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Read and React – August 16^th – Week 2 of Pre-Season

Trent Williams and Chris Chester will likely play on Saturday against Chicago.  If healthy, the starting line has a chance to be pretty good, but at certain points this week everyone but Will Montgomery has been or had been injured.  It’s the single most worrisome thing about the Redskins going into the season.

Rich Campbell did a really nice job on Monday in an interview with RGIII about his adjustment to calling audibles in the pro game.   Griffin credits the coaching staff with doing a great job explaining the appropriate options for certain plays in the playbook.  Campbell also finds an interesting nugget from Kyle Shanahan from August 2010 stating that the OC likes to minimize pre-snap audibles wherever possible, to have the responses to different looks come from hot routes.  “We usually have an answer built in to most of our plays, Kyle said.

CFA believes the Redskins are going to incorporate some of the more progressive strategies coming out of the college game.  We think the offseason free agent and draft moves indicate the Skins will incorporate a lot of spread option offensive looks with similarity to what Tim Tebow ran in Florida under Urban Meyer (and RG3 ran at Baylor).   In addition to the Spread, the no-huddle offense that Oregon and other teams have used so well makes perfect sense for the Redskins to run, given the speedy, athletic makeup of their offensive linemen.   Shanahan’s zone blocking running game is principally concerned with wearing out the defensive line, so it’s obvious the Shanahans believe in tiring out a defense.  The best way to do that is with the no-huddle, and I would think having reads to compensate for what the defense is doing already embedded in the play would make the offense easier to use in a no-huddle situation.  The less time a quarterback has to spend shouting instructions on the road, the better.

To that end, Campbell discussed the importance of using tempo to put pressure on defenses with RGIII in Monday’s practice report.   He’s also excited about Dezmon Briscoe’s as well as Keenan Robinson’s.  Also noteworthy, the Skins are no longer misplaying Kevin Barnes in the slot.  He needs to be able to use his physicality to bracket receivers to the outside; he’s not great in space.   The Redskins need Cedric Griffin to be that guy, which is to say, we’re very questionable at slot corner.

RC1 started of Tuesday’s practice report with a discussion of RG3’s ability to turn around our red zone offense.  Football Outsiders found that red zone efficiency is mainly a myth – good offenses and good defenses are generally good in the Red Zone and vice versa.   But I don’t think there’s been enough data specific to having a dynamic running quarterback (of which there’s been maybe 5 who regularly started in the past 10 to 15 years) to say that there is or isn’t correlation between that type of player and improved red zone efficiency.  Basically – we think that having a running quarterback will definitely help us in the red zone, but that theory hasn’t been proven or disproven by the data yet.  Check back later, maybe we’ll get around to it.  Campbell also noticed

In yesterday’s injury report, Campbell wrote that pretty much everyone on the line is somewhat hurt, and a lot of guys may miss the game against Chicago, however, none of the injuries are very serious.  Helu apparently needs to stretch more.

Apparently the reason for Niles Paul’s dropfest against Buffalo was that he stopped practicing catching the ball.  We were pretty much thinking the same thing.

Rich Tandler did a nice job this week of breaking down who’s definitely making the roster and the guys who are on the bubble.  Check both of those out, frankly, we agree with him on basically every player.    CSN also did a nice job breaking down Dez Briscoe.

Pre-Season Week 1

CFA agrees with everyone else that RGIII and Pierre Garcon played as well as can be expected.  While this is week 1 of preseason, Buffalo did have its starters on the field for the entire time our first team offense was out there.  While Griffin will go through an adjustment period like any other rookie, we think if he can remain alive behind our line, he should be able to be effective immediately.  We liked what we saw out of Hankerson and Josh Morgan as well.  Those are the four newish skill players on offense that have to contribute in significant ways for the team to be successful.

In terms of the line, Trent Williams showed All-Pro quality talent – and then got injured.  At this point, if he’s able to play, we think we can count on him to be a tremendous asset.  We also think Chris Chester will be fine as will Will Montgomery.  LG and RT are the key trouble spots.  Polumbus didn’t make any noteworthy mistakes, but Griffin was very quick in releasing the ball.   In general, we saw very few bright spots from the line that didn’t involve Trent Williams.

Finally, while it’s only a preseason game, Niles Paul has blood on his hands for 3 different first half drives he single handedly murdered by dropping catchable balls.  We like Niles Paul and are encouraging of his transition to a hybrid TE roll.  But he was awful on Thursday, like owed gangsters lots of money and had to throw the game to save his life awful. Fortunately it was preseason and Shanahan likes him, so he’ll have time to redeem himself.

On defense, Buffalo did not run the ball once with its first team offense, which was odd. They also did pass with much success. The Redskins got pressure on them for the first and third drives, while maintaining zone coverage for the second drive that started in the red zone.  CFA thought Perry Riley stood out, drilling Fitzpatrick on an early blitz and maintaining excellent coverage on a third down play.  He did seem to be at fault on the touchdown pass that was called back, but Buffalo was called for cheating, so it didn’t count.

The lone trouble spot was Stevie Johnson who made plays all over the place, though none of those plays eventually translated into points.  He looked fantastic on the evening.  Beyond the starters, the Redskins backups did fine, but CFA felt the lack of scoring had more to do with the general ineptitude displayed by Buffalo’s second and third string offense.   Cedric Griffin got lost in coverage on Buffalo’s only big play of the game.

Overall, the defense did its job, and the focus was on Griffin and the new receivers.  They did as well as can be expected, so we’re happy –but the line really scares us.

