SB Nation - D'Anthony Batiste

Recap: Panthers Game Highlights Everything Wrong with the Washington Redskins

KevinE — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:05:13 -0000

"I’m not disappointed we haven’t drafted an offensive lineman," Zorn said. "We are developing some of our linemen. We are hoping that Chad Rinehart develops into an outstanding offensive lineman. D’Anthony Batiste--we hope he can develop." - April 27, 2009

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"You talk about a monkey on your back, this was a gorilla," coach John Fox said. The Redskins continue to give life to every porous team in the NFL.

Ken and I talked on the phone post-game and it's clear the Redskins are not just a bad team about to break out, they are a bad team, period. The fundamental mistakes continue every week, and the ignorance that the offensive line is adequate was again exposed. What has me fuming the most from the loss yesterday is Mike Sellers play that resulted in the safety. Some fans are blasting Zorn for a wide run play call, but if you look at the tape, Sellers doomed this play. As Brian Billick pointed out, the fullback's job is to run forward as if he had the ball. Punch a hole. After the jump is the video (1:35 mark), Sellers as the lead blocker never crosses the goal line. UNACCEPTABLE. How is Portis suppose to find a gap when his lead blocker never runs past the line of scrimmage and never engages a single player?

The Byron Westbrook gaff on the Antwaan Randle El fair catch is another one. It's special teams 101 to stay clear of the punt returner, yet he failed to do that on multiple punts.

Report Card Time

Offense: D-

The Skins only two touchdowns were a result from the defense giving them the ball in the red zone. Why is this offense STILL out of sync after 29 games together (including pre-season)? The 2nd round picks continue to do their best hide-and-seek impressions failing to make any impact. Devin Thomas has to make that catch.

Defense: C-

16 first downs? For as many games as I can remember, the Redskins again lost the time of possession battle. I'm still furious with the tackling. The most obvious is DeAngelo Hall's failure to contain on the final bootleg, then his inability to bring down a skinny, old QB in the open field. Did you notice that one run play where Jon Stewart carried the entire Redskins defense for 10 yards and a first down? Look at Hall on that play. He barely throws a shoulder. Pathetic.

Also, it is clear Orakpo should not be starting at LB. On that one touchdown, he was never in position from the snap, and he for sure will get torn apart in the film study. The discouraging thing was Orakpo wasn't covering a Witten or Dallas Clark, some no-namer. Square peg, round hole.

Special Teams: F

This is an easy one. Besides the punt debacle, allowing the 55-yard kickoff return setup Delhomme's first TD pass, and the momentum changed from there.

Front Office: F--

With Chris Samuels list of injuries last year, it was crystal clear to everyone (including fans like ourselves who know 1/100th of what coaches know) the Skins needed to draft a guard. The fact they thought the line was adequate was totally exposed. D'Anthony Batiste looked lost. Peppers went around him with ease, which changed the entire game plan. Portis was chipping on that side almost every play, and Cooley had to stay in and block for almost all his plays. Awesome! One of the worst offenses in the league now has to use two of their best three offensive weapons (Portis and Cooley) to stay in the backfield and block. Heyer probably wouldn't have a job in the NFL if it wasn't for the Redskins. How does Dan Snyder not take a look at his decision makers and say, "I have some poor talent evaluators here!"

Looking forward to the Chiefs, does anyone think we can beat them? I watched their game against the Cowboys and they looked very good. Then the Eagles? The Eagles will probably be double-digit point favorites for that game. How will Snyder react to a blow-out loss at home on Monday Night football? I don't know either, but it's going to be two weeks full of drama that not even the Lifetime channel could dream of. Let's go Caps?

TEAM STAT COMPARISON

1st Downs	15	16
Passing 1st downs	8	10
Rushing 1st downs	5	4
1st downs from Penalties	2	2
3rd down efficiency	2-9	4-12
4th down efficiency	0-1	0-1
Total Plays	52	60
Total Yards	198	248
Passing	124	162
Comp-Att	17-23	16-25
Yards per pass	5.4	6.5
Rushing	74	86
Rushing Attempts	24	32
Yards per rush	3.1	2.7
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-3	2-3
Penalties	4-20	5-27
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles lost	1	1
Interceptions thrown	0	1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	28:43	31:17

Poll

What are you most pissed about?

Westbrook running into Randle-El

83 votes

DeAngelo Hall not making that Delhomme tackle at the end of the game

148 votes

Sellers not blocking resulting in a safety

47 votes

Lack of Oline depth with Samuels getting hurt

207 votes

Play-calling

84 votes

Other (comment below)

32 votes

601 votes | Poll has closed

Are We Kidding Ourselves That the Redskins Offensive Line Is OK?

KevinE — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:37:55 -0000

The Redskins' coaching staff appears happy with the current state of the offensive line. Should we be so happy? I found a couple interesting bits that bring me back to reality from this la-la land that everything is glorious. The Redskins currently carry fewer lineman on their roster than all the teams that already have solid lines! That seems odd to me. Shouldn't a team that has a weak offensive line have MORE players on their roster to a.) force competition, and b.) have a larger pool of players to select from? I mean, the Redskins currently don't have a full roster anyway. Why not have more guys competing?

