SB Nation - Kedric Golston

Hogs Haven Predicts Redskins Final 53

Ken Meringolo — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:32:30 -0000

More photos » by Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP

Robert Henson and Cody Glenn may both benefit from being drafted by Vinny Cerrato. He HATES to cut players he drafts!

First, the obvious: Sugar has been shelved for the time being. I will be tackling a new writing assignment within SB Nation and I was asked to come up with a cooler name to write under. The best I could come up with was "Ken Meringolo". I know what you're thinking...sounds too much like an undercover secret agent of international intrigue. I guess you could say I followed the lead of one my heroes, Lt. Frank Drebin, and decided to use my maiden name.

Not that many tears (besides mine) will be shed over it, but Sugar will most assuredly be back. I will keep you guys posted on when and where my other writing assignments will end up. But on to the issues of the day.

Here is our crack at predicting the Redskins "Final 53". We have all been watching the preseason closely--there won't be many surprises. But we are picking a couple. Have at it (after the jump):

QB (3): Jason Campbell, Todd Collins, Colt Brennan

RB (5): Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts, Rock Cartwright, Mike Sellers, Anthony Alridge

WR (5): Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, Marko Mitchell

TE (3): Chris Cooley, Fred Davis, Todd Yoder

OL (9): Chris Samuels, Derrick Dockery, Casey Rabach, Randy Thomas, Stephon Heyer, Chad Rinehart, Mike Williams, Jeremy Bridges, Will Montgomery

DL (9): Phillip Daniels, Albert Haynesworth, Cornelius Griffin, Anthony Montgomery, Kedric Golston, Lorenzo Alexander, Andre Carter, Jeremy Jarmon, Rob Jackson

LB (7): London Fletcher, Rocky McIntosh, Brian Orakpo, H.B. Blades, Chris Wilson, Cody Glenn, Robert Henson

DB (9): Carlos Rogers, DeAngelo Hall, Fred Smoot, Kevin Barnes, Justin Tryon, LaRon Landry, Chris Horton, Reed Doughty, Kareem Moore

P: Hunter Smith

LS: Ethan Albright

K: Dave Rayner

I put Rob Jackson in over Renaldo Wynn, Robert Henson in over Robert Thomas, Rayner over Suisham, and Anthony Alridge in over whomever you want to call the 53rd man to make it.

Why do I continue to keep Renaldo Wynn off my final 53 list? If you think like me, then you think Wynn is not really a guy who is going to get a lot of snaps anyway unless there is an injury. Rob Jackson is still a little young and raw, and I have not heard his name a ton but if you are going to keep a guy around to caddy for the rest of the defensive linemen, why not keep a young guy who has a shot to develop into a serviceable backup instead of a guy at the end of his rope who has played all of his best football already? This is the pick I will most likely be wrong about, as Renaldo Wynn is a pro who knows how to play the game, and was brought in for his leadership and experience this offseason. But I had to stay true to what I have been saying this summer.

The Robert Henson/Cody Glenn/Robert Thomas decision at linebacker is a little more straight-forward. I think Cody Glenn is at the head of the 3-pack. The decision between Henson and Thomas is not so hard when you remember one thing: Vinny drafted Henson. He hates to be wrong about his draft picks. And lucky for him, he is in the position to pronounce his rightness! Henson has made a few mental blunders during games this preseason, and dropping that sure interception against the Ravens hurt him (coming out of TCU, he was actually graded as a sure-handed linebacker.) But in the end, the team will keep the guy they picked in the draft, and drop the guy they signed off the street. Regardless of who is better--though let's not make that out to be a huge deal. Neither Henson nor Thomas factors huge for us this season, and if Henson can figure out to stay on the field for special teams by mid-season, he will be worth the investment. Finally, it says here that Robert Henson will pull off an Alfred Fincher kind of performance against the Jags and earn the spot.

Anthony Alridge...really? Vinny brought him in this offseason and the word from the inside of the building is that Vinny loves him too much to let him go. What's not to love? He is one of those "yards-per-touch" guys. He is going to get the ball in the flat on screens, pitches, and dump-offs and he is going to get upfield in a hurry. I know Marcus Mason has been a fan favorite to make this squad multiple times, but the fact of the matter is he does not give us something we don't already have. Alridge gives us a scatback, speed option off the bench that will prove very useful this season.

