It's been a minute since I've done one of these, so here's what is flossing around the Redskins internet world. First up is Chris Mottram over at Mr. Irrelevant, commenting on the Portis/Landry 500:

Portis and Landry had a disagreement during practice over the weekend. The topic of contention: Who is faster. So, they decided to settle the dispute in the safest possible manner: Push their hamstrings to the brink in a meaningless 40-yard race while the Zorn Star was preoccupied with reporters.

Incidentally, Landry jokingly said something inaudible about his hamstring after the race. I don't think he was the least bit serious. I can't join Chris in complaint over the way these guys are treating their bodies, first and foremost because these kinds of things make for great print, and secondly because they aren't playing badminton. (Although with all the hamstring injuries from last year, I can't very well blame Chris for his concern either.)

Per Redskins 360 comes some info on remaining salary cap moneys:

The Redskins' rookie pool is $4.544 million, leaving them with about $3 million to spend on veteran free agents and for a reserve fund to replace players who are injured during the season.

Also, Vinny sets the timeline on when we'll begin negotiations with the rookie class: we'll start next month.

Excellent news per the Official Site on Reed Doughty, who had a good excuse to miss mini camps:

Doughty left Redskins mini-camp on Sunday to go to a local hospital to be with [his son] Micah, who developed a fever over the weekend.

Micah underwent a kidney transplant earlier this year, complicating matters.

It turned out that Micah's fever was unrelated to the transplant. As of Monday afternoon, Micah's condition had improved. He is expected to be released from the hospital in a day or two.

Thrilled that his son is ok. This time last year Micah was battling for his life. I can't imagine (sonless, childless) the stress that puts on a player who is already in an intensely competitive environment. Doughty used it:

The urgency to take care of his son has driven Doughty hard to secure an NFL future.

And used it well. His position with the team 12 months ago was tenuous, and now, as far as I can tell, he's the starting safety. It's probably a misnomer to say that he's filling the shoes of Sean Taylor, as it was really LaRon Landry shifted to Taylor's old position, but Doughty made his way into the depth chart and he's done an admirable job since. I wish him and his family the best.

Ugh, per AOL Fanhouse comes some news on Fred Davis and a dreadful comparison:

The Washington Post's Jason Reid writes that "some draft evaluators reported that USC tight end Fred Davis exhibited poor work habits and made questionable decisions at times." The Redskins considered him too much of a talent to pass up, and three days into his NFL career, Davis missed practice...

In the scheme of things, this is nothing. Of course, that's what people said when Brandon Lloyd first starting acting out.

One can only hope that Davis' acting out is a result of youth that can be fixed with proper coaching. We've got a lot of leaders on this team, one in particular at that position, and hopefully if there are lingering "work habits" issues, they can be hammered out.

Speaking of the leader, he's probably going to become the banner carrier of all bloggers, everywhere. Now that Captain Chaos has joined us in our mother's basement, he's not afraid to take on anyone as a blogger. He's also a lot bigger than most bloggers, so that works too:

PTI talked about my last Yahoo post and I would like to say thanks for not talking too much shit about me on ESPN. I mean come on Tony, I make it to the pro bowl and the least I can get out of you is “a mid-round pick” with a load of sarcasm. Was that because you “hate” bloggers?

It was just a couple of months ago that Michael Wilbon threatened to beat down Dan Steinberg. The full exchange:

MW: You like that? see I'm gonna go South Side on you, Cheeseboy [Dan Steinberg is Cheeseboy], I'm gonna come and beat you down.

Cindy Boren: Nooooo.

MW: And it can be done. So I won't have to blog, I won't have to write about you, I won't have to talk about you. Just a beat down.

TK: That was good

CB: But you're skinny now, you can't beat on people.

TK: He can beat the Cheeseboy.

CB: I don't know....

TK: How big is the Cheeseboy? Wait a second, do I have this wrong, the last time I saw the Cheeseboy--now granted that's a long time ago--he looked like a kid in 'Into the Wild' after a while. He didn't weigh anything. Am I wrong on that?

