TSO

The title was more or less based off of the arguments that were going on in The Stadium (and mainly in the roster thread) about whether or not Scot did a good job this offseason. Suffice to say, there was a bit of frustration and panic mounting over some of the moves made this offseason and perceived weaknesses on the roster. Hence, this blog entry. You could see my answer to the question was clearly "not really", lol.

Welp, we've made it. The regular season is finally upon us and we've just entered the first game week, so naturally we fans are feeling the nerves kick in and are ready to start freaking out, jump off ledges, and kill each other and everyone around us. Look around ES a little and tell me I'm lying? Now, I can understand people's concerns about this offseason, but I think they're missing the forest for the trees. I sincerely believe those who are frustrated about things, to the point of calling this offseason a failure (or even perceiving it as Scot not doing enough this go around), were assuming we were one or two position groups being solidified away from being a Super Bowl contender. Yet, Scot has repeatedly stated we need about 10 more "reds" (eg solid players) to be "there", and that was even after this year's draft. Some of us, on either side of this debate, are assuming Scot doesn't think Dline or RB is a weakness, but that's a faulty assumption. That's simply a misunderstanding about how BPA really works, and not just regarding the draft but in an organizational approach to personnel altogether. A major point of contention has been our 2016 draft and how many of them (or lack thereof) made the roster. There are two ways to look at it:
 1) It just wasn't a very good draft or,
 2) Our depth has gotten a lot better and we can't afford to just hold on to guys because they were draft picks. Of course, this is ignoring the fact that two draft picks (Steven Daniels and Keith Marshall) went on IR, and if you're simply writing them off this guy might have something to say about it: So, here's the thing. There are signs all over the place showing us that this is the right way of doing things. Maybe none more evident than the team keeping someone like Lanier on the roster, which says a lot more than what it seems to on the surface. Remember, I've been big on Lanier since the first preseason game, as well as the ones after that. Few are bigger fans of his: But, if I'm being honest here, he's nowhere near ready to be anything other than maaaaybe a situational pass rusher on the line. Which is why I felt he would likely get cut and placed on the Practice Squad. Even posted about this very thing a few days ago. I, like many others, assumed we needed bodies on the Dline that could contribute immediately and was expecting Jenkins to make the team over him. However, what he IS, is young and full of potential, thus making him the BPA over others who may have been safer or more short-term fixes. That's great and indicates a focus on the long term outlook of the team, even if it's at the expense of the present. Maybe we would've been stronger at Dline right now with someone else, but is our organization better off in the future? They could've kept Jenkins on the Dline or kept Mack Brown on the roster, but instead they kept a guy like Lanier who needs time to develop but is filled with promise. Another example? They could've kept Ioannidis on the roster simply because it's an area of concern and he's a draft pick, but then a guy like Everett - who is the better player and a young guy as well - is likely to get cut. 
Even though he plays at a position of strength, we kept him. This is what BPA is all about. This is how you build a strong roster that can consistently contend over time. You take the better player over perceived need. You go into the season with only 6 Dlinemen and 3 RBs because others playing different positions were better. It's as simple as that. It's the correct approach. Yes, you're going to have clear weak areas and it might cost you games, but then you're going to have clear strengths because there's less of a chance at missing on guys or having guys go elsewhere and be successful because they can actually play - which should win you games. Aside from the obvious benefit to our depth (shouldn't we, for instance, feel good about Safety for the first time in years with DHall, Bruton, Blackmon, Ihenacho and Everett there?), you get the added bonus of eventually being so rich at one or two positions you can swing trades. Oh, and, guess what? We got a boatload of draft picks we're starting to stockpile to do just that, as well. To get that we gave up an entire round this year. Again, short term loss for long term gain. Although it didn't work out in the end, we've already seen the truth of this statement in action with the Stork trade. Moving back from the ledge, yet? Eventually, those weak areas will naturally be addressed just by the law of averages. It's extremely unlikely that things will fall, two off seasons in a row, where BPA in the draft isn't at those weak positions or guys in Free Agency are way too overpriced to address it there. But it requires patience. We need to go back and see what Scot's said all offseason. Like here: To think we're all on top of these weaknesses and he's just missing the boat here in terms of addressing them is laughable, and I'm not someone who won't criticize him if necessary. Heck, I'm still concerned about his past/family issues while most consider it a nonissue. He could've went all out and addressed every area of concern on the roster, but then we'd have likely reached in the draft for a lesser talent and/or overspent in FA. Look at what the Giants paid average players to fix their Dline this offseason. Do we then miss out on Norman when he unexpectedly became available? Ryan 
Kelly, the center out of Alabama, was taken a few picks earlier than ours in the first round. If we wanted him, it would've cost us significant draft resources to move up ahead of Indy. What players are lost in the process, then, and can we afford to give them up for one Center? That is what an anxious, impulsive man does when running an organization. That is the exact problem we've seen for so long from Dan and Vinny. It is the very essence of the fan-fueled, emotional "quick fix" philosophy that has been absolutely devastating to the organization. I'm not being lazy here and talking about the age old criticism of Dan trying to "buy" a championship... I'm talking about the obsession of attacking every weak area during the offseason while assuming everything else will remain as is. I mean, come on, we as Redskins fans should know better at this point. How often did we have an offseason where it seemed like we totally addressed all the areas of weakness/concern, assuming our previous strengths will remain as such, only to find out we reached/overspent on those players we thought would solve things while suddenly and unexpectedly watching our assumed strengths become gaping holes in the process? Then what does the team do the following offseason? Rinse and repeat. We've seen it a million times, haven't we? And in all our desperation to immediately become a contender, we set ourselves back because we had a roster filled with those misses who not only played poorly, but also cost us valuable development time for better players. Or we just cut those better players altogether. This is the difference in philosophy that has us keeping guys like Lanier and Everett on the roster. As of now, and due to our current philosophy, we may have three elite positions on the team at QB, WR and DB. And that doesn't look like it'll change anytime soon. You can't ignore the fact that not addressing other spots or perceived areas of weakness has allowed us that. Calling this bad in any way is simply ridiculous to me, and I think it just comes from the nervousness occurring within us as the season approaches and knowing we've got some weak spots at key areas. If we can't see past the 2016 season, well, we don't have a solid grasp of where this roster is at. Fortunately, for the first time in forever we've got some adults in charge who do. I'm sorry to sound a little harsh here, but get used to the fact that we might be further from an elite team than we'd like to think as fans (naturally), and that our way of thinking could easily set us back from getting there sooner. Now, that doesn't mean we have to ignore any bad move that's made or assume Scot and the FO have been perfect and have had everything go as planned. I'd bet, if they were being honest, they'd admit they were wrong in this or that case; and/or didn't see this or that coming; and/or thought the draft would fall like this instead of that... but that also doesn't mean they did poorly, or that things suddenly aren't going in the right direction and we took a step back. Actually, no need to bet on it: Not to sound all preachy, but we should be happy and satisfied that we've got a group of guys in charge who have a plan; can adjust in the right way (and not panic) when things don't go accordingly; and are properly assessing the roster's state, therefore avoiding the wishful, faulty, thinking that causes teams to give up too much of their future while assuming they're close enough to contend. 
 I know this may be too much to ask but can we, as fans, take their lead and be as patient as them when/if we lose this season? Because, as hard as it will be at the time, it'll be the right thing to do. No homer, just the truth.

