Month: August 2017

What to Watch For: Preseason Week 3 Bengals/ Redskins

This is a big week. Week 3 of preseason is widely considered the “dress rehersal” of the regular season and the Redskins certainly have a lot to work on. Here are some things to watch for:

Josh Norman:

Josh Norman was smoked last year by the Bengals all-pro WR AJ Green to the tune of 121 yards on 9 receptions. Yet, Norman did jump two of his routes dropping two easy interceptions in that game. I don’t expect the Bengals to pick on Norman like he did last year but it will certainly be Normans biggest test of the preseason.

DJ Swearinger:

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Keep an eye out for #36.  Tyler Eifert went for 102 yards and a TD on 9 receptions and Dalton went for 27/42 for 284 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT last year. If Swearinger is as good as advertised, he will have his biggest test today against these two.

Run Pro:

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The redskins running game has been poor this preseason.  However, the Bengals finished 21st against the run last year and have lost a few pieces along that front. I wrote last week about the missed assignments the redskins had.  All I would like to see this week is the line giving Robert Kelley a chance to make plays. So far, he’s been hit in the backfield more often than not. If the Redskins can get a hat on a hat, there should be some lanes to run through. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Perine got a few carries on the first team.

Gruden’s Play Calling:

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This may be wishful thinking, but let’s see the Redskins open up the playbook a bit. The offense has struggled and it may be by design. Gruden has kept it very vanilla. There have been lots of hopeless runs and screens to Ryan Grant. So far, the biggest plays have all come from the same ‘wheel’ route up the sideline by either a running back or a tight end. Would it be too much to ask for a backside post or a fly route? Let’s see Pryor go up after one like we’ve seen in practice. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gruden dials it up on the first drive just to give the fans some hope. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran the ball three times and punted either.

Josh Doctson:

2016 Regular Season, Week 1

Following the play calling, let’s see a little more of #18. The Redskins could be very well be hiding him from other teams in the same way they’re hiding their creative plays. Every report out of camp is how impressive/ athletic he is. He is still nursing a hamstring and I’m sure Gruden wants to keep him healthy, but he desperately still needs game action. If the Redskins make it in the red zone, look for a few shots to #18.

Who will start at OLB?

So far, Preston Smith continues to be the starter on the depth chart. Smith looked good last week, pushing the pocket and getting a sack. He will get plenty of playing time this week since rookie Ryan Anderson is nursing a shoulder stinger and Trent Murphy is now out for the season. Junior Galette has a prime opportunity this week to unseat him but he is still nursing a hamstring injury.  If Galette is a go, look for #58 to rotate in with Smith early and often. If not, Chris Carter may end up playing the whole game.

The New Starting ILBs:

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It was made apparent this week that Zack Brown and Mason Foster will be starting this week at inside linebacker leaving the captain Tom Compton as a sub in. Brown has been as good as advertised and is a lock for the starting job week 1. Foster, not so much. I will agree that Foster has played better than Compton but Compton is a vocal leader who calls the plays and audibles. That job is now Foster’s. It will be interesting to see how Foster reacts to the Bengals audibles. Also, don’t count out Martrell Spaight. He made some plays last week against the second unit and may be the best run stuffing MLB on the team.

 

Takeaways and Film Review – Preseason Week 2 Packers 20, Redskins 17

Another week, another crappy showing from the first team offense. You hear that? That’s the sound of Jack’s fantasy team comprised solely of redskins receivers bursting into flames. All offseason we heard how wonderful Pryor was and how much of an upgrade he is.  In the words of the late great Chris Farley “well la dee freaking da”.  Thanks for nothing training camp hypers. Pryor suddenly can’t catch a pass that’s above his head and Cousins can’t seem to hit this giant receiver in the numbers. Oh, and the running game still stinks on ice. Let’s dive in.

