1. Offensive line--You won't know how good your offensive line is going to be during or directly after May OTA's, but you can't have a good offensive line if something doesn't start materializing now. We should expect to hear coaches heap praise on guys like Trent Williams and Jammal Brown, assuming they tie their shoes right and show up. Can Chris Chester and Jammal Brown start getting on the same page this week? The right side of our line practically depends on it. I'll be listening intently to see how Josh LeRibeus fares working in at different spots, but let's not get our hopes up too much there. More than anything else, you want to see that guys didn't roll into this week sporting an extra 30 or 40 pounds.

2. Safety--Get used to the drama that will be ever-present in our secondary this summer. With so much uncertainty at the safety position, our attention is going to be fixed back there through August and into September. When we focus our attention on something, drama unfolds. It isn't that we have bad players battling for the safety spots--it is that we have no great players there. Here is what will be key for me: I don't want to hear about how a guy like Brandon Meriweather is "rejuvenated" in May, June or even July. I could care less if Cedric Griffin is "reinventing himself" as a potentially great safety. I have no interest in the potential "leap year" for DeJon Gomes being touted in the summer heat. You get the idea...none of it matters right now. We better get four or five guys ready to play by September and be comfortable with what each of them can do, because we are going to likely have to play them all. I want to hear about guys who are putting in extra classroom time. I want to hear about Reed Doughty providing the new guys with daily downloads of his experience and knowledge. We are going to have to rely on our safeties playing smart this season, because--at least from this vantage point--it doesn't appear that we have guys who can just coast on God-given ability.

3. Running back--This is where I do want to hear about guys showing signs of "getting it" after their first year in the Shanahan's system. This is where I can handle hearing the unnecessary superlatives applied to guys who are still four months away from playing Sunday ball. How does Helu look? Where is Royster's head? How far away is Hightower from being 100%? How are these guys working together? Tell me everything you can about Alfred Morris.

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1. Welcome back, Tim Hightower. Whether or not Hightower returns to the form he displayed on his best day as a Redskin (you pick the day), the fact is that his presence solidifies the running back position. If he is good enough to win the starting job this summer, the Redskins will be sitting very pretty. If Hightower is merely in shape enough to push Helu for the top spot before falling to #2 on the depth chart, the Redskins still win, as Hightower is a heady presence in the backfield and has proven himself to be a capable pass blocker.

2. In his first career start, Roy Helu broke the Redskins all-time record for receptions in a game with 14 grabs. He put together a string of three consecutive 100-yard games late in the season--a franchise record for rookies. One could argue that a player like Helu could be ready to assume the load early in 2012, with a couple of fresh bodies on the sideline to aid the cause. Having Tim Hightower not only allows Mike Shanahan to continue to bring Helu along in a manner that won't add undue tread to his tires, it gives Robert Griffin III a player he should be able to trust on Day One to read blitzes correctly and pick up the right pass rusher to either buy Griffin additional time or simply save him from a crushing hit.

3. My point there is that there is plenty to be optimistic about when it comes to Roy Helu, but this team is in no position to hang its running back position on a second-year guy with a second-year guy backing him up (Evan Royster)--especially when neither guy went 16 games as the primary back in 2011. Once again, Shanahan and Bruce Allen have focused on creating very meaningful depth at a crucial, crucial position. You may have heard exasperated fans or even a talking head or two lament the possible onslaught of dumpoff passes this season in Washington. I am not certain why this is sometimes stated as such a potentially negative thing, especially if it saves Griffin from taking a few extra hits during his rookie year. Before we can even get upset about this though, we have to have guys in the backfield able to get on the same page with Griffin that are capable of both catching as well as quickly turning up the field for what yards there are to get.

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1. "You know...the quarterback that has looked the most comfortable during training camp is Kirk Cousins."
I think this is the lead pipe lock of the century. Someone is going to say it. It might only be true of a snapshot in time...a moment on the practice field that causes a beat reporter or a visiting analyst from ESPN, FOX, or any other major outlet to openly speculate on the controversy that absolutely is not going to be there. Remember to laugh when you hear this. It won't be a true statement. It won't be evidence of the whisper of a thought that Robert Griffin III won't be our starter. It will serve all of the above outlets though as a nice little headline.