I went with Kelley as well, just because we saw him against (slightly) better competition. Really like Mack Brown though. Btw, Matt Jones had a really nice preseason last year and everyone was extremely excited about him going into the season. Guess we all forgot about that. Mmmmmmhhmmmmmm. And where's my teleprompter TK? That's some terrible shipping speed, I'm going to send an email complaint! I'll do it!

Stay safe Hap.

Especially one that involves making TK look bad.

Somehow I assumed people would relate this to me. But now looking back at your post I can see now it just probably made people think you were losing it. Damnit, that was a total missed opportunity on my end.

Yup, it's all business. No one cheers and everyone is just doing whatever work they're there to do. Sometimes a particularly exciting play might generate some kind of reaction (an ooooh or an aaaah), but it's nothing major. Make sure when you go you contain your fanhood or you'll be "that guy". Too funny. I'm never going to live down bringing cologne with me, am I? NC21, make sure you remain stinky up in the press box or these guys will go after you.

Landover, MD - Hello ES and welcome all to the Extremeskins Coverage of the third preseason game of the 2016 season. I'm TSO in the press box at FedEx Field along with Spaceman Spiff, here to provide you with the best damn coverage we possible can! Last week I talked about the burden that undoubtedly weighs on every Redskins fan's mind... that fear that lingers knowing that, after every successful season in the last how many years, the team followed it up with utter failure. The paranoia that something terrible is right around the corner. The Redskins "curse", if you will. But then the very real hope that all of the signs - and there are many legitimate ones - point to it being different this time, right? They're steeped in rationale and logic, and we've seen the fruits of it already with an NFC East division title under our belts. That hope is forcing us to remove those fears, doubts and paranoid attitudes, leaving us to remain more curious than anything else. Wondering if this time, you guessed it... is it real? Last week against the Jets we had an insightful, albeit "preseasonal" and therefore half-baked, tour into the answers we're seeking. We saw young, unheralded guys like Anthony Lanier II and Martrell Spaight continue to rise. We saw Colt McCoy continue to solidify why he's a great backup to have, one very few teams have the luxury of. We saw the Oline pick it up in the running game against the elite Defensive Line/Front of the Jets, with Matt Jones reeling off numerous runs that proved not only his improvement, but also why the team hasn't hesitated to trust him with the starting job. We saw the guys who no one talks about at WR, like Ryan Grant, Maurice Harris, and Rashad Ross, show why it's arguable we have the best and deepest WR corps in the NFL. But that was week 2 of the preseason. Week 3 is an entirely different animal, as everyone knows it's considered the "dress rehearsal" for the season. This game also brings with it an extra layer of intrigue due to the surprise Coach Gruden laid on all of us, as well as the players, that many of the usual starters would be getting the night off last week, all the while acknowledging the importance these snaps tonight will have for everyone to prepare for the Steelers on Monday Night. So are we going to keep getting positive affirmations regarding the "is it real" question? Or are those fears and doubts going to be allowed to creep in? Stay tuned here on the Extremeskins Coverage Blog to find out with us! Some Pregame warm-up notes - *Trent Williams is such a great leader (see video below, try to pay attention to how he roams the entire roster). He's involved with every position group, talking to them, getting them hyped, etc... Ihenacho caught a nice pass one-handed and Trent was right there like "yeaaaaaaaah". In the video, you can see Kendall Thompson engage him. It's fun to watch him simply being a Redskin through and through. *Speaking of Olinemen, Leribeus just false started during a simple warm up routine. *TJ Thorpe can dance. *It's oddly very enjoyable watching Gruden and Scot McCloughan together. Somehow every smile, every laugh they have together warms the heart. It's incredibly lame. Ziggy Hood starting for Baker. Dline gets nice pressure, Ziggy Hood cleaned up for sack. First drive solid pressure from Dline overall. Kerrigan hurt, though. Doesn't look good the way he's talking on the sidelines with other players. :/ First Redskins drive, Bills getting good interior pressure, Lichtensteiger with the hold as well. 2nd drive for the Bills, after INT, no pressure from front and they were able to run on them. Not a good look, but secondary came through. Norman, blanket coverage in the redzone, fun to see him make a play in a Skins jersey for the first time. Reed, Grant and Garcon drops on Redskins 2nd drive, followed by a Hopkins miss. Team, outside of secondary and flashes from the Dline, in general seems off. Norman with nice pass break up again on 3rd down of Bills 3rd drive. He's on