Jabrill Peppers, Safety, Michigan. Peppers is a 6’1″, 205 lb, 21 year-old redshirt sophomore who finished 5th in the Heisman voting and was an unanimous 1st team All-American last year.  He was awarded the Paul Hornung Award, College Footballs Most Versatile Player, as well as the Lott Trophy, Defensive IMPACT (Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity) Player of the Year. He finished 2016 with 73 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, four sacks, and one interception. He also had one TD from his kick returns, averaged 15 yards per attempt on punt returns, and 3 TDs from playing on offense.

Take: Just going to this start off with the fact that when I google search “Jabrill Peppers”, two of the top related searches are “body” and “jacked”….

Peppers is a freak of nature athlete. He played 15 different positions on the field and played them well.  He lined up as a middle linebacker almost more times than safety in the game film I watched. Michigan would line him up at DE half the time and let him rush the passer and hell, he excelled at that too.  He plays every play with such a high motor and is constantly around the ball.  He’s a hard hitter who takes good angles. His acceleration off the snap is fantastic which helps him in pass rush. He sheds blockers well but could improve here. He can go man to man on any TE, RB, or slot receiver. He has the speed and agility to take any kick to the house too. Overall, this guy is a play maker. He plays with great instincts very similar to Tyrann Matheiu.

So why would someone so talented fall to #17? Well, scouts are starting to nit-pick his game saying he doesn’t have a “true position” and was part of a scheme in Michigan. He’s a little undersized at 6’1″ 205 and played in a Big Ten Conference that had a rough few years. His stats don’t jump out at you, either.  Only having 1 pick and 1 pass defended in 2016 is hurting his draft stock tremendously. Scouts are beginning to think of him more as a undersized LB than a hard-hitting safety making him the “wildcard” of the 1st round.  Also, he didn’t have the best game against OSU in their rivalry game which felt like a playoff game.

I don’t know what more I can say other than this guy would look glorious in the burgandy and gold. He has those Polamalu-like instincts that every safety/ defensive player needs to excel and the athletic skill set to be superstar. If he falls to #17, I think he would be the ideal piece to start rebuilding the defense. It will be interesting to see how he performs at the combine and see how hungry he is in the interview process. Scot McCloughan loves “football players” and I don’t think anyone else that mold better than Peppers.

Mid Round Talents to Consider:

Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, Alabama: Tomlinson has below average size standing at 6’3″, weighing 305 lbs and is ranked as the 15th best defensive lineman available in the draft. He started alongside of projected top 5 pick Jonathan Allen and finished his senior year with 54 tackles, 3 sacks, 7 QB hurries, and 4.5 TFLs. He was used primarily in run-stop situations where he racked up 48 of his tackles.

What makes him interesting is his story. Tomlinson was offered a full scholarship to Harvard, was an all state wrestler in high school, played striker and goalie in high school soccer, plays the saxophone, and is an artist.  Needless to say, this guy is smart and very multi-talented.  His tape isn’t impressive but you can tell he is a team-first kind of player. He eats up double teams, doesn’t lose ground, and controls his gap assignments. He could either be a product of Allen getting all the attention, or he could be reason Allen was so successful.  I’m choosing to believe the latter.

Javancy Jones, EDGE, Jackson State University: Here is a guy that stood out at the East-West Shrine Game. He is a 6’1″, 245lb DE/OLB who dominated his competition in the SWAC. He boasts a 4.62 40 and led his team in tackles for three straight years and led the black college league in TFLs his junior year. He was a late addition to the Shrine Game but turned a lot of heads finishing with 4 tackles and blowing up multiple counters and screens.  Will be interesting to see how he fares at the combine but this guy appears to be a vocal leader with a high motor.  He could help on special teams at least.