Takeaways & Grades:

The running game: Christ where do I even begin with this turd of a performance. How about Rob Kelleys stat line of 9 attempts for 9 yards. Longest rush was for 4 yards (granted it was on a 3rd and short good for you offense!). Wrote last week about seeing whether or not the skins can run when the other teams knows it and they have proven, in fact, no they absolutely cannot run the football when the other team knows they are running the football. Honestly, I don’t blame Kelley nearly as much as the o-line. The line was exposed again for poor run blocking technique and Kelley was met in the backfield constantly. Don’t even get my started on the tight ends run blocking.  Might as well just run the ball out of four wide instead of letting Vernon Davis block again. This play on the redskins 4th drive of the game, against the Packers 2nd teamers.

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Just an unbelievable missed block here. Literally, the run is coming your way and you miss the guy who is at the point of attack.  Nyles Paul appears to be signaling to Davis that he needed to pick up #24 as #24 stuffs Kelley for a 3 yard loss. This is a simple zone read left but for some reason Davis decides to go right leaving a huge hole for #24 to squirt through untouched. The breakdown appears to be caused by the Packers DE shifting down a gap right as the ball was snapped causing Davis to pick him up and drive him to the right. Davis has been in the league for too long to be making these kind of mistakes. Again, this is against the Packers 2nd team defenders. Later on that drive our first team o-line couldn’t move the Packers 2nd team d line on a fourth and 1.  You might as well just forget about running the ball this season. Get ready for a long year of Gruden “testing” the offensive line on 3rd/ 4th and shorts in the 1st half then abandoning the whole running game in the 2nd half (as he should).

Luckily, there appears to be hope on the horizon. Perine rushed well in the 2nd half and showed flashes of the player they thought they drafted in the 4th round. He finished the day with 49 yards on 8 attempts and caught a nice wheel route for 29 yards as well. However, unless we see some kind of progress from the o-line, I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Grade: F

Fabian Moreau:

Have yourself a day young fella! First play in the burgandy and gold, first forced fumble, first turnover. The dude looks unstoppable from the gunner position on punt team, something I didn’t realized the redskins lacked so much until now.  I mean, look at the separation he got on this play:

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Can’t teach speed and Moreau has it in spades. He also held his own out wide against the packers 2nd teamers.  Excited to see more of #31 in the coming weeks.

Grade: B+

Kirk Cousins:

Cousins started slow again this week which is starting to make everyone nervous. Cousins doesn’t necessarily need a clean pocket to operate but it’s becoming apparent his weakest throws come from when he’s flushed to his left. 2nd drive of the game, it happened twice and both times Cousins missed his open receiver.  Here’s the first play:

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Cousins does a nice job of avoiding the sack but then lackadaisically throws it at Kelley’s feet as he’s moving to his left. You can also see how he doesn’t get his shoulders turned around in the 2nd photo which most likely led to the inaccuracy. Not a game changing miss here but definitely one that he’d like to have back.  Cousins responds nicely with a ball to Vernon Davis that looked like a sure TD before the defender got his hand in there:

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In a perfect world, Davis get his hands up and catches the pass at its highest point and scores an easy TD.  Still, can’t fault him completely here, defenders make plays too. Third play of the drive was another inaccurate ball to Pryor.

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Cousins appears to be looking for Vernon Davis on the deep out route off the snap but the Packers had him double covered. He does a great job of going through his reads all the way back to Pryor (might have checked off Chris Thompson in the flat early) but again, as he’s moving away from the front side pressure he misses his receiver.  Now Pryor could’ve came down with this ball and probably should have after what everyone has seem him do in camp. Yet, he wasn’t going to make the first anyways even if he did. Bad play call, bad execution, kick the stupid field goal.

Cousins worst pass of the day came on the 3rd three and out drive on third down. He appears to be staring down Crowder on a skinny post that should’ve been pick sixed.