fire. Redskins 3rd drive, Trent with a slight limp after first play. Continued to go backwards on running play, then screen to DJax, then it was just a penalty-fest. Pretty ugly. Bills 4th drive... Preston Smith beasting on 1st down run play with TFL of 5 yards. DHall with a terrible personal foul that gives the Bills a first down, nullifying the previous loss. Bills running the ball easily up the middle it seems, it's a problem. Will Compton with a TFL as the Bills continue their 4th drive, he's had quite a few this preseason. DHall follows up with a great tackle in the open field to bring the TE down, hurting him in the process. At least the D is holding the Bills to FGs. Redskins 1st drive of 2nd quarter, Lichtensteiger, Long and Trent Williams with great blocks on 2nd down, allowing Robert Kelly to get outside for 9 yards. Bills 2nd drive in 2nd quarter, 2nd down Ziggy Hood with excellent penetration and TFL of 4 yards. Trent Murphy almost gets home on 3rd down, nice speed pass rush. Once again, Norman with the blanket coverage. Redskins 2nd drive, Oline pass blocking well while run blocking is an issue, as usual. Lichtensteiger with another hold. My man Ryan Grant with a sick cut for the TD run after an excellently timed pass by Cousins. Bills 3rd drive, interestingly Paea and Ioannidis out there with some of the 1s. Ioannidis gets immediate pressure causing an incompletion on first down. Followed up by Ricky Jean Francois sack forcing the Bills into a 3rd and 17. Dline making some noise! Redskins 3rd drive, yet another hold on Lichtenstieger that cost Reed a nice catch and run. Ridiculous, that's 3 holds on him. Ryan Grant continues to be hot and cold, drops easy pass behind the LOS on 2nd and 10. After roughing the passer call, Lauvao with a great block on running play, opening a huge path for Robert Kelley. Run blocking has picked up in general, it seems. Good to see, but could be due to Bills bringing in lesser guys on their line. Bills 4th drive, Will Blackmon with the caused fumble... on the same play Trent Murphy actually had another nice rush almost getting home. Coming off the turnover, Redskins score via Kirk to Garcon after seemingly being unable to get the snap off. Check out how it looked from the press box: Bills come back with a nice FG drive of their own, mainly off of an EJ Manuel run that should've been a sack in the backfield, though I missed who got the pressure on him and whiffed. Stay tuned for more analysis by the Extremeskins Coverage Blog! So, some notable stats to start off. Cousins finished 12 of 23 for 188 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT for a QB Rating of 101.1. Not too shabby after a shaky start. Desean Jackson was 4 on 5 for 56 yards. Vernon Davis was 3 on 3 targets for 42 yards. J Reed was 2 on 4 targets for 28 yards and a TD. Garcon was 2 on 4 targets for 24 yards and a TD. Ryan Grant was 1 on 4 targets for 38 yards and a TD (as of the 1st half). Not much to talk about during the 2nd half, but here were some notes: Redskins 1st drive of 3rd quarter, Ty Nsekhe with a great block to seal edge and allow Mack Brown a big gain. Second string Oline doing some solid work opening holes for Brown in general. Though they definitely seemed to lose something once Long went out with an ankle injury and Reiter came in. Long is a nice presence for the run game when he's under center. On Bills 2nd drive, Stephen Paea with nice penetration and a TFL. Ricky Jean Francois continues to consistently penetrate. Corey Crawford with a vicious thrown down of the RB after Ihenacho got a hold of him, then Crawford follows it up with a nice pass rush on 3rd down which caused Manuel to escape the pocket and throw an incompletion. Interestingly, it looks like Garvin has moved up the depth chart as he's playing next to Spaight with the backups. Speaking of Garvin, on the 4th down play of the Bills 3rd drive, he showed a bit of his weakness in the running game as he was easily blocked on the second level by a Bills' Guard, allowing the run for the first. Redskins offense just isn't moving the ball after their first drive of the half (which still came away with no points). Backup Oline seems to be pass blocking well enough, but not many open options for McCoy, who seems a bit off himself. On the first down of Bills 4th drive, Garvin does a good job using his speed to get in position to tackle the RB, but he can't finish and allows the RB to get outside for a nice gain. My man Lanier finally showed up with a nice TFL on the Bills RB. Redskins 4th drive of the half, Oline not getting much push for Mack Brown. Kouandjio with a holding penalty on top of it. This has been quite the utterly boring second half. Lanier with a deflected pass on the Bills final drive. Kendall Fuller follows with a big pass break up in the endzone, followed by another pass breakup by Mariel Cooper! Last two plays were fun, Wakefield with a sack followed by a Kendall Fuller INT to seal the deal, Redskins win! At least the final drive was a little bit exciting, pretty dull 2nd half overall. Going to head down to the locker room now, see you all in a bit. EXCLUSIVE ES AUDIO CONTENT