Sam Rogers, FB, Virginia Tech: Sam Rogers is a 5’11” 230lb swiss army knife of a FB. He finished as a 2nd team All-American his senior year after amassing 6 TDs (4 receiving, 2 rushing) and leading the Hookies to a victory over Arkansas in the Belk Bowl.  Skins flat out stink in the Red Zone and need a full back so why not take a home-town hero who started four years after walking on?   Sam was given the Frank Beamers Honorary Jersey before his senior game against rival UVA which is given to the Hookie player who most resembles the legendary coach and is the coaching staffs greatest honor. The kid is a leader as well as a tremendously hard-worker and it shows on the field.  The redskins need players like this.

 

Well good thing we wasted all that time interviewing all those ‘great’ browns and jaguars ex-head coaches! Skins brass decided to promote their outside linebacker coach Greg Manusky to Defensive Coordinator since our outside linebackers were the only decent part of our defense last year. Obviously not the greatest hire we could have made but he has experience as a head defensive coordinator before. Here they are summed up in one tweet:

The early years got cut here but you get the point. Pretty average except for 2013 in Indy which appears to be a fluke.

From all reports, Manusky will keep the 3-4 defense so buckle up for more defensive lineman trying to cover slot receivers, gaping run lanes, and risky edge blitzes at random times that make you want to kick your own ass for rooting for this team. The good news is that the player love him. Lots of LBs are pumped about the hire (Junior Galette is already calling  out people on Twitter). Manusky helped coach the redskins to (somehow) be 9th in the league in sacks. Manuksy has worked with McCloughan before in SF so he’s been deemed a “Scot” guy which is never a bad thing.

Time will tell if he can turn around this putrid defense. He brings a lot more intensity than Barry and will probably take more risks too. He’s already hired the greatest football meme generator of all time in Jim Tomsula as the defensive line coach so how bad can he be?!

What a difference one week makes! The Redskins are choosing between either the Jaguars or the Browns flunky head coach for our new open defensive coordinator spot, while Sean McVay is now the leading candidate to take over as head coach to try and calm the dumpster fire that is the LA Rams.  The Chargers have officially jumped ship on San Diego and are heading to LA too and the Raiders are in the process of moving to Vegas.  Moves everywhere! I love this tweet by the Lightning about the Chargers new logo:

 

If I didn’t hate the Lightning so much for sweeping the Caps in the playoffs in 2011 I might have actually retweeted it (BTW Congrats Ovie on 1000th point – do me a favor and let me get to my seat next time before you do it though, dammit).

Defensive Coordinator:

The skins brass did the right thing last week and canned Joe Barry along with the rest of the defensive staff. You never want to be the guy that’s happy someone lost their job, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t crack a smile when I heard the news. Without diving into stats, the Redskins were one of the top 3 worst defenses in the league.  Now that’s not all Barry’s fault. We know there is an apparent lack of talent across the board on that side of the ball. However, when your defense gets worse from your first year to the next, it’s over. Whoever comes in next has an tough task ahead of them. Let’s look at the front runners.

Mike Pettine:

Bio: Oh boy a Cleveland Browns coach. How in the world would he get an interview?  Pettine was named the head coach of the browns in 2014 and was fired in 2016 after he finished 10-22 over those years. Pettine, much like Barry, got a pretty raw deal though. The Browns were starting over with Manziel and his defense was actually pretty good.  He had multiple defensive pro-bowlers in 2014.  Everything fell apart in 2015 when the team slipped to 3-13 and Manziel went crazy.  Pettine was the DC for the Jets under Rex Ryan from 2009-2012 where his defense was top 5 year after year.  When Rex was fired, he followed him to Buffalo where he had another great defense which propelled him to head coach consideration.

Take: I actually kind of like this pick. Here’s a guy who actually made the Browns somewhat competitive, especially seeing what happened to them this year. He is a disciple of Rex Ryan. He is an aggressive play caller and scheme orientated.  The skins would be a bltiz happy team which would be a nice change from the ultra-conservative defense we had last year.

Gus Bradley:

Bio: And behind door #2 we have Jaguars old ball coach, Gus Bradley. Gus was the head coach for the Jaguars for the past 4 years where he went 14-48. Even with that poor of a record, it seemed like everything was fine until the Jaguars fell apart this year when most people had them as a lock for the playoffs. Before that, Gus was the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks from 2009-2012, where he helped their defense go from 27th in the league to 4th by the year he left.

