Welcome to all the new folks stopping by HogsHaven. We like to keep up our hopes up here, Boldly Hoping where no hope has helped before. That's right, if you love dealing in "maybes", "ifs", "perchances", and if you love italics, you came to the right place, because here we go with yet another panty-dropping installment of Boldly Hoping.

Poll

In addition to Dockery, would you prefer to sign one of the younger (relatively unknown) free agent tackles listed in the article, or would you rather draft a young stud OT in the 1st round?

40%

Sign young tackle in free agency

143 votes

59%

Draft OT in 1st round

213 votes

356 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

Brian Orakpo, the stud DE from Texas, injured his hamstring yesterday at the Combine. Even though it looks like he will be 100% for Pro Day, some scouts think he will drop a few spots in the draft, which I believe helps the Skins' chances they can lock him up. He has had (sprained) knee injuries in both 2007 and 2008 for Texas, which is a bit of concern for the trainers to evaluate. His stats are:

6'4" - 240 lbs.

Combine:
40 yard dash: 4.70
225 lb bench presses: 31
Vertical jump: 39.5
Love of Kittens: Infinite (ok, kidding here)

Orakpo's strength is spectacular. He benches 515 pounds and squats 600. Encompassing this type of speed and power makes for an incredible player. The Redskins met with Orakpo at the Combine, where they told him his most likely position would be strong-side linebacker. Take a look at ESPN's very impressive highlight real of #98 at Texas: 

The top pass rusher in the draft, Orakpo is out to prove he's versatile enough to play defensive end and linebacker regardless of the scheme.

Orakpo has played in both the 4-3 and 3-4 schemes and would be able to make an immediate impact on the field.

As serious as hamstring injuries can be, I really am not too worried about Orakpo's most recent one. A LOT of Redskins have had hammy problems, so I'm confident the Skins training staff can take all the preventive measures here. Last year Devin Thomas, Randle El, and Malcolm Kelly all had hamstrings issues in training camp, and later in the season Santana had one. If anyone knows how to deal with healing a hammy, it's the Redskins. I wonder if they apply the same healing move that Mr. Miyagi does?

 

Poll

Is Brian Orakpo a slam-dunk pick if he's still available at #13? (if you think NO, add a comment who you'd like to see drafted instead)

79%

Yes

177 votes

20%

No

45 votes

222 votes | Poll has closed

I didn't know this, but apparently Chris Cooley blogs at the Shutdown Corner part of Yahoo! Sports every Wednesday. This is in addition to his own blog, which is mighty fine reading by the way. His weekly story is called "The Cooley Zone," which is so very lacking in terms of a title. Of all the possibilities, they go with Booty Shorts Anonymous Cooley Zone?

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because this week's story is on how much the NFL rookies, and more specifically the first rounders, are making too much money. He makes a great (and very visual) analogy about the NFL Draft process, specifically the NFL Combine (By the way, don't click the below link if you have just eaten or are weak of heart.):

The NFL Combine is comparable to a strip club with owners and coaches for customers. The better the man looks running around in his spandex the more dollar bills end up on his stage. The funny thing is the onlookers at the combine are probably more excited than the creepy old man in the corner at the strip bar.

He makes an interesting point, especially for a guy who has come to realize the benefits of spandex.

Those shorts are really cramping his Hardy Boys. There's no mystery. (Image from here.)

Anyway, his article isn't only about vivid (and slightly disturbing) analogies. He goes on to talk about how certain high draft picks make more than Pro Bowl-type players. He uses Vernon Davis as an example. He points out how the simple fact that Davis was drafted high allowed him to earn more money than the likes of Jeremy Shockey and Antonio Gates. He continues:

In Jason Witten's second year he caught 87 balls for 980 yards. Davis caught 52 balls for 509 yards. Both are good stats for a tight end, but Davis is currently making $500,000 more a year than Witten. Even better, Davis made close to $4 million more in his second year than Witten did. A player making that kind of money should be a Pro Bowl-type player.

All this begs the question: should NFL rookies and their unproven talents be limited in the money they can make? A few weeks ago, the idea of a rookie salary cap came up, which Gene Upshaw (in his infinite wisdom) immediately dismissed. So, where do you stand on the rookie salary cap issue? Do you agree with Cooley or do you think those shorts are cutting off the circulation to his brain?

As always, hit up the comments.

