Updated: Redskins Trade for Vikings DE Erasmus James

I can't believe this guy has gotten 12 pages.

Just goes to show you that we all know how important the DE position is, and how it has been relatively neglected.

It sounds like this guy is another Courtney Brown from Penn State. But honestly who cares? When do 7th round draft picks ever pan out? I don't have a problem with this at all.

Courtney Brown? never heard of him! :)

I can't believe this guy has gotten 12 pages.

In a 'normal' 21st century skins offseason, he wouldn't have gotten 5 cause there was always some other drama or acquisitions to talk about. Nowadays, we have little else to dwell on, which I'm not complaining about in any way.

Solid sack numbers in limited time, as GTripp mentioned. But more importantly, to play for Blache you need to be pretty strong at the point of attack to hold up against the run. He's pretty good at that. Very physical guy, plays a bit bigger than his listed weight of 265. If he can stay healthy and conditioned, he's got potential to be an every-down DE, as opposed to a pass-rushing specialist.

He's pretty light to fight off the run.
Some of the stuff I have read about this guy indicates his weakness is against the run.

majHe's pretty light to fight off the run.
Some of the stuff I have read about this guy indicates his weakness is against the run.A majority of guys who like to get in to the opposing blocker's pads as his first move also put themselves in very good position against the run, regardless of their size.

Normally, the issue with 265 pound ends is that they feel they can't afford to do this, because once they are engaged, the blocker will just overpower them. So guys like Chris Wilson, Elvis Dumerville, Dwight Freeney, they just try to get a step and beat the tackle around the edge.

That's not really James' game though, so we can trust that he's tougher against the run than his size indicates, and that he's capable at LE.

There are three reasons this trade will work:

1. Our team culture - Gibbs was a stabilizing influence during his tenure here. He managed to create a veteran-driven culture of accountability on this team and it showed when we brought in a guy like Fred Smoot, who incidentally floundered in Minnesota, and he managed to turn his career around because he was suddenly in a culture that wouldn't tolerate any BS and this allowed him to simply focus on Football.

2. Our coaching staff - Greg Blache has gained a reputation as being a guy who can get the most out of his talent. Look at what he has done in terms of developing younger guys who were really no-names (Wilson, Evans, Montgomery, Golston) and resurrecting a guy like Andre Carter's career. In James, Blache will get a guy who is more physically talented than anyone he currently has (other than Carter).

3. Lack of expectations - Coming into the Redskins James is literally valued at a 7th round pick. He was close to being cut by an NFL team only two years after he was heralded as a future star. The expectations are low and that will take a lot of pressure of James. He is not expected to contribute right-away and that will allow him to learn from Blache and the other veterans on this line and build himself into a contributor.

Ultimately, I think that provided he stays healthy, James can honestly be a solid contributor to this defense.

From JLC and Redskins Insider:

"Also, I screwed something up yesterday and, like a moron, forgot what year it was (seriously) when looking at Erasmus James's contract. Indeed he does have a $1 million salary left on his contract ... but that's in 2009. In 2008 he will earn $695,000 if he makes the Redskins. So he has two seasons left on his deal."

Santana Moss's Charity Bashes/Waiting For Erasmus - Redskins Insider (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2008/05/santana_mosss_bday_basheswaiti.html)


That is a fantastic deal..plus it gives us leverage for a 2nd year too.
Much better than initially thought....now we have more reason to fully rehab this guy. Not to mention he only gets paid if he plays in a game in 08.
I'm really happy about this now.

I can't believe this guy has gotten 12 pages.

If you set your post per page to 40 then this thread is only 5 pages...which isn't so bad.

Included in those 12 (now 13) pages are about 1-page worth of posts commenting on how many posts this thread has.

And now make it one post commenting on how ridiculous it is to comment repreatedly on how many posts this thread has.

Yes, I recognize the irony.

3. Lack of expectations - Coming into the Redskins James is literally valued at a 7th round pick. He was close to being cut by an NFL team only two years after he was heralded as a future star. The expectations are low and that will take a lot of pressure of James. He is not expected to contribute right-away and that will allow him to learn from Blache and the other veterans on this line and build himself into a contributor.

that's a point that i've been considering as well. being that his surgery wasn't that long ago, (assuming he makes the roster) i'd like to see this kid put on the PUP list and then see where he's at midway through the season, both physically and in the system.

there's no question the kid has talent, we need to let that knee heal up to maximize it.