Some News Including More Sean Taylor Trial News
By daveskins
A fifth person was arrested in connection to the Sean Taylor case today according to ESPN. Details were scant other than the fact that the kid was 16. You know, the more I hear about this case the more I picture it going down like Scooby Doo. Five cowering kids breaking into a house to make a little money and everyone of them piled up real close like they do in the cartoons, knees shaking. And some fool kid has a gun and instead of just saying “zoinks” he fires. Maybe I’m naive. Maybe I’m too easy on the kids, but geeze, this looks like amateur hour. Hard to imagine the guys who didn’t pull the trigger getting a lot of time here. What do people think? Does the trigger man deserve more time, or are they all equally guilty for being there?
The Redskins have appointed a new Pro Scout today and his name is Alex Santos. Of course, this comes from the unstoppable Jason La Canfora. Jason seems to like the guy personally and professionally. Frankly, I’ve never heard of him. While the job of pro scout sounds important (and in some ways it is), it is hard to think of it as a key position when you read from Jason that previous to this, Alex was picking up players at the airport among other duties. On the one in a million chance that Alex Santos is a fan of the Rag, I’m not trying to make fun of you, Alex. Everyone has to start somewhere. Mike Holmgren started out driving guys around years ago. I’m just saying that there are probably a couple more steps up the ladder for you before you get much of a say in the war room.
The Redskins also announced that pretty much the only open job competition for the offseason is the punter position. This is certainly no surprise given that all 22 (or 21 if you count Sean Taylor) starters from last year’s playoff team are back. But there alse some interesting implications here that the Redskins really don’t want to admit. For instance, whether they are busts or not, Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly are the third and fourth receivers. Technically, James Thrash and Anthony Mix are in the picture. But the reality is that Thrash is a special teamer and mix is an interesting project. Folks who got after us for not addressing the defense should think about this carefully. If Thomas and Kelly aren’t ready, the cupboard is bare. At least with the d-line, we had a serviceable rotation last year.
Another thing this shows is that either Rocky McIntosh is going to be healthy despite hurting his knee very late in the season (unlikely), or the Redskins aren’t really ready to talk about it yet (likely). Last year, HB Blades and Khary Campbell split time at the position and they played well. The reason for not talking about it may simply be that they have a plan.
One last thing on the “punter battle.” Say what you want about Frost but he was 18th in the league in gross and 21 in net putting. The difference between “average” and “below average” in punting is about a yard. The improvement we stand to gain here is a 3 or 4 yards a game in field position. I know football is a game of inches and all, but it is a sign of this team’s stability and general solidity that the only competition worth talking about during OTA’s is this one. We should be very happy. Hail Skins!
-DW