Weekend/Pre-Season Game 1 Media Review, Redskins vs. Bills

Campbell judged RG3 on three main criteria- decision-making, accuracy, and timing.   He reports that the coaches were extremely happy with Griffin’s reads on the two long completions to Garcon on the third drive that end up with a touchdown.   Campbell gave him an A for Quarterback 101 for the day.  In the offensive review, Griffin noted that Garcon actually caught the ball that was ruled an incompletion and stopped the first drive.  He was obviously very positive about the play of Griffin and Garcon.  He noted that Griffin’s quickness getting rid of the ball helped prevent a problem created by Tyler Polumbus getting beaten by Tyler Polumbus, and he also noted that a Buffalo defender went with Griffin on several handoffs protecting against the bootleg.

Campbell was not impressed with either Fred Davis or Chris Cooley on the evening.   The downfield blocking by Trent Williams impressed RC, and he believes Adam Gettis is showing solid progress and athleticism.  Josh LeRibeus did not impress, struggling with combination blocks primarily.  Shanahan disagreed and praised him for his effort.  Compton wasn’t much better.  The waning potential of Brandon Banks making the roster is an opportunity for Aldrick Robinson to step up.  He played well on the evening though mostly with backups.  Niles Paul dropped everything thrown at him, which was disappointing.

Campbell thought Cousins was inaccurate, but he showed a couple of positive moments that he has the tools to develop long-term.  Ditto Alfred Morris.

The Post generally concurs with Campbell’s assessment that Griffin played well in his professional debut.  Shanahan thought he played well both immediately after the game and after watching game film.  Mike Jones really liked Pierre Garcon’s start and he felt the line proved competent if not wildly effective.  Jones felt like Jenkins looked to be shaking off the rust.

After taking a fairly unprovoked shot at Western New York, Jason Reid praised Griffin for his debut, but cautioned that there was still a lot of work to be done.  Leonard Hankerson was delighted to be back on the field and looked effective on his one target, a short out he made a play on to gain 12 yards.

Alfred Morris got some chatter, and even Peter King threw his name out as a dark horse candidate for the RB job.  Tandler thought Gettis, Kehl, Chris Wilson, and Aldrick Robinson improved their chances for making the roster.   Brandon Banks and Kevin Barnes, according to Tandler, did not.  He also felt like the starting defense did an excellent job pressuring Ryan Fitzpatrick into mistakes.

August 7^th Daily Media Debriefing

Rich Campbell thought RGIII had his best practice as a pro or at least exhibited the best timing in synch with the offense.  RC also reports that Shanahan is duly impressed with Pierre Garcon and talking him up.  Rookie left guard Josh LeRibeus had a nice day, so did Dezmon Briscoe.  Brandyn Thompson apparently did not and hasn’t been performing well.  Campbell also wrote an article on Brian Orakpo not really wanting to experiment with new moves.

Mark Maske pulled double duty in the Post today writing about the pass rush and on Kirk Cousins.  Cousins handled the interview masterfully but said absolutely nothing new or interesting.  Ditto pass rushing article, which basically said the same dudes are back and they’re going to try harder to get after the quarterback.

Yes, great idea, let’s do that.

Mike Jones observed that the running back picture is cloudy and the backs will be scrutinized most heavily during game action in the pre-season.   Jones agreed with RC that Griffin looked better today and also made mention of Jarvis Jenkins not looking the same as he did last year.  According to Preston Williams, Eric Cook is sorry about his performance against Buffalo last year.  Don’t tell us, Eric.  Tell John Beck.  We didn’t lose, conservatively, three years of full cognitive functioning off the end of our life due to your inability to keep Marcell Dareus or anyone else out of the backfield that day.

Rich Tandler asks an important question – how f’d are we with Tyler Polumbus at Right Tackle.  The answer: pretty f’d but maybe not completed screwed.

Incidentally, CFA is incredibly bearish on Polumbus having success at right tackle.   The line, outside of Trent Williams, is very worrisome indeed.

August 6^th Daily Media Debriefing

Practice Reports

Chris Chester has a sprained ankle and is questionable for Thursday night’s pre-season game. So he’s fine.

Rich Campbell is still concerned about RGIII’s accuracy.  He’s been up and down all camp according to all observers I’ve read thus far.  Moments of brilliance tempered by lots of holding on to the ball too long and missing open receivers.

He also notes that Hankerson is not suited for play in the slot.

The health, cohesion and competence of everyone on the line except for Trent Williams seems to be under serious question.

On defense, RC laments that Jarvis Jenkins is nowhere near back to the form he showed last year before his injury.  The noise coming out on Jenkins last year was that he was the Second Coming (of Justin Smith).  There’s considerable concern that he won’t be back to that form this year.   He also praises Keenan Robinson’s coverage ability.  Everyone seems to like him (including CFA).

In a full feature for the Times, Campbell talks about the learning curve RGIII is facing learning the requisite timing for the Shanahans’ timing patterns and route combinations. So far he has been holding onto the ball longer then he’ll be aloud to when the yellow no-contact jersey comes off.

WUSA quotes Kory Lichtensteiger as declaring he’ll be ready for Week 1.

The Post Insider people talk about how the Redskins are ready to play someone else, the entire team, and Brian Orakpo specifically.  They agree with Campbell that running back blitz pick up has been a negative issue for the team all camp.  They also say Raheem Morris is high on 7^th round pick Justin Bernstine.  Seems like he’s a long shot for the team but could find a home on the practice squad.

On Real Redskins, Tarik El-Bashir broke down RGIII’s group interview.  Griffin says he’s ready to go.  He’s trying to make the most of his day.  CFA co-signs.   In terms of Monday’s practice, Tandler concurs with the Post’s take on the Skins: they need to hit someone else.  Tandler notes that Tristan Davis has looked good but won’t make the team.  He felt like RGIII got better as the practice moved on and said he was 10-20 on the day with one pick.

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RGIII,

CFA