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Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan is making the rounds on sports shows on the eve of training camp hawking the Redskins, setting expectations for Albert Haynesworth, and saying all the right things to a hopeful yet skeptical fanbase.

Shanahan didn't say "there's a new sheriff in town" in his redskins.com interview with Larry Weisman, but the coach implies that it's safe to root for this team again. So shell out for Redskins tickets, why don't you?

Fans don't have to temper expectations for a quick return to greatness, says Shanahan. "That’s what you should expect and that’s what the fans should expect. If you don’t have that belief, if you don’t believe and the fans don’t believe, chances are the players aren’t going to believe."

So there you go. Fans need to believe so that players can believe. Uh, isn't that supposed to work the other way around?

Shanahan considers his 8-8 finish in Denver a personal embarrassment and made clear that he does not wish to be remembered that way. He drew some stark contrasts with the prior regimes in Washington, though he may not have intended to.

Shanahan described his 35 year experience in coaching in answer to a Weisman question. During his year off, the coach visited other NFL training camps to study other coaches' methods. And he built the coaching staff who would join him when he found his next job.

Danny Snyder and Vinny Cerrato took the opposite approach in 2008, keeping most of Joe Gibbs' coaching staff, except for the two most important ones--offensive and defensive coordinators--while setting a new direction for the offense. Snyderrato took that approach after mining ideas from Jim Fassel, then didn't hire Fassel to coach the team.

Unable to hire Steve Spagnuolo or any other targeted candidate, they settled on Jim Zorn, only recently hired as rookie offensive coordinator as suggested by Fassel. Then over two seasons, Snyder over-managed and undermined Zorn.

Unlike Zorn, Shanahan's been promised complete control of football operations by the same people who promised Albert Haynesworth that he would play the same role on defense as he played in Tennessee. I'm just saying....

But Shanahan is a believer. "I don’t know what’s been done in the past. I just know [Snyder]'s letting me do everything I was hoping I could do and that’s the only way I think I can function and function well."

Shanahan says you lose your edge if you are out of the NFL for more than a year. That's why he was anxious to return to coaching this year. Interesting point. I thought of Joe Gibbs when I read that.

Mike Shanahan is the best coaching hire Danny Snyder has ever made. There is enormous reason for optimism. But can the Redskins win nine or 10 games this season? Not if you look at the first year record of all of the coaches in the Snyder era, or at Shanahan's own first year record with the Broncos and Raiders.

One can hardly expect the coach to express anything but confidence. There are tickets and corporate suites to be sold in a stadium 92,000 seats big. Danny Snyder is so toxic that he needs the new guys as fronts for that job. He once needed Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier and Joe Gibbs for that. Well, we bit on Gibbs all by ourselves.

But that whole fans-need-to-believe-so-players-believe thing is so much doo-doo. It's coaches who have to believe so players believe. Mike Shanahan just said he expects these players to win.

It's worth the price of a ticket to see how it turns out.

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It appears the Washington Redskins have turned over their sales and marketing staff, perhaps from the fallout of last year's season ticket debacle. The team has four open positions in sales and marketing listed with the online jobs board teamworkonline.com. All of those jobs focus on pushing high priced tickets to the Joe Gibbs Club Level at FedEx Field.

Club level seats have always been a tough sell. The Redskins have four hurdles to overcome this year.

 

1. It's a tough economy. Club seats are easily postponed.
2. Washington was 3-5 at home in 2009 and they played worse as the season wore on. They were 4-4 at home in 2008. At club seat prices, we expect to see wins.
3. Last year's ticket scandal revealed that a portion of club seat fans thought they were jumping their place on the season ticket waiting list by leasing club seats. The Redskins say that was never their policy. It was a tease that evidently cost a few marketing people their jobs. By clearing that up, the team cut off a segment of potential buyers.
4. Congressional ethics rules. Remembers when The Squire hosted all those political celebrities in the owners box at RFK? What a sight that was on Monday Night Football. For a lot of reasons not related to the Redskins, Congress cut itself off from those gratuities. That means that lobbyists and execs from the consulting-military-intelligence class can't entertain their prime targets. That's a shame. How's a voter to know their representatives are on the job if they don't see them at football games?