Redskins 14 Offensive lineman roster as of 6/19/2009:

#	Name	Position	Height	Weight	Years Pro	School	DOB (Age)
78	Batiste, D'Anthony	OL	6-4	314	3	Louisiana-Lafayette	03-29-1982 (27)
62	Clark, Devin	OL	6-4	325	1	New Mexico	05-22-1986 (23)
63	Montgomery, Will	OL	6-3	305	3	Virginia Tech	02-13-1983 (26)
71	Riley, Rueben	OL	6-4	320	2	Michigan	09-20-1984 (24)
75	Rinehart, Chad	OL	6-5	311	1	Northern Iowa	05-04-1985 (24)
71	Williams, Mike	OL	6-6	360	5	Texas	01-11-1980 (29)
68	Burley, Scott	OT	6-5	335	R	Maryland	01-02-1986 (23)
74	Heyer, Stephon	OT	6-6	330	2	Maryland	01-16-1984 (25)
60	Samuels, Chris	OT	6-5	317	9	Alabama	07-28-1977 (31)
66	Dockery, Derrick	G	6-6	326	6	Texas	09-07-1980 (28)
77	Thomas, Randy	G	6-5	308	10	Mississippi State	01-19-1976 (33)
73	Bridges, Jeremy	G/T	6-4	326	6	Southern Mississippi	04-19-1980 (29)
61	Rabach, Casey	C	6-4	296	7	Wisconsin	09-24-1977 (31)
50	Williams, Edwin	C	6-3	315	R	Maryland	12-10-1986 (22)

# of O-lineman on roster as of 6/19/2009 (TEs not included):

Patriots: 17
Giants: 16
Colts: 16
Cardinals: 15
Eagles: 15
Cowboys: 15

The Skins recently cut Jon Jansen to get to 14. In 2008, the Redskins carried 10 offensive lineman on their 53-man roster. The 6 shoe-ins are Heyer, Samuels, Dockery, Thomas, Rabach and Rinehart. So, that leaves approximately 4 spots for 8 guys. So let's break down the competition among the 8 guys and assess the talent. I suddenly get nervous when I think of these guys having to back up our starters should a likely sudden injury occur.

D'Anthony Batiste* - Undrafted free-agent first signed by the Cowboys and sent to the practice squad. The Carolina Panthers singed him in 2006, but he never saw any action. The Falcons signed him in 2007 where he started 4 games, but he did not make the team in 2008. The Skins signed him in December of 2008.

Devin Clark - Signed by the Skins as undrafted free agent in 2008 after playing college ball at New Mexico. He saw limited action in 2 games last year.

Will Montgomery* - Drafted in the 7th round out of Virginia Tech by the Carolina Panthers. He was eventually signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Skins in December of 2008. He started 4 games for the Panthers and 2 for the Jets.

Reuben Riley* - Undrafted free agent out of the University of Michigan. Signed and released by the Panthers two times with a stint in Miami where he was also signed and released. He has not seen any game time. He spent the final three weeks of the 2008 season on the Redskins' practice squad.

Mike Williams - 4th overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Buffalo Bills. A five-year NFL veteran, Williams spent four seasons in Buffalo (2002-05), playing in 51 games with 47 starts. He also spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2006. He has been out of the league for 2+ years and is racing to lose weight in order to get into playing shape.

Scott Burley - Rookie who played left and right tackle for the Terps as a two-year starter. He was signed by the Skins in April of 2009.

Jeremy Bridges - Drafted in the 6th round of the 2003 draft by the Eagles. In his career, he has played right tackle, right guard, and left guard and has played in 62 games in his 6 year career (starting in 39 of them). He has had 2 off-field problems with the law, one as recent as December as 2008.

Edwin Williams - Stand-out Center for the Maryland Terrapins signed by the Skins this April as an unrestricted free agent. Edwin was a 3-year starter for the Terps winning multiple awards. He grew up a Redskins' fan and is well aware of the 'Hogs.' The Terps ran a very similar system to Zorn's offense, so Edwin's learning curve has been easier during mini camp and OTAs.

If you notice the asterisk next to the names, those are all players that the Redskins signed in December of 2008 when the offensive line was running on fumes. I can't imagine the OL talent pool was very strong in December of 2008 as the playoffs were approaching, but alas, these are 3 of the 8 lineman competing for a spot. Mike Williams is a long shot given his weight and 2 years removed from the league. Jeremy Bridges looks to be a versatile competitor, so that leaves the rest...undrafted free agent rookies. SHEESH.

Half of the Redskins' schedule is against the NFC East, which has the best defensive lines in the league. Dallas led the league with 59 sacks, Eagles were 3rd with 48 sacks, and the Giants were 6th with 42 sacks. Oh, and now Osi Umenyiora is 100%. Adding Derrick Dockery no doubt helps, but does it put the Redskins in a position to improve greatly on offense? No. Quick..how many points did the Redskins score for all 6 games against the NFC East last year?

83 points! A cool 13.8 points per game average. How does everyone feel now about the O-line depth? All of the articles I've read since the draft have been how much the fans "hope" the young guys can step up. Wonderful. Joe Bugel has the fans on the Obama "HOPE" plan. Unfortunately, I don't see a lot of change coming from this plan. Seems to me when you have a defense built to win championships, Clinton Portis in his prime, a solid WR core, "hope" should not be the word to describe one of (if not THE) most important components of the team, the offensive line.