Initial Reactions to Redskins 53 Man Roster

[ArmchairRedskin]

I've seen Thomas run free in the secondary a number of times in the last two years with the ball going elsewhere instead. I think he just needs somebody that isn't focused on getting the ball to Moss even though he's got double coverage and is short of the first down.

Devin will probably drop a few balls, but a lot of really good receivers drop balls as well. I think if he gets a few tossed his way his confidence will go up along with his production. There's a reason we didn't trade Thomas during the offseason even though teams inquired about him.

[Enter Apotheosis]

That said, I am a bit disappointed in what I see in several of the roster decisions made. Not perhaps because they mean the team will win 2 or 3 fewer games (!) but because the decisions made seem to reinforce the view that demonstrated peformance and consistency were not the only factors in play.

I thought we had overcome that with the end of the Zorn era.

There is much more to the offseason than what we as fans are allowed to see that effects the coach's opinion of a particular player.

[rockfan7224]

Hating on the Redskins as usual, Matt Mosely says we have the worst recievers corps in the league. I may be drinking the kool-aid with my rose colored glasses on, but give me a break it's not that horrendous of a situation.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/17804/washington-redskins-cutdown-analysis

[jflow78]

Hating on the Redskins as usual, Matt Mosely says we have the worst recievers corps in the league. I may be drinking the kool-aid with my rose colored glasses on, but give me a break it's not that horrendous of a situation.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/17804/washington-redskins-cutdown-analysis

.........AND he said he was surprised Henson was cut and figured it was because of the TEXT MESSAGE last season. PLEASE! What a moron.

[ArmchairRedskin]

I don't think our recievers are that bad. You can't forget Davis and Cooley. Moss is still good to go. Beyond that we have question marks, but there is talent there. Armstrong and Thomas have potential. Roydell is solid. Not sure that I'd worry about Mosley's opinion. Last year the Cowboys had Roy Williams, Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton heading into the season along with Witten. I don't think Williams, Austin and Crayton were scaring anybody heading into the season.

[terpfan]

Life is good for Devin Thomas. All he has to do is show up at the NFL combine at 6'2 and 218 with a 4.4 time and his ticket is written for the next 3-4 years.

Coaches, front office personnel and fans alibi performance and consistency issues because of the combine measurables, ignoring the fumbles, plays where Thomas has lined up in the wrong spot or failed to make it out on the field in certain packages making the team call a timeout................

IMO you can 'hope' when it comes to Thomas developing but 'faith'?

What have we seen to elicit 'faith'?

Call me an agnostic

Who exactly has outperformed Thomas? He's had an up and down preseason, but he's made a decent amount of plays this preseason.

I dont think this staff has qualms about cutting anyone who has underperformed. He may not be a starting caliber receiver, but the coaches think he's good enough to make the team. It's not like we had many options.

That said, we really should just sign Houshmandzadeh. Problem solved!

[texasthunder]

Hating on the Redskins as usual, Matt Mosely says we have the worst recievers corps in the league. I may be drinking the kool-aid with my rose colored glasses on, but give me a break it's not that horrendous of a situation.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/17804/washington-redskins-cutdown-analysis

Well I dont know if we are the worst in the league, but they are probally in the bottom 5.

I sure hope McNabb can work some magic, but for now, I am not holding much hope.

[HBnotBlades]

Life is good for Devin Thomas. All he has to do is show up at the NFL combine at 6'2 and 218 with a 4.4 time and his ticket is written for the next 3-4 years.

Coaches, front office personnel and fans alibi performance and consistency issues because of the combine measurables, ignoring the fumbles, plays where Thomas has lined up in the wrong spot or failed to make it out on the field in certain packages making the team call a timeout................

IMO you can 'hope' when it comes to Thomas developing but 'faith'?

What have we seen to elicit 'faith'?

Call me an agnostic

It seems like you're hating on Thomas because of his draft position. He's our best kick returner, a pretty good special teams player, a damn good blocker, and has shown flashes of being a good receiver. If he was an undrafted guy everybody would love him and his potential, but as a high draft pick we're disappointed that he only has one 100 yard receiving game in two years.

Also, what do you mean ignoring the fumbles? I don't think he's had a single fumble since he's been here.

[terpskins10]

I guess I'm the only one who still likes Thomas. He's got some qualities that none of our other WRs have. (size, power)

You definitely aren't the only one. Bulldog has been very vocal about his disdain for our 08 second rounders, so I'm not surprised at the post at all.

[bulldog]

No, HB, everyone would love Thomas if as a ROOKIE he showed KR possibilities and made SOME plays when given the chance on offense.

By a player's third year the expectations should be higher than he shows 'flashes' of being a guy that MIGHT produce somewhere down the road.

For those of you who want to collect former high picks with measurables, James Hardy and Michael Clayton are available

[skinfan2k]

Ok what i dont get is we dont keep austin who can return punts and KO and did it for UCLA and was the best receiver this preseason for a guy who had 2 good plays.

Brandon Banks= Antonio Brown

[darrelgreenie]

No, HB, everyone would love Thomas if as a ROOKIE he showed KR possibilities and made SOME plays when given the chance on offense.

By a player's third year the expectations should be higher than he shows 'flashes' of being a guy that MIGHT produce somewhere down the road.

It does seem like you're holding a grudge against him based on his draft status.

Not every good player is good right away especially WRs if you give up on a player before they have a chance to blossom what do you gain?

What does it hurt to give a talented WR, already under contract, a fresh start in a more proven offensive system?