The Redskins ask R You In? Redskins Country may be the new "Show Me" State.

 

Here's the listing for the team's Business Development Executive:

The Washington Redskins are seeking highly motivated, energetic professionals as a Business Development Executive.

Principal Job Functions:

Marketing Premium Membership ticket packages to business prospects.

Job Responsibilities include:

-- Making telephone and on-site calls to business customers and prospects.

-- Updating customer information in database system

-- Assisting in the collection process

-- Providing superior customer service

-- Representing the organization in an exemplary manner

-- Exceeding monthly and long term sales goals

-- Answering customer questions in a positive and professional manner

-- Participating in Game Day and Special Event responsibilities

Job Requirements:

-- Bachelor’s degree preferred

-- Minimum of one (1) years of selling to business clients

-- Excellent telephone and communication skills required

-- Excellent time management and organizational skills required

-- Experience with pro sports ticket selling a plus

-- Basic computer skills required

The Washington Redskins offer a competitive salary and an excellent benefits package. If you wish to become a part of this exciting, fast paced organization AND you meet the requirements listed above, please apply now

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Apply for this position at footballjobs.teamworkonline.com. (Registration required.)

 

 

Strapped with just two picks in the first three round of the NFL draft, and a free agent class that was very light on players worth a significant amount of money, the Redskins focused their 2010 resources on two main areas: the quarterback position and the offensive line.  Few would argue that something needed to be done about both areas of the offense, and the Redskins get participation points, certainly, for creativity in finding a way to acquire Trent Williams, Donovan McNabb, and Jamaal Brown in the same offseason.  These moves, while made with a varying degree of prudence, were all made with an ideal amount of aggression, and offer a very different prospectus for the 2010 season than you would have expected based on the results of the 2009 season.

Of course, when all of the resources you have for your offense are allocated to just two positions, that essentially means that you are skimping on others.  The Redskins have toyed with the idea of giving up more to receive Vincent Jackson -- Hog Heaven has learned that a deal has been close for at least a week -- but that the Redskins are (rightfully) reluctant to trade for Jackson unless they can move Albert Haynesworth in the deal.  Keep in mind that the Redskins aren't actively trying to get rid of Haynesworth (if they were, he'd be gone), rather, they are trying to drive up his price in the market.  This takes time, and if I had to guess, I would say that Haynesworth is probably a Redskin on opening day, and Jackson is probably a Charger, although something could happen with that before his suspension concludes in Week 4.

So with resources allocated to changing the quarterback, upgrading the offensive line, and possibly adding a deep threat to the wide receiver position, the one place that the Redskins have notably gone the "very, very available" player route is the running back position.  Using resources elsewhere is no excuse for poor performance, and the Redskins will have to strike a balance that allows them to get productivity from three (four?) guys who were very unproductive in 2009.  This article will also touch on the obvious possibility that Brian Westbrook is a Redskin by the end of the month, as to consider him part of the mix until he officially takes his services elsewhere.

Clinton Portis

Portis will turn 29 on September 1st, and this will be his ninth NFL season.  It will almost certainly be his final year in Washington, save for a ridiculous statline such as 1,250 yards on 260 carries and 7 TDs, and a subsequent "early thirties" peak had by guys such as Corey Dillon, Fred Taylor, Thomas Jones, and Curtis Martin.  Portis isn't a disimilar runner to any of those guys, but realistically, his 29 years is much closer to a 31 for a back who hasn't been doing it since age 20 (Portis' age in the 2002 preseason).

It would be wrong to suggest Clinton Portis is "done."  Portis probably has multiple years left as a strong NFL runner, and potentially a very valuable one, but it's important to note that Portis was last an "explosive" runner in 2006 at age 25.  Those days, as you may have guessed, aren't coming back.  When Portis had his 1487 yard season in 2008, he did so on a 4.3 yard per carry average and only one run over 30 yards the entire year.  Portis is simply not a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball, he's only a threat to score once he's inside the seven yard line.

Portis is best used as the lead back in this offense, but he's at his best when the team doesn't use him so much in the early season.  Perhaps one of Jim Zorn's biggest issues last season is that when the Redskins came out with a decent offensive plan -- Jason Campbell was averaging more than 8.0 yards per attempt through the first two games in a passing friendly adaptation of the spread offense, but with the team unable to consistently generate points (26 points in two games), the Redskins spent the next four weeks going to strictly pro-style power formations, taking the game out of Campbell's hands and handing it to the highly ineffective Portis.