Take: Not a good choice here. I get that he was a head coach and that experience is vital, but this guy was a product of a talented system in Seattle which was proven by his record in Jax.  Gus is a Joe Barry replica. The skins defense would be almost the same as this year if we picked him.

Hopefully there are some more candidates available after the Super Bowl but Pettine has the clear advantage here in my mind.

UPDATE: McVay was hired by the Rams as I wrote this article. Will look into the potential offensive coordinators in another article.

Playoffs:

This week we are all Packers fans. The Packers did Redskins nation a huge solid last week by avenging us while blowing out the Giants and making Beckham have a temper tantrum.  Now they take the Cowboys in Dallas.  Nothing would be sweeter than seeing Rodgers expose that Dallas defense and force them to start throwing the ball to catch up. However, this isn’t Romo’s team anymore so we can’t bank on a late season melt down. That being said, here are my picks for this weekend:

Texans at Patriots: Patriots. Duh.

Seahawks at Falcons: Falcons. Tough one but the Seahawks have been too inconsistent and that defense isn’t the same as past years.

Steelers at Chiefs: Chiefs. This will be a back and forth game, but the chiefs defense will put them over the top.

Packers at Cowboys: Packers. Packers are hot right now and Aaron Rodgers is feeling it.  If that Packers defense can hold down that run game, even just a little, this game could get ugly.

With the 17th Overall Pick, the Redskins Select:

Zach Cunningham, ILB, Vanderbilt.  The first team All-American lead the SEC in tackles and was a finalist for the Butkus Award (Nations best linebacker). Standing 6’4″, 230, he looks more like a WR out there than a LB. Plug in the tape on this guy and you’ll scratch your head at first. He doesn’t make big hits. He, more often than not, tends to wrap up the ball carrier, standing high, and spin them to the ground. Other times, he’s standing vertical in the hole and absorbs the ball carrier. Made me wonder how a guy with such poor tackling form led the SEC in tackles. Yet, he doesn’t seem to miss many tackles, get pushed back, or run over.

As you watch, you’ll notice what great position he is in all the time. He diagnoses plays exceptionally quick and finds himself in the right spot constantly to make the play. His acceleration to the point of attack is top notch. His height and speed help tremendously in coverage as well, and he’s not afraid to get physical with a crossing TE or slot WR. I’ll admit, at first I wasn’t a fan of this guy. He seemed like he didn’t have the tenacity to be a NFL linebacker and arm tackles way too much. But the more I watched, the more I fell in love with his size, athleticism, and positioning. He tackles high but he doesn’t get juked out and that alone would help our defense slow down the run. Plus, Linebackers need to be more versatile than ever these days and this kid is the definition of versatile. He would match up well with any TE. He can use rush the passer and use his length to swat passes. Hell, we could use him just to block FGs (he blocked a FG this year by jumping over the center). He will have to add some weight and strength when he comes to the NFL, like all rookies, and when he does he could be a stud for a long time.

I am eager to see what his combine stats end up being, but as of now this would be a solid pick and one that would fit McCloughans “NFL is a big mans game” motto.

 

Preface: Yes I missed the entire year – so what, big deal, want to fight about it? We started off poorly and I couldn’t download film to make gifs of plays I thought were important so I did nothing instead.

Week 17 & 8-7-1: Well did that suck or what? All week we heard about how the Giants were going rest their starters and not game plan. To be honest, I blame myself for believing it. The Giants pulled the ultimate con job.  They came out in the media all week and saying things like “it’s hard to prepare for this meaningless game” (OBJ) and “we will rest most of our starters in the 2nd half” (Ben Macadoo) (paraphrasing both) and then played all their starters not named OBJ the whole game  Even Vegas bought it. The redskins were 8 point favorites and they lost by 9. The probably should’ve lost by more if the Giants didn’t run the ball for the entire 3rd quarter.

