Should the Washington Redskins select disgraced LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu in this weekend's NFL Draft? Hog Heaven contributors Scott Hirsch and Anthony Brown are in opposite camps. Youthful Hirsch is all in on the Honey Badger. Old school curmudgeon Brown is aghast at the thought.

Anyone want Dez as their GM? RT @dezbryant: A lot of great players in this draft but @mathieu_era is the best player in the draft.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) April 25, 2013

Not sure I want my team taking draft tips from Dez. RT @rapsheet: RT @dezbryant: @mathieu_era is the best player in the draft.

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) April 25, 2013

We are one day away from the 2013 NFL Draft, two days away if you are a Washington Redskins fan. There is no suspense about Washington's first round choice. It's Robert Griffin III. We get to celebrate that again Thursday when the Rams use the Pick we threw in for the savior of Redskins football. But who will the 'Skins select in the second round?

The smart money says Shanallenhan will pick a defensive back, probably a safety, with their 51^st pick. Hog Heaven is not so certain, but we'll save that for another post. John Keim, Washington Examiner, wrote up an interview with former Redskins DB Matt Bowen and an unnamed coach for his email list on April 12 on what to look for in a DB. Here are excerpts of Bowen's comments with our (RHH) thoughts.

1. Don’t expect an immediate starter. Especially if the Redskins don’t draft a safety until, say, the third round. The adjustment is not easy and can’t be underestimated.

“You draft someone in the third round and they’ll have a tough time beating out Reed Doughty,” Bowen said. “Fans don’t want to hear that."

Bowen pointed out that revered safety Sean Taylor struggled in his rookie season.
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RHH Thoughts: Talent-rich teams draft players with the following season in mind. Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris are exceptions that prove the rule that rookies need time to adjust to the NFL. For every RGIII rookie success, you can point to a Perry Riley or Rob Jackson who took several seasons to develop into starters, not to mention flops like Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly and Chad Rinehart. The fix for Washington's secondary is already on the roster.   
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2. Don’t go crazy over the 40-yard dash times. Yes, it’s important. No, it’s not everything. I’m sure you know this already, but what coaches should know and keep in mind is that players train all offseason to run the 40 at the combine. By the time the games roll around in September, they’re probably back to the speed they originally were. Quickness matters more than straight-line speed.
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RHH Thoughts: We are less impressed by a DB's forward speed than in how fast he can peddle backwards. In coverage it's more important to take the correct angle to defend the pass. Yessir, geometry is better than velocity for safeties.
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3. Find playmakers, but don’t be fooled by guys who make plays. Yeah, that’s sort of contradictory, but it’s true. A coach singled out N.C. State corner David Amerson, whom he is not high on, as a guy who will make plays but gives up more than he makes.

Bowen agreed with this assessment.

“I’d rather have a safety that doesn’t get beat,” he said. “What I want to see out of safeties is good angles to the ball, good range and good closing speed. Do you have the ability to get to the middle of the field from the top of the numbers? If you can’t, how will you play in the NFL in the middle when they throw a deep ball? That has nothing to do with speed. If a safety is a 4.5 or 4.6 guy, so what? If he takes good angles to the ball, it’s like he’s a 4.4 player.
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RHH Thoughts: We are constantly annoyed by fans who judge DBs solely on interceptions. Cornerbacks and safeties have three jobs: make stops, defend passes, and force turnovers ... in that order of importance. INTs, and big hits, are icing on the cake, but there must always be cake. Cake without icing can be boring, but icing without cake can kill you.
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4. Don’t go overboard talking about safeties covering in the slot. Yes, it’s important that they showed this ability in college, because it speaks to their athleticism and talent. Bowen, though, said he always red flags the comments that talk about a safety being able to play in the slot.

“For as much as everyone says it’s a deep safety class, don’t expect one of these kids to be a nickel just because he looked good on tape against Texas A&M. The same is true with [Tyrann] Mathieu. Everyone says he’s a nickel corner, draft him in the third round. That’s asking a lot of him. Does he have great footwork? Does he have enough ability to open his hips and run with NFL receivers in the slot? That’s asking a lot of him."
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RHH Thoughts: There goes that name again, Tyrann Mathieu. Honey Badger draws a lot of pixels for one not considered the best safety in this Draft. Hog Heaven touched on him in three earlier posts. There is time for one more before Friday, if only in a cynical play to draw eyeballs here.
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5. That’s not to say you can’t play a rookie safety. If a player proves himself in camp, of course he deserves a shot. And there’s a way to help him: good veteran corners and a strong front seven. The Redskins have veteran corners, though neither is a Pro Bowler at this stage, and they have a front seven that is considered the strength of the defense.

