Initial Reactions to Redskins 53 Man Roster

[Oldskool]

WR corps are extremely thin, and the only squad that comes close to it in terms of lack of depth and talent are the OL.

I would hate for this team to go into week 1 with those wide receivers.

[MartinC]

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.

I still have hope for Thomas personally but when you are writing about a receivers highlights and you talk about his blocking and hustle after interceptions thats not a good sign.

[MonkFan8]

Very worried about our offense in general. Our running game doesn't really impress me, given what I've seen from preseason. Maybe it was them not showing too much of the playbook, but I just don't see any really speed in the backfield. Portis is incapable of breaking long runs anymore.

I think our passing game might be even worse off, I really don't understand how we didn't deal for a receiver. I don't believe Moss is capable of being a #1 receiver for 16 games anymore. This isn't 2005. After him, there really isn't much to rely on.

McNabb's going to have to have one of his best seasons to date in order for us to win games.

[MartinC]

Very worried about our offense in general. Our running game doesn't really impress me, given what I've seen from preseason. Maybe it was them not showing too much of the playbook, but I just don't see any really speed in the backfield. Portis is incapable of breaking long runs anymore.

I think our passing game might be even worse off, I really don't understand how we didn't deal for a receiver. I don't believe Moss is capable of being a #1 receiver for 16 games anymore. This isn't 2005. After him, there really isn't much to rely on.

McNabb's going to have to have one of his best seasons to date in order for us to win games.

Our offense will be worlds better than last years IMO. I think the running game will come along but we will be a passing team. If we can stay healthy along the line we have significant upgrades at tackle and pass protection will be good which gives a much better QB the chance to operate.

We are thin at receiver but I think we have not done making moves there yet plus you have to factor Cooley and Davis into that group as I think we see lots of sets with both of them on the field but with one in a WR spot.

The main thing though is we have actual NFL coaching and game planning. I have a feeling offense will be our strong suit this year and we will be shouting at the defense 'stop them'.

[1972FAN]

My reactions are two things.

1. We need to find a #2 WR

2. We need to find some OL depth.

we need to find a true number one WR :/

[MartinC]

we need to find a true number one WR :/

Agreed, but you don't get them off the street or from roster cuts. If we get Housh though we get a decent number 2 guy with a bit of tread left on his tires.

[Shining Star]

Is your front office still trying to make a trade for Vincent Jackson or is he Seattle bound?

[terpfan]

we need to find a true number one WR :/

Heh... baby steps.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Is your front office still trying to make a trade for Vincent Jackson or is he Seattle bound?

Can't really say. The Skins new FO doesn't telegraph their moves at all which is why everyone thought the Jammal Brown trade was dead right before we got him and we never expected Philly to trade McNabb in the division.

[MartinC]

Is your front office still trying to make a trade for Vincent Jackson or is he Seattle bound?

Jackson is not going anywhere now. The Chargers put him on the roster exempt list and he he is now unavailable for the first 3 weeks as a result. He then has to serve his 3 game NFL suspension meaning he will not be available to play until week 7.

No one is trading for a guy who will not play the first 6 weeks.

I expect him to report just before week 10 so he gets this years eligibility and service which allows him to become an unrestricted free agent next year - subject to there being a next year of course.

[Warhead36]

The biggest surprise to me was keeping Banks over Austin. I like both but I thought Austin would make the roster and Banks would be PS.

I also liked what I saw of Capers as a project. I suppose he's fine as PS fodder though.

But yeah we definitely need a legit #2 WR. McNabb has had ****ty WRs his entire career though, so we'll see.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

So, once again as with the Banks and Thomas moves I am asking the question of whether the Shanahan rhetoric about earning a place equals the decisions that were ultimately made?

I think Shanahan said he'd keep the 53 best players on the roster. Your emphasis on "earning" and the presumption that such earning is done in the preseason games that fans watch is not in sync with Shanahan's process and decisions.

In Shanahan's analysis, he probably wanted to see if the speed that Banks showed in camp would show up in PR, KR, screen pass / swing pass YAC, and flies. It did for the first three, not so much for flies, due to Banks having trouble judging the ball in flight.

As for Banks's errors in preseason games, Shanahan has many more repetitions to evaluate from practice, and probably figures he can coach up the errors. He may also be working on a longer development schedule than you presume. Making the roster is not the same as starting, playing or even being active on game day.

Regarding Thomas, we saw a couple of good catches, and some reliable returns at KR. I was not very impressed, but apparently he passed whatever tests Shanahan set for him.

