Albert Haynesworth. What to do? Who would have thought the Redskins could trump the Archuleta bust? It's certainly a different animal though since Albert still is a Pro-Bowl talent. Leave it to the Redskins though to pay a guy with off the field question marks $40 million and put him under a coaching staff that instills zero discipline and is built to fail. Oh, right, and put him in a defensive scheme where the front four blockers hold the line. Shake head. I certainly can't blame Albert though given Blache's misuse and the porous workout program many players have spoken about. Is it too much to ask Albert to stick through it? He's mad. Shanahan's mad. The fans are mad.
So what next?
Shanahan just said on NFL Network with certainty Albert will not be traded, which Titans GM Mike Reinfeldt also confirmed. Given the current state of the DL, I'm not so sure a 3rd round pick is worth more than Haynesworth.
This is a tough call. Let's be realistic. The Redskins have the following defensive front without Haynesworth:
(in no particular order):
|
Defensive Tackles |
Nose Tackles |
Defensive Ends |
|
Kedric Golston |
Ma'ake Kemoeatu (2008) |
Andre Carter |
|
Anthony Montgomery |
Howard Green |
Phillip Daniels |
|
Antoine Holmes |
Adam Carriker (2008) |
Jeremy Jarmon (2009) |
|
Anthony Bryant (2007) |
Rob Jackson |
|
|
Greg Peterson (2009) |
||
|
Brian Orakpo |
The (year) denotes the last action they've seen.
So without Haynesworth, all but one of the 3-4 Nose Tackles have not taken a snap in two years. I think we can all agree we'd love to see Albert moved around the line, but from his standpoint, his strengths are not used. It'd be like using Ovechkin on penalty kills. Why pay him money and tire him out on plays he can't do what he does best? Ah, I know...because you have a knumbnuts front office that was playing fantasy football.
Either way, this Haynesworth issue is going to be a problem this year. He's a competitor and has had success at the highest level. If the defense struggles, there's no WAY Albert takes it quietly because he knows in a 4-3 the QB would be in the dirt. Haslett is a smart guy and will move him around, but at what point does the coaching staff say enough? Is this going to lead to a Keyshawn Johnson in Tampa ending? Suspended by the team for behavior detriment to the team? Guess we'll have to see.
Time will tell if we turned down a 3rd rounder from TEN, but the Redskins as of right now don't have the personnel to carry a 3-4 all year. Howard Green, however, performed well for the Jets. He is 6'2, 320 and played 12 games upfront. I'm thinking the Redskins will have to show ore 4-3 fronts than they wanted to.
Thoughts?