“I loved playing with Champ Bailey for a reason. I knew he always would be in the right spot and always on his guy. He hardly ever got beat. And another thing is the front seven. You don’t want your safety to be exposed in cover-2? Then get to the quarterback.”
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RHH Thoughts: We already wrote that the best way to help the secondary might be to improve the pass rush through the Draft.
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6. Finally, look for something you can work with, the coach said. And it can’t just be speed.

“Usually, those guys, you try to put them in, and they cost you and they last a year or two years,” the coach said. “They have to have something more to them than that.”

When the Redskins drafted players such as Doughty, Chris Horton and Kareem Moore in the later rounds, each offered them something they hoped to build around. In the first two, it was their toughness.

“That’s the first thing you have to look for,” the coach said. “That will carry over into everything. They can learn technique and work on physical skills.”

John Keim (twitter: @john_keim) will jump from the Washington Examiner to The Washington Post to cover the Redskins on July 1. That's a win-win-win for Keim, The Post and for Redskins fans. We extend our congratulations to all.

Ex-Redskins (2003-05) safety Matt Bowen (twitter: @MattBowen41) writes for the National Football Post.

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No more running backs running low with their pads and heads down (also known as the 'Stop Alfred Morris' rule)

Proposed:

• Automatic suspension and fine for ball spinning after a catch or touchdown (Garcon rule).
• No more quarterbacks sprinting down the sidelines (Griffin rule)
• No more cut blocks (Trent Williams rule)
• No spending sprees for free agents after coming off a cap penalty year (Allen rule)

Withdrawn rule suggestions:
No more kickoffs (would have helped Kai Forbath, so they stay)

Important reminder - all Seahawk urine tests are to be tampered so that Richard Sherman can continue to be 'spiked' with Adderall.  Redskins urine tests are to be supervised by the local FBI.

Can you think of new ways to help the Giants and hurt the Redskins? Then send your application to NFL c/o Roger Goddell and you may find yourself employed!

Editor's note: Contributor Scott Hirsch is of the opinion that playoff runs are year-long campaigns and not just restricted to the football season. 

I suppose I always knew fans in other countries followed American football. But, I didn't expect to see a Japanese Tweet about the Washington Redskins.

【NFL】2013スケジュールが公開され、Redskins、開幕戦(9/9現地)からマンデーナイト（＝USA全国中継、例年通りならNHK BSでも放送)で相手はEagles。第6週のサンデーナイト(Dallas)も中継ありそう goo.gl/wb7SO

— NFL Redskins Fans (@NFL_RedskinsFan) April 20, 2013

The translation is:

[NFL] 2013 schedule is published and Monday Night (= USA nationwide network, broadcasting NHK BS even if as usual) opponent in the Eagles Redskins, opener (9/9 local). Likely relaying (Dallas) Sunday night of the sixth week

That's courtesy of Google Translator. I am decidedly unfluent in Japanese. Yeah, "unfluent" is a made-up word. Perhaps I'm not so fluent in English either.

@NFL_RedskinsFan could well be an outreach by the 'Skins or by the NFL. It's fascinating to see, perhaps only to me.  

5 primetime games.  Take that, Dallas.

Okay, so the Redskins have had somewhat mixed results with primetime games, and to be honest, we can learn a lot more from the schedule than simply how we'll need to plan our weeks to watch the Redskins.  Here are some critical observations as the NFL kicks off the most important week of the offseason.

Balanced Schedule

Of course the schedule is "balanced" overall.  Division rivals play 12 of the same 14 opponents regardless of other factors.  The Redskins play at the Falcons and home against the 49ers: tough draws to be sure, but the Giants have to play the Seahawks in the regular season, and that's just as tough.

With that said, the NFL does make a certain effort to promote parity by giving division champions more obsticles to overcome.  These are typically small obsticles, but the goal is to consistent turnover the teams that win divisions (and host playoff games).  The Patriots, obviously, are not that impressed by such passive aggression.