Portis continues to chew through his many lives in Washington, though he's likely down to his very last one.  Barring a comeback player of year type season, Portis is likely to leave the Redskins quietly (for a change) in the offseason, and finish the final two or three years of his career in the New England backfield.  Portis can still carry the ball 27 times a game at two or three different points in the season, but for most of the year, he's a 10-12 carry player in this offense.  You are looking at roughly 200 carries from Portis, four touchdowns, about four yards per carry for 800-850 yards, another 150 in the air as a receiver, and most of that production during the fantasy playoffs.  For sure, he's going to be a frustrating player to have on your fantasy roster all year, but historically, December is Portis' best month, and the overall decline of his total yards isn't going to change his dominance in that month.  You're doing well for yourself if he's the third running back on your roster.

Larry Johnson

It's a lot less controversial to suggest that Larry Johnson is done as a valuable back, and while Portis might enjoy a late career rebound as a useful player, Johnson's gains are likely to be purely academic.  The zone blocking scheme is going to do wonders for a yard per carry average that fell to a paltry 3.3 last year, as Johnson should do enough in the open field to bring that number back towards 4.0 (and will probably exceed it).

The problem with Johnson is that he's almost certain to lead the team in "stuffs" at the line of scrimmage, even though Portis figures to carry the ball 50-60 more times than LJ will over the course of the season.  Johnson runs with better vision than Portis, but he also runs straight up and has so his whole career.  Johnson will probably have a run or three over 25 yards this year, including a touchdown scored from outside the five yard line, and that will make his yard per carry average look a lot more valuable than it really is.

The Redskins have long had a problem with RB usage patterns, namely, that they had such a stud runner in Portis who could take the ball inside or outside that neither Gibbs nor Saunders nor Zorn could draw up plays for the backup running backs because if it was a critical play, Portis had to be in there.  Theoretically, that's still a problem for this team: there will not be a snap where it makes more sense for Johnson to take it over Portis.  However, the difference is that the Shanahans do a much better job of really rotating their running backs in there to get Johnson his touches, even when there's no reason to get Johnson any touches.  That's good from a "saving Portis' legs" perspective, and it's good from the perspective of Johnson's fantasy owners -- 8 to 9 carries a game even when Portis is perfectly healthy, a few more when he isn't.

The biggest false myth for your fantasy draft is that Larry Johnson is going to be the Redskins' goal line back.  He will not be.  The goal line back in the Shanahan offense is more dependent on what play he's running, which might call for the hard-running/slashing style of Willie Parker, or it might call for the slashing/receiving skill set of a Brian Westbrook or Ryan Torain.  But when the goal is pure power and leg drive from inside the three yardline, Clinton Portis is still the workhorse of the group.  Johnson is the least likely Redskins back to carry on the goal line because, as mentioned above, Portis is better at it in every way.  That, and Johnson went touchdown-less in a 16 game season in 2009.

He'll score between once and three times this season, but it won't be when expected, one might come through the air, and he's good for only about 600 rushing yards spread pretty evenly over the season, but likely declining near the playoffs.  That's a very fringe use of a fantasy football roster spot.  Johnson's career will come to a close after his year or two with the Redskins.

Willie Parker

It's hard to defend the Willie Parker signing.  From an X's and O's perspective, his running style offers a small change of pace over Portis, and in an offense that prides itself on deception, Parker has some value.  But if you had any dreams of a quick third down back here, Parker has been a dreadful receiver over the last two Steelers seasons.  Combined, he has nine catches on eighteen targets (that's TWO seasons), which is probably what his receiving season here would look like if he made the team.

In addition, Parker's breakaway speed is history.  He still has great functional short area speed to use in the flats, but again, he's a terrible receiver out of the backfield.  If Parker makes the team, he's probably going to spend most of the season as an inactive scratch from the team in favor of a different third running back, be it Keiland Williams, Brian Westbrook, Ryan Torain, or Mike Sellers.

