Bored? How about a 2010 offseason preview?

[Going Commando]

Well the offseason is generally the most boring part of the year for many of us (I really need to get into Basketball and Hockey), and now that the draft and primary free agency period are over, there’s not much to talk about until training camp gets here. With that in mind we might as well talk about next year.

I know it’s too early to predict what will happen next offseason with even the slightest hope of accuracy, but please spare me the one line, “it’s way too early” responses. It took quite a bit of time to put this all together, thoughtful input is welcome. Also, if you have corrections, insights, or other free agent and draft prospects worth noting, I’d love to see them.

The big question is wether there will be a cap in 2010. It seems highly advantageous for the Redskins if there isn’t one and release fees become void–we have a lot of untenable contracts that we could take off the books (Jansen, Randle El, Thomas, Smoot, etc.) If you want to take a look at the numbers here’s the link: http://www.thewarpath.net/WarpathRedskinsCap.htm

This would also mean that we could pursue even more expensive free agents, and here is a list of our guys who could make the 53 man roster whose contracts expire in 2010:

Jason Campbell

Mike Sellers

James Thrash

Todd Yoder

Stephon Heyer (RFA)

Renaldo Wynn

Philip Daniels

Alex Buzbee

Anthony Montgomery

Kedric Golston

Rocky McIntosh

Albert Fincher

Robert Thomas

Carlos Rogers

Reed Doughty

Shaun Suisham

Hunter Smith

Ethan Albright

What to do with Campbell is a debate for another thread, so I’m going to ignore him and the QB position in general in this preview because we’ll know by the end of the season whether it’s our biggest need next year or not a need at all.

Campbell aside, other important names on that list are McIntosh and Rogers. Two of our top priorities should be resigning them, and the lack of a cap should help with this. Also, it looks like we should really try and get a deal done with at least one of either Montgomery or Golston, and I’m sure we’ll bring back mainstays Sellers and Albright. The rest of the guys we’ll either resign or let walk based on how they do this year.

I’m going to assume we’ll wait and see one more year with our 2008 class. Thus these free agents taken with the age of our starters leaves us with meaningful yet tentative holes at these positions:

HB: Portis - 29 mid 2010 season, Betts - 31, and Cartwright - 31

LT: Samuels will be 33, Heyer - RFA

C: (unless Devin Clark or Edwin Williams looks good) Rabach - 33

RG: Thomas - 34 (Hopefully Rinehart can replace him)

RT: Jansen - 34, Heyer - RFA, Mike Williams - 30

RE: (if Orakpo stays at LE) Carter - 31

DT: Cornelius Griffin - 33, (Monty and Golston - UFAs)

LE: (if Orakpo moves to RE) Daniels - 37, Wynn - 35, both UFAs

MLB: Fletcher - 35, (Blades?)

SLB: Fincher & Thomas both UFAs, no one knows whose going to start anyway.

Some Enticing Potential Free Agents:

As far as I know, this list is accurate, but some of the contract information can be fishy, and some of these guys could’ve recently received new contracts. If anyone knows if one of these guys won’t be eligible for FA in 2010, please let me know.

RB: Willie Parker, Jerious Norwood, Darren Sproles, Leon Washington, Lendale White, Lawrence Vickers.

OT: Jared Gaither (RFA), Marcus McNeill - (slim)

OG: Daryn Colledge, Deuce Lutui - (very slim)

DE: Mark Anderson, Elvis Dumervil, Will Smith, Darryl Tapp, Kyle Vanden Bosch

DT: Vince Wilfork, Justin Bannan, Richard Seymour

OLB: Thomas Howard, Derrick Johnson, Shawne Merriman, DeMarcus Ware, Keith Bulluck

ILB: Barrett Ruud, Demeco Ryans, Lofa Tatupu, D’Qwell Jackson, Kirk Morrison

Right now, it looks like there could be some outstanding linebackers available and it looks like this is a result of the 2005 and 2006 drafts producing so many good ones. A lot of these guys will be resigned by their teams, but some will walk and I would love for us to sign one of the better ones available. It’s a similar story with defensive linemen, but as far as the offensive players available, not a lot of great options jump out. It looks like we’ll have to turn to the draft to fill our needs.