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Cousins made up his mind pre-snap that he was going to Crowder if it was man to man. It was and he let it rip. Give the safety credit for diagnosing this play and jumping it from the start.  If Cousins waits a moment, Grant gets wide open on the comeback route at the top of the screen which would’ve been a nice first down.  These are the kind of plays that Cousins detractors love to point out when denouncing Cousins. Cousins is clearly frustrated with his start and got hit the play before.  This play cannot happen and hopefully Kirk focuses on his keeping his frustrations in check next game.

Luckily, Gruden kept him in there the whole first half and let him work his way out of this funk.  His next drive he seems to settle down and start hitting his receivers before we get stuffed on a 4th and 1 (which was caused by Grant not getting the first down before he stepped out the previous play UGH Ryan Grant). Cousins misses Crowder on a deep out route later on that I’m too lazy to comment on but overall he seemed to get his swagger back at the end on the half. I hate the starters had to play that long to get their confidence back in a meaningless game but it was more than needed.

Grade: D+

Matt Ioannidis:

Ionanidis looks like he belongs on the roster after this week. He did a great job up front against both the starters at the backups Saturday. His highlight was his near sack on Huntley that forced him to make a bad throw.

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This play appears to be a screen to the running back. Matt has a great swim move off the snap that screws up the timing but almost getting to the QB before he can dump it to the RB.  Great show of athleticism here but #98.  He did well enough this week to be considered for a starting role in the defense in my opinion.

Grade: B+

Jonathan Allen:

Allen didn’t make any plays but was overpowering his man opposite of him on each rush. When against the first teamers, Allen subbed in on third down.  Rodgers was just too elusive and made dicing up our defense look easy.  His only tackle came on the Ioannidis play where he hustled over and smashed the running back after he stuttered. Solid performance but unfortunately not much to show from it.

Grade: B

Samaje Perine:

I touched on how good Perine was earlier.  Perine was the only running back that was able to do anything all day.  He looked explosive, quick, and ran with some great balance while glancing off tackles. Complete 180 from last week.  You could tell this game was going to be different right from his first touch. Here’s one that stood out:

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Perine’s second carry is a stretch play to the left. He gets hit in the back field but is able to shake off the tackler, stay in bounds and cut it up for a gain of 6. This is the kind of plays you saw him make at Oklahoma. Great balance and control to glance off the linebacker and stay on his feet.

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Perine also showed off a little speed catching a wheel route for 29 yards on the very next play. Honestly, if McCoy hits him in stride he could’ve had a chance for 6.

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This is a draw play with fullback lead. Similar to last week, Perine jump cuts away from defender right after he gets the football. However, he holds on this time and rumbles up the field for a solid gain. I don’t know how I feel about him trying to use the stiff arm here going to contact. RBs are taught to put two hands on the football when you expect contact but here he uses a stiff to almost throw Derek Carrier (#89) into a would-be tackler and keep his feet pumping. It works for him here but I’d rather see secure the football.

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Here is another stretch play, this time to the right. Again, he gets hit by a linebacker once he clears the tackle and again he rumbles right through him and cuts it up for a big gain. It’s worth noting that Doctson does a fantastic job clearing out his CB from the play and giving Perine some room.

This is how the running game is supposed to look. Perine bounced back in a big way this week.  You may see some first team looks next week for Samaje.

Grade: A

Josh Doctson:

Josh Doctson made his first appearance of the preseason (first since week 2 of last year to be fair) spelling Pryor late in the 2nd quarter. To summarize, he looked good. He only had one catch on two targets but his catch certainly gives you an insight into his talent.

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Doctson runs a great route, getting separation from the DB. Kirk stares him down a bit and puts the ball right on the money. Doctson makes the catch and almost uses the balls momentum to drive himself up field for an extra 5 yards. What struck me on this play was how easy Doctson made it look. He made it look effortless. For a play designed to make 6 yards, it’s impressive that Doctson can lean into the catch and dive for an extra 5.

Like I said in the Perine review, Doctson can block too. He took his man clean out of some of these runs. Sky is the limit for #18.

Grade: B+

Junior Galette/ Ryan Anderson:

Two of my “ones to watch” missed the game! Neither seem to be badly injured but might be worth looking into if they miss another game.

