redskin fans

[smazza]

LK-this is for you

  Here's the way I think the NFL draft will go for the Washington Redskins:

 

 

The Danny will spend the next couple of days trying to trade up to get the highest possible pick in the first round. This is so he can take this behemoth offensive lineman out of Iowa, Robert "How Could My Parents Not Name Me Art" Gallery, who weighs something like 480 pounds, and who is so huge that when he gets injured he has to be carted off the field in a city bus! Snyder wants this guy because in the event Gallery doesn't make it as an NFL lineman the Redskins can use him as a tool shed.

(Oh, at each report of yet another phone call The Danny makes to move up in the draft, Vinny Cerrato will knock down the story by calling the phone call "a belated April Fool's Day joke." Until someone points out that three weeks into April we're a lot closer to Arbor Day, and Cerrato begins calling Snyder's phone calls "anticipatory Arbor Day jokes.")

By the day of the draft Snyder will have worked himself into a fever at not being able to move up. Frustrated, Snyder will desperately want to do something so bold and splashy everybody will take notice. (Something other than raising ticket prices and announcing the creation of 5,000 new seats above the upper rim of FedEx Field suspended from a blimp.) So with the No. 5 overall pick The Danny will attempt to draft Maurice Clarett.

And of course this will look particularly stupid because not only is Clarett not very good -- but unless Ruth Bader Ginsburg has taken the under on his appeal Clarett won't even be eligible for the draft. The Redskins may as well draft Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. Or a cocker spaniel.

With the 15-minute clock running out The Danny will reiterate the Redskins' commitment to youth, and announce the player they're drafting is so young and so good, he will be in the starting lineup right away -- Freddy Adu!

This will be greeted by shock and dismay throughout Washington. Until Joe Gibbs saunters to the podium, and after laughing that nutty new laugh of his -- that seems to come out of nowhere, like Gibbs is just now, in 2004, reacting to a joke George Carlin told in 1981 -- Gibbs pronounces Adu "exactly what the Redskins need. You won't have to wait until the 61st minute to see Freddy in burgundy and gold."

Then everybody is happy. There's rejoicing in the streets. Because Coach Gibbs approves of Freddy Adu. Right now all anybody asks for is Gibbs's blessing. Right now Gibbs can do no wrong. If Gibbs drafts a urologist in the fifth round and a live goat in the sixth round, people will swoon. Because everybody in town says the same thing about Gibbs: "He's a genius."

It's like Jerry Lewis in France, except we don't have to sit through "The Nutty Professor."

People here are utterly convinced Gibbs will turn water into wine. The reasoning goes like this: If Bill Parcells can take a 5-11 Dallas team and spin it into 10-6 with mostly the same bad players, imagine what Gibbs will do with players he really likes. Like Mark Brunell and Clinton Portis.

The reason Washington thinks like this is because 1) Gibbs really is good, and 2) this is April. Over the last few years no team in the NFL has looked better in April than the Redskins. April is the month when Deion Sanders looked quickest; Dana Stubblefield looked most menacing; Bruce Smith looked sleekest; Trung Canidate looked fastest; Jeff George looked sharpest; Jeremiah Trotter looked invincible; Marty Schottenheimer looked large and in charge; Danny Wuerffel looked promising; and Steve Spurrier looked like a genius.

The Redskins look their best in April; they look like world beaters in April. If the Super Bowl was played in April, the Redskins would have so many Lombardi trophies that The Danny would have permanent possession of the Lombardi family. (And he'd create new seats for them in what used to be the parking lot, but is now is designated for "stadium seating on the asphalt lawn," and comes with tailgate privileges and periscope rental at a nominal fee.)

But then September rolls around and the Redskins don't look so good. Instead of a Lombardi Trophy, they get a Lumbago Trophy. And you look around and Stubby is gone and Deion is gone, and one after another Norv, Marty and Spurrier are gone. (And their best pass defender, Champ Bailey, couldn't wait to jump ship; their promising quarterback, Patrick Ramsey, spent the winter angling to be traded, and the best player they have, LaVar Arrington, is suing the owner! It gives them a real family feel, huh? Like the Sopranos.) Yet there has never been so much optimism here. And that is all because of Gibbs.

It's amazing that such a cynical town has greeted Joe Gibbs with such a lack of cynicism and scrutiny. Everybody says the same thing: "He'll turn it around." Nobody seems to mention that he hasn't coached in 12 years, and that he raided AARP for most of his assistants. Nobody seems to be concerned that there's a salary cap, and the free agent rules have changed. Nobody seems to worry about The Danny's buzzard's luck with coaches. It's a town that eats icons for breakfast. Ask George Bush what it's like to live here lately. Ask Howard Dean what it's like to want to live here. (While you're at it, ask Jerry Stackhouse about those eight-day rental weeks. And ask The Danny how many millions a club seat is going to cost in 2007.) But everybody looks at Joe Gibbs and says, "He'll turn it around." Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it soft and it's almost like praying.

[LastKnight]

Gibbs will have Tuna for lunch.  

[KnightsRule]

Gibbs will have Tuna for lunch.  

Gibbs will be watching NASCAR races at halftime.  He is going to hate being back and will be gone before the final tickertape hits the ground in Boston celebrating the Pats back to back super bowl championships  

[Velcro]

halleluja!