If you really understand what it is like to go through a Shanahan training camp, you'd understand just how far Willie Parker's back is against the wall here.  If the team signs Brian Westbrook, he might just get Parker's roster spot straight up.  When you look at a highly touted college player such as Keiland Williams, and the fact that Mike Shanahan has never been shy about starting rookie runners who he thought had earned their playing time, Parker becomes just a placeholder on that roster spot.  But then you consider that even if Parker plays well in camp, he doesn't even have the contractual security to force Larry Johnson off the roster, as Johnson got guaranteed millions in his three year contract, and Parker just got a salary that becomes fully guaranteed if he makes the roster for Week 1 (which makes him even less likely to make it).

If Parker makes it, you can pencil him in for 70 carries, split by a week or two as the feature back, and about eight other weeks where he's active and gets about four or five carries in the game.  He's going to average about 3.6 yards per carry for a 250 yard season.  I'm not projecting him to find the endzone this year.

Brian Westbrook

If Westbrook is signed by the Redskins before training camp, he becomes the second most valuable back on the roster from a fantasy perspective, and probably the number one guy from a football perspective.  Carry-wise, Parker's estimate of 70 is probably accurate for him, and you can bump that up by 20 or 25 if you're going to project him for 14 or more active games, which might be foolish given his injury history.

Westbrook would be a good bet to lead the team in yards per carry, as he's yet to drop under 4.0 for his career.  He's a 4.5 YPC back in this offense, which would project him for between 350 and 500 rushing yards depending on which end of the "Brian Westbrook health spectrum" your faith falls in.  He could score one or two times on the ground from distance, but he could also emerge as a valuable receiver in the red zone where Donovan McNabb absolutely loves him.  In a full season, that might be another 8 total TDs, but in a half season as a third running back, that's closer to 3 or 4.  Still, 6 total TDs from a guy who is 100% available in late July is pretty much a steal, and touchdown scoring is going to be Westbrook's primary use in the twilight of his career.

Keiland Williams

Some talent evaluators believe that Williams might be the best pro prospect to come from the LSU backfield in quite some time.  Teammate Trindon Holliday was drafted in the 6th round for his world-class speed, and this backfield featured Charles Scott, but when you look at the Redskins draft, you can't help but notice that two of the players that they selected are Louisiana based athletes who simply weren't rated highly on any boards: LB Perry Riley (LSU), and TE Dennis Morris (Louisiana Tech).  Williams' spot on the roster would be strange otherwise, but clearly, the Redskins signed him thinking that they came away with the best player in the offensive backfield of the Tigers.

Whether Williams is good enough to make the team remains to be seen, but unless Brian Westbrook signs soon, Williams is probably the odds on favorite to be the Redskins' third running back this year.  And in Shanahan-land, that means an injury away from being a no. 1 RB in the NFL. Clearly, the guy is smart enough to notice a good situation when he sees it, and I'd probably take 2 to 1 odds this night that Keiland Williams is the next 1,000 yard runner for the Redskins.

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Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan is hopeful that Donovan McNabb is the quarterback he expects him to be and that Albert Haynesworth will show up at training camp in shape and ready to play any position assigned to him.

Meh. Shanahan gave fluff answers to soft ball questions pitched to him on TOTAL ACCESS in the NFL Network last Friday.

I'm more disappointed in the questions asked of Shanahan than by his answers. TOTAL ACCESS might have asked Shanahan's thoughts about break-out players who impressed during the OTAs, or for any thoughts about, oh say, Vincent Jackson. The NFL Network wasn't up to the job. 

It's fair to point out NFL Network's delicate position. You cannot be the league-owned network and ask leading questions of a star coach that lures him into a violation of NFL policies against tampering.

Not that Shanny would have answered anything specific on those topics. Perhaps specific questions were off limits. In that case there was no point to the interview. TOTAL ACCESS would have done just as well to spend more time with Seattle Seahawk head coach Pete Carroll, which they mostly did anyway. 

Here's my close transcription of the Shanahan segment of TOTAL ACCESS: 

On what is it like taking a team and turning it around:

I've been the league for 20 years and you have ups and downs to put a team together that gives you a chance to do something to win this year.

On Donovan McNabb:

Well, donovan has a learning curve to go through. He has to learn a new terminology like learning a new language. He's done a great job coming in. Hopefully he can do the things we expect to get done.