CB: He's a vegetarian, you know.

MW: He's a what?

CB: A vegetarian.

MW: A sportswriter who's a vegetarian? That's another reason.

TK: Wilbon wants to beat him down.

MW: I'm gonna come beat you down.

Cooley is going to be on Blog Show later today so maybe Dan Steinberg can convince him to return the rhetorical favor. The important thing to remember in all this is that Chris Cooley is still blogging, and therefore all is right in the world.

Jason has the newest Redskins signings:

The Redskins announced that they've signed QB Derek Devine, the 6-3, 222-pound former Marshall QB who signed as a rookie free agent with Seattle in 2007 and was released before the season, and safety Patrick Ghee, who also signed as a rookie free agent with the Seahawks in 2007 and was released before the season.

Camp fodder and I will be impressed if either of them makes it beyond the practice squad. The cuts were Alonzo Dotson, Bret Meyer, Kevin Mitchell, and Justin Scott. Second commenter notes that the two guys signed both heave a Seattle connection.

Hog Heaven's Greg Trippiedi has five Redskins he thinks could breakout in 2008. They are: Landry, Montgomery, Demetric Evans, McIntosh, and Heyer. Not a bad list, though I hope Heyer doesn't breakout in 2008 as that would be contingent on an injury to one of the starters. I think Evans is probably a situational relief rusher and isn't going to develop into more though I hope I'm wrong. Of the five, I like Mt. Gomery to develop the most, so we're quoting on him:

Anthony Montgomery

After Landry, Montgomery’s development is by far the most critical, both on the team level and a personal level. He’s going to be playing the nose position again this year on defense, and he’s surrounded on defense by the following:

3 players who are contributors, but past their prime (Springs, Fletcher, Daniels)
2 players on the back end of their primes (Washington, Griffin)
2 players in their prime, but are coming off career years (Carter, Smoot)
2 players who are young and largely unproven (Doughty, McIntosh)
LaRon Landry

You could throw Montgomery in the young and unproven group, but he’s proven himself, at least at his current role of anchoring at the point of attack. That’s good enough to hold his job. However, if the Redskins are to avoid a collapse of the front seven, they will need the young guy, Montgomery, to improve his game into other areas. He’s got the skills to be a decent pass rusher, and the Redskins need to see that. Otherwise, it’s all about consistency with Montgomery. Can he be an every down player? Or will Phillip Daniels need to spell him on passing downs. He’s in a (restricted) contract year, so 1.5 million dollars depends on it.

Typical Greg Trippiedi, it is excellent, entertaining analysis to get you through the offseason, and there's loads more over at Hog Heaven that I haven't shamelessly ripped to my own site.

I'm studying for my last final (Thursday) for the rest of the day and tomorrow. Entertain yourselves in the comments section here, fanposts on the right, or in fanshots, which are really growing on me. Sometimes a good story speaks for itself and doesn't need my endless pontification, so you'll be seeing me promote a lot of fanshots to the front page since it saves me time while simultaneously getting the word out on stories Redskins fans and reader(s) care about. Have at them. Remember, though, that Fanshots aren't only for links or videos; you can do lists, chats, quotes, or images. Take full advantage.

 

That's the blog talking to you. Heavy shit, I know.

I am out for the weekend and the fort shall be held down by TexSkins in my absence. The big news this weekend is that you guys need to help him in selectin the Redskins next pick in the SB Nation Mock Draft. Maybe I'll be around. Probably not.

In even bigger news, this place is getting changed dramatically next week. Hogs Haven is due for a serious face lift come Monday, I've heard morningish. The new site will look more like this except for the fact that Athletics Nation is the flagship SB Nation Blog and the content there is way better and more than 7 people read it and so it really won't look all that much like this except for the new glitz and glamor.

The migration is a huge deal that I am neither apt nor willing to get into now. We are going to explore the changes together, as most of its effects relate directly to how much more easily I can communicate with you clowns. I should have a post up on Monday describing some of the substantive website changes and how they benefit you. It will be a learning process for both reader(s) and yours truly, and all I ask is you give the new website a chance. I cannot wait. I may have peed myself in anticipation.