Grade: INC

Preston Smith:

You haven’t heard much about Preston Smith this off season but he still appears to be the guy starting across from Kerrigan. Smith had a few solid rushes and ended up with a sack and a big hit on Rodgers in his limited playing time.  He looks leaner and faster than last year. Hopefully he can regain his rookie form and contribute to this pass rush.

Grade: B

Chris Carter:

With the redskins down some pass rushers, #55 exploded on the scene last night grabbing two sacks and three tackles against the backups. Carter was signed to contribute on special teams but impressed everyone with his tenacity rushing the passer. Hell, he sacked the QB after he had his helmet ripped off. He did get caught offside on a drive but give that man a spot on the team, Jay!

Grade: B

Montae Nicholson:

As expected, Nicholson got a lot of playing time on Saturday and he looked like he needed it. Nicholson took poor angles and missed some open-field tackles.  Yet he batted down a pass and was in the right position in run pro. Overall he did okay. Not sure if you can expect him to push for a starting job anytime soon but with his size and athleticism he should carve out a role on special teams.

Grade: C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to Watch For Preseason Week #2 Redskins/ Packers

Saturday can’t come soon enough if you ask me. The Redskins will look to bounce back after getting humped up and down the field last week. The Ravens took a whole lot of wind out of our sails but there are some players coming back this week that should make a difference.

Junior Galette OLB #58:

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DavyLambert‏ @DavyLamber

Ah yes, the player that was supposed to sure up our pass rush two years ago.  Two achilles tendon tears later, here we are. It’s amazing to think that he hasn’t even seen a preseason snap in two years but there is still so much hype surrounding him. Why? Plays like this for starters: Galette vs Davis

The injury to Trent Murphy makes #58 the center of everyones attention Saturday.

Fabian Moreau CB #31:

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The rookie 3rd rounder is scheduled to make his debut this weekend. He has all the athleticism but lets see if he can make the plays.  He has already moved up to the third defensive pairing and is a surefire bet to play a lot of special teams Saturday.

The Running Game:

Something has got to give here. The running game was a complete failure last week. Matter of fact, the run game was a failure last year and has been a failure since Gruden took over. Will Brandon Scherff get back to pro-bowl form? Will there be any glaring misses on zone reads? Expect to see a lot of Rob Kelley early and often, especially on short yardage situations. Chris Thompson looked good on his few touches – look for him to get more rushes as well.

Ryan Anderson #52:

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Anderson got off to a good start last week and with the injury to Trent Murphy, he suddenly has a chance to start. Galette is considered to be a pass-rushing OLB where Anderson is a run-stopping OLB.  So another good game from Anderson and you could very see him starting week one, play one across from Kerrigan with Galette subbing on 3rd and long situations.

Montae Nicholson #34:

The Redskins second fourth round pick will get a big opportunity to show what he’s got this weekend.  The strong safety is already running with the two’s after Cravens injury so he should be thrust into the action early. So far, reports have been critical of his play. However, he just started fully participating this week so that’s to be expected.  Keep an eye out for #34 in the 2nd quarter and 2nd half.

Arie Kouandjio #74:

The 4th round pick out of Alabama from a few years ago was supposed to push Lauvou for the starting left guard position this year. Yeah, that’s not going to happen. After a poor training camp and even worse first preseason game, he’s looking to be one of the first ones cut.  Kouandjio has been demoted to the 3rd line pairing behind two undrafted rookies. Lets see how he responds with his back against the wall.

 

 

 

Preseason Week 1 Review – Whelp that Sucked.

What a disgrace.  Redskins were showing so much promise in all these training camps then went up to Baltimore and laid a big fat egg.  Where do I even begin? Starting offense and defense both looked like white dog crap.  Special teams need some work (as usual).  Rookies were meh. Let’s dive into the first few drives by the starters.