I went with Rayner over Suisham even though there seems to be a resounding consensus that Suisham will retain his position. I FEEL LIKE I AM TAKING CRAZY PILLS! How do you hold any benefit of the doubt in a kicking competition when you were last in the league in field goal percentage? Rayner has had the better kickoff leg and neither has blown the roof off with their field goals. If anything, I would be tempted to keep Rayner and then bring in either Mike Nugent (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) or Brandon Coutu (Seattle Seahawks)--helps to watch every preseason game!--to compete with Rayner in the week leading up to the regular season. Coutu has a good chance to make the Seahawks' roster, but if he doesn't, we wouldn't be the only ones trying to sign him.

Practice Squad Predictions: Edwin Williams, Scott Burly, Keith Eloi, Robbie Agnone, Chase Daniel, Eddie Williams

WaTimes 53-man roster [Redskins 360]
WaPost 53-man roster [Redskins Insider]
Redskins Blog [Terl took his link down...I swore it was there?]

What do you guys think?

Poll

Which player that I put in do you think is most likely NOT to make the team?

Robert Henson

113 votes

Anthony Alridge

226 votes

Rob Jackson

263 votes

602 votes | Poll has closed

Washington Redskins Draft: Youth Movement Continues To Be Served

Ken Meringolo — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:00:14 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

8 months ago: Brian Orakpo, right, a defensive end from Texas, holds up a jersey with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, after the Washington Redskins selected him 13th overall in the first round of the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall Saturday, April 25, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Browse more photos »

Another draft in the books. The endless debate on how teams did this past weekend begins. The Skins simply had little to work with in this draft, an altogether too common occurrence in recent years. In the second tour of duty for Joe Gibbs, a re-emphasis on the draft--or at least a more serious focus on the kinds of players you bring into town--was seemingly established. This is not to say the Redskins are a team that will rely solely on the draft. They continue to prove that they believe in aggressive free agency activity. But Dan Snyder's word that they would not trade next year's #1 was upheld. And finally, a top pick was used to draft a highly touted defensive lineman. I have been a broken record since the end of Round 2 in last year's draft. Mostly for my own sanity's sake, I agreed to be okay with drafting 2 WR's and a TE all in the 2nd round of one draft as long as in the next draft, they used their highest pick(s) on linemen. Offensive, defensive, don't care. I thought that since it takes receivers longer to adjust to the pros than linemen (especially defensive linemen), why not get at least one or two pass catchers into the program and learning and then bring some OL/DL studs into the fold.

This draft will be judged by the performance of Brian Orakpo on the field. But before we get there, let's celebrate the refreshing nature of identifying an impact defensive lineman, and then when the chance to actually select him fell into our lap, we did not overthink it or get cute.

KevinE thinks we did a B- in this draft. I have a hard time giving the Skins anything worse than that. To me, Cody Glenn, Robert Henson and Eddie Williams are exactly the kinds of players you have to take in the late rounds because everything you read and watch about them suggests they love playing football. They better. Because they won't be getting any mega-deal to sign. They won't be on the cover of any video games. And they won't be on the tips of anyone's tongues in debates leading up to the regular season. But their contribution could be significant. And since Vinny drafted 'em, Vinny ain't cutting them. So they will get a chance.

Let's say Vinny learned his lesson last season and won't keep every single guy he drafted this weekend. For argument's sake, we'll cut Marko Mitchell just because he was the last guy picked. Then let's take a look at the list of current Redskins who were born in 1983 or later (rough cutoff date plucked that keeps the list at or around 25/26 years old).