Enjoy your weekend.

PS: Just so we're clear, you are now on notice that this place is going to look totally different by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. Don't anybody say WTF, mate? It's not like the end of the world, mang.

And did you know it? Own up.

As of January of this year Scott Campbell became one of the most important people with the Redskins:

The syntax in the sentence suggests that he received a non promotion promotion, but what I think they are trying to say is that he previously handled college scouting and pro scouting separately at different times in his career, and that he's finally now in charge of both all at once. Incidentally, this makes him an extremely influencial (and accountable!) person at Redskins park.

With a hat tipped towards PFT, the Post today called Campbell Vinny Cerrato's Draft Day Lieutenant. It goes farther:

Interesting insight on the vast assortment of duties that Cerrato has to address. While I'm still a big fan of bringing in a traditional GM, perhaps my reasons for that are largely irrational. So long as Vinny Cerrato is capable at whatever title he holds at any given moment, I don't see a drastic need to bring in new blood with a new title. In understanding what it is that Scott Campbell does, it begins to become clear that regardless of whether the team has a person titled "General Manager" there are people responsible for the things that make the creation of an NFL roster possible. (I still like the idea of centralized control with a purpose, as that has worked too often in other situations. Maybe Vinny Cerrato is the GM in everything but name? I dunno.) More on the decision making heirarchy: Moving away from the WaPo piece, there's a video at Redskins.com that is current enough of Scott Campbell talking about his general duties with the team. The video is overwhelmingly boring unless you are hyper-obsessed with the team -- I am -- but does have a few interesting tidbits. The ones I'll repeat for those of you who care not about watching the entire video:

First, Scott took the reporter back to the big draft board, which was blurred out. On the far wall were the players they were looking at, and I imagine they will alter that board daily. On the near wall, which was not viewable by the camera and Campbell said he was not permitted to show us, was a list of players who had been taken off the big board because of character issues; arrests for instance. The Redskins will have an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is on recruiting character come the actual draft (the big board does not apply to Jerome Mathis, obviously) but it's interesting to hear the team explicitly articulate, through Campbell, it's intention to not draft any questionable character guys.

Second, it may reveal much or nothing at all, but Campbell did say that Mr. Snyder -- he corrects himself, he really meant Danny -- will be in the room on draft day. Hardly surprising, as you'd expect the owner to be in the draft room on draft day. But he goes on to say that they'll be in there discussing a lot over the days up to the draft, and it isn't clear whether he meant "they" as in staff and Vinny and others or "they" as in Scott and staff and Vinny and Mr. Snyder/Danny. Is that even especially odd? No, it's his team, so he would give a shit about who they draft. What I want to know is his role in that room during those discussions. That is the aspect of the team's heirarchy which is under constant speculation and scrutiny that the team could go a long ways towards quieting by simply taking us step-by-step through a typical draft decision, after the fact so as to protect the integrity of the process. Is Snyder watching game tape? I can't imagine he would be, but a more likely role is that he's in there exerting influence on the staff because he wants player X or player Y... perhaps for the perfectly reasonable excuse that player X or player Y will increase ticket sales.

Now that's not how I want the team making personnel decisions, but an owner would certainly care about those kinds of considerations.

I doubt this post sheds much light on the manner in which decisions are made at Redskins Park, but it's a start. I'm going to focus this season and in the future on trying to find out, specifically, how it is decisions are made, by whom, and with what input. I think all fans want more access to how the team operates and naturally that would extend to draft day maneuvers and personnel decisions. What I'm really talking about is trying to figure out what the owner's role is.