Opening Drive Offense:

Play one was bad. Cousins play-actions and misses Pryor over the middle. Pryor gets his hands on it but can’t hold on. However, play two really set the tone for the rest of the day.

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Here’s a simple fullback lead dive you learn in little league. Right off the bat you can see that Trent Williams (#71) is already beat. Scheriff is getting his butt kicked at RG and Lavou/ Long can’t move the NT.  #55 blows up the whole run and its a loss of a yard.

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This play was particularly sad because Niles Paul got to the linebacker and locked him up. If Trent gets a better block here, Kelley is off to the safeties.

Next play – sacked lunch.

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Gruden dials up the “Four Verts/ Everyone Go”, aka everyone’s going deep. Long and Scheriff are the apparent weak links on the offensive line. Right as Kirk hits his drop back, Long is already falling over and Scheriff is on skates.  For some reason, Kirk has no hot routes on this play.  His only option is to try and dodge the onslaught. The pocket collapses and he has no where to go.

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PUNT.

 

Opening Drive Defense:

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First off – crappy punt.  Not even our punter could get his act together for this one. Defense got a three and out but only by the skin of their teeth. Ravens first play was luckily a dropped pass.  Second was an end around that looked to have a lot of space.

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Defense is playing man to man here. Kerrigan diagnoses the play but is somewhat in no mans land here trying to get up field.  He does enough to get the back off track. Compton (#51) still hasn’t even noticed it’s an end around and is staring in the backfield flat footed. Mason Foster does a good job of closing down and making the play. Otherwise this is an easy 1st down or more.

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Third play is another man to man look where Fuller (#29) gets beat off the line and leaves the slot WR wide open. Luckily for Fuller, Mallet overthrows him.

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2nd Drive Offense:

Skins offense trots out one more time this time backed up at the 1 yard line.  They start with an easy zone read left that Kelley does a good job of pushing ahead and getting 3 yards in a cloud of dust.

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Finally, something positive! Next play, play action pass that gets blown up by a blitz. Cousins does a good job of getting it to his check down Kelley for a gain of 6.  Now for the 3rd and 1 debacle.

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Appears to be a inside zone right towards the right guard. There is a clear miscommunication between Mosses (#76) and Davis (#86) on who should block the DT #96 who proceeds to fly into the backfield UNTOUCHED and blow up Kelley as soon as he gets the ball for a 5 yard loss.

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These kind of plays give me nightmares of last year. The Redskins red zone, 3rd and short/ 4th and 1 woes all stem from this ineptitude to run the ball when the defense knows you’re going to. Also, it’s good to note here that Scheriff gets beat AGAIN! He looks like a shell of his Pro-Bowl self from last year.

This play was doomed from the start and capped off the starters afternoon with a -1 net yards total. Fantastic.

2nd Drive Defense:

Ravens get good field position (again) and look to start pounding the ball. However, the defense did well.  Rookie OLB Ryan Anderson (#52) made a good couple of run stuffs in his first outing.  Here he is on the 2nd play blowing up a counter tray look that looked to have some space.

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Anderson diagnoses the play and takes on not one, but two pulling guards to expose the RB. This play was exactly why the skins selected him in the second round. Worth noting that Zack Brown #53 did a great job of reading the play and getting through traffic to get the RB in the backfield (as well as beating strong side LB Compton #51 to the play).

The final play was an incompletion over the middle that was close to being picked. Another 3 and out for the defense.

That would be all she wrote for the first team players. From here the backups took over. Here are some standouts.

Studs/ Duds:

Dud: Samaje Perine #32

Our first look at rookie RB Samaje Perine was not great. Matter of fact, he was a disaster. His first run he misses a clear hole off tackle and gets stuffed at the line of scrimmage.

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Perine gets another chance on a 4th and 1. Its a clear power/ gut up the middle but Perine stutter steps looking for a hole and almost gets stuffed in the backfield.