Over at Mocking the Draft, MattMiller is going through a team-by-team review of the draft. He goes through each draft pick and sees how they fit the team and all, which is to say, he goes a little deeper than a simple letter grade. Each one does have a poll question up for other commenters to grade each team's draft, so that might be an interesting thing to watch.

The bad news: he's going alphabetically, which means he should get around to the Skins by about training camp. But it might be worth the wait, because we'll know more about all the players by then anyway. Atlanta and Arizona are up already, and Baltimore is supposed to be up later today.

Also, if you haven't seen them yet, the Redskin Report has two pretty extensive reviews up. The first one (from Lee Gibbons) is here and the second (from Bill) is here. The second review ends with the following:

Next year is going to be big for DL players…. and we still have all of our picks. If this is indicative of what we can do with actual picks, things are looking up!

Interesting stuff. Then you've got Hog Heaven's version of a draft review, which is a little less optimistic than some of the other sites.

Some other sites:

AOL Fanhouse

Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Covering the Redskins

And then, my personal favorite... Ben over at Curly R... the prodigal son has returned with a fury. He goes pick by pick and breaks it down as only Ben could do. If you do nothing else with the 2008 NFL Draft, go read those write ups. That story should give you plenty to think about, especially those of you who haven't made your Adopt-a-Redskin candidate choice as of yet.

Consider this your heads up.

Let's learn a bit about the Redskins 1st pick of the draft, wide receiver Devin Thomas. First, per DC Sports Bog :

That nickname "Showtime?" Yeah, he has "Show" tattooed on the back of his left arm, and "Time" tattooed on the back of his right arm.

"Sometimes it's 'Show' for short," said his childhood friend, Daynin Blake.

"Matter of fact, his car has personalized license plates that say 'Show.' " his father, Dwight, told me. Yup, the new No. 85 has license plates on his black 2004 Ford Taurus that read "Show."

"Matter of fact, I'm gonna have to renew that plate in July," Dwight said.

"I don't know if you're gonna have to renew that one," Blake pointed out, wisely.

We also find out that Thomas informed his father after the draft that he could quit working, he thought we were maroon and gold (he's been coached, I guess) and he anticipates that he will "put some more fire to this offense that already has a lot of fuel." Note: our offense was not all that great last year, which is why we drafted guys like Devin Thomas, Fred Davis, and Malcolm Kelly on day one.

Redskin Report has an excellent media draft grade review up. Overall our grades are high, but the blurbs have little specifically on Devin Thomas, who may or may not have been the best wide receiver available, and, even so, the Redskins proved pretty wise in trading into the second and still getting him. Covering the Redskins:

So the Skins nab Devin Thomas, a player believed a possible selection at 21 had he fallen to that point in the draft.. Vinny Cerrato had told me numerous times he beleived the draft was very deep at receiver (a need spot if the team couldn't land Chad Johnson/Anquan Boldin etc) in the second and third rounds.. He was very right with no receiver going in the first round..
So they select Thomas..

That was pretty clever, actually. I didn't see a lot of mock drafts, even from the "experts," anticipating every single wide receiver falling to the second round. I was convinced there'd be at least one or two taken by the 21st pick (which probably says more about me than anything). I still think the 1st, 3rd, 5th round for a 2nd, 2nd, and 4th was essentially a wash on paper, but we moved down out of the 1st without giving up anything -- since there is some indication that we could have reasonably taken Thomas there -- and moved up with the other two picks we traded, as a 2nd>3rd and a 4th>5th.

Perhaps some of the best news, from where I'm sitting, regarding the drafting of Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly is that it "Kills Ocho Cinco Rumor Dead". Getting Chad Johnson with the associated costs and headaches wasn't a prospect that had me bouncing up and down, so I'll take a couple of much cheaper, younger, potentially great WRs and consider it a winner.

Thomas had a press conference this morning  that I couldn't watch but will assume for now that all pertinent parts were gathered from the Bog, from above. We've got the youtube of Thomas covered though I encourage reader(s) to go seek out any other videos of the new Redskin and post them in fanshots or fanposts or wherev.

More per Scout.com:

"I think that was the biggest surprise for us, "Redskins head coach Jim Zorn said in a news release. "We were thinking, 'Okay, well we are giving that up to go down and get more choices in the second round,' and then when he was there even in the second round, we got excited about that."

Zorn noted Thomas' speed and size as the deciding factors and says his ability to turn up-field is also intriguing. "I like the fact that he can run after he catches the ball," he said.