Lorenzo Alexander, DT
Anthony Alridge, RB
H.B. Blades, LB
Colt Brennan, QB
Alex Buzbee, DE
Devin Clark, OL
Fred Davis, TE
Dominique Dorsey, RB
Alfred Fincher, LB
Kedric Golston, DT
Michael Grant, S
DeAngelo Hall, CB
Stephon Heyer, OL
Chris Horton, S
Rob Jackson, DE
Malcolm Kelly, WR
LaRon Landry, S
Anthony Montgomery, DT
Will Montgomery, OL
Kareem Moore, S
Rueben Riley, OL
Chad Rinehart, OL
Devin Thomas, WR
Justin Tryon, CB

Chris Wilson, Rocky McIntosh, Chris Cooley and Dave Rayner would be guys that just missed being on this list (1982) but we will include them anyway. If you add in Orakpo, Barnes, Glenn, Henson, and Williams, and--again, for argument's sake--knock out Alridge, Dorsey, Grant, and Riley, we have a total of 27 players on the Redskins roster all in that 25/26/27 age range. That is over half of the opening day roster. And the overwhelming majority of these players were drafted here in Washington. Looking up and down the list, there is a healthy mix of first-class talent, starters that make strong contributions, role players, and guys we still don't know anything about.

I feel like this is an area that the Skins have been lambasted for in recent years. This list includes young offensive and defensive linemen, a young group of receivers/tight ends, role players in the secondary and special teams, and now a stud defensive end that should start right away. We just might be on to something here. This is a promising core group of players.

They say you can't grade a draft for 3 years. I will refrain from getting too high or low based on our picks this past weekend, but it seems to me that guys we have been drafting in the last few years are sticking around. Last week I mentioned that it was possible Vinny is learning on the job. The movement to make this team younger each year seems to be paying off. The next step is getting these young bucks on the field. Rinehart, Thomas, Davis, Kelly, Heyer...we have to see what they can do on the field this year. It is coming time for this list to have a higher percentage of starters on it.

49ers-Redskins Final Injury Report

Fooch — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:38:54 -0000

And so we've got the final injury report of the season. The 49ers are planning on using tomorrow's practice as the equivalent of their Friday practice due to the Christmas day off. However, it appears as though the injury report is set barring any last minute disasters (knock on wood).

The best news is that all the injured folks are probable. Mike Singletary said that Gore looked good in practice and seemed to be cutting well. We've beaten the issue to death here, but in case you missed it, Gore is 22 yards shy of 1,000, which is always a solid accomplishment, particular given the offensive struggles of the last few years. Coach Singletary was asked whether that statistic would factor into his decision for Gore to play:

It will not. It will not. I think the bottom line is he needs to talk to me and let me know how he feels because I want him to be fair to himself. I don’t want him to re-injure anything trying to get 1,000 yards. When he’s healthy, he’ll get more than his share of yards. I just want him to be smart about it, but he looked good today. Obviously, I’d be very happy. The offensive line, I think, is more excited than he is about him getting that. Hopefully he can do it, but if he can’t, I really want him to be smart – look at the longevity of the decision.

Even though it's the last game of the year, re-aggravating an ankle injury is not something you want to see. However, I have a feeling the extra week off from last week to this week will be just enough to get Gore out there on Sunday.

San Francisco 49ers
Probable - RB Frank Gore (ankle), C Eric Heitmann (abdomen), SS Michael Lewis (abdomen), FS Mark Roman (knee), OT Adam Snyder (ankle), LB Ahmad Brooks (back)

Washington Redskins
Probable - G Pete Kendall (knee)

Questionable - OT Jon Jansen (knee), DT Kedric Golston (ankle), LB London Fletcher (foot)

Status Report: Washington Redskins at Cincinnati Bengals

Kirkendall — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:13:49 -0000

The Bengals have 23 players on IR. Palmer is out (#24). Levi Jones (#25), Chinedum Ndukwe (#26), Chris Perry (#27), Ben Utecht (#28), and Kenny Watson (#29) are officially out, or considered doubtful, and all of them missed at least two days worth of practice.

That's 23 players on IR and six players not on IR, but likely out this Sunday.

