Vision Quest: Help & Hurt Post Titans 2007

For 3 and a half quarters Sunday the Redskins and their fans had to be wondering the same thing: Where did our offense go? Sure the defense looks to have improved but that could easily be explained by the absence of Vince Young. Without Young the Titans are once again a 4-12 team. So though the defense looked great, I am about to anoint Gregg Williams with the genius label. And don’t forget, the only turnover we produced was off n errant snap with 2 minutes left to play.

But the offense for the most part was pathetic. This can be attributed to one thing, the horrid play of the offensive line. For once it seemed that Saunders and Gibbs broke out a bit of the playbook, but the line could not keep the pressure off of Campbell or Brunell all night long. Sure Samuels was out but four-fifths of our starting unit was in for a whole half and still could not produce any run lanes and were in the backfield more often then not on passing downs.
But a win is a win is a win. Sure by all accounts the Redskins should have lost that game, but a last minute drive and fumble recovery turned a 6-0 deficit to a 14-6 win. Not bad for a team desperate to put points on the board and a W on their record. Instead of finding ways to lose, for once the Redskins found a way to win. Made me go home happy, not bad for the first football game in almost 9 months.

But winning is not what the pre-season is about anyways. It’s about roster spots. The fans are looking at the starters, that is for sure. But the coaches are looking at the third and fourth stringers. And that is what I was looking at as well. So with game 1 of pre-season in the books I thought I would do a quick blog giving a list of players who helped and hurt themselves in the battle for roster spots.

Players who Helped Themselves

Todd Collins Look I am not going to go crazy here. Let’s be clear, Collins highest possibility on this team is 3rd string QB. A life of holding a clipboard and being inactive on game days. But this is better then being unemployed. If Collins had stumbled in this game, Jordan Palmer could have used it to get on the active roster. For now it looks as if Collins has sewn up the third spot.

Dallas Sartz Just by playing tonight Sartz helped himself out. He also played well, always seeming to be around the ball and flowing to the ball carrier. If he continues to play well he could make the roster instead of the practice squad which he seemed destined for.

Chris Wilson This defensive End was getting praise from coaches early in camp and then the focus switched to Alex Buzbee. Wilson was in the backfield and getting great push all night disrupting several plays and being very active.

Byron Westbrook It may be only a lucky fumble recovery for a TD, but that is the kind of play that will get you by the first cut-day. The longer Westbrook stays the better a shot he has at the Practice Squad. That is his goal, and with his potential he could get there.

Players who Hurt Themselves

Ade Jimoh For one series the Titans literally threw Jimoh’s way four straight times. For four straight completions. He may be a great special teamer, but his defensive liability may be too big to look over this year. IfButler gets healthy or Eubanks continues to play well, Jimoh is not going to be around much longer.

Sean Suisham The missed FG is one thing, but the kickoff out of bounds is another thing entirely. I have been worried about having only one kicker in camp for this very reason. Suisham looked very good at the end of last year, but his performance against the Titans was about as bad as you can get. I would not be surprised if the Redskins signed a kicker early this week to come in and give him competition.

Jason Fabini Every offensive lineman had his troubles, but Fabini is a former starter in this league and looked especially bad against the Titans second & third teamers. I hate signing former Cowboys anyways, and Fabini may be looking for work soon.

Injured players: Not all mind you, but two in particular: Jerametrius Butler & Tyler Ecker. The more they are sidelined the less likely they will make the squad. If they want a spot on the roster they better heal quickly, otherwise others are going to take their spot.

That’s it for now. Later in the week I will post my updated roster projections and you can bet some of these performances will factor in.

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