SB Nation User Blog: TexSkins

The Skins' 7th Round Picks are...

TexSkins — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:21:26 -0000

TE/FB Eddie Williams (Idaho)	WR Marko Mitchell (Nevada)

The links are from NFLdraftcountdown and are usually pretty good. So, I'll get some info from from NFL.com. The description for Williams is as follows:

Positives: Adequate upper and lower body build. Reliable hands, and can extend and snatch the ball outside his frame. Adjusts to low and high passes. Lines up outside, in the slot, on the line and as an H-back. Used on quick screens to get the ball in his hands. Always seems to find the hole in the zone to present a target. Sells the fake well, getting his head around quickly to find the ball. Lowers his pads to bowl over defensive backs and get extra yardage. Has some elusiveness and ability to break tackles in the open field. Fair release off the line, and uses his hands to free himself of jams. Good blocker downfield, getting his hands inside the jersey and sustaining with quick feet. Used on special teams coverage units and is able to wrap up or pound return men on the fly.

Negatives: Finding a position may be an issue. Below average height and strength to play tight end or H-back, but was not used as a lead blocker in Idaho's offense. Struggles to anchor or sustain blocks against defensive ends or bigger linebackers. Will cut block, albeit effectively, in pass protection instead of standing up to blitzers. Doesn't have the straight-line speed to threaten the seam or separate from NFL linebackers and safeties.

And for Mitchell:

Positives: Rare height and arm length for the position. Good straight-line speed to challenge deep. Can track the ball over either shoulder and shows good body control and field awareness to keep his feet in bounds. Soft hands to pluck the ball out of the air and can make the reception outside of his frame. Alert receiver who will work his way back when the quarterback is under pressure. Good leaping ability. Shows a bit of vision and elusiveness as a runner after the catch and has the long strides to pull away from smaller defenders. Uses his size and length to effectively run block against small corners.

Negatives: Much of his production is due to this offense. Good, not great, straight-line speed. Will be caught from behind by NFL corners. Long-strider who has to build up to it. Lacks the short burst quickness to consistently gain separation against elite cover corners. Sinewy frame that may not withstand NFL punishment. Ball security may be an issue considering his lack of upper body strength. Isn't the dominant red-zone target his size indicates, due to marginal toughness and physicality in going up for the ball in traffic. Allows too many passes to get into his pads, resulting in some drops.

Depending on where you look, Williams is listed as either a TE (as in college) or as a FB. This leads me to believe he will be a FB in Washington, in sort of a H Back type of role. At 6-1 and 240, he's got some size. He played all 4 years at Idaho, so he's got some experience. According to NFLdraftcountdown, he ran a 4.8. I can't find any time for him on NFL.com, but they do have him down for 23 reps. Spped and strength. Not bad for a ST player.

The thing that jumps out at me for Mitchell is his size at 6-4, 218. He's got 4.49 speed, which isn't bad, especially for a 6-4 guy. He's only got 9 reps (nine!) at the combine. For a frame of reference, Bey had 16 and Harvin had 19 (Crabtree and Maclin didn't do much). All his other times and reps are pretty good, but nothing jumps out either good or bad.

I'll try to put a full recap up later (if sugar or KevinE don't beat me to it) but the biggest thing that jumps out at me from this draft is no OL. I hope (fingers AND toes crossed) that they go after some UFAs, a la Heyer.

All in all, good draft, especially considering the lack of picks coming in. We'll see how the UFAs shake out in the next week or so... but not bad additions.

Images via media.scout.com and media.lvrj.com

The Final Week: Blogger Deathsport and other notes

TexSkins — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 17:45:58 -0000

First off, happy holidays. Hope you're enjoying your favorite foods, beverages and family vacations. The best from our to yours.

Now, on to the deathsport.