The season finale was a good summary of the redskins season as a whole. They couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t run the ball, and became too conservative when they needed to be aggressive. Overall, the redskins aren’t a playoff team. We all knew it from week one. They aren’t good enough. We won some games we should not have won and lost some games we should not have lost and somehow almost snuck into the playoffs. To summarize, we’re average. And to be average after a season where your draft class did close to nothing to help is promising.

The skins finished 8-7-1, a half game above 500 but we all know that tie should be a win (thank you Dustin “HooksItLeft” Hopkins for that). That makes it two straight years where the redskins finished above 500. It’s the first time in a decade we can say we that. However, we went 2-4 the last 6 games against teams that, for the most part, we should have beaten.  We finished with essentially the same record as last year and were the first team out of the playoff picture.

Surprises:

The Redskins biggest surprise was the play of the defense.  The redskins finished in the bottom of the league in just about everything and were much worse if you watched them live. Missed tackles, missed assignments, missed tackles, dropped interceptions, inability to shed blocks, and did I mention missed tackles?  There’s nothing worse than letting the Giants, who have one of the worst rushing offenses in the league, to run for over 150 yards. It seems like week after week, our opponents had a “get right game” and had their best game of the year. Is it a lack of talent? Poor coaching? Poor preparation? I say all of the above. If the skins are going to become any sort of contender, they’re going to need to address the defense immediately.

The NFLs biggest surprise this year was the Dallas Cowboys.  All I can say is they must have read my blog on Dak Prescott, because he led them to a 13-3 record in which they’ve manhandled every opponent. We will see if they can stay hot and make a Super Bowl run. As of now, their defense seems to have gotten better and their numerous draft picks are stepping up. It seems like no one can stop their run game and if Dak can continue to not turn the ball over and make good decisions, watch out, the Lombardi could be heading to Dallas just one year after they finished at the bottom of the league (it pains me to write that let along even think of it).

The Giants also finished the year well above previously thought. They played the free agent market and succeeded. They finished 11-5 and are playing their best ball just before the playoffs. Their free agent model was something that the redskins tried for YEARS and failed miserably. Maybe it’s because they have a stable QB, an elite WR, a stud SS who bandaids their imperfections. People are already calling for the redskins and their $50 mil in cap space to replicate their model and revamp our defense. Frankly, I can’t argue with revamping our defense but we must draft players, not pay the highest valued FA. The Giants did a good job finding role players in FA. However, this model has proven more often than not (especially with the redskins) to destroy teams.

Kirk Cousins:

Kirk Cousins finished the year with 4,917 yards, 25 TDs, 12 INTs, and a 67% completion percentage. Those stats were good enough for him to finish 3rd in the league in yards behind Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. Kirk can also boast this stat:

EDIT: Eli Manning threw for more as well

Kirk Cousins had a phenomenal year. He broke his own passing yardage record and lead the redskins to the #3 ranked offense in the league. So why is everyone so down on him? Well , for starters, the eye test tells a different story. Here was a QB that seemed to flounder in the red zone. He regressed drastically back to norm close to the goal line. The redskins finished with a 45% TD to red zone opportunity which was good enough to be 29th in the NFL. That’s down 13% from last season and is, in summary, just bad. Now, this probably has more to do with the run game than with Kirk but it adds to the argument that Cousins arm strength isn’t good enough to force that ball into a WR in tight spots.

Cousins also seemed to flounder in big games. He had a big game against the Bengals in London and another on Sunday Night against the Packers. However, he seemingly laid an egg against the Panthers on MNF and the Giants just a week ago. For the most part, Cousins excelled in shifting line assignments to pick up blitzes and finding the open receivers. However, in the games he struggled were the games he was sacked multiple times and was forcing it to his first read.  Essentially, his worst games were the ones were he resorted back to his old self. In order for him to take that next step, he will have to continue to calm his nerves and trust his line to give him enough time to find the open receiver.