Bengals

OUT: DE Eric Henderson (neck), QB Carson Palmer (elbow)
DOUBTFUL: T Levi Jones (hamstring), S Chinedum Ndukwe (foot), RB Chris Perry (groin), TE Ben Utecht (foot), RB Kenny Watson (hamstring)
QUESTIONABLE: CB David Jones (knee)
PROBABLE: S Kyries Hebert (neck), WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (hand), LB Rashad Jeanty (shin), DE Antwan Odom (shoulder)

Redskins

OUT: LB Marcus Washington (ankle)
DOUBTFUL: S Chris Horton (shoulder), T Jon Jansen (knee)
QUESTIONABLE: LB London Fletcher (foot), DT Kedric Golston (ankle), DT Cornelius Griffin (shoulder, abdomen), CB Shawn Springs (calf)
PROBABLE: G Pete Kendall (knee), CB Carlos Rogers (illness), DE Jason Taylor (not injury related), G Randy Thomas (knee, neck), TE Todd Yoder (knee)

Practices

BENGALS	WED	THUR	FRI
QB Carson Palmer (elbow)	OUT	OUT	OUT
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (hand)	DNP	FP	FP
LB Rashad Jeanty (shin)	DNP	LP	FP
RB Chris Perry (groin)	DNP	DNP	DNP
TE Ben Utecht (foot)	DNP	DNP	DNP
RB Kenny Watson (hamstring)	DNP	DNP	DNP
CB David Jones (knee)	LP	DNP	FP
T Levi Jones (hamstring)	LP	DNP	DNP
S Chinedum Ndukwe (foot)	LP	DNP	DNP
DE Antwan Odom (shoulder)	LP	FP	FP
S Kyries Hebert (neck)	FP	FP	FP


REDSKINS	WED	THUR	FRI
LB London Fletcher (foot)	DNP	DNP	DNP
DT Kedric Golston (ankle)	DNP	LP	LP
DT Cornelius Griffin (shoulder, abdomen)	DNP	DNP	DNP
S Chris Horton (shoulder)	DNP	DNP	DNP
T Jon Jansen (knee)	DNP	LP	DNP
G Pete Kendall (knee)	DNP	FP	FP
CB Carlos Rogers (illness)	DNP	FP	FP
CB Shawn Springs (calf)	DNP	DNP	LP
G Randy Thomas (knee, neck)	DNP	FP	FP
LB Marcus Washington (ankle)	DNP	DNP	DNP
TE Todd Yoder (knee)	DNP	LP	FP
DE Jason Taylor (not injury related)	--	--	DNP

DNP - Did Not Practice
LP - Limited Participation in Practice
FP - Full Participation in Practice

Key Matchups for the Cardinals @ Redskins game

Skin Patrol — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:56:58 -0000

Back to actual (rather than theoretical) football. My sincerest apologies for selfishly not posting much besides this massive nerdfest. I write a near 5,000 word essay on the two point conversion and the extra point and, typically, think it's more interesting than it is. I just couldn't bring myself to bump it.

Fortunately I am bringing to you someone who is knowledgeable about actual football in particular his Arizona Cardinals. cgolden of Revenge of the Birds graciously agreed to exchange content for the upcoming game. This will be a nice change of pace from the typical 5 Questions, as cgolden suggested we do key matchups and I feel the format worked out quite well. He also just posted a helpful injury summary for the upcoming game here. I steal stuff:

Washington Redskins: The Skins have a few more players dinged up with London Fletcher (rib) and Marcus Washington (hamstring), Carlos Rogers (groin) and Jason Taylor (knee) limited in practice. Malcolm Kelly (ankle) and James Thrash (ankle), H.B. Blades (knee) and Fred Smoot (hip), did not practice but most are still expected to play this Sunday.

He is good at blogging.

Enjoy this:

Match-up #1: Redskins secondary vs. Cardinals WRs

Master of Universe: Advantage: Cardinals - No shame in admitting that there's no good way to deal with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Last week: 12 receptions, 293 yards, 3 touchdowns. Shawn Springs I don't worry so much about, but this is way above Carlos Rogers' pay grade. The good news is rookie Chris Horton, who both looked phenomenal last week and may or may not retain the starting position vacated briefly by a sick Reed Doughty [ED NOTE: Ben says naw, he's usually righteous which is to say correct]. Boldin and Fitzgerald, at least in this young season, are very much playing two impossibly difficult to cover roles. Boldin, despite being the shorter of the two, plays the reliable favored son, who moves chains at will. His three touchdowns are tops in the league and his impossibly high 78+% 1st down catch rate is about as high as anyone else. Fitzgerald, as stated, is a physical monster but somehow also is the speed demon get behind you receiver. His 20.4 YPC is remarkable, especially when one considers he's done most of it on 20-40 yard receptions, meaning he's consistently down the field catching footballs. Four of his nine receptions were +20 yards.

