Vision Quest: Pre-Draft Roster Analysis: Special Teams
In an effort to assess our draft needs I am continuing my positional analysis of the current Redskin roster. This week I am focusing on the Special Teams, having done the offense and Defense last week. Rarely will you ever draft a player for Special Teams however specific holes in Returners, Kickers, and Punters sometimes require late round draft choice.
Special Teams
Special Teams: This was an inconsistent group of players for the Redskins. Some areas such as the Punting unit, Kickoff Coverage, and Punt Coverage did well. However the Field Goal unit, as well as both Punt and Kickoff return was inconsistent at best. Part of the inconsistency was due to injuries as John Hall was down for a long period of time. Also as injuries piled up on the offensive and defensive side of the ball the special team unit comprised of backups lost many of their contributors to regular team play. As always ** indicates a player picked up through free agency.
Position Analysis
Punting Unit
Main Contributors: Tom Tupa, Punter
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs, Ethan Albright
Analysis: Washington was second overall in number of punts last year with a whopping 103. If there is any surprise to that it would be that they weren’t first. However this would have been a total disaster for the team if it was not for the strong play of its Punt Coverage Unit. And that all starts with the Punter Tom Tupa. Tupa had a Pr-Bowl year even if the voters did not agree. He took all the snaps for his team and averaged 44.1 yards per punt, third in the league and first in the NFC.
However Punt Coverage was not always up to par. The net average for Washington fell to 35.2, ranking a measly 21st. Some would say that the punter out punted his coverage, but I would say it is the coverage’s responsibility to get down the field no matter how far the punter booted it. The Redskins gave up one td on punt coverage, and it might have been the most decisive play in that loss.
James Thrash and Taylor Jacobs did well on coffin corner punts downing several inside the 5. And with more consistency and the addition of Pierson Prioleau the coverage should get better. Look for Danny Smith to really look at this area for extra practice in the off-season.
Draft Outlook: No need to draft a Punter even though Tupa is getting a little long in the tooth. Perhaps sign a UFA punter to compete in camp and play on the practice squad as an insurance settlement.
Field Goal Unit
Main Contributors: John Hall, Kicker & Jeff Chandler, Kicker
Main Role Players: Ethan Albright, Tom Tupa
Analysis: John Hall had an injury filled season that really affected our kicking game. With Hall injured or out the Redskins had major trouble hitting field goals in the 40-50 yard range (3/7) and over 50 yards (0/3). Considering John Hall was signed to hit the long field goal it is hard not to consider this a total disaster.
Ola Kimrin was filing in for Hall but was unsuccessful at hitting the long field goal. When he went back to Sweden and Hall got injured again Kimrin could not get a Visa in time to get back to DC. This made the Redskins turn to 49er cast off Jeff Chandler. In limited attempts Chandler was erratic missing 2 field goals in the 30-39 range but connecting on a 49 yarder. Chandler though impressed coaches and was resigned as an insurance policy for next season.
Draft Outlook: Hall’s injury is scary but not enough to draft a kicker, this year anyways. If Hall has struggles this year he will be cut and unless Chandler can prove he is the kicker to replace him, and there really is no indication that will happen, the Redskins could look to the 2006 draft for an answer. The Redskins will stand pat for now and hope Hall heals his leg injury.
Kickoff Coverage
Main Contributors: John Hall, Kicker & Jeff Chandler, Kicker
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs,
Analysis: Washington ranked #13 in kickoff return defense holding teams to an average of 21.9 yards. However that masks the real problem with the unit. The kickers were dead last in kickoff yards only averaging 58.4 yards per kickoff and only 3 touchbacks all season long. That gives the opposing team a decided advantage in field position. Of course Washington was second last in total kickoffs. Again the only surprising thing there is we weren’t first.
The sole touchdown return came in the second Giants game and was the only real breakdown of the game and did not result in altering the outcome. There were some silly fouls all year long, but overall the coverage did well for the position they were put in.
