We're going to change this up for this edition of our round table. With defensive end Adam Carriker heading to unrestricted free agency off the back of a career best season in terms of sacks, I thought we should discuss the question facing the Washington Redskins, should we re-sign him?
UkRedskin: I absolutely want Carriker back. He was part of the best defensive line and front seven that we've had in years here in D.C. He wasn't as flashy as Bowen or even Cofield, but he still managed to rack up 34 total tackles and five and a half sacks from the 3-4 defensive end position. To put that in perspective, Houston Texans 3-4 defensive end Antonio Smith is in the Pro Bowl this week with 24 tackles and six and a half sacks. Carriker also takes some credit for Ryan Kerrigan's amazing rookie season. Carriker did his job inside, allowing Kerrigan one on one's on the outside against right tackles and occasionally tight ends. Why would you let that kind of production go?
Steve: Carriker as a 'sack artist' argument I think its been blown well out of proportion. Looking beyond the sacks Carriker managed just 2 QB hits and 7 pressures. To put that in context Stephen Bowen had twice as many of each category despite getting only 174 extra pass rushes. Further more Carriker beat up on weak offensive lines and disappeared the rest of the way. Carriker had 4.5 sacks in the first 8 games, but just 1 sack the rest of the way. I think considering the lack of hits and pressures (or track record of success), that Carriker is a major regression candidate. If you can resign him for about $2.5-3 million a season that is fine, but no way does he deserve $4-6 million a year.
Tiller: Carriker thinks he's due for that big contract, now that his play has dictated that he can contribute at a fairly high level, but wait.......................not so fast! This is no longer the Redskins way. There is no need to pay Carriker top dollar, when he's a slightly above average positional player at best. He doesn't have the athleticism, and pass rush skills that a guy like Bowen or even Cofield possess, and in my opinion, he has reached his NFL ceiling.
Welcome to another edition of Hogs Haven round table. This week we discussed defensive end Stephen Bowen. Bowen's story is one of the more interesting one's. He signed a five year, $27.5 million contract on the same day that his longtime partner since college, Tiffany, gave birth to twin sons (Stephen III and Skyler) four months prematurely. Sadly for Bowen, Skyler died 10 days later while Stephen III fought for his life. All this was happening in his previous home in Dallas (Bowen was a Dallas Cowboy before hitting the open market) while he was away in DC. I urge you to research and read into his story with what he's dealt with this year. It's truly inspiring and deservedly won him the Redskins Ed Block Courage Award. Bowen had a career season, with 41 tackles and an impressive 6 sacks from the 3-4 defensive end position.
Kevin: Bowen is another player that is very difficult to grade. As fans, we generally have no idea what a player is going through in his personal life. We had no idea at the time Carlos was flat broke living on Jason Campbell's couch, just as none of the booing Eagles' fans knew that David Akers was struggling with his daughter's recent cancer diagnosis in those clutch missed playoff FGs. Bowen had it even worse. After his twin sons were born four months early, one passed away while the other hung on for life. Bowen was signed right at that time and spent most of the time in DC while his wife was in Dallas. I can't imagine staying focused, but he was a force early on. 6 sacks and 16 games I'd gladly take from a 3-4 DE. The rushing D was ranked 12th best to runs on that side, so that's solid.
2012 Projected Stats: 16 games, 50 tackles, 6 sacks.
We've been talking a lot about the Redskins offseason plans this week, but lets not forget their is a lot of football still on tap this Saturday and Sunday. The same brain-trust that is Hogs Haven brings you our Wild Card picks for this weekend. A couple of lone wolves in two of the matchups, and none of us believe in Detroit. What does everyone else think about this weekends games?
| Bengals @ Texans Saturday, 4:30 PM, NBC |
Lions @ Saints Saturday, 8 PM, NBC |
Falcons @ Giants Sunday, 1PM, FOX |
Steelers @ Broncos Sunday, 4:30PM, CBS |
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What are the keys to a Redskins victory against the Panthers and did the Redskins make the right move by benching Rex Grossman?