Merely extremely talented Cardinal blogger who knows much (more than I) about football but has yet to master universe: Advantage: Cardinals - I don't know that there's a secondary in this league that I'd say had an advantage over Boldin, Fitzgerald and company, but I will say that I had to at least think about this one. Shawn Springs may not be what he once was but when he's paired with Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot, you've got a solid trio of corner backs. When you add in one of the best young safeties in the league, LaRon Landry and rookie Chris Horton who had a great game last week, they're a formidable secondary. As solid as a secondary may be though when Warner is playing like he has the past two games and Fitzgerald and Boldin are catching everything in sight, the passing game is hard to contain.

Match-up #2: Redskins pass rush vs. Cardinals offensive line

Hogs Haven: Advantage: Redskins - I don't know enough about the Cardinals offensive line to really comment, so I'll just rant on the Redskins. At four sacks the 'Skins are good but not great so far. Jason Taylor is a big name with one sack so far, which is again, good but not great. Andre Carter and Cornelius Griffin round out a solid unit with the combo of Golston/Montgomery closing it out. As I'm of the opinion that Montgomery is probably the most underrated lineman on the team, I feel good at all positions. That said, who knows to what degree these guys remain healthy (or healthy enough; Taylor isn't long removed from injury)? This front downgrades subtantially when Demetric Evans is in for either Taylor or Carter. The emphasis will be the pass rush, since the Cardinals haven't looked so hot running the ball thus far.

cgolden: Advantage: Redskins - The Redskins have some formidable edge pass rushers in Jason Taylor and Andre Carter and Cornelius Griffin has been decent at providing some pressure up the middle. The turning point of this game could be whether or not the Skins are able to put pressure on Warner with their front four or if they'll have to blitz to get in his face. The Dolphins tried to blitz last week and they got burned numerous times. Warner is very capable of recognizing the blitz and standing in the pocket just long enough to deliver the pass. If Taylor and Carter are able to be get around Levi Brown and Mike Gandy, if could be a long day for the Cards.

Match-up #3: Redskins receivers vs. Cardinals secondary

Hogs Haven: Advantage: Unknown - We've been simultaneously blessed and cursed with receivers in Washington. In 2005 Santana Moss put together one of the best receiving performances in the history of the franchise. In 2007 it took us like 10 weeks to get a receiver with a touchdown. Antwaan Randle El has developed much as a receiver over the past few years even as he's totally forgotten how to return punts. The real question is who plays that #3 spot, and we've got a pair of rookies dueling with James Thrash for that right. I have to think the rookies are better in the long run but, so far, due to injury and Thomas and Kelly halfassing it apparently, Thrash is the guy. Chris Cooley should be the gameplan focus of the Cardinals. The Cardinals' pass defense is playing very well so far, although I don't know how much of that is due exclusively to their secondary. In any event, because the Redskins' receivers --passing game in general-- are so Jekyll and Hyde, there's no telling how this one plays out.

CG: Advantage: Redskins - This is a tough match-up to judge because the Cardinals corner backs haven't been tested much this season, but Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El and company should be a nice measuring stick. If Jason Campbell looks like the quarterback of week 2 instead of week 1, the Skins might be able to stretch the field and open up the underneath for Chris Cooley. The Cardinals secondary isn't star studded but they do have some talent and depth. Adrian Wilson and Karlos Dansby will likely be relied upon to limit Chris Cooley while Antrel Rolle will have to keep Moss from getting deep. If Campbell has time in the pocket, they've got enough weapons to give the Cardinals some problems.