[Going Commando]

Some Enticing Potential Draft Prospects:

Qualifiers: I don’t know where we’ll be drafting (hopefully 32nd) so I’ll include prospects that I like from all over the board. I’m going to stick with guys graded in rounds 1-3 because more would take forever and lower round guys aren’t expected to contribute as early anyway. I’ll also include underclassmen because plenty always come out early. I’ll give the name, college, and an (admittedly early) round projection (I’m getting this mostly from www.walterfootball.com and www.nfldraftscout.com).

RB:

C.J. Spiller, Clemson, 1st

Chris Brown, OU, 1st

LeGarrette Blount, Oregon, 2nd-3rd

Jonathan Dwyer (underclassman), GT, 1st

Jahvid Best (underclassman), Cal, 1st

Evan Royster (underclassman), Penn State, 1-2nd

Joe McKnight (underclassman), USC, 1-2nd

Demarco Murray (underclassman), OU, 2nd

Noel Devine (underclassman), WVU, 2-3rd

OT:

Russel Okung, Oklahoma State, 1st

Trent Williams, OU, 1st

Ciron Black, LSU, 1st

Adam Ulatoski, Texas, 1-2nd

Sam Young, ND, 2nd

Zane Beadles, Utah, 2-3rd

Charles Brown, USC, 2-3rd

Jim Cordle, Ohio State, 3rd

Bryan Bulaga (underclassman), Iowa, 1st

Anthony Davis (underclassman), Rutgers, 1st

Lee Ziemba (underclassman), Auburn, 1st

Matt Reynolds (underclassman) BYU, 1-2nd

Gabe Carimi (underclassman), Wisconsin, 2nd

Kyle Hix, (underclassman), Texas, 2nd

Depending on who goes early, there could be a ton of great tackles to choose from in the first two rounds. This is definitely a position we can fix next season.

OG:

Sergio Render, VT, 2nd

Mike Johnson, Alabama, 2nd

Thomas Austin, Clemson, 2-3rd

Brandon Carter, Texas Tech, 3rd

Rodney Hudson (underclassman), FSU, 2nd

Mike Pouncey (underclassman), Florida, 2nd

OC:

Jon Estes, Hawaii, 2nd

Josh McNeill, Tennessee, 3rd

Kristofer O’Dowd (underclassman), USC, 1st

Stefen Wisniewski (underclassman), Penn State, 1-2nd

Dan Wenger (underclassman), ND, 2nd-3rd

DE:

Greg Hardy, Ole Miss, 1-2nd

George Selvie, South Florida, 1-2nd

Brandon Lang, Troy, 2nd

Brandon Graham, Michigan, 2nd

CJ Wilson, East Carolina, 2nd

Jermaine Cunningham, Florida, 2-3rd

Corey Wootton, Northwestern, 2-3rd

Carlos Dunlap (underclassman), Florida, 1st

Everson Griffen (underclassman), USC, 1st

Greg Romeus (underclassman), Pitt, 1st

Derrick Morgan (underclassman), GT, 1-2nd

Ugo Chinasa (underclassman), Oklahoma State, 1-2nd

Cameron Heyward (underclassman), Ohio State, 1-2nd

Jason Worilds (underclassman), VT, 2nd

Kevin Basped (underclassman), Nevada, 2nd

DT:

Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, 1st

Terrence Cody, Alabama, 1st

Geno Atkins, Georgia, 1st

Arthur Jones, Syracuse, 2nd

Vince Oghobaase, Duke, 2nd

DeMarcus Granger, Oklahoma, 2-3rd

Jared Odrick, Penn State, 3rd

Dan Williams, Tennessee, 3rd

Gerald McCoy (underclassman), Oklahoma, 1st

Marvin Austin (underclassman), UNC, 1st

Lawrence Marsh (underclassman), Florida, 1-2nd

Brian Price (underclassman), UCLA, 2nd

Stephen Paea (underclassman), Oregon State, 2-3rd

Wow. There are a ton of great defensive linemen that could potentially come out. Next year’s draft could go down as one of the deepest and most exciting defensive line classes in a really long time.