I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Philly's offensive blueprint vs the Skins last week should be exactly how the John Beck era begins. How often did we see Vick do 7-step drops? Almost never. It was all quick throws, screens, slants, and draws. The Skins D never really had a chance to get to him. Why not do the same with Beck? Throwing jump balls down field with 5'10 WRs should never be in our game plan (yet somehow it was). Keep it simple and let the Panthers make the mistakes. After all, the Cats are 5th worst in turnover ratio at -5 (Skins are -3).
I think there are a couple keys to this game, and I said earlier this week that most do not surround the quarterback position. But one thing we absolutely have to do this week, that we didn't do last week, is get into a rhythm and set the tempo. I've never felt a coin toss was important as it was last week. I could just picture the Eagles getting the ball to start and ramming it down our throat, again. Luckily we got the Eagles off the field quickly, but then we couldn't set any sort of offensive rhythm. I think we really need to pound the rock against a Carolina front seven that really only features one good player, Charles Johnson. Offensive tempo also begins on special teams. Brandon Banks can be a lightning rod but he can also nearly kill a drive before it starts. I think continually starting drives at around the 15 yard line starts to wear on an offense and starts to form a mental hurdle. It's important for John Beck to be as comfortable as possible, and starting with 85 or 90 yards in front of you is not my idea of comfort.
I'm fully expecting the Skins front seven to have a big day versus Cam Newton and his offensive line. I think Juice Atogwe may be a key to this game, we need Landry rushing and then we need help against Smith, Olsen, Shockey, and LaFell. I don't think Newton will have much time to throw, but big plays need to be eliminated. One safety blanket the Redskins need to keep their eyes open for is Johnathan Stewart catching the ball out of the backfield, he has been very beneficial in the passing game for the Panthers this year.
Back with another edition of Redskins round table. TWith week 2 of the preseason now in the books, what positive and negative thoughts do you have on the team so far, and what types of things do you want to see out of the Redskins before this preseason is over?
I'm starting to be more cautiously optimistic about this team and their chances within the NFC East. The offense has looked in rhythm and the defense has looked solid. With that being said my biggest concern at this point is the offenses inability (especially first teamers) not being able to score touchdowns. This has been a continual problem through the years and I hope it is more of a product of keeping regular season play calling close to our vest at this point. Also as good as the defense looked on Friday, we have to remember it was essentially the Colts B team for the whole game; I look forward to them going against the Ravens who will test them not only in running game but also with spreading the field with new addition Lee Evans.
I understand the need to not open up the playbook too much in the preseason, but this week I'd really like to see some shots downfield and see guys like Niles Paul and Aldrick Robinson a chance to display their speed. Also I'd like to see how John Beck and Rex can handle the deep ball. I hope whoever the starting QB is that they are given the opportunity to get in rhythm and play the full three quarters with the starters; I don't want to see a situation where Shanny is switching back and forth. It would also really interest me to see Leonard Hankerson battle it out with a fellow rookie, Jimmy Smith. I think it would be a good test for both and I'd like to see guys like Moss and Hightower rest at this point.
With the second preseason game coming up on Friday, what are the main areas of concern with the team right now and what players are on the "bubble" at the moment, as far as making the team is concerned?
I really don't have primary concerns with the game this Friday, although one thing I would like to see is less of the starters. We seemed to play our 1st teamers more than any other team this past week and I wouldn't mind if we adjusted that slightly. We all know what guys like Moss, Hightower (especially with the hard nose running he was showing), and others can do, so maybe it would be better to give them a rest. I guess this could make the playing field not level for John Beck and his competition with Rex Grossman, but I really don't expect Beck to come out with the rhythm that Rex had last week.