With Galloway and Roydell Williams, their limited appearances should tell you that preseason games are not the only test or even the most important test for Shanahan in evaluating many of the players. It's clear to me that these two guys made the best 53 without needing to play preseason games at all. They earned their spots in camp and in prior years as NFL pros. Other WRs can't say the same thing.

With Austin, fans may have misunderstood the test at hand. He may never have had a serious shot at the 53-man roster, and was playing all along for the practice squad. Looks like he earned it and made it. I will be surprised if another team grabs him, simply because it's hard to grab another team's rookie WR and make him productive as a member of the 53-man roster in year 1, when most weeks are spent preparing for an opponent, not learning the offense.

I think Shanahan has earned the benefit of the doubt not to second-guess his decisions at this stage. He's seen a lot more than we have, and he has a tremendous track record running offenses.

If you want to pick scabs where history is not on Shanahan's side, look at the defense. There, Shanahan has not earned the benefit of the doubt, nor Haslett. It will probably be a rough transition to the 3-4, for a variety of reasons. We can either feel like geniuses predicting problems that are inevitable, or, more charitably, expect to have problems and see how they are addressed during the year and by the second year.

I'm taking the latter approach.

[DGREENHULK]

Well the only "surpreises" to me were Banks over Austin.and Montgomery over Edwin Williams??? As for some of the others..With his limited game reps I figured Capers would go to the PS. The Torain cut surprised me a little but with the way K. Williams ran the ball between the tackels and played on special teams he deserved a shot. So all in all I think its a solid 53 but I still think we are not done at the WR and OL spots. HTTR

[Checmate101]

Like the moves Shanny made..dude has 2 superbowls can't go against that.

Not worried about Banks, get BMitch in there to teach him how to catch the punts.

I think we do need another WR somewhere though.

[LBetts]

I guess (read desperately hope) that Austin makes the practice squad as he's looked really good in preseason as a proper route running WR. That the fumble machine made it and he didn't seems really strange.

[Est.1974]

1. Brandon Banks.

Agreed. Austin over Banks for me. This is a risk pick, Shanny is taking a flyer in this kid. It does seem a luxury at this point.

2. Devin Thomas.

Agreed. He has done nothing to convince me that he will be any good. I hope he proves me wrong. I suspect the overall lack of real quality in our WR group helped him make the team.

3. Jeremy Jarmon.

There was talk that we were shopping Jarmon as trade bait. There was also talk that he was still nicked up. My guess is that he was deemed too good / has too much value to outright cut. I'm looking out for a trade in the coming days or he may head to IR. Is it possible we kept him in the 53 to protect our rights to him for a little longer ?

[gaskinsfan]

Although Banks was a surprise, if he shows the explosiveness and holds onto the football he might just be a difference maker in a couple of games. With a lack of WR talent, we may need special teams help to jump start the offense.

Robert Henson was a cut I was surprised at. I thought he looked good in preseason, and we need linebacker depth in a 3-4.

Was a little surprised at the lack of playing time Devin Thomas got with the 1's. He is a physical WR, good blocker, and is fast and good after the catch. Not sure why we favored old guys that were cut ahead of him in preseason, maybe just trying to motivate him. Along the same line, I am a little worried that Shanny is taking the AH situation too far. He is clearly a disruptive force at DE, far more than anyone else on the roster. If he doesn't start/play the majority of the snaps at DE against Dallas it would just be hurting the team. Time to stop head games and get down to football.

All in all excited about the season, think the defense will play well and create more turnovers, not sure what the offense is going to bring. I would play a lot of 2 TE sets since they are also some of the best receivers we have.

[TheShredder]

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)

If you scan the cut lists you will find that there are a lot of guys in there 1st-3rd years at WR that have a similar stature as Thomas. They don't have the playing time that Thomas has in most cases because Devin has had his opportunities. It's not uncommon to not make the step needed to become a #1 or #2 NFL WR in 1-2 yrs. It's pretty much common place that if you're going to make the step forward and have a breakout year (and finally get it), then it's by the 3rd season.

I think there are many skins fans who are going to agree with you with regards to Devin Thomas. He was very close to being cut, but...He didn't. He has some skills and is being given an opportunity to breakout this year.

Here's to DT taking the next step! :cheers:

[mossomo]

Initial Reactions to Redskins 53 Man Roster

First, "Wow, Banks made it."

Then, "**** YEAH! Preseason's OVER *******!"

LoLz. I like your attitude...