I'm extremely uncomfortable attacking the content of traditional media since their product is the result of professional work whereas mine is usually garbled nonsense that less often than not makes a damn bit of sense. I'm especially uncomfortable doing so when there is an actual name attached to a professional media product, since now I am anonymously (would you believe Skin Patrol isn't my real name? - Will Allensworth) attacking someone else's hard work. Fortunately this Yahoo Sports! article, which I am probably taking far too much umbrage from, is anonymous and thus gets derision from me without as much reservation. The premise is simple enough:

At the risk of contradicting myself shortly, although conceptually there isn't anything difficult to ingest from the above, the idea that anyone can know with great certainty who the single decision maker is with an NFL franchise -- and said franchises are notorious for secrecy and obscurity in such decisions, some moreso than others (see: Redskins) -- is a bit aggressive, in my opinion. It is also, for the most part, unproductive; the labor of hundreds of individuals goes into determining which of many young college athletes an NFL franchise selects and identifying Individual X as the decider may speak towards accountability, but it doesn't tell us much about the process under which decisions are made or help predict that ultimate choice.

Whether this is a worthwhile endeavor aside, I don't even agree with their conclusion:

Only Jerry Jones (Dallas) and Mike Brown (Bengals) were likewise distinguished among the 32 teams as owners who make those decisions.

I disagree that Dan Snyder has the most influence over who the team selects in the draft. Redskins Nation's collective experience this offseason has been that it belongs to Vinny Cerrato. My word need not be taken for this fact, for instance:

If I was forced to select a single individual who I thought decided the Redskins draft picks, it would be Cerrato over Snyder. However, I think as relates to this team, that effort (in trying to single out said individual) is especially pointless since the heirarchy isn't clear all the time. Sometimes I think Dan Snyder makes decisions. Last year I thought Joe Gibbs made most of the decisions. Vinny Cerrato has been here for years, though, certainly influencing the direction of the team on any number of manners, including the draft.

Regarding the later charge, that the Redskins don't have a full complement of draft picks, while technically true it is extremely misleading. If by "full complement of draft picks" the article really literally means a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th round pick, then sure, that's true; I imagine that's true of most teams, actually. For instance, in 2000 the poor Redskins didn't have a full complement of draft picks as defined above, since they had to settle for two 1st rounders without any 2nd round picks (they also had an additional 7th rounder). In 2002, the team lacked a 4th round pick, though it did have two 3rd round picks, two 5th round picks, and two 7th rounders.

Likewise this year we lack a 4th rounder... but we have two picks in the 3rd round. I'd rather pick at 96th than 119th (pick Denver has from us) though and hardly think that our lack of a 4th rounder qualifies us as the type of team lacking a full contingent of picks. We're loaded with picks, at least relative to recent years. Compare this with the near gushing praise of another team:

Aren't the Browns without a pick until the 4th round?

Lily Stefano emailed me yesterday; she is the Player Management/Events Coordinator/Public Relation person for the Brother Moss (our Santana, their Sinorice) and she had a number of videos from the Moss Brother Celebrity Weekend:

The first video is from the link provided above. The rest of the videos are below:

Ocho Cinco introduces

I think Reggie Wayne introduces

DISCLAIMER: I can't figure out how to fucking format these videos, so they aren't on center. Computers baffles me...

Don't know, but it relates to comic books, which is cool

Mike Furrey introduces

Who knows

You know I'm a big fan of charity support and that's one of a hundred reasons I love the Brothers Moss, specifically the Brother Santana. Or "Tanaman" as he is known by teammates; I am morally convinced Demetric Evans replied on the internet to the first link in this post saying:

In that response he links to a very professional and smartly done 92 Blessings website that launched just weeks ago. What is 92 Blessings all about? From 92's mouth to you: Hail to Demetric Evans, to Santana Moss, and for the hell of it, to rival Giant but nonetheless do-gooder, Sinorice Moss.

I prematurely pointed towards Pete Schmitt as the backup to Mike Sellers at FB, as that position is now considerably more interesting. Per the Official Site:

Which means in front of Schmitt, and I don't know if we'll keep three fullbacks, especially with former FB Rock Cartwright on the roster to serve as the emergency guy there. In fact I'm damn near sure we won't keep tres fullbacks.