In terms of guys that need to perform or they may be sent packing, Aldrick Robinson comes to mind first. I'm sure he'll get a fair share of returns with Terrence Austin this weeks and he needs to do much better than his performance this past week. Other players that need to perform at a high lever include Mike Sellers, Byron Westbrook, "The artist formerly known as HB" Horatio Blades, and Chris Horton. All have been Redskins in the past but need to perform at a high level to make the team this year. Another guy that needs to step up or he may be leaving Ashburn is Selvish Capers, Willie Smith by all accounts has looked better and if Capers wants to continue to develop then he needs to show he belongs on this roster. Some think Hankerson is on the bubble at this point, but I think he'll be just fine going forward.
I think Brandon Banks is officially on the bubble now, with what looks like no way to help his cause this week. So you have to be watching a guy like Terrence Austin or even Aldrick Robinson to see if they can prove that they are capable of contributing at receiver AND returner. Despite the great initial line performance on both sides of the ball, we still have to pay a lot of attention to how our guards are progressing on offense and how our three down linemen are meshing on defense. Can guys like Selvish Capers or Eric Cook make the coaches think twice?
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am dying to see if DeJon Gomes can build on his performance last week. I thought he played pretty well, though I am sure Jim Haslett was able to find dozens of coachable moments from Gomes’ playing time against Pittsburgh.
I know people hate the obvious in these columns, but come on…who isn’t wondering what the hell John Beck is going to look like on Friday night?
Here we are again for another installment of the Redskins Round Table.
Friday night was a good way to get the preseason off on the right foot, several things went well for the Redskins. What were you most impressed with about the game and what areas of concern do you have after seeing the Redskins play the Steelers?
I think I was most impressed with the rhythm and cohesion of the Redskins first team offense. It all starts in the trenches and it looked like the offensive line was playing very well together: Jam Brown looked healthy; Monty looked solid a center, and the only time I remember seeing black and yellow in the backfield was on screen passes. It was amazing how the Skins were consistently getting to the line of scrimmage with 15 seconds left on the play call; there was never really any confusion. Rex Grossman and Jabar Gaffney were also impressive to me, both looked on point and I think Gaffney is what I like to call a "professional" receiver; he'll greatly help this offense out. I was most impressed with the way the team executed its very vanilla game plan. You don’t look for coaches to unveil much of their playbook at this time of the year, so watching Rex Grossman orchestrate those impressive drives was a sight to see. He seemed comfortable, confident and effective. Those are not the first three words I would have envisioned using for him a month ago. On defense, I was impressed with what our defensive line did. It was immediately an improvement over what we did last season. I was concerned with our deep coverage, but on at least one deep play that the Steelers should have converted on, I would hope that LaRon and O.J. would make a significant difference. Finally, the offensive line really impressed me, but when the live bullets start flying in September, I will be eager to see if they can carry over this kind of performance.
I had a couple of areas of concern after this week, most importantly our secondary. Both DeAngelo Hall and Josh Wilson got beat deep early (and often in DHall's case) but the Steelers were unable to connect. Kevin Barnes starting as the nickle corner was a bright spot though, he help to assist in a sack with London Fletcher. My other main area of concern is with Leonard Hankerson, he needs to step up now and the fan/media scrutiny will be extremely high now. Same can be said for Aldrick Robinson. Mike Shanahan may be forced to keep Brandon Banks if someone else cannot step up in the punt return game.
There was a poll question that was posted on Hogs Haven during the summer asking how many of the players selected in the draft this year would actually make the final roster, the majority of people who answered thought that number would be 7 or more. How many of the drafted rookies do you believe will make the team after hearing/seeing how they have done in camp so far?
These type of questions are really tough given no games have been played, having said that, Kerrigan, Jenkins, Hankerson, and Helu are all locks. I don't see Neild making the team. WR competition has 4 guys locked in and that leaves little room for Banks, Austin, Niles Paul, and Aldrick Robinson. Figuring Banks is already a year in this system, I put him in the others and add Niles Paul too.
Markus White I think cracks the team and the rest get cut.