In the next few weeks, there will be some more extensive looks at the draft class, but consider this a first-glance reaction at the draft as a whole. You can check out ESPN's analysis of each pick here, but most of the descriptions, especially of the lesser known late-rounders, is short and lacking. Here's the same type of thing from NFL.com... same problems/positives as the ESPN page. Also, make sure to check out Skin Patrol's FanShots of the newest Redskins... some of those video clips will make you very impressed.

Anyway, on to the reaction. Just based on looking through it all, I'll give it a solid B/B+ grade. According to the Redskins Insider, here's what the team got:

That's all folks.They took 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 OL, 1 CB, 2 safeties, 1 DL, 1 punter and 1 QB in all.

Looking at the list, you can see that the team got help in a number of different areas. The 2 WRs (Thomas and Kelly), Davis and Rinehart should all compete for a job right away. The CB (Justin Tryon, with more stuff here) should get some PT early, especially with the Rogers injury. (P.S. Check out the Q&A on Tryon's NFL.com page... about his favorite team growing up.)

So you've got a few offensive guys and a defensive guy that should get a looksee. Then you have the punter, Durant Brooks. I don't see how you draft the best punter in the draft and then not keep him. Frost should be worried. I think this might be an interesting position battle to watch. I am, obviously, pulling for Brooks. But hey, a punter's a punter, right?

So you've got the 2 WRs, the TE, the CB and the P as all pushing for PT early, with the possibility of the OL getting in the action. (The team would obviously love for him to be able to sit and get some time to watch, but you can't always get what you want. The philosopher Jagger taught me that.) I can see the first S (Moore) getting PT on Special Teams. The other S might do the same, but it is always tough to tell. Jackson, the DE, should get every opportunity to take a backup spot away from some veteran.

That leaves the discussion with Brennan. He is obviously a project, but that's kinda what the 3rd QB is supposed to be. He will get the "system QB" thing until he does something in the NFL... but the run-and-shoot seems to be not the worst system to translate to the WC. Before you call me crazy (and laugh until a little pee comes out), hear me out on this: both systems rely on quick, timing-based routes. Both systems get the ball out of the QBs hands quickly so that the weapons on the outside can get it quickly and can make something happen. Both require the QB to read the defense quickly.

Yes, Brennan will have to learn how to take snaps under center, and the transition from college to the pros is always tough for a QB. But for a project QB, it might be well worth the pick. Besides, if any 3rd QB the team could put out there actually got into any games, it doesn't bode well for the long-term success of the team anyway. I'm gonna give Zorn the benefit of the doubt on this one... he is supposed to know a thing or two about QBs.

So what could they have done better? In short, I have no idea... nor does anyone who will actually talk about it. No one was there, in the war room, wheeling and dealing. No one knows who was where on the proverbial "big board" (although JaLaCa found out the number 1 guy was Dorsey) and no one know what they viewed as the biggest areas of strength coming back from last season... and thus, the biggest areas of need. With Zorn, the offense needed some new parts because of the change in systems and with Blanche, the defense should be very much the same. Using that as a basis, it is pretty obvious that the team should focus on the offensive side.

I like adding a punter, but I dunno if I'd draft one. I like adding a WR, but I dunno if I'd add 2 with the first 3 picks. Ditto the TE in the second round. Don't get me wrong... I like all those players, but I'm not sure I would have gone the same direction. I like a lot of the late round picks and I like the flier on Brennan. He will either be a long-term project that could help the team (via future playing time and/or a trade) or he will be shown the door with little cost on the team. Low risk/high reward type of thing.

Also, the Redskins Insider has a run down on the positions for the undrafted FAs:

The Skins have agreed to terms with 13 undrafted free agents, Cerrato said, and the team will announce that after the players are officially signed - they agreed with 4 OL, 2 DL, 1 CB, 1 QB, 1 WR, 2 S, 2 LBs.

I'm looking forward to figuring all this out. There will be some busts... the NFL is like that. It'll be interesting to see how this team comes together. But for now, that's all I've got. As always, hit up the comments. Likes, dislikes, questions, concerns?

Deuce of Davenport, Constitutional Vol. "Post NFL Draft Linkage"

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 6:30 PM EDT ] With the 249th pick in the draft the Redskins select Chris Horton, safety out of UCLA. He will join Kareem Moore in competing for a spot on the roster, though with only three safeties currently on the team, it isn't unthinkable that both make it. Enjoy guys, and thanks for spending the draft here.