2. "I can't wait to see the Redskins have a lot of success utilizing a multi-tight end set."
The Holy Grail of offensive formation strategy banter among Redskins fans the last few seasons! It looks like Chris Cooley will be ready to play this season, so once again, our attention will focus on how the Shanahans are able to get both Cooley and Fred Davis going in a meaningful way to help out the rookie quarterback. Every one of us has had glorious visions of a potent red zone attack featuring Cooley and Davis, but we have fallen short of those lofty expectations. Even Cooley has been frustrated with the team's inability to capitalize from having two gifted pass-catching tight ends. Whether or not the multi-tight end set is one that will fully benefit RG3 remains to be seen, but as long as Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are lighting it up, we will expect to see our own version.

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1. When the Washington Redskins selected quarterback Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of the NFL draft this past weekend, talking heads around the country got the scratching of a lifetime. This just confirms what we all suspected over the last few years: nobody but us is watching the Redskins.

2. We are without first round choices in the next two drafts. I understand that the conventional wisdom, echoed by Peter King in this morning's MMQB, is that Cousins won't turn into a top-flight prospect in the minds of other teams by backing up Rex Grossman and Robert Griffin III. I also understand that there was at least one offensive line prospect on the board (Bobby Massie) that could have potentially contributed more to the team. I don't think the Shanahans picked Cousins with the sole intention of trading him, but I do think that Cousins could represent the kind of bargaining chip in trade discussions that the Redskins have lacked. Even so, I don't think this pick was pure luxury.

3. We all know that the Washington coaches got comfortable with Cousins at the Senior Bowl. None of us would have guessed that this comfort level would have been to the degree where they would be compelled to draft him even with Robert Griffin in the fold. For those that listen to the most ghetto fabulous podcast on the planet--the Hogs Haven Staff Meeting Podcast--you heard last week that Steve Shoup, UK, and myself definitely viewed that extra fourth rounder as a quasi-luxury pick. (None of us was prepared to use it on a quarterback.) Here's my Kool-Aid analysis: If you're Mike and Kyle Shanahan, you think you can take a guy with raw talent and mold him into an NFL starter. It's like flipping a house. You buy low and sell high. You believe that the work you can put into your investment will significantly increase its value. Unlike the current housing market, NFL quarterbacks are still a piping hot commodity. All that said, a LOT has to go your way to be able to flip a quarterback. I am guessing we have all watched enough HGTV to know full well what a miserable game it is to flip houses. Here's hoping the Shanahans fare better at flipping quarterbacks (oh man...now THAT is a great show idea.)

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1. Kevin assures me that Dan Snyder has steadfastly refused to allow HBO bring in their cameras for a season of Hard Knocksin D.C. It seems that HBO's task of finding willing teams in the NFL gets harder every year. I think it would be a mistake to invite any additional scrutiny into what will already be a circus this summer, so you have to hope that Dan Snyder stays resolute. One thing we all know: if Hard Knocks had been filming back in 2000, Dan Snyder would have paid them to come to Redskins Park. I like to think these are the kinds of things we fans can point to as evidence of maturation on the part of our owner. Baby steps.

2. I was getting my hair cut last week and the dude sitting in the chair next to mine asked a question we have all either heard or spoken in the last decade: Will the Redskins ever win a Super Bowl as long as Dan Snyder is the owner? My answer is always the same: "I sure hope so." This question gets asked to me as if there is some thought that we will change owners after another decade of futility. That is not how it works. Owners don't go anywhere--especially rich ones that grew up as fans of the team that they currently own. There are very few scenarios that could play out that would result in Snyder ceasing to be the owner of the Redskins. It is not a game worth playing. We all hope that our team will contend for a title at some point. Whenever that occurs, Snyder will almost definitely be the owner.

3. Have you read Rick Maese's article yet from this past weekend? It reads like sports porn for Redskins fans. I think my favorite part just might have been in the first few sentences: "...a home that features a Washington Redskins flag high atop a flagpole in the front yard--sacrilege here in the middle of Dallas Cowboys country..." Awesome.

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1. The NFL has us by the short and curlies, don't they? They schedule a primetime release of the 2012 schedule and we swarm like bees to honey. Out of all the "events" scheduled during the NFL's offseason though, this one is the first one to really get our heads pointed in a singular direction. We knew who we were playing. Now we know when we are playing them. Although we know that this matters a ton, the reasons that make this matter are mostly unknown to us at this point. Who knows who will be injured and when? Who knows when teams will be hot and when they will be cold? And let's not forget...who knows if we will be good enough to exploit ANY of that?