The Redskins didn't really get a bad draw in the schedule.  It starts off pretty easy, then goes to an early week five bye.  The post-bye schedule is about as hard as it gets: a sustained tough stretch that never really lets up starting at Dallas, then home against Chicago, at Denver, home against San Diego, at Minnesota, at Philadelphia, and home against San Francisco.  That's not a horrible seven game stretch, but it's a long one.

It doesn't really get easier from there, but they play a majority of their December schedule at home, play in the division three times, and when they play outside of the division (vs KC, at ATL) they don't play teams they have typically had trouble handling.

It's not asking much of the Redskins to win 2/3rds of their games at the start (pre-bye) and end (last five games) of the season, but the tricky part in trying to match last seasons record will be trying to pull over .500 in the middle of the schedule.

Long home/road stretches

The NFL tries to ensure that no team has to play road games in three consecutive weeks, but the Redskins do have a stretch of three straight home games.  This is probably not that great, because every team has just eight home games and if three games are strung together (weeks 12-14), it puts a lot of added pressure on the team to win in that stretch because outside of that stretch, there will be a disproportinate amount of road games.  That's the stretch where I covered above.

Tough in November...again

Home vs. Chargers, at Vikings (Thurs), at Eagles, vs 49ers (Monday)

Two rather long weeks in November throw a wrench into the second-hardest three game stretch on the Redskins schedule: a ten day week followed by an eight day week.

If you want evidence that the schedule makers helped the Redskins, you can look at the amount of time they get to prepare for Chip Kelly's offense, they get five months, and then ten days at a time when the Eagles are coming off a road game in Green Bay.  It takes a lot of time for a defense to prepare for Kelly's offense, a sizable advantage since Kelly can get his team ready for any defense in a realtively short amount of time.  A season sweep of the Eagles would set the Redskins up a lot better for the regular season than a sweep of any other team.

The bottom line

Based on how the schedule falls, the Redskins need to pace above .500 for most of the year.  It's less important in the first three weeks: any team can get off to a slow start, just looking at the 2012 Patriots would confirm this.  But starting after the bye, the Redskins just need to trend on the right side of .500 between weeks 6 and 15.  They can win the NFC East division in the final two weeks sitting at a worst-case 7-7, merely treading water for the first 87% of the season.

If they get stuck at the 3-6 mark they found themselves at last year, the back seven or eight games don't shape up quite as nicely with regards to making a run.  It's nice that they play the Giants twice in the final five weeks as those games are going to be big in determining the division champion, but it also means that there's little value into running away with the divison early, because the Giants and Cowboys can get right back into it in the second half of the season if the Redskins aren't playing their best ball at that time.

Overall, the schedule is pretty supportive of the overall goal if the design of the season is the Redskins to pace the season, bring RG3 back slowly, play fundamentally sound football, cut down on the penalties, and win some defensive games late.  It doesn't set up well for the Redskins to start 7-0 or 8-0, it's possible, but was never likely, and there are a lot of tough games thrown in sporadically in the first three months of the season.  

The Redskins will likely find themselves at an end of season situation similar to last year, they just likely won't take the 3-6, "fire everybody" route to get there this time.

We saw something unusual in the 2012 Redskins. The offense carried the defense that was missing Brian Orakpo, Adam Carriker and Brandon Meriweather for most of the season. Tanard Jackson was suspended for the entire season. London Fletcher's lingering ankle injury left him gimpy most of the year.

Meriwether and Jackson's absence opened the door for Madieu Williams who, I suspect, the Redskins never expected to make the roster. They signed him as camp competition for Reed Doughty.

Orakpo and Carriker were the players most missed on defense. The subpar pass rush stressed aging London Fletcher and it demanded more of Washington's secondary than it could give. It's a new year and Rak says he's ready to do damage.

“I'm 100 percent, my body is feeling even better than what it was before as far as conditioning and strength-wise,” Orakpo told CSN Washington. “When you get hurt, you get to work on all the little muscles that you have a tendency to (overlook). It was a freak accident; it's nothing you can control.”

Except, it wasn't a freak. Orakpo tore the same muscle in 2011 Week 17 against the Eagles. Two tears requiring two 2012 surgeries on the same muscle should give one pause.

We see elite athletes recover fast. Sometimes, a speedy recovery kills too. (Not that we should apply that thinking to any other injured player on the roster. cough)

Orakpo is in the last year of his contract and anxious to prove he deserves a new one with Washington, or elsewhere. The Redskins would be glad to do it if assured that Orakpo will be a front line contributor through 2020. They cannot afford to sign a player who might be lost for a third time to the same injury. In that event, they might consider franchising Orakpo in 2014, then watch how things turn out.