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 6:11 PM EDT ] With the 242nd pick of the draft the Redskins select Rob Jackson, DE out of Kansas State. Defensive End was a need and we finally, mercifully addressed it, although this late in the draft there is very little guarantee that Rob will be with the team for long, but best of luck to him.

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 3:54 PM EDT ] With the 186th pick the Redskins select Colt Brennan, QB out of Hawaii. We have a Hawaiin Redskins fan on hte site who I am sure is absolutely thrilled with the pick. Guy had sick production in College albeit against lesser talents, the main criticism of him being that he's a system product. His bad showing against Georgia probably caused him to fall this far. The Redskins wanted a young qb to develop under Jason Campbell, and they got one. I think it's good value this deep. Most of you, if you followed CFB at all, are familiar with this guy. But more info available here.

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 3:42 PM EDT ] With the 180th pick, the Redskins select Kareem Moore, S out of Nicholls State. We filled a need position since we were not especially deep at safety. I would've taken Josh Barrett and his 4.35 40 time, though. I don't know about this pick whatsoever... Additional information on Moore available here .

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 3:19 PM EDT ] We have a punter, Derrick Frost has a problem. With the 168th pick, the Redskins selected Durant Brooks, place kicker out of Georgia Tech. He was the Ray Guy best punter award winner last year. More info here , thanks to CptChaosSidekick. It says that not only is he a Ray Guy award winner, but is apparently close personal friends with the actual Ray Guy. Dude had a 77 yard punt last year. Durant Brooks is the first punter taken, per the talking pictures box.

[is the FIRST Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 2:48 PM EDT ] Trade with St. Louis terms per Redskins Insider is that we traded our 5th (157th) and 7th (228th) for their 6th rounders (168th and 180th). A 5 and a 7 for two 6ths, kind of a wash but the Redskins obviously like the value in the 6th round the way the draft board is filling out.

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 2:39 PM EDT ] With the 157th pick the Redskins take... no one. We traded the pick to St. Louis. I will update with terms as soon as I find them.

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 1:48 PM EDT ] Make sure you check out both Conquest Chronicles and Crimson and Cream Machine for info on Fred Davis and Malcolm Kelly. We don't have College blogs for all the teams we selected players from, but we do for those guys and the websites are valuable resources for info on two of our first three picks.

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 1:40 PM EDT ] Shouting out to my friend Ben at Curly R , his coverage has been great and I'm thrilled to see him back in this blogging business. Here are his thoughts on Chad Rinehart .

[Note by Skin Patrol, 04/27/08 1:11 PM EDT ] Redskins take Justin Tryon, cornerback out of Arizona State with the 124th pick. A need position filled here by a guy I don't know much about but will find out more. Hat tip to CptChaosSidekick for his draft profile available here: word on him is he's a nickel or dime cornerback with questionable upside and hands but great speed, reliable tackling, and plays aggressively.

[Note by TexSkins, 04/27/08 10:01 AM CDT ] With the #96 pick, the Redskins take...Chad Rinehart, OG, Northern Iowa. More info here, courtesy dr WNC.

[Note by TexSkins, 04/27/08 10:58 AM CDT ] Looks like the team traded again... and picked up a 5th rounder. They got what looks like the Titans 4th rounder (#124) and 5th rounder (#157) for the 4th rounder they got from Atlanta yesterday (#103). I'm just going by ESPN's DraftCast. More details later.

[Note by TexSkins, 04/27/08 11:05 AM CDT ] Per Redskin Insider, with a hat tipped at CaptChaosSidekick, the story is true. Trade with the Titans, extra pick in the 5th. 10 total picks for the weekend. (At this point, at least.)

Day 1 was obviously very much Zorn's day. He got all the guys he needs to put a very good offense on the field. Day 2 is all about Vinny, Front Office Campbell, and the scouting department. I wouldn't be surprised if Zorn sleeps in and misses a few pick. Okay, actually I would... but he won't need to be there. Day 2 of the draft has less to do about the coach than it does about how good a team's scouting is.

Anyway, here's your open thread. Who do you want? What position do you think the team is looking at, or should be drafting?

Hit it up in the comments. I'll have a Day 2 recap tonight and I'm sure once Skin Patrol gets off his ledge, he'll get a few musings up as well.