2. One thing we do know: our season opener is as daunting as they come. Playing the Saints in their dome is never easy, but you have to figure they will be ready to prove to the world that the whole bounty thing won't define them in 2012 (it will). Of course Drew Brees will be under center, throwing for a million yards to wide open receivers. It is going to be a long day for the burgundy and gold. Reality, logic and sound reasoning dictate that the Saints will be the stone-cold, deed-to-the-house, first-born, lead pipe lock of the century in their home opener. Not so fast. There is one thing that happens every year on the first week of the NFL season: a team that nobody thought was ready to compete with the big boys shows up and shocks the league. In fact, wasn't it just one year ago that the Redskins upset the Giants in Week One? In 2010, wasn't it the Redskins that knocked off the Dallas Cowgirls in Week One in a game that NOBODY picked Washington to win? The common denominator in those games was they both took place at FedEx, and Mike Shanahan had months to gameplan. New Orleans is a different ball of wax entirely. On the bright side, nobody has any tape of RG3 in the pros to watch. Nobody has any tape of the way Shanahan will deploy RG3. We will have a small element of surprise there, but it says here that Rex Grossman will have to play one of his best games as a Redskin if we have any chance of winning on the road in New Orleans on September 9, 2012.

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1. I still can't stop noodling that McNabb incident. You know, it's probably true that most NFL fans thought the Redskins mistreated or disrespected Don Burgundy. The majority of observers likely believed that the Shanahans at least mishandled the situation. People came to his defense in the national media, didn't they? People respected McNabb enough to believe it, didn't they? I think that the reason there are more people today not siding with Don Burgundy is Don Burgundy. (Unless RG3 comes here, bombs out, costs the Shanahans their jobs and legacies and sets the franchise back five to seven years...in which case McNabb looks like a genius and probably takes over for Sonny Jurgensen in the booth.) Donovan has always seemed to make all the right moves, Craig T. Nelson-style, when it came to his image. This was not in line with that history.

2.BUBBA!!!

3. Nice work by the CBS camera crew and commentators pointing out that opening in the tree canopy prior to Bubba Watson using it to frame one of the most awesome shots you'll ever see to win a Masters. Shrek, great round.

4. I am all offensive line, all the time when it comes to the draft lately, but if a guy who is capable of starting for us at safety is available at the top of the third round, I just don't see how we could pass that up. I have openly campaigned for Markelle Martin, the safety out of Oklahoma State, in that spot. I think what makes me feel better about that is the potential availability of an offensive lineman like Jeff Allen, the tackle out of Illinois, in the fourth round. We can find a guy capable of starting on our offensive line in the fourth round. Whether that is saying more about our offensive line or more about the offensive line depth in this draft...who cares?

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1. Another week, another seven days of lustily discussing Robert Griffin III. I feel like he has been a Redskin for 17 years already. Is he in the Ring of Fame yet?

2. Ryan Leaf getting arrested for burglary couldn't come at a worse time for me. With our second overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft likely to be used on the second quarterback off the board, I simply can't be subjected to Ryan Leaf stories. These cautionary tales of "can't miss" quarterback prospects are freaking me out, man!

3. Of course Mike and Kyle Shanahan are going to cater their system to the skills and strengths of Robert Griffin. Of course they are going to adapt their style on the sidelines to put the rookie in the best position to succeed. Of course Mike Shanahan is going to check his ego at the door in 2012 to maximize his and everyone else's chances of winning as soon as possible. (For best results, repeat this 25 times per day while holding your favorite Redskins jersey.)

4. Just like so many of his passes, Donovan McNabb's criticism of Shanahan and the Redskins is late and in the dirt. Come on, dude...you wait until AFTER you sucked out loud in Minnesota to call out Shanahan? You wait until AFTER you lost your job to a rookie to blame the Shanahans for your shabby performance here? You wait until AFTER nobody has called to inquire about your availability for the 2012 season to suggest that not even one of the most coveted rookies in years could thrive under Shanahan? (I do see the irony in being a bit late myself in calling McNabb's recent bitterness late.)

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