss is an explosive player, who is best running over routes and deep comebacks, not slants and snags. When the Jets ran the west coast with Paul Hackett, Moss was the change of pace wide receiver he was used for specific routes as Laveranues Coles was the number one wide receiver.

I don't want to give too much credence to all this; I think Santana Moss is at least capable of exceeding in whatever system he plays under, since he can be and has been a special kind of player. There is no offensive system that is not,at least on occasion, better off with a guy who can outrun the entire opponent's secondary with unrivaled adjustment-to-the-ball-while-it-is-in-the-air. I think Moss is fine, will have a place in this offense.

What about Antwaan Randle El, though? He's very nearly the same build as Santana Moss, is a great YAC guy with good speed. Whatever criticisms can be leveled towards Moss relating to his place in a WC system apply equally to ARE. I hate to say this because ARE is a special kind of player in his own right, but, isn't he just a Moss-lite? They aren't indistinguishable, but share a skill set and Moss is simply the more productive WR over the course of their careers. I wouldn't want Moss returning punts necessarily, or throwing WR passes, but if I had to choose just one starting WR I'd take Santana over Antwaan. Am I wrong about that?

And if it's the case that Moss (and by comparison ARE) have skill sets and size disadvantages that don't lend themselves to the West Coast offense, is it possible that Randle El may not finish the year at the #2 WR?

That's the new poll question, enjoy.

Psssst: I voted for 3rd WR behind either Kelly or Thomas but not both.

Poll

Will Anwaan Randle El finish the season as the #2 WR/

• Yes.
• No, he'll beat out an injured or slumping Santana Moss for the first spot.
• No, he'll lose out to either Thomas or Kelly and be the 3rd WR.
• No, he'll lose out to both Thomas and Kelly and be the 4th WR.
• No, super happy fun slide he finishes 5th or below on the depth chart.

  225 votes | Results

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.

This is an update on the status of our two first day wide receiver picks as well as on the emerging playbook under Head Coach Jim Zorn. Timely, too, as it comes hours after this FanPost by Ach where he wonders what immediate impact either receiver will have in the coming season. I guess that all depends on how willing Coach Zorn is to line up in three-receiver sets. Hat tip to Extreme Skins on this Pro Football Weekly article:

"I feel like I picked up on it pretty quick," [Devin] Thomas told PFW. "I noticed it’s a big playbook, so I am going to have to keep learning, but overall it’s not that hard." Thomas has been learning the "Z" (flanker) position so far, while Kelly has been working at the "X" (split end). "It’s the West Coast offense, so there are going to be a lot of three- and four-wide sets, so there will be a chance for me to get playing time," Kelly told PFW.

Before we get into just what those terms mean (and most of you probably know, but a quick refresher never hurts) the article also notes that Kelly and Thomas happened to bunk together when they visited Dallas and that Thomas believes he'll be getting some down-field and redzone looks.

Where are the flanker and split end? Look for the red dot, first, the flanker:

via www.phillyburbs.com

Look for the red dot, now, the split end:

via www.phillyburbs.com

I suppose helpful explanations are available for flanker here and slit end here. Thing to keep in mind is that neither Kelly nor Thomas is being groomed as a slot receiver (yet) which I suppose means that if/when either gets on the field in a three-receiver set, that means if we have a slot receiver, it will be ARE or Moss or a tight end. That would be -- and again, you probably know this -- the red dot on the right side if he came off the line of scrimmage and the flanker moved up to it (thus becoming a split end). I like fast slot receivers because they can more easily go right after the safeties and/or mix it up with the linebackers (or nickel back) thus creating mismatches.

Or it could mean we're running three-receiver sets such as the one pictured directly above, where ARE and Moss are lined up as split ends and Thomas is the flanker... but where does that leave Kelly? I'm a bit surprised that neither is being groomed or learned as a slot, but Coach knows best.

As I mentioned in the fanpost by Ach, I think the likelihood of both Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El making it through a 16 game season 100% healthy is, unfortunately, a tall order. Antwaan missed a game last year and three starts whereas Santana Moss hasn't played a full season since 2005 (though what a season that turned out to be for him).