ILB:

Brandon Spikes, Florida, 1st

Sean Lee, Penn State, 2nd

Joe Pawelek, Baylor, 3rd

Micah Johnson, Kentucky, 3rd

Rolando McCLain (underclassman), Alabama, 1st

Quan Sturdivant (underclassman), UNC, 1-2nd

Josh Bynes (underclassman), Auburn, 2-3rd

OLB:

Sergio Kindle, Texas, 1st

Mark Herzlich, BC, 1st

Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri, 1st

Antonio Coleman, Auburn, 1-2nd

Jerry Hughes, TCU, 2nd

Rico McCoy, Tennessee, 2nd

Stevenson Sylvester, Utah, 2-3rd

Dexter Davis, Arizona St., 2-3rd

Michael Morgan (underclassman), USC, 1st

Greg Jones (underclassman), Michigan St., 1st

Rennie Curran (underclassman), Georgia, 1-2nd

Nate Irving (underclassman), NC St., 1-2nd

Malcolm Smith (underclassman), USC, 2nd

Bruce Carter (underclassman), UNC, 2nd

Navorro Bowman (underclassman), Penn St., 1-3rd

Martez Wilson (underclassman), Illinois, 2-3rd

--------

Of course we’ll have to wait and see who declares, but those are some early round potential prospects at the positions of need I identified earlier. The list doesn’t include some of the other great prospects at less pressing positions (Eric Berry and Taylor Mays?) and there is always a chance we could go in that direction too.

And obviously, if Jason Campbell doesn’t work out, then we’ll be looking for quarterbacks. But that’s a beast that needs to be tackled in it’s own thread (Or one of the million already out there).

[Going Commando]

With all of that being said, and assuming that A.) the cap will be gone next year, and B.) Jason Campbell proves himself to be our starter so QB isn’t a need, this is what I’d like to see happen next offseason:

1.) We sign a marquee linebacker like Merriman, Howard, Jackson, Johnson, Tatupu, Ruud or Ryans. My personal favorites would be to get Ruud, Merriman, or Ryans if they are available.

2.) We consider signing a defensive lineman, my favorites are: Wilfork or Seymour (if there’s a cap the patriots will probably have to let one go), Bannan, Tapp, and Smith

3.) We take advantage of the defensive line class and get a tackle or end early.

4.) We draft an OT in the first or 2nd

5.) We draft a change of pace back in the 2nd or 3rd

With that in mind, I’m going to take off my homer hat and put on my realistic hat and predict that if Jason Campbell improves, we’ll be picking in the late teens or early 20's. Here is my ideal 2010 offseason:

We shed a lot of our bad contracts without completely compromising our roster. We resign Rogers, McIntosh, and Montgomery. We stick to our guns with Blades at ILB and sign Merriman (who the Chargers let walk since they drafted English) to play SLB. We stick with Orakpo at LE as he gets a year older, stronger, and better against the run. And then in the first three rounds we draft:

Round 1.) Marvin Austin, DT, UNC

I doubt he’ll last to the 20's but who knows? He’s one of the most physically gifted 3 tech tackles to come along probably since Tommie Harris. He had a somewhat Blase sophomore campaign, but he could tear it up as a junior. He would be monstrous next to Haynesworth.

Round 2.) Adam Ulatoski, OT, Texas

A solid player who could play on the left or right. I really like what he did against Austin English in the Oklahoma game, he is a very good pass protector.

Round 3.) Noel Devine, HB, WVU

He’s probably the most exciting player I’ve ever watched. He’s small (darren sproles size) so he’ll probably never be able to handle much more than 15 touches a game, but that should be all you need him for. He’s also a bit of a knucklehead but he’s the most gifted and fluid athlete I’ve ever seen, even more so than Reggie Bush.

