bubba9497 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Training Camp 2005 preview: Redskins trying to keep pace http://www.nfl.com/teams/trainingcamp/WAS • Washington will be tested right out of the gate, opening at home against the improved Bears and then visiting its nemesis in Dallas for a Monday Night Football battle on Sept. 19. The team then hits the league's earliest bye week before two matchups against 2004 playoff clubs, hosting Seattle on Oct. 2 and visiting Denver a week later. A split or better in those first four games would go a long way toward making the Redskins' season-ending trio of games against division rivals -- home against Dallas and the Giants, at Philadelphia on New Year's Day -- meaningful beyond figuring out 2006 draft needs. Overview A year ago, consensus NFL opinion was that there was nothing wrong with the perennially underachieving Redskins that the coaching switch from overmatched Steve Spurrier to Hall of Famer and D.C. icon Joe Gibbs couldn't fix. Now, after yet another losing season and another summer of roster turnover and off-the-field controversy, the Gibbs bandwagon has a few vacancies. In his 2004 coaching comeback, the renowned offensive mastermind couldn't settle on a quarterback, create matchups that favored his talented skill-position players or generate enough scoring to support one of the league's best defensive units. Now he might be on the verge of a full-blown quarterback controversy between incumbent Patrick Ramsey, top draft pick Jason Campbell and veteran Mark Brunell, and has seen his excellent defense absorb some significant personnel losses. Players like LaVar Arrington will give coach Joe Gibbs a chance. Is the news all bad? Certainly not. Washington still boasts a productive running back that should be entering his prime in Clinton Portis, and newly acquired receivers Santana Moss and David Patten will be prime targets for whoever is under center. Any defense with LaVar Arrington and Shawn Springs, under the direction of esteemed coordinator Gregg Williams, will be tough. And Gibbs, with his legendary work ethic, is likely to be better prepared for the modern NFL this time around. But while the Eagles look to remain atop the NFC East, and the Giants and Cowboys both seem to have made clear improvements over their 6-10 clubs from 2004, the Redskins haven't taken any obvious steps forward since last winter -- and running in place could mean falling further behind. Arrivals Determined to overhaul an offense that scored just 24 touchdowns in 16 games last year, Gibbs turned over Washington's receiving corps by bringing in Moss in a trade with the Jets for a disgruntled Laveranues Coles and signing Patten away from the Patriots. It's hard to say whether this summer of relative quiet was a matter of choice or simply a result of budgetary exhaustion from the Redskins' past adventures in free agency. • Both of Washington's first-round picks, cornerback Carlos Rogers and quarterback Jason Campbell, are Auburn University products. This is the third time in the last 25 years the Redskins have made same-school selections with their first two draft picks: in 1993, Washington selected CB Tom Carter and RB Reggie Brooks, both from Notre Dame, and in 1981 the team took two superb offensive linemen -- tackle Mark May and guard Russ Grimm -- from Pittsburgh. We'll be watching in 2017 to see if the trend holds. Departures Coles and Rod Gardner, the Redskins' other starting receiver from last season, have both moved on. Linebackers Antonio Pierce and Mike Barrow are gone as well, though Pierce, who starred for Washington's stellar 2004 defensive unit, remains in the NFC East with the Giants. Fred Smoot, a solid cover cornerback, also left via free agency for Minnesota. Quick Counts It might seem unusual for a team to invest two first-round picks in the quarterback position within just four drafts, as the Redskins have done by taking Ramsey 32nd overall in 2002 and then Campbell with the 25th selection this past April. But there's a precedent for Washington: Between 1959 and 1961, the 'Skins drafted three straight quarterbacks: Don Allard, Richie Lucas and Norman Snead. Coach Gibbs and millions of capital-area fans will be hoping that Ramsey and Campbell fare better than their pedigreed predecessors: Allard and Lucas never played a regular-season game in the NFL, and Snead won just nine games in three seasons with the team. On the record Patrick Ramsey, on Washington's decision to draft quarterback Jason Campbell: "Obviously I was surprised by it. But at the same time [Gibbs] said 'We've got confidence in you to go out there and play.' And I trust that." Joe Gibbs, on how he expects Ramsey to react to Campbell's presence: "My impression of quarterbacks has always been that if something like that is bothering them, then they're probably not the person mentally that's going to be able to handle that. A lot of tough things get thrown a quarterback's way." PROJECTED STARTERS Offense Defense (4-3) WR S. Moss DE R. Wynn LT C. Samuels DT B. Noble LG D. Dockery DT C. Griffin C C. Rabach DE P. Daniels RG R. Thomas OLB L. Arrington RT J. Jansen MLB L. Marshall TE R. Royal OLB M. Washington WR D. Patten CB S. Springs QB P. Ramsey CB W. Harris RB C. Portis FS S. Taylor FB C. Cooley SS M. Bowen TOP DRAFT PICKS 1a C. Rogers CB Auburn 1b J. Campbell QB Auburn 4 M. White Jr. FB UCLA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 I still don't quite get why the general consensus is that the Giants will be "much improved" better, yes. 8-8 kind of team, sure, theCowboys/Redskins/Giants are all kind of in a similar boat and what will seperate one of them from the pack is intangibles that will occur during the season, ala injuries, team chemistry, etc..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty Gut Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 we don't free agent spend for once, so that means it's impossible to improve? yet the Giants and Cowboys, especially the Boys, went on spending sprees, so that gurantees better results? honestly, all these media fools, get the **** outta here with that bull**** mentality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz13 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 How come these so called "experts" never mention that we are getting back one of the best right tackles in the league in Jansen. We significantly upgraded our center position with Rabach. Everyone who knows anything about football knows that it all starts up front, yet in these analysis they never talk about it. Instead they all focus on skill position players, which doesn't mean anything without running lanes and protecting the quarterback. Our special teams should be much improved, but I haven't seen anyone mention that. Nobody ever heard of A. Pierce before last season, but now our defense will be crippled without him. I can't even read these articles anymore. There is no reason that I should know more about NFL teams than people that cover it for a living! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef8181 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 improved Bears....HA! Groosman out for the season again. Jeff Blake the veteran backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMalcolmConnection Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Speaking of experts, do you notice that everyone who reviews the Redskins offseason talks about how "tumultuous" and unproductive it was? Sure, the Coles and Taylor situations were a bit of controversy, but 1) Taylor is innocent until proven guilty and 2) as much as I loved Coles, we cleared out an unhappy player in the locker room and got someone who has game-breaking ability as well. We can do no right in the eyes of many reporters. We scrape the bottoms of Danny's pockets in the past and we overspend. We are a bit more conservative in spending this year and "we let go of key players like Pierce and Smoot." Come on, give us a BREAK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMalcolmConnection Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 But that's OK, let us fly under the radar all season and see what happens to people who underestimate us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross3909 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 But that's OK, let us fly under the radar all season and see what happens to people who underestimate us... Exactly, and all this hate from the mediots will only make the chip on our teams shoulder that much bigger. :hungry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 In his 2004 coaching comeback, the renowned offensive mastermind couldn't settle on a quarterback Huh? If anything, he stuck with his choice too long before making a change. Now he might be on the verge of a full-blown quarterback controversy between incumbent Patrick Ramsey, top draft pick Jason Campbell and veteran Mark Brunell Considering Campbell didn't start the last game, I'm pretty sure he isn't involved with any QB controversy (Other than, why didn't he play?) This is pretty worthless... Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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