Match-up #4: Cardinals pass rush vs. Redskins OL

Hogs Haven: Advantage: Redskins - I was terrified of our O-Line coming into the season with Jansen who, for many years was painted on our starting roster, lost his job to Stephon Heyer. He looked shaky, if only briefly, in our first game. But this O-Line is playing good football, having given up just three sacks, which is very above average especially having played the Giants (though they were limited by injury). In pass protection I'm more worried about Campbell holding on to the ball too long than I am them not giving him the time to make plays down the field. Our yards per carry (4.2) is good, nothing special, but we've done it without breaking big runs. Our running game and Arizona's running defense meet halfway, although they're a little better so far. The fun thing to watch will be their pass rush, which has generated 6 sacks and probably accounted for much of their success against the pass so far. I worry about the blitz, but the Cardinals will find that Clinton Portis is one of the best blitz pick up backs in the league. Someone will be eaten, mark my words.

CG: Advantage: Cardinals - The Redskins only gave up one sack to the Giants in week one but they really haven't faced a team that blitzes as much as the Cardinals yet. The Cardinals pulled back the intensity last week once they jumped out by three scores, but they put constant pressure on the Niners in week 1. The Skins line is full of experienced veterans but the Cardinals will be coming from every direction on Sunday. Clancy Pendergast has a plethora of pass rushers and he's had some creative ways of getting them all on the field in various situations. Campbell will have to keep his head on a swivel and make sure that he gets rid of the ball quickly.

You should definitely check out his post because he has like pictures imbedded comfortably into the side of his content. It's amazing. And they are topical. When they was picking people to run websites on this network, reader(s) here definitely got jobbed.

Regarding the Cardinals, this ain't your daddy's team (which is to say, this isn't the team we've beaten 62% of the time in like 120 games -- did you know the Cardinals have scored 2,206 points against us? WTF, mate?) now sitting 2-0 atop the weakest division in football. While I'm unwilling to admit the Cards have been tested, they've done what good teams are supposed to do against bad teams which is: win convincingly. Their DVOA is strong.

Just got off the phone with a friend (who is tortured over which two of Chad Johnson, Steve Smith, and Santana Moss to start) and the meme was that I had no useful information to provide regarding Mos because: The Cardinals are a team I don't know much about and indeed not much is to be known about them given their schedule thus far. This is a good team that has beaten two historically (don't take that term too literally) bad teams. I believe it is a good defense but don't know for sure.

Will soon.

Saints @ Redskins: Breaking it Down - Second Quarter

Saintsational — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:00:05 -0000

Cooley dragged half our team. (Reuters Pictures)

Saints Defense First Drive (4 plays, 8 yards, 2:07, Field Goal)

This might have been the best drive of the game for the Saints defense. They make two nice run stops and on the second down play, Tracy Porter makes a nice quick hit on Chris Cooley for a gain of only 6 yards. Campbell had all day to make the pass. The unit is able to get off the field quickly.

Saints Offense First Drive (3 plays, 4 yards, 2:05, Punt)

This drive was just pure crap. Bush has no where to run. Stinchcomb gets beat and allows Jason Taylor to sack Brees.

It's funny because whenever I re-watch some of Reggie's runs I find myself noticing this: When he attempts a run between the tackles, it often appears that he has opportunities to quickly bounce it outside and find a lot of open space but doesn't ever notice and runs right into the pile. Similarly, the situations when he is contained and has nowhere to go are when he tries to dance and change direction. Reggie is an amazing athlete with the ability to do anything as a running back but it seems when his mind is made up that he is going to run between the tackles, he shuts down the creative aspect of his talent. Reggie needs to do a better job as a decision maker and should get a little more loose and improvisational with his inside runs. This offensive line is not going to do him any favors, so he is going to have to make something happen. A good running back would do that.

Saints Offense Second Drive (6 plays, 26 yards, 2:45, Touchdown)

After a fumble on the punt return by Randle El, the Saints take over on Washington's 27.

Brees and Patten have a miscomunnication issue as the Saints try and go for the touchdown right off the bat. It looked like the same play they connected on for the touchdown last week. Brees does connect with Shockey over the middle for a first down.

On a 1st and 10 play the handoff is to Reggie for a run up the middle. Kedric Golston gets through the offensive line untouched and is standing there just waiting for Reggie to make his move. It's ridiculous. Poor Reggie. Pierre Thomas takes over from here and makes a nice catch and dive for a first down. Thomas later takes it into the endzone after two goal line attempts.