Wondered if anyone would notice.

Lol, yeah I cracked up when I first saw it and said "oh no, I hope he doesn't disappoint again"... but he picked it up after that and was solid the rest of the way. Still, I had to include that one, couldn't let it slide.

So, last week I went through the Falcons game and came up with a few players I thought were intriguing to keep our eyes on as we moved forward through the preseason (with a ton of video to boot, probably too much as that page is/was a bummer to load ); either because they had disappointing outings and we hoped to see improvements from them, or because they looked surprisingly good and we hoped to see the continuation of that level of play. I intentionally focused on players who weren't being talked about a whole lot that week so as to avoid any media redundancy. The disappointments I honed in on against the Falcons were Stephen Paea, Arie Kuandjio and Niles Paul. The impressive performances came from Kendall Reyes, Anthony Lanier (before the rest of the world started noticing him), Carlos Fields, and a special guest appearance from Terrence Garvin. So how did these guys do against the Jets? And were there any other performances to add to the current list of Extremeskins Coverage intrigue? Let's find out, shall we (with a little less video for the sake of our browsers, mmkay)? Stephen Paea, 90 Watching the game in the pressbox at FedEx field, I made it a point to focus in on Paea with my cheap Walmart-purchased binoculars (hey, it was last minute, Spaceman Spiff said I'd probably need them) when he came into the game. From what I saw, he was much improved, however, we must keep in mind that he came in about five minutes into the 2nd half, which means he was playing against lesser talent (and may further indicate a demotion on the depth chart). That being said, last week against the Falcons, he seemed to be moving in slow motion and the only positive he showed really was with his arm strength. Against the Jets, however, it was a different story. He moved very well and was a lot more explosive off the snap, to say the least. Let's take a look at a couple of examples. Here, he's lined up at RDE and you can see him move laterally well while penetrating, putting himself in the perfect position to make the tackle: Here, again at RDE, he shows good lateral quickness another time by cutting to his left to find the open lane to the QB, then he puts on the jets to get the sack: Suffice to say, much better from Stephen Paea. Arie Kuandjio, 74 Unfortunately, the same can't be said about Arie Kuandjio, who continued to disappoint. Most of his plays aren't necessarily a negative, but they're plays where he can't be considered as having had a positive impact. He often is either out of position or generally not involved when he otherwise should be. But then there's bad as well. Here, at LG, his guy gets underneath and is able to push him back, who then winds up making the tackle on Keith Marshall: Here, again at LG, is the play I believe John Keim was talking about a couple days ago when he mentioned Kuandjio getting pushed to the ground: Yeah, let's hope we get a better showing from him against the Bills. Niles Paul, 84 Good news for Niles, though, he definitely looked better overall. He did whiff on his first play, but then seemed to make up for it with better blocking in general. Let's take a look. Here, lined up at FB and motioned to the left, is the aforementioned whiff: Here, lined up on the outside to the left at TE, you'll see him get a solid block on #21 of the Jets and maintain it throughout the play: Here, lined up as the outside TE on the right side, you'll see him execute a perfect block: Overall, a better showing from Niles Paul. Kendall Reyes, 97 Kendall Reyes continued to impress for the most part. Nothing spectacular, just solid, and I get the sense that we'll be hearing that a lot when it comes to his play throughout the season. Here, at RDE, he gets some decent pressure on the QB and flushes him outside of the pocket: Anthony Lanier II, 72 By far, the most interesting aspect of Lanier's game was how much earlier he was put into the rotation than in the Falcons game, which may indicate he's moving up the depth chart a little. I asked him about it after the game and he seemed to agree. As for his performance, it wasn't as enjoyable to watch as the film against the Falcons (that's not to say he played poorly or regressed, just nothing splashy), but he certainly had his moments. Here are a few examples. Here, at RDE, he gets quick interior penetration: Here, lined up at LDE, he gets a near sack after beating #64 of the Jets handedly (gotta love the way he lays out there): Here, lined up at RDE, of course is his end of game sack. This one's all about his hustle and awareness: Terrence Garvin, 52 All Garvin has done these past two games is make plays, so I'm putting him here instead of Fields. Last week against the Falcons, he was in on a bunch of plays along with Fields and Lanier, so I didn't give him his own spot and just mentioned his play secondarily. I don't know if it's the weaker competition or not, but he's really impressive out there. Let's take a look at some of the plays he made against the Jets. Here, lined up on the right side at ILB, you have to love his back pedal and then quick reaction to break up the pass: Here, again lined up on the right side at ILB, he shows his speed as he slices his way through to apply quick pressure on the QB, causing the incompletion: He was also in on a fumble recovery (right place, right time, so no need for a video really), but it just shows his hustle. He's really flying around out there and is fun to watch. Well, that does it for now. We'll see how these guys look on Friday against the Bills as well as their spots in the rotation. Will they improve, stay the same or regress? Will we see them higher on the depth chart, the same, or lower? I might do a part 2 of this if I have the time and add some others to the list. Hope you all enjoyed it, see you around on the board!