The Redskin Reporter Lee Gibbons, who has been doing this better and longer than I have, had this to say:

Lee Gibbons is a glorious Redskins Blogger, but this clear attack on Pete Schmitt cannot go unchallenged. I am instigating a Blogwar with The Redskin Report and am calling it right here, right now that Pete Schmitt will be the backup fullback for Your Washington Redskins. I say that knowing damn well that the mere act of me choosing Pete Schmitt to succeed makes that outcome less likely than not. Still, with so little to get excited about in the offseason, why not instigate some much needed invented drama by taking the underdog Pete Schmitt over Captain Nemo (who I wish only the best, ditto towards Lee Gibbons).

Hogs Haven is a functioning democracy when it comes to important matters, such as the NFL draft. Re: Pete Schmitt, this is a dictatorship.

Preseason schedule was released at the Official Site. It is:

I try never to make much of the preseason but do appreciate the fact that we have the Hall of Fame game. This is especially sweet since two deserving Redskins, Art Monk and Darrell Green, got in (or finally made it in Monk's case). We play the Bills for our home opener at FedEx Field, then preview the Meadowlands for the home opener we play there to start the regular season. Apparently this is the 2nd time in a row we've closed out the preseason against the Jaguars, though I honestly cannot remember a single preseason opponent we had last year.

We return a lot of obvious starters so the preseason does not entail any truly fascinating positional battles that only a, for instance, quarterback controversy can generate. Cruising down the roster, which is sure to change, here are the guys I want to see the most out of this pretend football season:

1. Byron Westbrook (CB) - He's a bit of a fan favorite because there's a presumption that his mere name association with another famous Westbrook necessarily means he's a star. I like his chances of making the team this year better than last because of injuries at that position.
   
2. Chris Wilson (DE) - Came on fire at the end of last season as a reliable pass rusher, but I'd like to see more of a complete game out of him if I'm willing to claim him the heir apparent to Phillip Daniels. He will see substantial time against players who didn't perform nearly as well last year as he did.
   
3. Lorenzo Alexander (DT by day, crime fighting superhero by night) - I just want to see what this guy will (or won't) do. Labels have thus far proven incapable of limiting Lorenzo as he's both willing and able to play any number of positions.
   
4. Pete Schmitt (FB) - I have ulterior motives. I love Mike Sellers, and I had high hopes for Nemo to be the backup FB, but injuries have made me wonder whether he can be that guy. In comes Pete Schmitt, a potentially unlikely hero from Wisconsin-Whitewater, undrafted. If not for a shoulder injury he may still have been on the roster last year and wouldn't have needed re-signing to the team under new management. Also, I found a pretty rad Professional Football Simulator called Goal Line Blitz, wanted to make a fullback, and named him after Pete Schmitt (Mike Sellers was obviously taken). /Full Disclosure. You'll still be hearing me ranting about this guy throughout the offseason and preseason. Please succeed, Pete.
   
5. HB Blades (LB) - The Hamburglar played well enough in reserves last year and I still think he's going to end up a steal from last year's draft. All the guy ever did in college was tackle people and I have every confidence he'll continue. With a year under his belt (and London Fletcher a year older though somehow totally resistent to the effects of aging) he'll see plenty of snaps in the preseason.
   
6. Tyler Ecker (TE) - Injury kept him out of the spotlight last year but he'll have another chance in 2008. Pleasently surprised I was by the production of Todd Yoder, hrumm? Yea, but I'd like to see young Ecker get his chance as well. Worse case scenario he pushes Yoder to be even better. I'd include Chris Cooley in there as well, but he can't possibly get any better.
   
7. Anthony Mix (WR) - The future according some, among them me. He has the physical size that makes Redskins fans demanding a possession receiver believe in him based on yet-seen expectations of success. Regardless, the time is now for Mix to earn his way up the depth chart, now that we've jettisoned Brandon Lloyd, failed to re-sign Reche Caldwell, and have left him alone to compete with Burt Toler and Billy McMullan.

Add your own below.

Crazy thought, huh?