On what Shanahan and his staff want to see from Albert Haynesworth:

We've had guys working for the last four and five months . We're trying to put the best football team together. Hopefully, when Albert does come in, he'll be playing extremely hard and is in great shape. Regardless of whatever position we play in we want him to help us win. At the end of the day, hopefully he will do that.

Are you implying [that] Albert will not play nose tackle?

Albert will play the best position to help us win. We talked to his agent and gave him the option to find a new position, but he took the money. Whatever the position, he is going to do what we think will put us in the best chance to win a championship. (Emphasis mine.)

NFL.com published the segment of the interview dealing with Haynesworth.

Shanahan must have been making the rounds last week. WFAN in New York interviewed coach Shanahan and asked nearly the same questions and got nearly the same answers. Read the transcript on sportsradiointerviews.com.

Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday was the in studio guest host on TOTAL ACCESS. He was asked to rank the Best In The Bis defensive tackles. Saturday listed Haynesworth as tied for fifth place along with Tennessee Titans Tony Brown (no relation, dammit) and Minnesota Vikings Kevin Williams.

Says Saturday, Haynesworth could be No.1 "anytime he wants to play." Interesting that Saturday listed Haynesworth in tandem with Tennessee's Brown. That's more evidence that a players performance is affected by the players around him.

Cowboys defensive tackle Jay Ratliff was fourth on Saturday's list. Rounding out the list from third to first place was Kris Jenkins (Jets), Vince Wilfork (Patriots) and Haloti Ngata (Ravens).

    

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Redskins Hog Heaven fans have spoken. The Washington Redskins will win nine or more games in 2010 according 58.6 percent of those responding to a poll on this site.

Here's the breakdown of fan votes (percentages are rounded):

• 10 or more games - 30.1%
• 9 games - 28.5%
• 8 games - 22.0%
• 7 games - 10.7%
• 6 or fewer games - 8.6%

Wow. Whatever happened to the bell curve? I looked for a voting bulge around eight games. Lets chalk this up to off-season optimism.

Since 2001, the Redskins have averaged a 7-9 record in the first year of a new head coach's era. Sports book bodog.com pegs the over/under on Redskins wins this year at 7.5 games. Mike Shanahan went 8-8 in his first year as head coach with Denver (1995). And that was with John Elway and Terrell Davis in the backfield.

I'm just saying....

New poll going up today: Has Daniel Snyder changed? Let your voice be heard. Vote!

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NFL Network teaser ads say that Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan will be interviewed on TOTAL ACCESS at 7:00 PM ET today, Friday, July 16, 2010. 

The ads says that Shanahan will be asked about the Albert Haynesworth situation. Of course he will. Haynesworth is the most compelling story out of Redskins Park at the moment. But, he is not the biggest question mark about this team.

Here's what I want someone to ask the coach:

1. Can Donovan McNabb's knack of making average receivers look good carry over to Washington?
2. Where are you right now on a possible trade for WR Vincent Jackson?
3. With or without Albert Haynesworth, can the defense jell in the 3-4 alignment in 2010 when a change like this takes the better part of a season? 
4. Are the offensive linemen now on the roster a good fit for the zone blocking scheme?
5. Which Vinny Cerrato-drafted player will break out this season?

I don't expect Rich Eisen and his cohort to ask too many hard hitting questions. If they do, expect Shanahan to spew coach-speak; empty statements that give nothing away to rival teams.

Can't blame Shany for that, but I'm desperate for blog topics like everyone else this time of year. So cut me a break, coach. 

Football fans voted the Redskins the 19th best team in the NFL as reported on a NFL Network show broadcast June 24, 2010. The NFLN guys thought all the changes would get the Skins back to .500, but would not overtake the Eagles, Giants and Cowboys.

The fans voted the Eagles the 13th best, the Giants the 10th best, and the Cowboys the fifth best team in the league.

Fan polls are just beauty contests, especially in the off-season.

TOTAL ACCESS repeats on the NFL Network for 24 hours after the original broadcast. 