Draft Outlook: Again Pierson should help on coverage but nothing will help if Hall is injured. One of his greatest assets was his ability to boot it on kickoffs. Chandler just doesn’t have that type of leg.
Kickoff Return
Main Contributors: Antonio Brown, Ladell Betts, Chad Morton
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs,
Analysis: In 2003 the Redskins gave up a ton of cash, a draft pick, and had to go to an arbitrator to wrest Chad Morton away from the NY Jets in an effort to shore up its return game. However it looks as if Morton may be a bust. Sure he is pretty good looking for the ladies and perhaps that is why he finds the sideline just about every time he got his hands on a return last year.
However he got injured midway through last year and James Thrash took over return duties full time. Thrash was serviceable but he did not produce a real spark. The Redskins are going to probably look long and hard at Brown at KO return duties. The only one he got his hands on he took 66 yards downfield. Betts is a good lead blocker and after posting a 70 yard return will keep other teams from kicking away all game.
Draft Outlook: Not a priority for the Skins through the draft or free agency. Morton and Brown are going to battle for primary return duties with the other being cut. Betts will probably continue as the lead blocker type return man with Thrash being a good backup.
Punt Return
Main Contributors: Antonio Brown, Chad Morton
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs, Santana Moss**, Andre Lott
Analysis: The punt return team did fairly well but also fell victim to Morton’s ineffectiveness. When Antonio Brown came in he did well but Washington finished well under the league average. Morton looked for the sideline right away and averaged only 6.9 per return. Thrash again came in after the injury and did well averaging 8.5 per return. Brown showed promise at the end of the year but his Dallas fumble leaves question in this writer’s mind on whether he can handle the duties full time. The signing of Santana Moss could serve as a pinch-hitter type of returner when we need to go for the homerun.
The Redskins had a punt block returned for a touchdown last year courtesy of Andre Lott. He will be back this year and the addition of Prioleau again could show benefits here as well.
Draft outlook: Again, not a priority for the Skins through the draft or free agency. Morton and Brown are going to battle for primary return duties with the other being cut. The coverage unit will be comprised of the backups and a few special teams only players. However any one being drafted 6th or 7th round should be able to contribute here, as well as any UFA.
Special Teams
Special Teams: This was an inconsistent group of players for the Redskins. Some areas such as the Punting unit, Kickoff Coverage, and Punt Coverage did well. However the Field Goal unit, as well as both Punt and Kickoff return was inconsistent at best. Part of the inconsistency was due to injuries as John Hall was down for a long period of time. Also as injuries piled up on the offensive and defensive side of the ball the special team unit comprised of backups lost many of their contributors to regular team play. As always ** indicates a player picked up through free agency.
Position Analysis
Punting Unit
Main Contributors: Tom Tupa, Punter
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs, Ethan Albright
Analysis: Washington was second overall in number of punts last year with a whopping 103. If there is any surprise to that it would be that they weren’t first. However this would have been a total disaster for the team if it was not for the strong play of its Punt Coverage Unit. And that all starts with the Punter Tom Tupa. Tupa had a Pr-Bowl year even if the voters did not agree. He took all the snaps for his team and averaged 44.1 yards per punt, third in the league and first in the NFC.
However Punt Coverage was not always up to par. The net average for Washington fell to 35.2, ranking a measly 21st. Some would say that the punter out punted his coverage, but I would say it is the coverage’s responsibility to get down the field no matter how far the punter booted it. The Redskins gave up one td on punt coverage, and it might have been the most decisive play in that loss.
James Thrash and Taylor Jacobs did well on coffin corner punts downing several inside the 5. And with more consistency and the addition of Pierson Prioleau the coverage should get better. Look for Danny Smith to really look at this area for extra practice in the off-season.
Draft Outlook: No need to draft a Punter even though Tupa is getting a little long in the tooth. Perhaps sign a UFA punter to compete in camp and play on the practice squad as an insurance settlement.