Really appreciate the kind words fellas, it truly means a lot. I really wanted to do right by ES, so any suggestions or constructive criticisms I'm all ears. Consider me your humble servant.

Landover, MD - Welcome all to the Extremeskins coverage of the second preseason game. I'm TSO in the Press box providing you with the best damn coverage I and Spaceman Spiff, who will be providing coverage from the sidelines, possibly can! 1999 Redskins go 10-6 and win the NFC East. The following season? Failure. 2005 Redskins go 10-6 and nab a wildcard spot. The following season? Disaster. 2007 Redskins go 9-7 and sneak into the playoffs. The following season? Zorn. 2012 Redskins go 10-6, win the NFC East with their shiny new franchise QB. The following season? Epic collapse. So now, here we are. The Redskins are coming off a season that saw a seismic shift occur within the Front Office, where a legitimate talent-evaluating GM was hired to take control of the scouting department and personnel. Gruden got the help he desperately needed and asked for from the Front Office. The Redskins went 9-7 and miraculously won the NFC East on the heels of a young group of draft picks and a ton of personnel hits in general. So, the following season? We're going to find out if this is real. Is it? Is our newly and properly structured Front Office as organized and professional as it seems? Is it real? Is our energetic and smart coaching staff as good for player development as they were last season? Is it real? Is Kirk Cousins the franchise QB we've been so desperately lacking? Is he for real? Are the young players truly developing into a core of consistent championship potential? Are they for real? It might just be the preseason, but these games play a role (albeit a small one) in teaching us who will rise to the occasion and who won't. Who will solidify their spot on the team and who will continue to remain a question. Who will be a part of the new reality we all hope is happening right before our eyes, a hope we continue to question is real? The hope that we're witnessing the rise of the Redskins as a perennial contender. Let's start to find out together here on Extremeskins Gameday Coverage! 1st Quarter Analysis Offensively, I think we finally saw the new Matt Jones (7 carries for 31 yards, 4.4 avg) we've heard about all offseason. Though the handoff gaffe was terrible, everything else was very pleasing to see. He had good vision, ran hard, and got whatever he could get on plays that the defense played well. Unfortunately, he got hurt and so his durability issues will, and should, come into question. Let's hope his left shoulder is okay. Ryan Grant (3 for 3, 27 yards) and Jamison Crowder (3 of 4, 38 yards) also showed up well (well, on offense, Crowder's muffed punt was terrible to see but let's not forget this is his first live action of the year), but you really see why coaches love Grant. He's just very smooth and tough to cover. Colt McCoy (7 of 9, 66 yards) looked great until the last play of the first drive, which was mind numbingly stupid. I actually think he was trying to throw it away. And that spin? Whoosh. That was fun to see. As for the defense, the secondary keeps showing up. DHall was in on the first pass break up and Greg Toler had great coverage on the 3rd down. I've noticed the last two games we've essentially never lined up in a 3-4. We basically have two Dlinemen inside (Reyes, Baker) and 2 OLB (Kerrigan, Preston). The Oline looks totally different with Lauvao in terms of run-blocking. That is all. Stay tuned for more after the half! 2nd Quarter Analysis Dunbar was a busy bee. He gave up a bad pass against Decker on the first drive for Jets O in the 2nd. On their second drive, Dunbar makes up for it with a beautiful pass breakup. Their third drive, Dunbar gives up a 9 yard completion, but had tight coverage. Mixed bag, but certainly improved from last week's performance. Reyes and Baker were struggling a bit on interior runs initially. 2nd drive for Jets O, Baker made a nice tackle on an interior run, so that was good. Baker also had with nice pressure causing incomplete pass on 3rd down. Spaight has been extremely impressive to say the least. It's not just the caused fumble, he's the general of D. I've been watching him between breaks as well and he's constantly communicating with everyone, controlling the huddle. Doesn't look like a 2nd year player coming off of injury. He had a sick read on screen and tackle as well later on in the 2nd. Jamison Crowder running more north-south on punts it seems. Ross with a step, Colt throws deeper could've been big play on drive early in 2nd. Rashad Ross two nice plays on first TD drive. Super impressive 2nd TD from Rashad Ross, tackled head first but maintains possession, not easy for a small guy like him. Safety on Spencer Long, hands seemed more on the shoulders lifting up the jersey right under the chin so it looked bad, nice play to Maurice Harris got nullified, a shame for a young guy like him. But Harris comes back and gets a 19 yard gain on a nice catch off play action. Ihenacho on ensuing kickoff with nice tackle. Continues to show up on Special Teams. Another Ryan Grant catch. Golston veteran move on run with about 3:25 left in 2nd, just goes down to cause pile up and trips RB. Blackmon savvy INT from Safety, don't know what Geno Smith was thinking, but Trail was close to applying pressure... could be Geno felt it. Dashaun Phillips and Spaight nice zone trade off on drive late in 2nd quarter. All in all, a very positive quarter for a lot of Redskins. Spaight (1 FF), Rashad Ross (4 on 5, 58 yards, 2 TD) and Colt McCoy (13 of 16, 159 yards, 2 TD) killed it. Stay tuned for more! 3rd Quarter Analysis Not a whole lot to see here, but I was excited about Stephen Paea coming on back to back plays to start the 3rd quarter off. He got good penetration on run and then a sack on the next play. Then, Paea on the ensuing drive again penetrates nicely on back to back plays with solid rushes. He's a player I was hoping would improve from last game and I discussed that in length here: Speaking of players I noticed, Anthony Lanier seems to have moved up on the depth chart as he was often playing with 2nd team in the 3rd quarter if my eyes didn't deceive me. Reiter continues to impress. On run play where Marshall went for about 9 yards with slightly under 3 minutes left in the 3rd, he gets his first block accomplished and then passes him off and lands his second block, opening up a nice lane up. Stay tuned for the 4th Quarter update! 4th Quarter Analysis Again, not much to discuss other than the obvious (Sudfeld with an awesome drive to win the game)... but here are a couple things I thought were interesting. Fuller gives up long pass play to start the 4th but then recovers with three nice plays. He breaks up two passes and then makes the tackle on a 3rd and 2 to stop the Jets drive and force a FG. Garvin continues to make plays, with a nice pass break up and then a pressure that resulted in an errant throw to force a Jets punt. Recovers fumble caused by Deshazor Everett on Jets drive that was moving easily by hustling. As mentioned in my previous blog, he's been impressive. Anthony Lanier with the sack to finish the game, love that guy! Final impressions: So today's game clearly didn't go a long way in determining if this Redskins' resurgence is for real (or as much as any preseason game possibly could), considering many of the players who will play a massive role in said resurgence didn't play, but we did get to see who might potentially add their hats to the discussion. And who are those guys? Aside from the obvious answers in Rashad Ross, Ryan Grant, Colt McCoy, Matt Jones and Martrell Spaight who absolutely killed it, there were guys like Anthony Lanier (check out the exclusive interview) who seemed to play a bigger role today on the Dline after showing up really well last week. Stephen Paea improved significantly upon his performance last week as well, often finding his way in the backfield of the opposition. Other players who improved from last week were Keith Marshall, Will Blackmon, and Morgan Moses. Reiter continued to impress as did Maurice Harris who continues to be used with the second stringers, making him an interesting roster decision to follow considering how much depth there is at his position. Unfortunately, there are some guys who continue to be questions moving forward and are nowhere near a "yes" on the "is it real" scale. Kuandjio continues to be a mixed bag who has a tough time finding any consistency as does Quinton Dunbar, though he had a lot more positive happen than last week. Fuller had himself a mixed bag of a game as well, but his rookie status makes it much more forgiving. So as we move forward and into the third preseason game where we're expected to get a much closer glimpse of the team's "is it real" factor, let's hope to see continued improvement from the players we need to play significant roles in this resurgence... that is, if it's real this time. Click here for ES Exclusive Game Photos ~ courtsey of Spaceman Spiff EXCLUSIVE ES AUDIO CONTENT

Thanks you sir!