In summary, Cousins proved that 2015 wasn’t a fluke. He proved that with an improved line and another year in the system, he could throw for more yards and lead the redskins to a top 3 offense with little to no run game. However, he helped cement critics concerns that he doesn’t have to stones to come throw in the clutch.  The season finale, a “win or go home” game was one of his worst performances of the year and will leave a sour taste in redskins fans mouths for years to come.

The Future/ Cousins Contract:

I thought this tweet was especially intriguing. Steinberg later went on to say “One is a leading MVP candidate. The other we will spend the rest of our lives debating”. Take a guess on who the two QBs are.  Answer below:

 

 

 

 

 

When you put the stats side by side, it really makes you wonder why bringing Cousins back is even a debate.  Even for the people that hate the numbers, you cannot argue that Cousins is the best QB the redskins have had in the last 25 years. His selflessness, his positive attitude, his work ethic, and his passion for the game is something to admire. He might not have all the bells and whistles of a super star, but he will quietly put up numbers  game after game, and most likely year after year. Another underrated quality of Cousins is his toughness. He is the first QB since Jason Campbell to start every game for two years. As a matter of fact, I don’t think he even missed a play this year.  That consistency is something that the redskins desperately need.

Cousins contract is what the whole offseason will be based around. If the skins decide he’s not worth the money, you can almost guarantee they will try and look for something in the draft (pick #17 by the way). A franchise tag will cost the skins around $24 mil this year and is still very much in play. Cousins value will most likely only increase as the market unfolds and rookie QBs get scouted. Right now, the some of the unrestricted free agent QBs besides Cousins are: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum, Shaun Hill, Matt Schaub, Matt McGloin, EJ Manuel, Blaine Gabbert, Matt Cassell, Mark Sanchez, Brain Hoyer, Geno Smith, Kellen Klemens, etc.  I would be shocked if Cousins isn’t the first one to get a deal out of this group and Cousins deal will dictate what the kind of deal the rest gets.

Last year, I proposed Kirk would get a 4 year $85 Mil contract and unfortunately I was wrong. Cousins ended up betting on himself and played the year on the franchise tag. That bet paid off. There have been rumors that Cousins may make up to $30 mil PER YEAR thanks to a 15% increase in the salary cap, QB starved FA market, and QB needy teams having anywhere from $60-100 mil in cap space (Browns projected $105 mil cap space). Those numbers would make him the highest paid QB in the NFL by about $5 mil per year. To be frank, those numbers are startling.

Kirk is not the best QB in the league by any means but he will become the highest of the highest paid.  This is the nature of the new CBA. Now that the first overall pick isn’t the highest paid player in the NFL year after year, the QB market has picked up the tab. Every year, an average QB is making buku bucks (see Osweiler and Romo). Cousins has found himself in the right place at the right time.

People are going to be hired or fired over the Cousins decision. Cousins, who’s 28 years old, is in his prime and deserves a long term contract. Since it’s not my money, I say pay him what he wants and focus your attention to rebuilding the defense.

Other Redskins Free Agents:

Desean Jackson and Pierre Garcon are the two high profile free agents.  It’s becoming apparent that the Redskins are going to only be able to afford one if they want to sign Kirk and add to their defense. If you have to choose one, and they were the same price, you have to choose Garcon. He’s been a steady contributor, a leader, and the WR you go to on 4th and 1. He gets involved in run blocking, plays through injuries, and doesn’t complain when he doesn’t get the ball. He’s a player that is essential to a building team.

On the defensive front, you’re going to have to take a long look at resigning Chris Baker. He was a healthy contributor on a defensive line that was historically bad against the run, rushing the passer, tackling, and pretty much everything. All mock drafts have the redskins taking a defensive lineman or a linebacker.  It’s sad but I honestly see Baker walking. He will be offered something low because of his age (29) and the lack of production of the unit as a whole.

2017 Draft:

The redskins go into this years draft with the 17th overall pick. It’s early to be talking draft but it would be beyond stunning if the redskins didn’t select a defensive player with this pick. Rumors have the redskins scouting defensive lineman but if Reuben Foster falls to 17, I guarantee that’s who the redskins take. More draft talk coming soon.