Or they could simultaneously hedge against another injury to Orakpo and fix the secondary by drafting a defensive end or outside linebacker in the second round.

Why on Earth would the Redskins do that? Because GMs do not think like Mel Kiper and other Draft experts. Here is why they don't.

1. "Experts" talk of drafting to team needs. The more I see of perennial contenders like the Ravens, Giants and Patriots especially, the more obvious it is that they draft the best available player.

If Orakpo is a risk, and he is, of reinjuring his pec, why not hedge the risk by finding a potential replacement in the second round of the NFL Draft instead of a safety? Hog Heaven won't call it a "need." "Open to the idea" is a better description.

2. Who says you have to draft a DB to fix the secondary? Carlos Rogers became a much better cornerback when he joined a team with a much better pass rush. Rogers made eight interceptions in six seasons with Washington. He snagged seven in two seasons with San Francisco. Rogers did not change his hands in 'Frisco. He just changed his jersey.

By the way, we don't see INTs as the only measure of cornerbacks. It's not even the best because it doesn't measure coverage skills. Yes, Washington needs better players in the secondary, but they can get better play with a more effective pass rush. Call it the flip side of getting better O-line performance with a dual-threat quarterback. 

3. Draft to strength instead of need. Mock drafts are fun to read. They represent the wisdom of the crowds. (50 million monkeys can't be wrong. Right?) But, they invariably play to team need. Why not draft draft to strength. Linebackers are a Redskins strength. A team's personality develops on its strengths.

Hog Heaven expects Orakpo to return healthy and for the Redskins to re-sign him in 2014. I gotta get more use out of that jersey.    
 

Last week produced a few guffaw moments right around April Fool's Day. The Redskins signed former Miami Dolphins quarterback Pat White to a one-year deal. That news sparked a good deal more blogger stupidity than Washington's signing of Kellen Clemens as a camp arm in 2011.  

Some national media types put the right spin on the move. Others trolled for eyeballs along three lines of thought ... I use the word "thought" loosely.

1 - Kirk Cousins is available to trade.

2 - Pat White would allow the Redskins read-option offense to proceed seamlessly if Robert Griffin III is lost to injury again.

3 - Pat White and RGIII in the same backfield open immense options for the Wildcat formation.

Um, hold your horses, cowboy.

Why let last week's news go to waste when it can be used to make some points about Griffin, the Redskins and the Double-Duel-Threat-QB Wildcat? Besides, Hog Heaven is not above trolling for readers, either. Kidding aside, these points are worth making.

1. Robert Griffin III puts the magic in the read-option offense.
Robert Griffin III cannot be duplicated. Pro teams take college concepts like the shotgun spread and make it their own, usually by adding precision an order of magnitude greater than the NCAA level. Then, opposing coordinators catch up with the concept and break it down. Since only elite college athletes start for pro teams, those raw schoolboy concepts do not stand on their own. Opposing players have seen it before and simply run it down.

The read option works so well for the RG3skins because Griffin III is a deadly passer and world-class hurdler. That kind of talent is not duplicated, certainly not by Pat White.

Read option will influence coaching careers more than player careers. NFL coaches who grew up in play-action are not that familiar with it, but their teams are looking for players who can run it, thanks to the play of Griffin, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick. The trend might boost the prospects for Greg Schiano, Chip Kelly and especially for Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh.

Nick Saban: NFL coaches are coming to Alabama for advice on stopping the read-option wp.me/p14QSB-89tw

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 10, 2013

Carroll and Harbaugh have the best shot at success with option concepts. Carroll cycled through the NCAA and the NFL before landing in Seattle. He has NFL experience most college head coaches lack when jumped from USC to Seattle.  

Harbaugh earned his NFL chops immediately upon joining San Francisco, a rarity for college coaches. Here's the thing, Harbaugh and Carroll have quarterbacks in Kaepernick and Wilson who rival RG3 in the read option.        

2. Kirk Cousins isn't going anywhere ... this year.
Rex Grossman is Kirk Cousins' back-up. He is not RGIII's back-up. Cousins most successful accomplishment last season was to keep Grossman on the inactive roster on game day. What's so complicated about that?