Well that’s it for me and my 1,800 word posts. If you are as bored as I am, and enjoy playing armchair GM as much as I do, then stop by and pimp your favorite prospects.

[terpskins10]

Didn't MJD just sign a contract extension?

[NavyDave]

If Campbell proves to be our QB that would mean we made the playoffs which means we would be restricted in pursuing other teams free agents by the rules for the uncapped year.

[Going Commando]

Didn't MJD just sign a contract extension?

Indeed he did. Thanks for the tip, I'll edit the list.

[Going Commando]

If Campbell proves to be our QB that would mean we made the playoffs which means we would be restricted in pursuing other teams free agents by the rules for the uncapped year.

I've never heard that before. What is the rule? Is it the same one where Rogers will be a RFA in an uncapped year?

[six4g]

Not sure I get why you're putting so much thought into getting a DT. It's like you're discounting that we have Haynesworth. We're going to need OL and LB help in a bad way next year.

[Rexrode21]

Being a Diehard NC State fan (my alma mater), I would LOVE to see Nate Irving (OLB) come play for us. He's a ball hawk at the LB position and hits like a freight train. If he can stay healthy this whole season I think he'll be a solid late 1st or early 2nd rounder. He'd be a great pick up so that we could keep Orakpo at DE.

[Going Commando]

Not sure I get why you're putting so much thought into getting a DT. It's like you're discounting that we have Haynesworth. We're going to need OL and LB help in a bad way next year.

We need more than one defensive tackle. Griffin will be 33 and Monty and Golston are both UFAs after this season. We'll probably need another one next offseason. Next year could be a very deep LB class in both the draft and free agency. There are also a lot of great offensive tackle prospects next draft, we can get one in either the first or second.

I chose Austin in the 1st because he is a phenomenally gifted athlete for playing the 3 technique next to Haynesworth. He'd give us great value wherever we picked.

[Going Commando]

Being a Diehard NC State fan (my alma mater), I would LOVE to see Nate Irving (OLB) come play for us. He's a ball hawk at the LB position and hits like a freight train. If he can stay healthy this whole season I think he'll be a solid late 1st or early 2nd rounder. He'd be a great pick up so that we could keep Orakpo at DE.

I agree about him being a special player and a ridiculous athlete but he looks a little small to be playing SLB. If we drafted him we'd probably look for him to play the weakside and that means either we didn't resign Rocky or we moved him to SLB. I don't know if Rocky can make that switch, we'll probably get a glimpse of it this season.

Another guy I like at OLB is Sergio Kindle from Texas but I think he goes pretty early. He is almost tweener size and he's a terrific pass rusher. If he could cover, it's be awesome to play him on the strong side behind Orakpo.

[CrypticVillain]

It pains me to say this, but depending on what Justin Tryon and Kevin Barnes does this season, Carlos Rogers will be gone after next off-season. That injury from 2007 really slowed him downed towards the end of the season and that is the reason he was not starting the last couple of weeks. If it is someway we can keep all 5 of our CB's, I would be very happy. But since Los is going to be the one with no contract, I think he will be the odd man out.........

[Going Commando]

It pains me to say this, but depending on what Justin Tryon and Kevin Barnes does this season, Carlos Rogers will be gone after next off-season. That injury from 2007 really slowed him downed towards the end of the season and that is the reason he was not starting the last couple of weeks. If it is someway we can keep all 5 of our CB's, I would be very happy. But since Los is going to be the one with no contract, I think he will be the odd man out.........

I see your point but I don't think Carlos' injury will effect him this season. Anyone could be worn down if they went from rehabbing for 6-8 months to playing a 4 month season. That's almost an entire year straight of football stuff almost every day and it takes a toll. I think he'll be good to go now that he's finally had a break.

If there isn't a cap, I actually expect Smoot to be the odd man out because he's the oldest, his number isn't good, and he's lost a step. I don't know what to expect from Tryon at all, but I really like Barnes and his combination of size, speed, and intelligence.