But we need not worry about their injuries since we are blessed with a good problem to have; too many wide receivers. While I'm trying to find ways Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas will see the field, the reality is that I should simply be rejoicing in the fact that even if we suffer a typical injury bug at receiver we won't be substantially downgraded because of the depth at that position. And it doesn't stop with Kelly and Thomas, either, as we still have Anthony Mix -- who we all felt would challenge for the 3rd receiver spot prior to the draft -- and veteran James Thrash. And behind them are a gaggle of receivers we can place on the practice squad, all of them tall: Billy McMullen is 6'4, Maurice Mann is 6'1, Horace Gant is 6'3, and Burl Toler at 6'2. As of right now, ARE and Moss are the only receivers on the team listed under six feet.

[Note by Skin Patrol, 05/22/08 3:06 PM EDT ] MJD at Shutdown Corner has a post up about this segment with, I believe, video of the entire exchange, so you don't have to suffer through my nonsensical attempt at transcribing the entire thing. I don't know if he has video of ESPN's First Take (it might be Grizzly Man) because my laptop died yesterday and I'm forced to work on a circa 2000 Dell right now that is begging me to mercy kill it; I'm too afraid to download the necessary plugin to view the video because it may just end this miserable piece of machinery. I need it, though. MJD picks Antwaan:

I like 'Twaan's chances here. I know what the bear expert says, but a professional athlete can change directions with such blinding quickness. A regular dude off of the street is probably going to be picked out of the bear's teeth. But Randle-El is paid so handsomely because athletically, he's ridiculously superior to the average dude on the street.

So a friend of mine ok, I suck, I was watching First Take on ESPN2. But they just showed a video of a bear, and then something something about Antwaan Randle El and touchdowns. I'm going to try and find out what the scoop is.

Question was posed by Tim Kurkjian: put a punt/kick returner on the zero yard line vs. a HUGE BEAR on the 50 yard line, who survives? So ESPN First Take has apparently (see, I don't watch) been asking all kinds of people this question, and now they're putting Antwaan Randle El vs. some bear expert, with bear. Here is my best attempt at documenting the exchange, which happened much faster than my fingers could type. The below transcript is NOT VERBATIM. It is simply me typing words as I hear them, and should not be treated as scripture on what was said on First Take today. But I did get the general gist of what went down. Here goes:

Antwaan: There is no doubt in my mind I'm going to outrun the bear. This bear I can imagine he can maybe go 30, maybe 40 miles per hour... I'm not getting caught by this bear. We're not just talking about running in football, we're talking about life.

Bear "Expert": I have great respect for this man, but he's just wrong. A black bear can run 35 miles per hour. Fastest person is 27 miles per hour. (Guy starts jabbering on about bears being predators and dodging.) On four legs bear can do better than person on two legs. (Says something about maybe bear wouldn't even care about ARE, because bears aren't necessarily going to go chasing football player.)

Host: Say the bear hasn't eaten for months and Antwaan is holding a freshly glazed ham, what then?

Bear "Expert": Let's say that Randle El does get by the bear by dodging. But then he's got the straight dash to the endzone, and the bear would catch him.

Host: Antwaan, your strategy is to run around the bear.

ARE: This might sound insane, but at some point you have to attack the bear, you have to go at him as though you're going to attack him. You need to go at him and dodge from him. If you start dodging right away, you're going to get tired. You just need to get that one step to get by him. I know the fastest person in the world only ran 27 miles per hour, but that fastest person was not running from a bear. And I'm running from this bear. Once I get past the bear, I run in a straight line. But once I get to the safe zone, that's it. Remember, I've been doing this for quite some time.

Host: How would bear respond if ARE ran right at him?

BE: If he was coming at the bear, and if the bear was coming at him, I'm not surprised if ARE could dodge him.

ARE: That's all you need! After that it's a rap!

BE: If bear is really trying, I bet on the bear. In reality, I can't imagine this ever happening. (Good buzz kill, dude.)

Host: Antwaan is happy this is never happening.

ARE: Exactly.

BE: I know there is a widespread misconception that if you run from a bear it will trigger a predatory response, I've never heard of that ever happening in reality.