The notion that the Redskins would trade Cousins before knowing RGIII's condition with certainty is just ludicrous. White's similarity to Griffin's play style (with less talent) would supposedly drive the 'Skins to hop him over Rex Grossman on the depth chart so that Kyle Shanahan would not have to change the game plan with White as he should (have done) with Cousins.

#Redskins backup QB Kirk Cousins is happy to have new QB Pat White with the team. #RedskinsTalk pub.vitrue.com/luC8

— CSN Washington (@CSNwashington) April 4, 2013

Is that a concussion joke? "@tarikcsn: #Redskins QB Kirk Cousins says signing Pat White is a "no brainer": bit.ly/14Q8Zbe"

— Homer McFanboy (@HomerMcFanboy) April 4, 2013

Cousins developed as a play-action passer in Michigan State's pro style offense. He has acknowledged that he must get better at running the read option offense that the Shanahans want to call. And, he said in January that he would work on his speed in the offseason. Lets begin there.

Kirk Cousins preparing for Redskins' read-option style - NFL.com nfl.com/news/story/0ap…

— Anthony Brown (@SkinsHogHeaven) April 4, 2013

In hindsight, White acknowledged that he did not put in the work while with the Dolphins to be anything more than a gimmick Wildcat quarterback. I'm not attributing that to character. You shouldn't either. But Cousins recognizes his need to break his comfort zone in ways that White did not as a rookie. After two years away from football, White is determined to make the most of his second chance in the NFL, slim as it is.

Head Coach Mike Shanahan said that Cousins would take all the first team snaps in the offseason and training camp. If traded, Cousins would have to be replaced by someone not named Rex Grossman or Vince Young. The "Skins would have to get that person at the same salary cap cost as Cousins, who is on the new rookie wage scale as a fourth rounder.

Trading Cousins right now would be a downgrade in the position even with RGIII on the roster. We call that a self-inflicted wound.

3. Pat White – wild card in the Wildcat?
This notion is superficial thinking at its best. White was not successful running the Wildcat in Miami. Why would he be successful in Washington?

The Jets signed Tim Tebow to run the Wildcat package. The result is a continuing source of laughter. Tebow completed six passes of eight attempts for the highest passer rating of his career (84.9). He rushed for 102 yards in 12 games for the lowest yards-per-attempt in his career (3.2). Tebow is better by far than White.

Both the Wildcat and the read option force defenders to stay home as they figure out what the offense is doing. Both are surprise attacks in their way, but the NFL is less surprised by the Wildcat than read option. To repeat the point we made above, it's Griffin, not the scheme, that makes all this work.

So you are a defensive coordinator calling the play to stop Griffin and White who are lined up in a Wildcat from the pistol formation. Who is your point of focus? White?

Focus on Griffin and then White beats you with a great play, which would be a career first for him. The coach would want to talk to you about it. It might not be pleasant. But focus on White and get beat by Griffin who makes another electrifying play and you are toast. White adds no value.

The 'Skins have other ways to surprise defenses. Roy Helu is a decent receiver out of the backfield. Can he pass? The Dolphins' Wildcat worked best when Ronnie Brown took the direct snap and either ran, handed off or passed the ball. A direct snap to a back, or a player in motion, is more likely to work. Even if alert to it, defenders would not expect it.

Clinton Portis has a lifetime 116.0 passer rating (three TD passes on three completions). Portis never ran the Wildcat. Just sayin'.

White and Griffin in the same backfield is a gimmick that would shout "Wildcat." Even then, you would give White the Tebow treatment – defense his running until he proves he can beat you by passing. 

What's in this for Pat White?

This post is a knock on superficial online football thinking, not on Mr. White. He is as aware of this litany of failure as Hog Heaven readers are. His career went horribly wrong in 2009 because he was on a horrible 1-15 team. He did not have the chops to change it. Neither did the coach nor any other player.

He will not make the Redskins. If Mike Shanahan is an honest man, he made that clear to White while offering another bite at the apple. White gets to another training camp, this time with a division winner. He can get verbal recommendations from NFL coaches that his agent might parlay into a shot with another team. White worked out for the Giants and 49ers before signing with Washington. He might even get video footage of game action for his souvenir collection.

There is a reason to keep him around in September, although I'm not sure of the rules for the practice squad. Colin Kaepernick and the 'Niners are on the schedule. Somebody has to run the scout team, the "no brainer" idea Cousins alluded to.

A slim chance is still a chance. Don't begrudge a man a second shot at his dream. 

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