Ohhh, thtop it youu!

Thanks brother, I think you're right about AK. Definitely needs seasoning. But, remember, it was only one preseason game and this was more about looking forward to see how these guys respond rather than some final judgment on their abilities. I think Arie can do more, I won't be surprised if we see that today.

You'll be great, I'm sure of it. I'm just trying to get people to view this dang blog so by the time it's your turn you get all the glory!

I'll pay more attention to him against the Jets. Unfortunately, the way the game went, there wasn't a whole lot to evaluate secondary-wise in the 2nd half.

Thanks, fellas.

Hello ES, It's your friendly neighborhood TSO here and I'll be providing ES press box Gameday coverage for the next two preseason home games. Now, now, let's stop with the applause and all calm down. So, I've re-watched the first preseason game against the Falcons numerous times and I came away with some performances I thought were more intriguing to follow than others, with an eye on how they respond in the following games. Will those who disappointed improve upon the issues they showed? Will those who impressed continue to do so? Will we see changes in the depth chart and playing time in the upcoming games based on their performances? Let's start with the disappointments. First up: Stephen Paea, 90. Interestingly enough, Gruden today was asked about Paea and some are interpreting his response as a negative towards Paea. I can see why. Frankly, Paea was a disappointment to watch after hearing about his improvements (namely, his health) all offseason. Though he wasn't necessarily a liability when he was in, he seemed to consistently be a non-factor, which is unfortunate considering most of the time he played was against the second and third-stringers of the Falcons. Let's take a look at some of those snaps... The following (at LDE) shows what was pretty much his issue this game. His legs. Seems to be very tentative and stuck in molasses: Here (at LDE), he gets pushed off the ball and is simply a non-factor: Here, again at LDE, not getting any penetration on his rush: Here, at RDE, same deal, a non-factor with his rush: Now, it wasn't all bad. Unfortunately, the good all came in the 2nd half against lesser players. Still, you can see the upper body strength everyone talks about when he gets his hands directly on a guy and is able to use his arms fully. Here (at RDE), he puts his guy on the ground with ease: Here (at RDE), he shows quick hands and is able to generate a solid rush. Unfortunately, he was a bit late and was actually flagged for hitting the QB (ticky tacky call, though). His speed just isn't where you want it to be, though: His best play of the game here. He's lined up (at RDE) directly in front of the Tackle (4 tech) and destroys him, causing the RB to lose yards: Basically, his legs are an issue, his upper body strength isn't. Doesn't bode well for pass rushing, but this was his first game back after his turf toe injury and maybe he was hesitant versus just not having it. Still, it's disappointing because we've been hearing from him that he's "100 percent" for the last few months and the team seemed optimistic regarding his resurgence. Hopefully we see some improvement versus the Jets on Friday and/or moving forward. But, if we don't, not all is loss because his strength can still be an asset, especially in short yardage/goal line situations lined up at the zero, two, or four technique (directly in front of his guy) where he can just out-muscle them to disrupt gaps. Next up: Arie Kuandjio, 74. Now, Kuandjio was a guy many fans hoped, all offseason, would compete for a starting job at LG. Had that not been the case, his game against the Falcons wouldn't have been a disappointment, just more of a standard preseason affair where nothing necessarily stood out and there are things to work on for a young prospect. Alas, high expectations often leads to disappointment if they aren't met immediately. Let's take a look at some of the issues. Here, we see where that old scouting report (you know, phone booth Guard and all) on him comes in play. He gets out in space and just doesn't have the juice to get to his Linebacker: This ones a little funny, he lets his guy get under him quickly and gets some bad whiplash in the process, only to end up on the ground: Most of his tape was just "meh", not necessarily bad but nothing that stood out. This was about the only play where he did something impressive as he rides his guy right off the screen: It'll certainly be interesting to see how Kuandjio responds the next few games, as he seemed to really have high expectations for himself this year and the first game didn't bear much fruit for him. Next up: Niles Paul, 84 This might be a little unfair considering how fast he's come back from a devastating ankle injury, but we've been hearing how far along he is all offseason so a little bit