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Not the kind of run you want to see from a power back. You cannot stutter step on 4th in 1 in the NFL. Redskins get a good surge off the line but Ravens #51 comes free off the edge and catches Perine in the backfield before he can hit the hole.  He seemed to clearly be behind the first down marker but the refs gave it to him anyways.

He did have runs like this a Oklahoma that he broke into big gains but he will need to make quicker decisions here in the future. That play, unfortunately, would be the ‘highlight’ of his day. Next series out, he did this:

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This is the kind of fumble that would get you cut if you were an undrafted free agent. For starters, he has the ball in the wrong arm. My guess is he was shifting it as he took the handoff which is a cardinal sin.  The pulling guard is late getting to his man and Perine had the awareness to juke him as he took the handoff. However, you have to secure the ball first. This cannot happen at this level. Thankfully he was able to hop on it.

He followed this up with a dropped check down pass that earned him a seat on the bench for the rest of the half. His pass blocking was downright dreadful on that series as well.

He was able to settle down a bit in the second half against lesser opponents. He had a few nice gains and squared up a blitzing linebacker in pass pro. He’ll need to bring that kind of play next week or his 3rd team spot is in jeopardy.

Grade: D-

Stud: Zack Brown #53

Newly acquired ILB Zack Brown had a good game. He looks far and away the best ILB on the roster and is going to be an asset in the run game. And he’s not to shabby in pass pro either.

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No reason for him to be running with the twos anymore.

Grade: B+

Stud: Jonathan Allen #95

Welcome to the league Jon Allen! Allen didn’t get very much play time but looked like the top 5 talent he was supposed to be. His first sack wasn’t for much of a loss but was the kind of hustle play you look for in a top talent.

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The Ravens left tackle was no match for Allen and the QB wasn’t fast enough to get away. Allen would follow that with 3 more QB hurries in his short work. He, like Brown, needs to be working with the ones from now on.

Grade: B+

Stud: Nico Marley ILB #46

Marley gets the game ball this week.  The 5’8″ linebacker stands out because of his lack of size but makes up for it with his tenaciousness. He clearly has a nose for the football and some solid instincts to boot. If he didn’t make the tackle, he was buzzing by or piling on  Here is his sack.

Marley times up the blitz on the snap count that swim moves the foot taller guard and immediately penetrates the back field. The QB hadn’t even finished his drop before he was flushed out by Marley. This truly was the play of the day.  The undrafted FA finished the day with 4 tackles and a sack.  Not bad at all.

Grade: B

Dud: Kendall Fuller #29

One of my “ones to watch” this week in the preview did little to excite.  He blew his coverage on the first drive and was bailed out by a bad pass. After that, he held his own in the run game. Unfortunately I don’t have access to a wide enough view of the DBs in my film. Yet, his mistake against a backup slot receiver is something to be concerned about.  Fuller looked elusive in the punt return game however. Will be interesting to see how he fares the next few there.

Grade: D+

Dud: Matt Ioannidis #98

Ioannidis has been receiving rave reviews this offseason and he certainly looks the part out on the field. However, he hardly made an impact and seems to be a one-trick pony when it comes to pass-rushing. It’s either bull-rush or run-set. He held his ground well against the interior of the ravens offensive line but that’s about it. They may be grooming him to take the nose tackle position soon.

Grade: C-

Dud: Colt McCoy #12

McCoy looked about as bad as ever.  Here is his day in summed up in one picture:

Who the hell was he throwing to? The line was doing him no favors but the pick he threw at the end of the first half is a nice reminder of life without Kirk Cousins.

Grade: F

Dud: Rookie Receivers?

What rookie receivers, right? Robert Davis #19 caught one pass for 31 yards. James Quick caught 3 balls for 20 yards toward the end of the game. Everyone else, crickets. Matt Hazel (newbie, not a rookie I know) had one chance over the middle that was overthrown by McCoy. Its hard for me to be critical of the WRs since the QB play was so poor but this was a golden opportunity squandered for these bubble players.