[Going Commando]

Here's another interesting 2010 draft possibility if we are picking a bit later:

1.) Joe McKnight/Ciron Black

2.) Sam Young/Joe McKnight

3.) Sean Lee/Navorro Bowman

Ciron Black is enormous like Ulatoski, I'm not sure about his footspead but he should atleast be able to play on the right side.

McKnight is another special talent although he hasn't gotten many carries and is a bit thin. He's made the most of his meagre opportunities though, I think he averaged something like 8 yards per carry last year and he's very fast. I wouldn't mind taking him in the 1st, but if we pick early in the second, I'd definitely take him if he dropped.

Sam Young is another former high school blue chipper who's been pretty solid on an otherwise forgettable Notre Dame team. He plays RT in college and he's long and lean. He's an athletic tackle who should be good in pass protection.

Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman are both Penn St. linebackers whose draft range is all over the place. Lee could be a 1st rounder if he returns to his old form but he suffered a really serious knee injury so he should drop. Bowman is all over the place. Some people love him some people don't. He is talented though, if he were there in the 3rd I'd gladly snap him up.

[derekc4]

Herzlich, one of your OLB prospects, has cancer. It's sad.

[Skin'Em84]

Hopefully, we'll be picking late-mid/ late 1st.

1st - Terrance Cody

2nd/trade back to early 3rd - Devine.

I like Cody, if he can prove that he has the ability to be well conditioned then I'll take him in the 1st. He'll look great alongside Haynesworth and Rak.

Devine is nasty. Honestly, I want to believe that he is going to surprise some people with his toughness. I don't know if he will, since he is only 175, but Warrick Dunn was able to play at 185ish.

[Going Commando]

Herzlich, one of your OLB prospects, has cancer. It's sad.

He does? Wow. That's terrible. I hope he gets through it ok.

[Oldskool]

McKnight is another special talent although he hasn't gotten many carries and is a bit thin. He's made the most of his meagre opportunities though, I think he averaged something like 8 yards per carry last year and he's very fast. I wouldn't mind taking him in the 1st, but if we pick early in the second, I'd definitely take him if he dropped.

McKnight is about 200lbs, so he's not that thin. His build and running style reminds me of Portis coming out of college. I worry that his YPC are due to the huge USC line and his lack of touches isn't going to prepare him for the NFL. I think SC will run more than last year, so you may see what McKnight can offer as a feature back come this fall.

[Going Commando]

McKnight is about 200lbs, so he's not that thin. His build and running style reminds me of Portis coming out of college. I worry that his YPC are due to the huge USC line and his lack of touches isn't going to prepare him for the NFL. I think SC will run more than last year, so you may see what McKnight can offer as a feature back come this fall.

I surely hope so. I'd like to see what he could do and I think he's the best back on their roster. But C.J. Gable and Stafon Johnson have been there a year longer and both get more carries than he does. It wouldn't surprise me if he waited another year to come out. He and Devine are my two favorite prospects, I'd be fine drafting him in round 1 or 2 this season and its great that he has almost no mileage on him. He would be a great change of pace guy for Portis.

[Going Commando]

Hopefully' date=' we'll be picking late-mid/ late 1st.

1st - Terrance Cody

2nd/trade back to early 3rd - Devine.

I like Cody, if he can prove that he has the ability to be well conditioned then I'll take him in the 1st. He'll look great alongside Haynesworth and Rak.

Devine is nasty. Honestly, I want to believe that he is going to surprise some people with his toughness. I don't know if he will, since he is only 175, but Warrick Dunn was able to play at 185ish.[/quote']

Cody's a great prospect. He'll probably get taken fairly early especially since he can be that incredibly valuable 2 gap 3-4 nose tackle that teams are trying to get just like Raji. Sure the weight's a concern but it always is for every player his size. It'd be worth it to pick him and keep him away from teams like the Cowboys.

