Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Vision Quest: Cuts and Battles Loom at Jacksonville Thursday

The first round of cuts are here and they contained some mild surprises as well as a bit of a shocker. The Redskins trimmed their roster to 75 yesterday and will have to trim their roster to 53 by 4pm Saturday, A lucky 8 young players can be signed by the team 24 hours later and those will be the Redskins that we will go to battle with come opening day.

Before I go into my thoughts on the initial round of cuts let me just remind you, these players are gone. Don’t hope for them to come back; don’t hope for them to be signed to the PS. If the Redskins released these players now they simply do not see a role for them at all on the team. History has proven this the case, and even I have to accept this as I predicted 2 of these people to be on the 53 man roster and 2 to go to the Practice Squad.

So here are my reactions to each of the cuts for what it is worth:

Jerametrius Butler, CB The Redskins signed him to an RFA tender just three years ago and now when they finally get him he is out the door with the trash. Though he has been injured most of camp and less then stellar in the one game he got to play in most of us thought the Redskins would give him at least one more game to get a spot. No player got hurt by the final rainout of the ravens more thenButler. But I take solace in the improved play of Eubanks who I think will take his spot on the roster.

Jamaal Green, DE Getting hurt late in the pre-season hurt him and the emergence of Chris Wilson, Lorenzo Alexander and the presence of healthy young ends like Hickman and Buzbee made his presence on the roster superfluous. See a pattern yet? Want to stay on a roster…stay healthy.

Kevin Jones, LB I am a little surprised by this cut as Gregg Williams had been praising his work ethic and he had a few good series against Tennessee. But when Godfrey was signed the team had too many weak side linebackers. Trucks and Sinclair will now battle for the PS spot

Jerel Myers, WR Camp Fodder. Back to the arena League

Todd Pinkston, WR Old Alligator arms never even made it into a pre-season game. Much to the collective relief of most Redskin Fans. The Redskins always sign some washed up receiver in the off season hoping for a miracle. Despite that there is no truth to the rumor Lynn Swan is signing with us next year. He has not been out of the NFL long enough.

Joe Salave’a, DT Biggest surprise of the pre-season so far, even bigger then Lemar Marshall’s release. Like Marshall, Big Joe started the year as a starter and has been replaced in the off season. Unlike Marshall, Joe was having a great camp and looked to provide veteran depth. While I hope this means that some of our youth is finally developing, the DT spot after Griffen now becomes a bunch of young players who have not yet proven themselves. Surprising move to say the least.

Pete Schmitt FB I am mildly surprised at the release of Schmitt. He was second on the depth chart at FB. Hopefully Beaseley can prove that he belongs in the NFL this year otherwise we are getting rid of youth for an aging vet. That is fine sometimes, but when that Vet was out of football for a year and has not played a pre-season game yet, that is another thing all together.

Bryant Shaw, DE Blame it on Paris. At least he had a European Vacation before getting the Axe. Too bad the NFLE is no longer in existence.

To get down to 75 the Redskins also put WR Jason McAddley and OG Ross Tucker on the Injured Reserve List. Only time will tell whether these will become injury settlements. I would imagine Tucker may be, but the Redskins liked McAddley and if he did not get hurt he could have been a gunner on special teams and make the 53 man roster.

Roster Battles for Jacksonville

With the roster moves over the last two weeks it has become clear that there is no position on this team that is set going into the final game of the season. We may have starters in place but most of the backup positions are up for grabs. This of course will determine who has a job on Saturday and who is spending Labor Day filling out resumes.

Quarterback. The battle here is for the #2 spot. Collins is in the lead and Brunell will have to have a nothing less then stellar game against Jacksonville to keep the #2 spot. We may also see our first look at Jordan Palmer, however the smart money is he is playing for a Practice Squad spot. However if Brunell does drop to #3 you have to wonder if the Redskins will part with him and his salary.

Running Back While I have often said this is a set position, and I still think it is, you have to wonder if Derrick Blaylock will make the squad. He has not really shown anything in the pre-season that will justify keeping 4 running backs, but with Portis & Betts injury history and Cartwright being injured right now, it will be wise to open with 4 RBs. Mason still needs a strong camp to justify a practice squad spot for yet another running back.

Tight End/Full Back Normally Gibbs teams keeps 4 of these guys on the active roster and maybe one more on the PS. With Cooley, Yoder, & Sellers locks it seems Eric Edwards is the guy for the fourth spot. Beaseley has to convince the coach to keep an extra guy here and possibly cut a Running back. Bell has to hope for a PS spot.

Wide Receiver Two consecutive pre-season games has seen the leading candidate for the 5th WR spot end up on IR (Espy & McAddley). With Pinkston being cut it sure seems as if the table is set for Corey Bradford. However the Redskins may decide to keep 4 here and a PS guy or two. The next group of receivers (Berman, Hoag, & Toller) all have PS eligibility and that is what they are hoping for.

Defensive Line Salavea’s cut opens up a spot at DT. Lorenzo Alexander & Martin Askew are the contenders for it. At DE it sure looks as if Wilson has put himself in position to get a roster spot, The question is do the Redskins get rid of either Wynn or Evans (or both) for Justin Hickman or Alex Buzbee? At least one PS spot will be given to a young DL guy as well. Boschetti remains a long shot to stay on the roster.

Linebacker Looks like the only competition here is between Matt Sinclair and Anthony trucks for a PS spot. I can’t imagine the Redskins expose a draft choice by putting him on the PS while signing a UFDA. But then again in 2005 they did just that by putting McCune on the PS and keeping Zach Kelsay. Sartz better have a decent game to ensure his roster status.

Defensive back The 9th DB spot is wide open. Early favorite has to be John Eubanks who is also returning kicks and playing very well. However Ade Jimoh’s will have to show that his special team’s coverage is too good to go without. Reed Doughty and Vernon Fox are also in the mix, but most likely will have to convince the Redskins to keep 10 defensive backs. Leigh Torrance and Michael Westbrook are looking for PS spots.

Ok those are the final battles for the final pre-season game. See you after the cuts on Saturday.

Hail to the Redskins

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