more was expected. Unfortunately, the plays he was in to start the game were all pretty poor and the one catch he had ended up in a hyper-extended knee. Let's take a look. Here he is at FB pretty much failing at his block. He gets his head way too low and thrusts too early, gaining no leverage and making it easy on the defender to avoid him, screwing Matt Jones over in the process: Here, he's lined up as the outside TE on the right. He does a good job initially getting to his block, but fails at holding it long enough and gets pushed back. His guy makes the tackle: Here, again lined up at TE to the right side, he runs his route a bit tentatively and is in an awkward position to make the catch. Probably was unsure about sitting in the zone or continuing the route, but then to top it off he fails to make the catch: Here, he's the FB and, again, does a good job getting to his block but his guy overpowers him with ease and lays a solid enough hit on Marshall to disrupt the play: So, yeah, not very good from Niles. Hopefully his knee is okay and he can take a step against the Jets. So now with the disappointments all out of the way, let's have some fun, shall we? We've heard about guys like Ziggy Hood, Su'a Cravens, and Ricky Jean-Francois having good games, but I wanted to focus on some who were a bit more unheralded who did. I'll be keeping an eye on these guys moving forward. First up: Kendall Reyes, 97 Reyes hasn't had much fanfare nor expectations placed on him. Most assumed he'd be solid depth or just an okay starter at best. Judging by his first preseason game, I think we may be in for a pleasant surprise. Let's see why. Here, Reyes (at RDE) gets a good jump on the ball and almost immediately penetrates into the backfield: Here, he's lined up as the Nose and gets a solid push initially, though he lets up a bit early because he assumes the QB is about to pass and wants to get his hands up. Should've continued, but a solid job nonetheless: Here, at RDE again, he gets an excellent bull rush and shows his strength: Here, he does everything right except make the tackle: Here, again at RDE, he shows good awareness on the draw and still gets a decent angle on the ball carrier though the Center is focused solely on riding him out of the play: All in all, a very solid performance. All of his other snaps showed a guy who won't get moved off the ball easily, either. I'm looking forward to seeing how he looks against the Jets and if he can continue to build off of his performance. Next up: Anthony Lanier, 72 This guys tape was, by far, the most fun to watch. Though it was against the bottom of the barrel in terms of personnel for the Falcons, the guy was extremely disruptive on pretty much every play he was in. He played like a maniac, to say the least. Let's take a look. Here he's lined up as the RDE and is in on the tackle with Terrence Garvin (who actually deserves a spot here himself, Garvin played well), causing a fumble. The next clip after this one will show just how much he laid out for the hit: Here, at RDE, penetration and tackle: Here, at RDE, he gets immediate penetration but then savagely rips off the RBs helmet. Ugly play on his part and, though you appreciate the effort, he's got to be better than that moving forward: Here, again, penetration and the tackle: Here, just runs down the play and combines for the tackle with Fields: Suffice to say, just a boatload of fun to watch. Can't wait to see what he does moving forward. Next up: Carlos Fields, 59 He's generated a little bit of buzz, but mostly written off as a likely cut, he showed up and was in on pretty much every play he was a part of. He was extremely physical and didn't hesitate to throw his body around against the Falcons, making some fun plays to watch in the process. Let's take a look. Here, you might think there's nothing special about this play, but he takes on a big FB who gained some steam while he was pretty much stationary and handles it extremely well. When you look at it at first glance, the FB should've laid him out but Fields physicality is displayed: Here, he and Garvin (see what I mean about Garvin?) combine for a nice tackle, but notice how Fields (right ILB) sifts through the traffic nicely (and listen to that pop from Garvin while you're at it): This was probably his best play, look at him hustle through the traffic to make the play (left ILB): This play was the same one already posted for Lanier, but pay attention to Fields here instead (middle): Good stuff from the young man and it'll be interesting to see how he follows it up for sure. Welp, that does it. Aside from the more commonly known and intriguing players to follow the next few preseason games, I hope this added some onto your radar. Will Paea, Paul and Kuandjio improve? Will Reyes continue to show up? Are guys like Lanier, Fields, and Garvin moving up the depth chart? Stay tuned right here on the ES coverage blog to find out!