___________________________________________________________________________

Peeps, dont forget PS. Capers, Cook, and six others will be stuck on it.

I love that move with J.Tyron; traded for a PICK; we won't win nor lose without him, love it!

Not liking they cut Henson #51. He showed up and played lights out. Atleast PS but... we'll see.

[TheShredder]

Although Banks was a surprise, if he shows the explosiveness and holds onto the football he might just be a difference maker in a couple of games. With a lack of WR talent, we may need special teams help to jump start the offense.

-----

All in all excited about the season, think the defense will play well and create more turnovers, not sure what the offense is going to bring. I would play a lot of 2 TE sets since they are also some of the best receivers we have.

It's pretty obvious that Mike Shanahan has integrity. Although he is not going to give the fans the info that they crave in his interviews, he is going to stand by his word.

Coach wants playmakers. Period. I think Banks making the roster is an indication of that. I also looked to see if there had been a similar case of a team taking a similar stance and found that the Steelers had done this experiment last year with Stefan Logan. He was on the roster for all 16 games and basically was a special teams returner. Problem was that they couldn't find anything else that he could do, so they just cut yesterday. He is only 5'6". If Banks makes plays, he's going to stick around this year. If he doesn't make some plays, he will be in the same Stefan Logan dilemma.

I believe Banks knows this and will run like Forest Gump each time he gets the ball. Just hope that nobody tackles him with anything more than a arm.

Two TE sets are system oriented. Some teams are carrying 4 TE's for just this reason. We will see Both our TE's on the field at the same time often this season...As well as split TE sets and Moss way out to one side. That will create some ONE on ONE's for Moss. This is vs. the conventional theory of having a true #2 that would cause D's to play Moss one on one. Our TE's are both pro bowl quality and Kyle is going to exploit it. No Worries.

Stay thirsty my friends!

:2drunks::2drunks::2drunks::2drunks:

[aar_21]

I'm very surprised that no one's used the Marko Mitchell comparison when talking about Austin. Our view of wide receivers is so colored by the years of mediocre Redskins WR play (and the Kelly/Thomas/Davis debacle), that we are ready to fall heads over heels for any serviceable WR, even if he's so lowly thought of to be drafted in the 7th round.

You can't coach speed and vision, and Banks has both in spades. Austin, while he looked solid in the preseason, is much less likely to be snapped up by another team I would think. He has time to learn the system and develop on the PS and get another shot next year (perhaps when the DT experiment ends?).

[TSO]

I think it simply came down to the fact that Banks would probably not clear waivers if we cut him, where there's a higher chance Austin will. It's obvious to us who's got the bigger following, so I wouldn't be shocked that the same was true with the league's scouts. Hopefully, Austin clears waivers and he goes to the PS. If that happens, I don't see how anyone can be frustrated with how things turned out.

About Thomas, he's made the team as a 4th WR, maybe even a 5th WR. Lol, if that doesn't say things have changed to you from the Zorn era, what will? We had him and Malcolm Kelly as our no. 2 to open the season last year, with Randle El in the slot, remember? Think about it like this, until he works his way up the depth chart by being more consistent, he's only going to get on the field when Special Teams come on and when we have 4/5 WR sets. Yeah. Can't say I see where you're coming from, bulldog, got to say you're off on that one.

As for Jarmon, he played his way onto the roster against Arizona. He looked unhealthy and out of position most of the preseason, but for the first time I noticed he got a lot of penetration and was fairly immovable against Arizona. Maybe his knee is feeling better... and you just have to reward a guy who comes back that fast from a knee injury, adds weight for you to play a position he wasn't drafted to play and plays hard all throughout preseason finishing stronger than he started.

Now, losing Tryon stinks in my mind because I believe he's a solid corner who can play with the big boys. However, I understand why we let him go while keeping Westbrook over him... you've got to have top notch Special Teams players if you want to win in this league, and Westbrook is a good one.

Now the question in my mind is, who's going to be on the PS, specifically which Olinemen who got cut?

[MrJL]

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.

Banks or Austin would be the sixth reciever this year and unless injuries or total special teams failure happen neither would suit up for a game.

[Skinz#28Rules]

I think DT can have a big year with DM passing the ball to him. Donavan has made "not so good receivers" look like great receivers almost his whole career. So I'm expecting big things out of Thomas this year. I'm even giving him a chance on my fantasy team this year!!

[MEANDWARF]

Notice since Bobby Beatherd left, we have sucked in drafting late rounds players?