Saints Defense Second Drive (8 plays, 33 yards, 3:17, Missed FG)

More of what we saw earlier from this defense. Bending and giving up some decent plays including a completion in quadruple (I am only slightly exaggerating) coverage to Santana Moss for 14 yards and a Clinton Portis run up the middle for 11 yards but then tightening up deep in their zone.

Sedrick Ellis takes a roughing the passer penalty for 10 yards.

After fumbling the punt on the last possession and missing two field goals, the Redskins are just begging us to run away with this game. Of course we don't. It is this fact alone that makes me wary of future opponents. Good teams will not give you those opportunities.

Saints Offense Third Drive (3 plays, 8 yards, 1:59, Punt)

On first down Reggie runs between the tackles with Mike Karney in front of him. He strictly follows Karney which gets Bush into trouble as the hole closes up in front of him. Again, it looks like there is an opportunity for him to bounce it right and into space but he just plows forward. I wouldn't expect any average NFL back to see these opportunities and make those cuts and decisions but this is Reggie Bush we are talking about. It seems that if any player could do it, Reggie would be the man. This is the same player who, on the very next play, hurdles over Shawn Springs. Regardless, this offensive line could be creating much better opportunities for Bush to succeed. Additionally, I have to ask again why not run this play with Pierre?

This drive is just plain ugly. Saints punt.

Saints Defense Third Drive (8 plays, 50 yards, 2:14, Field Goal)

I'm gonna start this whole thing by admitting that I just don't get this defense. I don't. Someone please explain it to me. No comprende. They look awful the first five or six plays but finally get their act together to force yet another Redskins field goal attempt. I am laughing right now but it is that kind of laughing where you're actually angry and a little confused. So angry and a little confused that its actually funny and you just can't help but laugh at how angry and confused you are. You know what I am talking about? Allow me to explain why I am laughing like this.

After giving up a six yard run and two eight yard passes over the middle all in a row, Campbell completes a pass to Chris Cooley over the middle in between the coverage. It gets even better with, are you sitting down, four missed tackles! Including Vilma! Cooley gets an extra eight yards after the catch. This play makes me want to bang my head against a cement wall repeatedly. Then all of a sudden they tighten up. Dunbar makes a nice pass break up, they do a great job of containing Portis on an outside run and the secondary's coverage forces Campbell to throw one away.

Saints Offense Fourth Drive (7 plays, 59 yards, 1:04, Field Goal)

This was a great drive that allowed the Saints to grab the lead before the half. 59 yards in a little over a minute is exactly what we should expect from this team's offense.

Reggie had two nice runs up the middle, both for nine yards. Nice blocking created some holes. Amazing how that works. A 22 yard completion to trusty old David Patten and a short pass over the middle to Reggie who gets out of bounds puts Gramatica in position to make the field goal. Ummm...where was that all half?

End of the Half: Saints 10 - Redskins 9

It's amazing that the Saints are actually in the lead at this point in the game. The good news is that they haven't really played well and they are still winning the game. All they will need to do in the second half is play the better brand of football they know they can play and this game will be over.

Anthony Montgomery is the backup, but probably not for long

Skin Patrol — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:17:41 -0000

Starting tomorrow during the Redskins @ Giants game but continuing for most of the season I will carefully be watching for Anthony Montgomery in the lineup. I'll get to why in a moment.

Briefly before that, make sure you check out the team's final roster heading into the season available at the official site here. I didn't do a good job at all of analyzing the cuts or the final roster, which is far more interesting for who doesn't make the team than for who does (because the real "news" always happens on the margins; no one is shocked Jason Campbell made the team, for instance). And now that the deed is done I haven't anything to add that others haven't covered better already. See, for example, Curly R on the depth chart or Hog Heaven on the running backs, tight ends, wide receivers, etc.