Field Goal Unit
Main Contributors: John Hall, Kicker & Jeff Chandler, Kicker
Main Role Players: Ethan Albright, Tom Tupa
Analysis: John Hall had an injury filled season that really affected our kicking game. With Hall injured or out the Redskins had major trouble hitting field goals in the 40-50 yard range (3/7) and over 50 yards (0/3). Considering John Hall was signed to hit the long field goal it is hard not to consider this a total disaster.
Ola Kimrin was filing in for Hall but was unsuccessful at hitting the long field goal. When he went back to Sweden and Hall got injured again Kimrin could not get a Visa in time to get back to DC. This made the Redskins turn to 49er cast off Jeff Chandler. In limited attempts Chandler was erratic missing 2 field goals in the 30-39 range but connecting on a 49 yarder. Chandler though impressed coaches and was resigned as an insurance policy for next season.
Draft Outlook: Hall’s injury is scary but not enough to draft a kicker, this year anyways. If Hall has struggles this year he will be cut and unless Chandler can prove he is the kicker to replace him, and there really is no indication that will happen, the Redskins could look to the 2006 draft for an answer. The Redskins will stand pat for now and hope Hall heals his leg injury.
Kickoff Coverage
Main Contributors: John Hall, Kicker & Jeff Chandler, Kicker
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs,
Analysis: Washington ranked #13 in kickoff return defense holding teams to an average of 21.9 yards. However that masks the real problem with the unit. The kickers were dead last in kickoff yards only averaging 58.4 yards per kickoff and only 3 touchbacks all season long. That gives the opposing team a decided advantage in field position. Of course Washington was second last in total kickoffs. Again the only surprising thing there is we weren’t first.
The sole touchdown return came in the second Giants game and was the only real breakdown of the game and did not result in altering the outcome. There were some silly fouls all year long, but overall the coverage did well for the position they were put in.
Draft Outlook: Again Pierson should help on coverage but nothing will help if Hall is injured. One of his greatest assets was his ability to boot it on kickoffs. Chandler just doesn’t have that type of leg.
Kickoff Return
Main Contributors: Antonio Brown, Ladell Betts, Chad Morton
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs,
Analysis: In 2003 the Redskins gave up a ton of cash, a draft pick, and had to go to an arbitrator to wrest Chad Morton away from the NY Jets in an effort to shore up its return game. However it looks as if Morton may be a bust. Sure he is pretty good looking for the ladies and perhaps that is why he finds the sideline just about every time he got his hands on a return last year.
However he got injured midway through last year and James Thrash took over return duties full time. Thrash was serviceable but he did not produce a real spark. The Redskins are going to probably look long and hard at Brown at KO return duties. The only one he got his hands on he took 66 yards downfield. Betts is a good lead blocker and after posting a 70 yard return will keep other teams from kicking away all game.
Draft Outlook: Not a priority for the Skins through the draft or free agency. Morton and Brown are going to battle for primary return duties with the other being cut. Betts will probably continue as the lead blocker type return man with Thrash being a good backup.
Punt Return
Main Contributors: Antonio Brown, Chad Morton
Main Role Players: James Thrash, Mike Sellers, Pierson Prioleau**, Taylor Jacobs, Santana Moss**, Andre Lott
Analysis: The punt return team did fairly well but also fell victim to Morton’s ineffectiveness. When Antonio Brown came in he did well but Washington finished well under the league average. Morton looked for the sideline right away and averaged only 6.9 per return. Thrash again came in after the injury and did well averaging 8.5 per return. Brown showed promise at the end of the year but his Dallas fumble leaves question in this writer’s mind on whether he can handle the duties full time. The signing of Santana Moss could serve as a pinch-hitter type of returner when we need to go for the homerun.
The Redskins had a punt block returned for a touchdown last year courtesy of Andre Lott. He will be back this year and the addition of Prioleau again could show benefits here as well.
Draft outlook: Again, not a priority for the Skins through the draft or free agency. Morton and Brown are going to battle for primary return duties with the other being cut. The coverage unit will be comprised of the backups and a few special teams only players. However any one being drafted 6th or 7th round should be able to contribute here, as well as any UFA.
posted by Dustin M. Czarny @ 11:47 AM
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