John Keim has covered the Washington Redskins since 1994. Follow his work at WashingtonExaminer.com and WarpathConfidential.com.
Who's ready for some Haynesworth and HGH questions? Well, sorry to disappoint. Imagine if Haynesworth was the one that was busted for the HGH...wouldn't that be a mind blaster (although the injections went back to 2007)? Anyway, I asked Keim what he's seeing out of OL Coach Chris Foerster and if the old horse Joey Galloway slowed down at all in his second camp.
Hogs Haven: With all the guys the Redskins have brought in on the DL, why don't you think they've done the same with the OL? The depth seems to be really lacking in quantity and quality.
That's an excellent question. Part of the difference is that Washington needed more D-linemen who could play a 3-4. And don't forget half their ends are now outside linebackers. Also, I'm not sure they really know who will emerge yet from this group as the starters, so it could be as simple as trying to get as many guys as they can and hope some of them come through. Also, they did draft three O-linemen and signed a handful of others; at least 40 percent of their line will be new. So it's not like they ignored it, but I also think they have a ways to go before this group is a solid one, both in terms of starters and depth.
Hogs Haven: Is Josh Bidwell really the only Punter on this roster? I'd imagine they're looking into bringing someone else. Any updates on guys they're looking at? (I had heard Hunter Smith wanted more $.)
No updates; I would expect Bidwell to have the job in camp. If he's healthy he should be fine; he was solid a couple years ago. Hunter wasn't exactly in the position to bargain considering the season he had.
Hogs Haven:
Redskins fans know what they got with Joe Bugel, have you gotten a glimpse into Chris Foerster's style/approach yet?To be honest, I paid more attention to Buges simply because he was Buges. You pay attention to the legends to see what makes them so good. I have not paid much attention to how Foerster is working with his group. One problem is that the linemen typically work further (farther?) away from where we're allowed to stand than any other unit so you can barely tell who's who. I'll get a better feel for that in training camp when the O-line and D-line does their one-on-one work (my favorite stuff).
But I will say this about Foerster: I like talking to him about players. He's great at analyzing what guys do well, giving you a lot of depth. Buges did that, but not to this extent and in the end Buges seemed to love guys even when they weren't that good (take a guess who). That's part of being a coach, but it made it hard to know what was real or what wasn't in terms of his platitudes.
I'll be curious to see how Foerster fares; he was not the best mix in San Francisco as he prefers zone blocking while Niners coach Mike Singletary liked more of a power game. He'll be helped by the head coach, no doubt. But this line still needs work so he'll become a bigger story in camp.
Hogs Haven:
How did Joey Galloway fare? Is the old horse slowing down in his second camp?
Hard to say because a guy like Galloway should look good now. He's getting open and catching passes. He caught a nice pass on the sideline today, then had Keenan McCardell shout at him to turn upfield and run about 15 more yards to a cone. I liked that McCardell kept on him to turn and run (Galloway didn't hear him at first; McCardell was about 15 yards away).
This is probably a better offense for him than New England's, which is considered a very difficult one to pick up. Still, I'm not confident he has a lot left (and I say that as a Buckeye myself). My guess is they'll hold onto him for a while, in part because of Santana Moss' knee. They need another speed guy at this spot just in case. Plus it has to be good for Malcolm and Devin to have guys like Galloway and McCardell working with them.
It's hard to imagine Selvish Capers or Erik Cook could perform well if called upon early in their first season, so guess time will tell.
Thanks as always to John Keim.