[Note by TexSkins, 04/27/08 9:56 AM CDT ] I forgot... how do we have 100+ and 80 votes on the two polls below and yet only have 7 people who read and/or comment on this damn thing?

Okay... suffice it to say that the draft went a little different than anyone expected. Yes, they traded down like HogsHaven reader Dr WNC (and my fellow blogger Skin Patrol) wanted, but after that it took a different turn. But first, meet your newest Washington Redskins:

WR Devin Thomas, Michigan State

TE Fred Davis, Southern Cal

WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma

Thomas was probably the best WR in the draft and the Skins got him in the second round. I like this pick. He's a bigger WR (6'2, 216) who is still developing. He really had the one season at Michican State (he was a JuCo transfer) but he did well. He'll immediately make the team able to run the 3 WR sets that Holmgren used in Seattle.

I'm not as familiar with Fred Davis... mostly because I didn't think the team would be drafting a TE, especially early. I was happy with the Cooley-Yoder combo, and with Tyler Ecker coming back after a year on IR, I thought the TE position was set for years to come. But then comes Fred Davis. He's a big target (6'2ish, 250) and a pretty good recieveing TE. He should project well as a pass-catching TE in Zorn's West Coast system, giving the team the flexibility to run some 2 TE sets in passing situations. I still expect Yoder to get some playing time, especially as a blocker, but I'm not sure how this bodes for Ecker. 4 TEs seems like a lot for the team to carry.

And yet, there was another surprise. Calais Campbell was picked just before the 3rd Redskins second round selection. Kelly has made quite a name for himself in the past few weeks... and let's just say, it's not the most positive image. But he's an even bigger WR than Thomas (6'4, 224) and the Skins should now have the ability to go 4 WRs... and one of those WRs doesn't need to be Cooley. Interesting pick.

So, what do we gather from this? Here's a quick recap of the second round from ESPN. As SP told me earlier, this draft smells of a very large Zorn influence. He got some weapons for his new offense... and he got the flexability to run all sorts of different sets. The draft focus for day 2 should be a more rounded one, and I expect some defensive draft picks early.

Think about the options: spread the field with Kelly and Moss on one side, with ARE and Thomas on the other. Hell, go five wide with Cooley out there. The perfect combination of speed and size. And then when that turns into a first down, the next play you could have a 3 TE set with Cooley, Davis, and Yoder. Power running. Zorn's got options and options are always good.

This should help the development of JC exponentially. He has all sorts of weapons that he can throw a five yard pass that turns into an 80 yard TD. All these threats on the outside should also allow the running game (and subsequent play-action) to be more effective. Clinton Portis couldn't have been happier if the team drafted a bunch of offensive linemen.

ESPN is interviewing Zorn as I type. He said that he was shocked that Thomas was still there, and that he thinks Davis should be TE in the mold of Cooley. Also, he said that Kelly should help out in the red-zone in particular. He went on to say that the WC is a "sneeky" running offense (his word, not mine) because the perception is that the WC throws the ball so much.

The draft went a whole lot differently than I expected, but I like the pick-ups in that is should make this offense capable of scoring 20+ points a game even on a bad day, which should take some pressure off the defense. Speaking of that defense... I expect the draft focus to switch over to the defense, especially with the round 3 selection.

There are some interesting names left on the board. AT DT, you got Harrison (ARK), Sims (AUB), Okam (UT), and Bryant (A&M) among others. You have King (PSU), Branch (Iowa), Jackson (LSU) at CB. At S, you have Zbikowski (ND), Griffin (UT), and Steltz (LSU) among others. And at DE, you have Ellis (Va Tech) still hanging around. There are plenty of options left for the 3rd round selection. Schuening (Ore St) and Collins (Kansas) are still there. The team could go in a few different directions with the 3rd round pick, and then I expect them to fill in some depth with the 4th, the 6th, and the 3 7th round picks. Interesting stuff.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Hit up the comments section about today's picks, tomorrow's possibilities and what the future now holds.

AOL Fan House: Methinks the Redskins are Out of the Chad Johnson Sweepstakes

Poll

What do you think of Day 1 of the NFL Draft?

68%

It was a good day filled with value pickups.

99 votes

3%

It was a horrible, no good, very bad day.

5 votes

11%

I'm joining Skin Patrol out on the ledge.

16 votes

16%

Again... wtf, mate?

24 votes

144 votes | Poll has closed