Amid allegations that Vinny Cerrato is responsible may get lost the fact that the Redskins interviewed a lot of head coaching candidates, and some of them priced their way out of town. For instance:

That's a pretty good little paycheck for Spagnuolo. To give you an idea of how much the Redskins have paid for coaches, remember that this one time the Redskins...: It's like monopoly money. And indeed that was so 2002, as Spurrier was the then highest paid coach, later replaced by... Twice in a row the Redskins made their head coach the best compensated. 5.7M a year ain't so bad, and it doesn't affect the salary cap since coaching salaries are not included.

I'd be indebted to any reader who can track down the terms of Jim Zorn's contract in Washington. I can't find the damn thing anywhere. But via ESDB via Inside USC, potential and interviewed Redskins coaching candidate Pete Carroll picked up on the trend in Washington. His demands...

8 Million a year was too much even for Dan, although that speculates Head Coach Jim Zorn makes some amount less than 8 mil, which I'm sure he does but cannot state confidently because I can't find the damn terms. In any event, interesting turn of events for a team that has, under Snyder's tenure at least, spared no expensive when it comes to HC.

We have a lot of money because Washington claims the greatest fans in the nation:

The actual news today is that the Redskins signed Pete Schmitt. That's actually about four days old news but it's worth noting late because...

This serves as a good refresher on the status of Tyler Ecker, our last draft pick in 2007. Unfortunate injury sidelined him but did provide ample opportunities for Todd Yoder to shine as Chris Cooley's Robin. (Perhaps an inappropriate analogy, since Sammy Baugh may have claim to being Batman.) Also a refresher that Batman is wise: Heavy stuff.

Here I say -- Golly, I sure hope Schmitt has a longer, more productive tenure in Washington than Kenyatta Jones did -- thus allowing me a segue into the much more entertaining and only slightly tragic story of a troubled former Redskin who just couldn't hold it. The former Patriot fell out with his old team after allegedly assaulting someone with water, really, really, hot water. I can't find the disposition of the case, but you aren't afforded leniency on account of style points.

But apparently the Redskins were impressed because we caught him, then released him on the much more serious offense of being injured. He found his way to the Tampa Bay Storm, which may or may not be a professional field hockey team, and now got himself into some truly bodacious trouble:

As awesome as public urination is, battering a law enforcement officer is certainly not a good idea and should be discouraged. But it should be discouraged independent pissing on what I imagine to be a niceish bar that serves overpriced martinis. What is this, Russia?

He got tasered, bro:

Besides Jones, of course, who was injured physically by the taser and emotionally by the cruel restriction the state imposes on releasing urine. Viewed in that light, aren't we all victims?

First, today is the opening day of the 2008 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft.

Let's get it on... (Image from here.)

Be sure to check out Mocking the Draft regularly over the next few weeks as they go through two full rounds (and maybe a third depending on time restraints) of their mock draft.  The Miami pick is already in the books, so expect the first post to be up very soon.  The Rams are, as they say, on the clock.  Good stuff.

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In related mock draft news, the Mile High Report version is already underway.  

Who wins for best Mock Draft logo? (Image from here.)

Stay tuned for the Skins' pick, which should be up in the next few days.  Unlike the SBN Mock Draft, the Mile High Report's version allows for trades, which is already making things interesting.   (Philly trading into the top 5???  You must be out your mind.)  It is, as they say, in full swing.

(P.S.  With all these mock drafts underway, it might be high time for the annual Hogs Haven version, aye?  Stay, as they say, tuned.)

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Next up, I want to point out a very good diary from none other than our own CaptChaosSidekick.  Go read up on some Redskins history.  That makes two very well done diaries in a row.  The man is, as they say, on a roll.  Again, good stuff.

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Now, the not-so-good stuff.  The Sean Taylor murder trial has been postponed until August 25th.  The trial was origionally scheduled for April 7th, but both side agreed to the continuance.  To give you some sort of idea of the new time frame, this means the trial now starts less than 2 weeks before the Redskins kick off the NFL season against defending the Super Bowl champion NY (football) Giants.  As they say, so it goes.

As always, feel free to tell me what I missed.  Hit up the comments section for any and all, as they say, comments.