[LastKnight]

Gibbs will be watching NASCAR races at halftime.  He is going to hate being back and will be gone before the final tickertape hits the ground in Boston celebrating the Pats back to back super bowl championships  

Be realistic KR......next thing you will be saying is that the Pats have won 3 of the last 4 Superbowls and you have a running game.  

[smazza]

lk-happy with draft

[LastKnight]

Considering the skins did not have a lot of pics.......I think they did well with what they got out of the draft.  

Taylor will make an immediate impact and fits the aggressive defensive scheme the Skins will use.

Cooley will be an H back with the skins.  He was the leading TE in catches and yards in 2003 and is a good athlete as his high school wresting all-American tag will attest to.  

The Skins also picked up two O-linemen for head hog Joe Bugel to make into hogs.

How do you feel about the Cowboys pics now that you have had a few days to think about it?

[smazza]

maybe the redskins rivalry will be renewed to days of old with gibbs at helm.

Cowboys have owned skins last couple of years

[smazza]

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor frequently pulled his burgundy shorts up after the ball was thrown in his vicinity. When the former University of Miami Hurricane sprinted, the shorts slid a few inches. On one play, Taylor batted the football then grabbed his shorts almost in one motion. With the 6-foot-2, 231-pounder standing still, the shorts drooped to his knees, his socks pulled all the way up, barely showing any flesh.

 

 

"Maybe they thought he was so big that they gave him [Jon] Jansen's shorts or something," safety Matt Bowen cracked, referring to Washington's 6-6, 305-pound right tackle.

Taylor apparently likes his shorts to fit big. "I wear my clothes like that," he said after making his practice debut along with the rest of the team's rookie class on a splendidly sunny day at Redskins Park.

In addition to the fifth overall pick in the draft, also on the field for the Redskins were Utah State tight end Chris Cooley (third round) and tackles Mark Wilson of California (fifth round) and Jim Molinaro of Notre Dame (sixth round).

Among the 85 players on hand, however, for Coach Joe Gibbs's second minicamp, Taylor -- wearing No. 36 -- received the most scrutiny. Several rookies -- 10 were undrafted prospects -- appeared overwhelmed by the speed, power and information during their first NFL practice.

"It was good to get everybody together today, that's the good news," Gibbs said shortly after practice, which went without pads. "The bad news is, it was rough. Some of the young first-go-round guys had a tough time."

However, except for a few jitters -- and tugs of his shorts -- Taylor displayed the flashes that made him the highest-drafted safety since 1991, when the Cleveland Browns picked Eric Turner second overall. Taylor compared the practice with his Pop Warner debut. Not the talent, of course, but making the transition to the next level.

"It's like a first day when you practice with Pop Warner," Taylor said. "You're just getting all the jitters out, getting used to the plays and seeing them live."

Teammates were impressed that Taylor held his own after digesting more than 100 pages of complicated schemes concocted by Gregg Williams, Washington's assistant head coach in charge of defense. "Williams runs a really sophisticated defense," said safety Ifeanyi Ohalete. "[Taylor] picked it up fairly well."

While Taylor has to adjust to the NFL, teammates must get used to a safety with a linebacker's physique. A few times yesterday, cornerback Fred Smoot mistook Taylor for 6-3, 253-pound backer LaVar Arrington, who wears No. 56.

"I see the 6 and I didn't look for the 3," Smoot said, referring to Taylor's jersey, "and I think LaVar is behind me."

Bowen, who is 6-1, added: "He's a big kid. I always thought I was a tall safety."

Taylor held an advantage over the other rookies because of his experience at Miami, where the practices are considered the most similar to the NFL because of the school's talent level. A record six first-round picks in this year's draft came from Miami.

Although Taylor is expected to start at free safety this season, his Redskins practice debut came as a third-stringer. Taylor said that the approach was no different from at Miami, where he backed up all-American Ed Reed as a freshman in 2001. Reed also was a first-round pick, by Baltimore, in the 2002 draft.

[smazza]

"Everybody's got to start somewhere," Taylor said. "I'm not trying to have anything handed to me."

 

Cooley -- who didn't face many NFL prospects while at Utah State -- admitted being overwhelmed. "It was more than I thought," he said.

It was reality-check time for Cooley when he watched Arrington collect a sack, followed by trash-talking. "I was like: 'Wow,' " Cooley recalled. "LaVar Arrington is right here playing with me."

But even Cooley had his bright spots. In one, he caught a short pass, using a 6-3, 265-pound frame to shield himself from cornerback Shawn Springs, who arrived late. "****, this guy is big," Springs yelled after the play.

Gibbs found it difficult to assess most of the rookies in their first NFL practice partly because no pads were used. But Molinaro stood out if only because of his 6-6, 309-pound frame.

Despite the focus on the rookies, several players made their Redskins practice debut. Linebacker Mike Barrow, tight end Brian Kozlowski and wideout James Thrash were among seven veterans who practiced for the first time since being acquired last month.

Marcus Washington and Springs, who didn't fully participate in Gibbs's first minicamp, did so this time. And wideout Laveranues Coles and quarterback Patrick Ramsey -- who underwent foot surgery in December -- practiced for the first time after injuries hindered them last month.

Neither quarterback Mark Brunell nor Ramsey were particularly sharp, but Ramsey's health was observed as much as his passes. "I felt pretty good," said Ramsey, whose last full practice was in late December. "There was no pain and that was obviously a relief and a positive."