Yup, that's what I saw as well. He inexplicably gets hit on almost every single pass, and each hit looks devastating. I hope he doesn't hurt himself again. :/

Yeah, that's why I made sure to put the "fell asleep the rest of the game" part. That was just my initial, weak, assessment and purposely exaggerated. I've watched the entire game now and I don't think I was far off, lol. Certainly not "everything" was terrible outside of Kirk and first string D, but a lot was. That's ok, though. First preseason game and we've had a fairly easy camp, so guys need to get adjusted. And, I agree, Cravens flashed a ton, which is exactly what you want to see right now. He's got me very excited about what he can do now. I also liked the way guys like Lynden Trail, Ziggy Hood and Matt Ioannidis looked. Still, I think it's ok to expect slight improvement as we move forward this preseason, don't want to see that type of play linger, especially the running game on both sides. I'm sure the coaches feel exactly the same as well.

So, I got home from work, put the game on and watched maybe the 1st quarter before falling asleep, lol. By the looks of it, though, Kirk and the first team defense looked good and everything else was terrible. I'm ok with that.... for now. I don't want to see this type of play linger, preseason or not.

Yup, it was more. After multiple verbal warnings, PMs and general leniency from us he still came out of nowhere with those posts. It's as if any level of authority is to be questioned and derided at every opportunity in his mind. So good riddance. I'm assuming the "99" part of his username is referencing his bday which, in that case, I hope he takes this as a lesson for how not to act anywhere for any reason, and he'll look back at this as just a silly time in his life as a teenager.