I have been meaning to write on Anthony Montgomery before the season started, and time has run out for me to put it off any longer. And unfortunately I put it off too long for another reason: As of this writing, Kedric Golston is listed as starting in front of Anthony Montgomery. It's too late to question the wisdom of that decision, not that I have any wisdom to add nor any input on such. But it's never too late to examine Montgomery's impact on the Redskins defensive line of 2007 perhaps to shed light on just how valuable he will be to the team moving forward. Remember that there's no reason to think Kedric's hold on the starting DT position is stone-set. Although Kedric has been my pick for some time because I like him as the underachiever drafted after Montgomery, it went Golston-Montgomery-now Golston from '06-'07-'08. Sprinkled throughout was a heavy rotation betwixt them anyways, which should continue this year.

My trusty Pro Football Prospectus from the fellas at Football Outsiders had much to say on the subject of Montgomery's '07 performance. Click below to read more about that.

The revelation of the defensive line was defensive tackle Anthony Montgomery, a 2006 ffifth-round pick who took over from Joe Salave'a on the interior and emerged as a huge difference-maker in one-on-one situations.

Thus opens the analysis of the team's front seven in PFP. And the numbers totally bear that out, and then some, though they do require explanation. First, for those of you who don't know, Football Outsiders developed a methodology for examining the success or failure of NFL plays that tends to better explain situations than, say, mere yardage. As they tell it:

On first down, a play is considered a success if it gains 45 percent of needed yards; on second down, a play needs to gain 60 percent of needed yards; on third or fourth down, only gaining a new first down is considered success.

Which makes far more sense than saying, merely, the runner who averages 3.1 yards per carry is better than the one who averages 3.0 yards per carry. The latter might be a third down back who gets those 3 yards on 3rd or 4th and short situations (in which case he has real value playing against a stacked front seven) and the former might be a 1st and 2nd down back who is getting his 3 yards on down and long situations. Yards are important because they ultimately lead to success in the form of moved chains and points scored. A 4th and 1 touchdown plunge is more valuable than a 1st and 20 two yard plunge, ya?

Anyways, that kind of metric is intuitive enough not to require much more explanation. That relative milestones change depending on down and distance should hardly surprise anyone who watches the game, as you celebrate more feverishly a four yard gain that leads to a first down than a four yard gain that puts you just 15 yards short of the first down.

This success rate works for defensive players too. When a defensive player prevents an offensive player or an offense from reaching those milestones, it's a success on that side of the ball.

With that understanding, the numbers:

Anthony Montgomery was involved in 48 plays defined as "total defensive plays including tackles, pass deflections, interceptions, fumbles forced, and fumble recoveries" which they track from Official NFL Gamebooks.
Of those 48 plays (2nd among measured defensive linemen, which didn't include Kedric Golston), Montgomery recorded 43 "stops" which are plays where he prevents one of the success milestones mentioned above depending on down and distance.
That is a 90% stop rate which happened to be the third best in the league behind only Adam Carriker and Rob Meier.
With that 90% stop rate Montgomery was 2nd on the team in total average yards (average number of yards gained by the offense when this player is credited with making the play) with 1.5 AvYd allowed.
First place was Andre Carter, because he was such a beast against the pass (average yards on pass plays was -2.9, impressively).
Against the run Montgomery had no equal on the team; his run stop % was 92 and he gave up 1.6 yards on average, best on the team.

In sum, Montgomery's strength, both relative to his teammates and in absolute terms, is his ability to shut down the run. Very few players were better than him in this capacity, and most of the few who did demonstrate comparable run stopping ability weren't as good against the pass.

Which is all to say that I'm very confident moving forward with the interior of this defensive line. One day Cornelius Griffin (32) will cease to be the starter for the Washington Redskins. As Montgomery and Golston muscle each other for position, perhaps year in and year out, remember that a time will come when vacancies will permit them both to line up persistently side by side. And given the way Montgomery has demonstrably played well, and the way Golston has pushed Montgomery for position, at least from the coaching staff's perspective, I'm feeling quite good about the future of our two, young, over-achieving defensive tackles.

Is the Redskins defensive line the best in the biz? Naw, not by a long shot. But it was beyond my wildest dream that our 5th and 6th round defensive line picks from the 2006 draft would have come this far, this well, just two years later. I could not be happier with those picks and it is a huge credit to the team for making the most out of that second day (which also included Reed Doughty).