Point After: There's an odd thing about that 31 in 32 series on NFLN. The volume of fan interest in each of the team recaps were in the same order as the fan ranking. There were 1466 comments on the segment for the Boys compared to a mear 62 comments for the segment covering the Skins. You see the same on other sites. There are 1,335 members of the Redskins community on Bleacher Report.  There are 2,736 members of the Cowboys community.

Part of this can be explained by the fact that other teams draw support from a State. Outside the D.C. Metro area, Washington draws support from parts of Virgina. Maryland tilts toward the Ravens. Certainly part if it is because the Skins haven't been a serious Super Bowl factor in 19 seasons.

Whatever the reason, us diehard Skins fans must look provincial to the rest of the football world. 

Well here's a shocker: the oldest team in football has less talent under (and including) the age of 25 than any other team.  At least according to the writers at Football Outsiders, that is.

You need to be an ESPN.com insider to read the whole article, though, you can get the Redskins paragraph for free.  Here it is in its entirity:

32. Washington Redskins
Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan have inherited a wasteland from Vinny Cerrato, who used his draft picks to acquire "has-beens" and "never-weres." As a result, the Redskins only have four "young" starters, and two of them (wideout Devin Thomas and safety LaRon Landry) have been professional flops. Outside linebacker Brian Orakpo was extremely effective last year, and rookie tackle Trent Williams should start on the left side from Day One. The only notable young players behind them are tight end Fred Davis and backup linebacker H.B. Blades.

It's probably far too early to write Landry off as a high draft pick that never developed, but if he wants to represent talent prior to age 26, he's running out of time.  Landry turns 26 on October 14th.  Chris Horton probably deserves some sort of mention, but even "young" prospects such as Justin Tryon and Kareem Moore fail to qualify for being under 25.  Jeremy Jarmon has that ACL injury that will make him a limited factor in the defense this year, but he's only 22, and is likely an oversight in the article.

Still, adding Jarmon and Horton to Davis and Blades still doesn't really create much of a core of talent behind first round picks Trent Williams and Brian Orakpo.  That would probably move the Redskins ahead of the Chargers, and that's not such horrible company.  The point remains that the "age" on this roster isn't good age because only four players expected to play a major role this year are under the age of 25; only three once Landry leaves this category after Week 4.

The Redskins have been pretty successful at drafting over the last seven drafts, which is to say, they've added a lot of field-ready cheap talent to complement their big-money contacts.  The problem with the Redskins' draft record is two fold.  First, the inclination of the team to trade its picks for players that other teams aren't building around any longer gives the Redskins a cast full of veteran bit players who replace even more potential draft picks on the roster.  However, this is a fairly notorious Redskins inclination.  The second problem with the draft record is much less obvious: when the Redskins draft, they tend to draft older players.

The team passed over age-19 Amobi Okoye for age-22 LaRon Landry in 2007.  Both have flashed their potential, though neither has developed quite as expected.  However, with Okoye just 23 years old going into this season (younger than rookie Ndamukong Suh), he still has multiple years to develop: his rookie contract doesn't expire until after the 2012 season.  Landry finds himself in a make or break year; at age 26, the Redskins HAVE to know if he's a cornerstone of Jim Haslett's defense, or whether he should be someone elses problem.

Landry is just one really obvious example of the Redskins looking for field-ready players in the draft.  Carlos Rogers was a legitimate 24 year old rookie who was born the same week as (2003 NFL Draft pick) Nnamdi Asomugha.  Both are on the back end of their prime years.  Rocky McIntosh is going to be 28 in November (no, I'm not kidding). Chris Horton is 25 this year, just his third in the league.  Kareem Moore is 26 in his third year.  Justin Tryon is 26 in his third year.  Reed Doughty is to be 28 in his fifth year, and Kedric Golston is 27.  Jason Campbell was a 23 year old rookie, didn't get on the field until just a month before his 25th birthday.  Even, unfortunately, Brian Orakpo, was an advanced rookie who turns 24 this month. There's a really obvious benefit to drafting this kind of player: the prime of their career is covered at minimal cost in their rookie contract.  All of these players developed really quickly, because they had a maturity advantage compared to their rookie class.

Even worse, when the Redskins step outside their comfort zone and draft younger college players (particularly underclassmen), their development record is terrible.  Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly made their Redskin debuts at age 21, as did Jarmon.  Add to that list Sean Taylor, who took longer to develop before his break out.  Taylor's tragedy might point towards more of a Murphy's Law type jinx on the franchise and player development.  Even when they get it right, they can't reap the benefits.