But if you think about it, we already have two pretty big space-eating guys in Haynesworth and Monty. If we keep Monty over Golston, we'll need a natural 3 tech tackle since Griffin is getting up there in age. And there are some unrivaled 3 tech prospects that could come out next year. Marvin Austin is my favorite but Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy are two elite prospects. Overall, I'm blown away by the number of great 300 pounders that will be available this year and next.

Devine will have to make his living in the NFL in atleast a two back system. I don't know how well he catches the ball, but he's that Darren Sproles type back only an even more phenomenally gifted athlete. If he was a rock solid 5'11" 210 lbs. he'd be one of the best RB prospects ever.

[Snagletooth]

Maybe Glenn Dorsey would be available if you are looking to pick up a tackle next to AH. I'll keep my eye on Brandon Spikes too. I'm afraid of a big drop off when Fletcher hangs it up. OT would probably be my first priority.

[CrypticVillain]

I see your point but I don't think Carlos' injury will effect him this season. Anyone could be worn down if they went from rehabbing for 6-8 months to playing a 4 month season. That's almost an entire year straight of football stuff almost every day and it takes a toll. I think he'll be good to go now that he's finally had a break.

If there isn't a cap, I actually expect Smoot to be the odd man out because he's the oldest, his number isn't good, and he's lost a step. I don't know what to expect from Tryon at all, but I really like Barnes and his combination of size, speed, and intelligence.

Oh, I wasn't trying to say that Los will slow down in 09, I was just trying to say that if the young CB's step up that he would be the one to go. But I forgot all about the uncapped season. Personally, I don't want the NFL to be like MLB. We have parity, any team could win the SB at any given time. The NBA isn't any better, I think it has only been like 9 Champions in the last 25 years. But I just hope that the players union and the owners could get things together.

[Going Commando]

Maybe Glenn Dorsey would be available if you are looking to pick up a tackle next to AH. I'll keep my eye on Brandon Spikes too. I'm afraid of a big drop off when Fletcher hangs it up. OT would probably be my first priority.

Good point but he'd have to be cheap like a 2nd rounder maybe. He's got a little bit of an injury history and next year's draft should be loaded with guys at his position. I'm sure his contract makes him pretty hard to trade though.

Brandon Spikes looks good and so does Rolando McClain from Bama. Also Sean Lee could be a steal in round 3 or so, but ILB might not be as big a need as we think. We'll see how Blades does.

I agree about tackle but the beauty of next year's draft is that there should be way more guys to pick from with a 1st or 2nd round grade than this year's. We could take the best player available at any position in round 1 and still get a very good tackle in the 2nd. It's a deep field.

[PROSCOUT]

We really need a center who can move people off the ball. 285 pound Raybach has never moved anyone and will never be able to move anyone. He is also getting older by the minute. Next year we really need to address that center deficiency, unless we have somebody currently on the roster they are grooming.

[Going Commando]

We really need a center who can move people off the ball. 285 pound Raybach has never moved anyone and will never be able to move anyone. He is also getting older by the minute. Next year we really need to address that center deficiency, unless we have somebody currently on the roster they are grooming.

I agree that center could seriously use an upgrade. I really wanted Eric Wood in this past draft but he got taken way too early. The only time Rabach seems to be doing good for our offense is when he gets into the second level but that feels rare enough. We need to shield him with big guards because he gets pushed around.

There are a couple of directions we could head at the position. We should see what we've got with Devin Clark--he's a big boy. Also I'd really like the UDFA Edwin Williams to get a shot because he'd be a nice option.

It might be a stretch but I think it would be great to go into the season with these 10 linemen on the roster: Samuels, Heyer, Dockery, Clark, Rabach, E. Williams, Thomas, Rinehart, Jansen, M. Williams.

We should carry 10 guys. Especially since we seem to have bad luck with injuries there.

But if neither Clark or E. Williams can handle it, we can always look to next years draft and get an interior lineman. The position never seems as deep as the tackle spot, but there should be some options. Also Logan Mankins from the Patriots is set to be a free agent, he'd be a pretty fantastic acquisition. He could play any interior positions for us and probably RT as well. Something to think about since Rabach is pedestrian at best.