Host: Antwaan, I don't know, I used to believe you could get by the bear, I'm a little skeptical you could get by.

ARE: Remember, I'm running for my life, now...

Tim Kurkjian: I agree with ARE, he's running for his life. A 180 pound man is quicker than a bear. The bear is faster, I'm not disputing that. A great kick returner is going to juke the bear at the 30 yard line or so. There is no way he isn't going to be able to shake the bear. Then it is going to take an 800 pound bear a really long time to get up to 35 miles per hour. By that time the really fast human being is well on his way to the goal line. I can't believe we are talking about this. This is the end of my career as a journalist.

Dana Jacobson: Expert just said the bear can dodge better than humans. Bear might not get juked out?

TK: With all due respect to "expert", with nothing against bears... there's just no way that something that weighs 800 pounds is as nimble or quick as an NFL player.

DJ: 30 miles per hour!

TK: But ARE can run 24 miles per hour. We have all seen football players and are absolutely dazzled by how quickly they move and change speed.

It digresses from there, if that were possible. Tim Kurkjian admits this is the worst moment of his professional career as a journalist.

End Discussion. To show you how ridiculous First Take is, the next segment involves Skip Bayliss and two guys I've never heard of discussing whether Indiana Jones is better than Jason Bourne is better than Shaft. No athletes. At least the bear question involved some sports hypothetical, with an actual athlete.

I'm taking Antwaan Randle El, but am adding a poll for good measure.

DC Sports Bog, Dmitri Young and the Running Bear

Poll

Antwaan Randle El catches a glazed ham on the zero yard line, a giant bear is on the 50. Does Randle El make it to the other endzone?

• You damn right he does.
• No, bears are too fast.
• No, he will deke too much right when he catches it and the bear will tackle him. And eat him.

  137 votes | Results

Jason Campbell "tweaked" his hamstring at practice and head coach Jim Zorn couldn't be happier. From the article:

"I have him sinking down a little bit," Zorn said. "It’s a change, and so I was kind of excited about it—not that he tweaked his hamstring, but just the fact that different things are happening."

Kind of excited? More like hella excited. That's right... I went with hella.

AOL Fanhouse also has the story. And they lead with "it is a bit unusual when a head coach is actually pleased when he starting quarterback gets hurt." A bit? More like... you guessed it, hella unusual. Now, I understand that Zorn is changing some of the things JC does, especially pre-snap, but it doesn't seem very productive to have him to the point of tweaking his hamstring. I wonder if the QBs in Seattle got injured after working with Zorn...

The article also mentions ARE and his knee's floating-body-freeness. And after a few days, we might have found out what those floating bodies actually were:

Randle El said the knee was swollen after minicamp practice Saturday. An MRI found loose cartilage, possibly the residual effects of getting the knee banged in a couple of games last season, and he had arthroscopic surgery Monday.

Yep, I'm letdown. Floating bodies totally built up for something, well, hella exciting. A lot more exciting things than "loose cartilage" can be described as floating bodies.

Oh, and hella kinda buried in the article was the tidbit about the fact that "running back Clinton Portis sat out with a minor hip flexor strain." Now, it has been suggested that Portis might have hurt himself racing Landry, but, for now at least, I'm not buying it. Even Jason Reid over at the Redskins Insider quotes Zorn as suggesting it was the race, but I still think this is more of a veteran-getting-out-of-the-last-day-of-practice-for-a-while thing than a Landry-ran-me-right-out-of-my-hip thing. Maybe its just me.

That's it for now, enjoy your Mother's Day weekend. (Yes, that was me reminding you to go buy some lame card or flower to appease your mother on the one day a year that she specifically gets to be appeased, despite the fact that we all know that mothers are appeased 24/7/365. And yes, it is a made up holiday, just like Valentine's Day, where you have to buy some worthless piece of crap to somehow "prove" that you care for you mother. But do it anyway because the alternative is so much worse. I mean, I got over it without being bitter about it... and you can to.)

In other injury-related news, SP was finishing up school this week, so I'm sure he's off in some gutter somewheres. Wish him luck.