The Redskins' tendency for older players means that they end up receiving quality complementary players in the draft instead of franchise cornerstones.  When you look at the players that the Redskins have successfully developed, such as Chris Cooley, Derrick Dockery, Davis, Blades, and Orakpo, those worthy of contract extensions either now or down the road have been college seniors who were between a few months and a year and a half younger than the advanced draft prospect that the Redskins have preferred.  In this case, it might be refreshing that 4 year college player Trent Williams turns 22 on Monday, just in time for training camp.  For comparison, Russell Okung is about 10 months older, and would have been a much more in-character pick for the Redskins, given their past history.

Interestingly, the Redskins have built the core of their teams around veterans, but the kind of veterans who were originally very young college draftees, and hit the free agent market in the prime of their careers.  The Redskins acquired players developed elsewhere in Clinton Portis, Andre Carter, Santana Moss, and DeAngelo Hall, all of whom received lucrative contracts from the Redskins at young ages (Hall -- 25, Portis -- 23, Moss -- 25, Carter -- 26).  Portis was acquired to be a cornerstone player.  Moss was acquired to fill a need, but established himself as a probowler in a year.  Hall is more of a complementary part whose age is a bonus, and will help him justify his contract if he can keep his nose out of trouble.

It's expensive to let other teams develop your stars, but the Redskins' drafting preference for advanced players leaves little choice, and leaves them as one of the two weakest teams in football in terms of talent under 25, because typically, that means "talent from the 2009 and 2010 drafts".  It's why, if you miss on third rounders like Chad Rinehart and Kevin Barnes, and then Jeremy Jarmon tears an ACL at the end of his rookie season, then you trade your next third round pick for Donovan McNabb (or, arguably, Jamaal Brown), and that's your haul of third round picks between 2008 and 2011, well, your coaching staff has to go out of the way to develop those players before their 26th birthday.  Barnes and Jarmon still have time to develop, but you look at the Artis Hicks and Phillip Buchanon signings, and well, it's tough to blame the Football Outsiders writers for ranking the Redskins 32nd in age 25 and under talent.  If the team isn't going to try to develop it's young players from a prior regime, why should national writers pretend they 1) exist and 2) represent talent?

Rinehart's short season performance from last year suggests he's ready for a bigger role, and he already knows the zone blocking scheme from his college days as a Northern Iowa Panther (as well, obviously, as with the last two years on the Redskins).  But he had slipped behind both Big Mike Williams (who will miss 2010 with blood clots near his heart), and Hicks at last mention, which should kill the notion that bringing in a zone blocking guru for a head coach is going to do anything but kill his career.  Anyway, the Redskins suddenly have plenty of young talent on the offensive line, which makes the Hicks signing even more confusing.  They no longer need Rinehart as a developmental player, but I think they would be best off starting him at RG in 2010.  Williams' injury will at least give him reps to show the coaches what he can do, but this probably isn't a competition.

We'll conclude this piece with a Hog Heaven power ranking of players on the Redskins who will be age 25 or younger when the season begins on September 9th:

(first round selections in bold)

1. LB Brian Orakpo (24)
2. TE Fred Davis (24)
3. OT Trent Williams (22)
4. S LaRon Landry (25)
5. S Chris Horton (25)
6. LB HB Blades (25)
7. LB Jeremy Jarmon (22)
8. OL Chad Rinehart (25)
9. WR Malcolm Kelly (23)
10. G Kory Lichtensteiger (25)
11. TE/FB Dennis Morris (23)
12. CB Kevin Barnes (23)
13. WR Devin Thomas (23)
14. G/C Edwin Williams (23)
15. G/C Erik Cook (23)
16. RB Ryan Torain (24)
17. DE Rob Jackson (24)
18. LB Perry Riley (22)
19. WR Terrence Austin (22)
20. RB Keiland Williams (24)
21. LB Robert Henson (24)
22. OT Selvish Capers (24)
23. WR Brandon Banks (22)
24. LS Nick Sundberg (22)
25. CB Byron Westbrook (25)
26. OT William Robinson (25)