Grade: Incomplete

TEAM GRADES:

Offense: D

Defense: C+

Special Teams: D

Next Week:

The Redskins take on Green Bay this Saturday at Fedex. Hopefully this lousy opener will be a wake up call to everyone.

Injuries:

Trent Murphy: ACL- Out for Season

Josh Docston: Hamstring – Day to Day

Jamison Crowder: Hamstring – Full Participation

Fabian Moreau: Shoulder – Full Participation

Jordan Reed: Toe – Day to Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preseason Week 1 Preview

Ah it’s that sweet time of the year again!  Over-hyped backups, vanilla play-calling, and meticulously long interviews with mind-numbing coach speak.  Yes, preseason football is finally upon us!  The Redskins begin their preseason as they mostly do, with the Baltimore Ravens.  Here is a small preview or what to watch for.

What to watch for:

  1. The Alabama Rookies: Jonathan Allen (#95) and Ryan Anderson (#52) accounted for 19.5 of the 26 sacks on the #1 defense of all of college football last year. Reports out of camp are Allen is every bit of the talent he was projected to be and is already beating the skins backup offensive lineman soundly. Ryan Anderson has shown flashes, but is getting mixed reviews. He appears to be better at setting the edge in the running game then anything else.  Allen is currently the backup RE and 1st DE off the bench. Anderson, even with his lackluster camp, 3rd off the bench behind suspended Trent Murphy.Screen Shot 2017-08-07 at 10.12.01 PM
  2. Is the Matt Ioaniddis hype real?  Staying with the d-line, Matt Ioaniddis (DT #98) has received a lot of praise this training camp.  The 5th round pick from last year, who was beaten out in camp by an undrafted FA, has added some weight in the offseason and has bull rushed his way through every guard on the roster, including our pro-bowler.  More young defensive lineman, the better.

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    Rookie WR Zack Pascal
  3. Which pass catcher is going to step up with Doctson, Crowder, and Reed out? This is a prime opportunity for rookies Robert Davis WR (#19), Zack Pascal (WR #16), and Jeremy Sprinkle (TE #87) to get some playing time and make plays especially if Harris (WR #13) cannot go.  However, my gut is expecting the Ryan Grant (WR #14) show.  I’m particularly excited to see Pascal who is from the DC area, who went to ODU and has a knack for making spectacular catches.
  4. How does Su’a Cravens (#30) adjust to life as safety? Last year’s 2nd round pick was having a good year as the dime MLB until he got injured. One of the big stories this offseason was his shift to strong safety.  He now sits atop the strong safety depth chart heading into preseason week 1 and should get a majority of snaps in the first half. With the Ravens pitiful run game, I expect to see a lot of deep balls heading in Craven’s direction. Let’s see if he can make the same plays he did at USC.

    2016 Regular Season, Week 6
    CB Kendall Fuller
  5. Battle for starting CB? Kendall Fuller (CB #29) has been having a good camp. Bashaud Breeland (CB #26), not so much. Breeland was thrown out of a walk through today for instigating a fight. Yes, you read that right, a walkthrough.  Kendall Fuller has played well enough to cement himself as the nickel corner and took first team reps across from Norman after Breelands antics today.  Again, I fully expect to see the ravens air it out after their running game fails. Lots of opportunities for these two to make plays.
  6. Red Zone Offense: Last but certainly not least, lets see how the pitiful red zone offense looks this year. The Redskins ranked 30th in the league in red-zone TD efficiency (TD/ ATT). The Ravens boast one of the better defensive lines in the league led by Ngata so the running lanes will be tight. Look for Pryor (WR #11) to be targeted early and often. Pryor is having an unreal training camp, making highlight reel plays day after day. After the twos come in, expect a heavy dose of Samaje Perine (RB #32) and Mack Brown (RB #34).

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Injuries:

Jordan Reed: Toe – Day to Day

Josh Doctson: Hamstring – Day to Day

Jamison Crowder: Ankle – Day to Day

Maurice Harris: Hamstring – Day to Day