Sunday

OAK @ TB (-13)

CLE @ PIT (-10.5)

TEN (-3) @ IND

STL @ ATL (-14.5)

NE (-6.5) @ BUF

DET @ GB (9.5)

CHI @ HOU (-2.5)

KC @ CIN (-3)

NYG @ MIN (-6.5)

CAR (-3) @ NO

WAS @ SF (-3)

JAX @ BAL (-12.5)

SEA @ ARZ (-6)

DAL @ PHI (-1.5)

MIA @ NYJ (-2.5)

DEN @ SD (-8.5) San Diego 28 - Denver 24

The final week of the season is upon us and the outcome is, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. But 9-7 is better than 8-8. This 49ers team is on a mission under interim head coach Singletary, so anything less than a full effort and it'll be a long flight home. Don't forget to get your questions into Fooch, who was gracious enough to come over from Niners Nation. Oh, and if he or any other Niners fan has any questions, answer them in turn.

This is going to be a tough game. Depending on the health of Frank Gore, controlling the ball is going to be key. I'd really like JC to rise to the occasion, if only to stop the whole Colt for QB talk.

Anyways, enjoy the rest of the holidays. Oh, and don't forget to watch all those 1,054 bowl games. (Texas Tech to cover over Ole Miss, you heard it here first.) This time next week, offseason football begins in Washington. Oh, the joy.

Blogger Deathsport, Week 16

TexSkins — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:01:10 -0000

RIP Sammy.

Thursday

IND (-6) @ JAX

Saturday

BAL @ DAL (-4)

Sunday

NO (-7) @ DET

PIT (-2) @ TEN

SF (-5.5) @ STL

CIN @ CLE (-3)

MIA (-4) @ KC

ARZ @ NE (-7.5)

SD @ TB (-3.5)

HOU (-7) @ OAK

NYJ (-4.5) @ SEA

BUF @ DEN (-6.5)

ATL @ MIN (-3)

PHI (-5) @ WAS

CAR @ NYG (-3)

Monday

GB @ CHI (-4) Chicago 24 - GB 17

Big week to keep the smallest of playoff hopes alive.

Blogger Deathsport, Week 15

TexSkins — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:08:35 -0000

No college football today. Sad.

Thursday

NO @ CHI (-3)

Sunday

TB @ ATL (-3)

TEN (-3) @ HOU

WAS (-7) @ CIN

SEA @ STL (no line = straight up even)

GB (-1.5) @ JAX

SF @ MIA (-6.5)

DET @ IND (-17)

SD (-5.5) @ KC

BUF @ NYJ (-7.5)

MIN @ ARZ (no line = straight up even)

DEN @ CAR (-7.5)

NE (-7) @ OAK

PIT @ BAL (-2.5)

NYG @ DAL (-3)

Monday

CLE @ PHI (-14) 28-10

Week 14 Open Thread

TexSkins — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:46:25 -0000

I'm opening this early so that you can comment on any of the day games that can directly determine the Skins' playoff chances (Giants and Eagles at 1 pm EST, Cowboys at the Steelers at 4:30 pm EST) before tonight's game. Consider this an all day open thread.

You can take a quick look at a preview here and the weather should be pretty cold and windy. The forecast calls for 30 degrees to feel like 18 degrees with the 19 mph winds that are expected. Wicked cold. The good news? Clear skies and no rain/snow.

Anyway, enjoy your football Sunday. It'll be interesting to see some of the bowl game selections. Hopefully, the Skins' playoff chances will live for another week. A loss tonight pretty much spells the end of the season. That's where we stand. HTTR.

Week 14 Blogger Deathsport

TexSkins — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:40:46 -0000

Not much to say. Enjoy football watching. This is really when both the college and the NFL seasons start to get interesting.

