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ES: Mitchell ready to make his mark


themurf

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

A thought occurred to us as we watched the Washington Redskins red-zone offense go missing in action this past weekend against the St. Louis Rams.

With the Redskins struggling to put points on the board, especially from close range, the question needs to be asked – will Jim Zorn and the coaching staff switch things up?

The Redskins failed to score a touchdown in five red-zone visits against the Rams, and are currently tied for 29th in the league in scoring. Jason Campbell and friends are seemingly capable of moving the ball up and down the middle of the field, but for whatever reason, look downright baffled any time they get in scoring position. Sadly, the only time Redskins players found the endzone was when they jogged through it at halftime as they headed to the locker room for their orange slices and juice boxes.

Meanwhile, there very well may be a secret weapon sitting on the sidelines waiting for his first chance to make an impact. Who? His name is Marko. Marko Mitchell.

You may remember him from such plays as “The guy who scored a touchdown pass against Pittsburgh in the preseason.” Or “The guy who caught a touchdown pass against New England in the preseason.” Or even “The guy who caught a touchdown pass in Jacksonville in the preseason.”

Sure, Mitchell picked up those touchdowns against guys who are largely collecting unemployment right about now, but that shouldn’t be held against him. You can’t pick who you play against – you can only give your best in whatever situation the coaches put you in and hope that it is enough.

Mitchell finished the preseason with 11 catches for 113 yards and three touchdowns over the final three games. And since two out of his three scores came from the red zone, shouldn’t the ‘Skins at least consider trying him out in those situations?

We caught up with Mitchell, who has been active for the first two regular season games, but has only been on the field for a total of three plays, to see how he’s feeling these days.

“I’m feeling real good right about now,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t play like we wanted to, but we still got the win in the end.”

How important was it to get things turned around after the loss in New York?

“It was definitely important,” he said. “No one in the NFL likes to lose. By us messing around and starting off 0-2, it wouldn’t have been as bad, because it’s the beginning of the season. But we really wanted to get this win up under our belt.”

The offense is really struggling to put points on the board these days and every time we saw you in the preseason, you were making plays and putting points on the board. Who do we need to talk to in order to get you onto the field to help these guys out?

Click here for the full article.

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Please roll the dice and let the man go out there and make a name for himself outside of Redskins nation.

Of the very few plays he's been out there I've been excited each time. I really want to see him get his chance. What do we have to lose in the red zone? It's not like we are putting up points right now anyways.

We are rooting for you Marko!

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"And since two out of his three scores came from the red zone, shouldn’t the ‘Skins at least consider trying him out in those situations?"

Isn't that the truth? All he is waiting for is for his number to be called.

Just call his name, Zorn. It gives you a better chance than a HB pass. Trust your players more and don't let their talent go to waste.

As always Murf, great article, and I always look forward to them each week.

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I saw the kid on the field last week. A huge first step towards helping our team.

Getting him onto the field in long goal to go situations is a no brainer. Moss and ARE have struggled in our red zone packages for years. Why even have Moss as the single wideout? Sad reality is that ARE and Moss are not red zone threats and have not been for years now. Short WR's are very limited in a short field.

We bring in tall WR's that have looked good. Why not use them in THE place our offense has been lacking for 4 years. Red Zone = Tall WR's. Tall Boys are not usually fast, thats their place to shine.

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Too easy. Any other requests?

Yes. That this actually happens and Zorn doesn't continue to be so conservative and timid with his redzone playcalling. Though I guess he's not being so much conservative as overbearing (not letting Jason audible) and stupid (running a halfback pass with 5 yds to go on 3rd down).

I'm a huge Zorn supporter and want him to succeed, so I'll be elated if he actually uses his brain and turns to a rookie who's obviously got quite a bit of talent and also has something the rest of this team is lacking right now: playmaking ability (save Chris Cooley).

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I have personally seen enough (or enough of nothing in this case) to know that Devin Thomas is a bust altogether. I posted last season that if a player has something special, it shows right away. Marko is a prime example of that. Malcolm Kelly is also somewhat of an example. DeSean Jackson is an absolute prime example. Percy Harvin, Mario Manningham, etc, blah blah.

Devin Thomas simply has not shown even a glimmer of being special. It's time to give Marko his snaps and watch him grow. I'm not saying we need to cut Devin. He can ride the pine until someone gets hurt.

Free Marko Mitchell.

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Look at the Giants and their two new receivers, they are being given the chance and producing. Manningham is going to be a great one for the Giants. I think that Malcom Kelly, Marco Mitchell in the receiver slots and Moss in the slot would be something to try and reduce the amount of double coverage on all the receivers.

By the way, Alridge signing is going to be great if he can hold onto the ball.

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