[Jethrodsp]

Banks over Austin is just silly. Brandon Banks better take a couple punts back for tds this season because I just don't see where he will contribute on offense.

[Jethrodsp]

Ok what i dont get is we dont keep austin who can return punts and KO and did it for UCLA and was the best receiver this preseason for a guy who had 2 good plays.

Brandon Banks= Antonio Brown

Exactly.

[HBnotBlades]

No, HB, everyone would love Thomas if as a ROOKIE he showed KR possibilities and made SOME plays when given the chance on offense.

By a player's third year the expectations should be higher than he shows 'flashes' of being a guy that MIGHT produce somewhere down the road.

For those of you who want to collect former high picks with measurables, James Hardy and Michael Clayton are available

Well, I'll agree to disagree. I think he's definitely one of our top 5 receivers, which isn't saying that much, and that he deserves a spot on the roster. Our offense has been a complete cluster**** for the last two years, I'd certainly be willing to give him a fair shot under shanahan.

[hwmayfield]

Stupid post. The coaches evaluate the offseason, practice and games. All you evaluated were the games. Get real! Shanahan has been doing this more than a day.

[darrelgreenie]

^^Easy waterboy, easy dial it back a notch.

[Skinsinparadise]

If you read about Shanny's workaholic habits, along with his son's and he is known as one of the biggest offensive masterminds in the NFL -- not to mention studying these guys in training camp for months, something tells me he might have a keener eye for talent than we do from watching a few hours of a game on TV.

But to your point clearly there IS a difference with this regime, they aren't married to anybody, they cut most of their draft picks. If it was all about looking good, they'd Vinny style keep Austin (who they drafted) over Banks. they wouldn't keep undrafted holdovers from the prior regime on the O line over two o lineman that this regime actually drafted.

To me I see this as the opposite. they don't care a whit if you are a star like Haynsworth, or whether they drafted you -- they simply want players that fit.

And who knows maybe we do get the teams needs better from reading the WP blog, and watching the preseason games, over Shanny and Kyle but i got some serious doubts about that but to each their own.

[jflow78]

....Brandon Banks= Antonio Brown

Hey, let's hope he can then stretch that Antonio Brown out into Reggie Brooks, and from there to Desmond Howard.

If he could be Desmond Howard during his really great year (MVP of SB when Green Bay beat the Pats), then we could cut him because he'd want crazy money, someone else would sign him, and he's just turn back into Brandon Banks

hwMayfield, darrelgreenie is right man. Mods are okay with mocking and outright hostility, but "stupid post" is not nearly funny enough to pass their Okayometer.

[georgiaredskin]

Very happy about Banks. It's what I cared about the most. Yes he needs tuning but daaang he's so talented. Sad about Austin, Parker, Henson and Tryon.

[NoVaSkins21]

My reactions are two things.

1. We need to find a #2 WR

2. We need to find some OL depth.

I think the simple solution to these two issues is that if they get the production out of the guys that they have, these two areas won't be an issue this year.

[CjSuAvE22]

Some of you guys are in love with Thomas. I understand that.

At the same time I have not been smitten with him and believe the team will be better off when he is no longer here.

ok you act like thomas has been giving unbeleiveable amounts of oppurtunity which is simply not true in fact I can remember times where he has made AMAZING blocks knocking opposing players of their feet and when someone throws an INT (Campbell) or someone else fumbles (i really dont remember thomas fumbling) he hustles and tries to make the tackle. People can say what they want to say about thomas but when the few times he gets the ball in his hands i can see him trying hard to make a play.

[CM916]

The only thing Im not happy about is just cutting Henson. He was in the process of locking up a spot when he got hurt. If he is out six weeks or longer, I'd have IRed him. I suppose it is possible that we told him to sit tight until he's healthy and we will pick him back up then but that's risky.

Surprised Banks made it but he would not have stayed on our practice squad for very long with his raw ability. If the coaches think they can fix his hands, its worth it to hang onto him.

Other than that, there are no real big surprises and I really like the roster for once. The only gray areas are OL depth if anyone gets hurt and whether or not the young WRs can keep making plays in live action.

[lou4gehrig]

Thomas has simply been a chronic underachiever whose every positive play has been over-applauded while every drop or fumbled kick/punt has been excused.

The problem is you're comparing Thomas to his expectations and his draft position. True he has failed compared to those expectations. But when you compare him to whom is currently on the roster, he deserves to stay... at least for the time being.

As far as having the worst WR corps in the league, maybe. Look at Denver who feature Brandon Lloyd and Jabber Gafney in their top 4 or maybe Tampa. Besides if we get Housh we'll be about average. Draft or sign some next year and we'll be fine.

[Mercuryrising]

That said, I am a bit disappointed in what I see in several of the roster decisions made. Not perhaps because they mean the team will win 2 or 3 fewer games (!) but because the decisions made seem to reinforce the view that demonstrated peformance and consistency were not the only factors in play.

I thought we had overcome that with the end of the Zorn era.

If team used pre-season perfomance alone, Brett Favre would have never made the Falcon's or Packer's rosters early in his career. You have to factor potential into these decisions.

That siad, I generally like the choices made.

I am glad we have a young HB in the mix now with Williams. I like the young TE Paulsen. He seems to want to block.

I think we could have put (and we might still) Banks on the PS.

Rhinehart and Jackson were guys who were intriguing at first but seemed to have maxed out with their potential.

I am glad we kept Jarmon.

I hope we can get Henson back if we need him, or if he is PS eligible.