Thursday

OAK @ SD (-8.5)

Sunday

MIN @ DET (no line = straight up even)

CIN @ IND (-13)

ATL @ NO (-3)

PHI @ NYG (-7)

HOU @ GB (-5.5)

CLE @ TEN (-13.5)

JAX @ CHI (-6.5)

NYJ (-3) @ SF

NE (-4.5) @ SEA

KC @ DEN (-8.5)

MIA @ BUF (-1) (note: in Toronto)

DAL @ PIT (-3)

STL @ ARZ (-14)

WAS @ BAL (-5)

Monday

TB @ CAR (-3.5) - CAR 21 - TB 20

Enjoy your footballing.

Questions for HogsHaven

TexSkins — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:34:58 -0000

Your friend Rexx was gracious enough to come over to the SBN Washington Redskins blog, Hogs Haven, and offer his services in answering any and all questions the Skins bloggers have about the Ravens. So, I felt compelled to do the same for y'all.

If you have questions about your interstate rivals, feel free to ask them here or over at Hogs Haven and someone (if not myself) should be able to answer them for you.

I'm looking forward to a good game Sunday night. And I'm rooting for y'all against Dallas (monetary gain might or might not be involved.)

That's it for now.

Recap: Giants 23 - Skins 7

TexSkins — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:23:43 -0000

I'm gonna make this short, since they isn't much to say. The team looked bad. Yeah, there was a pass interference call at the end that was missed, but it would have only led to getting the Skins within 10 points.

The picture says it all. (Image from here.)

Yeah, the Giants are good, defending champs and all that. But they didn't play their best game today. Eli looked good, not great. Jacobs looked human. Ward had a good day. The defense looked good (man, Tuck is something else) but there were dropped balls and missed chances. JC wasn't very good.

The Skins defense held the Giants to only 23. They averaged 29.9 coming in (Fox did a great job pointing out that the most the Skins have scored all year was 29.) Rogers had another bad day and Hall had another INT.

Yeah, Portis was in and out all game. He probably should've taken the end of the game off. There wasn't much running to be done after the Giants got up 2 (and then 3) scores late. But that's not his style. Especially on Sean Taylor day.

Which brings me to my final point: this was Sean Taylor day. Say what you will about his play, his passion, his skill... the guy never gave up. He never went half speed or coasted. He never gave up an extra yard without a fight. He never let a team come in to FedEx and have their way.

And I'm not saying... I'm just saying.

This team is 7-5, 3rd in the division and all the momentum they might have gained early in the season is gone. It's a dog fight just to make the playoffs from this point until the end. I just hope I still have a dog in the fight.

Week 13 Blogger Deathsport

TexSkins — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:15:42 -0000

Another week, another Blogger Deathsport victory. That's right, I said it.

Thursday (all picked on Wednesday)

TEN (-11) @ DET

SEA @ DAL (-12.5)

ARZ @ PHI (-3)

Sunday

BAL (-7) @ CIN

IND (-5) @ CLE

CAR @ GB (-3)

NO @ TB (-3.5)

NYG (-3.5) @ WAS

SF @ BUF (-7)

ATL @ SD (-4.5)

KC @ OAK (-3)

PIT @ NE (-1)

DEN @ NYJ (-7.5)

CHI @ MIN (-3.5)

Monday

JAX @ HOU (-3)

That's it. Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend and HTTR.

Week 12 Blogger Deathsport

TexSkins — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:55:44 -0000

You know the drill.

Thursday

CIN @ PIT (-11.5)

Sunday

SF @ DAL (-10)

PHI @ BAL (-1)

NYJ @ TEN (-5)

BUF (-3) @ KC

MIN @ JAX (-2.5)

NE @ MIA (no line = straight up even)

CHI (-7.5) @ STL

HOU @ CLE (-3)

TB (-7.5) @ DET

OAK @ DEN (-9)

WAS (-3.5) @ SEA

NYG (-3) @ ARZ

CAR @ ATL (-1)

IND @ SD (-2.5)

Monday

GB @ NO (-2.5) GB 31- NO 28

As always, let me know where you think I went wrong. (My vote is birth.)