Redskins vs. Steelers Preseason Pre-Game Thread

I guess the real question is - Is Armstrong a lock? I though AA looked good enough last night, picking up where he left off. BUT - Say, in the next 3 weeks, Armstrong barely out performs Hankerson but Paul strongly outperforms Armstrong & Hankerson. Do Paul and Armstrong stay? Paul and Hankerson? Can Hankerson, Austin & Paul all make the team (cutting Armstrong & Stallworth)?

I wouldn't say he's a lock, but he's probably the #3 WR at this point. I think its going to come down to Paul, Armstrong, Stallworth, Austin, Robinson and Banks. Banks isn't a lock just because he had a nice return last night. Notice he did nothing on the WR front. Hell, did he even play at the WR spot? That last person is going to have to be able to play the WR spot as well as special teams. Last year we didn't have much of a choice, this year we do. Robinson isn't going to help himself one bit if he continues the mishaps on special teams. Austin on the other hand had a 19 yard punt return so if he does good on ST, then I see him making it over Banks.

Hankerson will make the roster. He has way too much talent not to even if he does drop some passes. After this season or perhaps the next, that's a whole other story but you have to think that unless he totally bombs and I mean spectacularly, he'll make the roster. Besides, they've kept Malcom Kelly around haven't they?

I don't know. Shanahan cut Maurice Clarett after taking him in the 3rd round. Main difference is Hankerson (at least as a rookie) has a better head on his shoulders then Clarett the rookie (believe it or not Maurice has matured a lot since he got out of jail).

Matty,

If Donte really has an overall great preseason for us, would you cut/trade him if Hankerson happens to stink it up? I think if he continues to have a great preseason we might as well keep him for the season.

I don't think it would come down to making a decision between these two.

I'm so tired of Gtripp's negativity. Dude. If you're so smart you'd be a f'ing coach in the NFL. Child please. Do you just like disagreeing with people? I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Thats all you do. If someone says " wow our D looked great " you come back with some bullshit nobody noticed or cares about. Go follow Dallas. You're welcome for everyone on this site who feels / felt this way , because I know I'm not alone here. There's some GTripp ass kissers on here that will say blah blah blah. He's a sports writer for blah blah blah. A person who is brilliant at writing , which he clearly is so I won't take that away from him doesn't mean he's brilliant at the sport. Yeah he knows numbers and shit but I don't give a ****. I thought we looked pretty good last night. He probably has never played a snap in his life. Us fans , are excited so let us be. No need to be a Debbie Downer.

I wouldn't say he's a lock, but he's probably the #3 WR at this point. I think its going to come down to Paul, Armstrong, Stallworth, Austin, Robinson and Banks. Banks isn't a lock just because he had a nice return last night. Notice he did nothing on the WR front. Hell, did he even play at the WR spot? That last person is going to have to be able to play the WR spot as well as special teams. Last year we didn't have much of a choice, this year we do. Robinson isn't going to help himself one bit if he continues the mishaps on special teams. Austin on the other hand had a 19 yard punt return so if he does good on ST, then I see him making it over Banks.Banks is a lock because a team has no use for 6 offensive receivers. He'll come in on offense at times as a wrinkle. As the team's primary returner, he's unchallenged at this point. He's probably the team's best "offensive" player. And Shanny loves him.

Niles Paul is on the wrong side of the bubble at this point, but I think he's got an advantage over Stallworth in his age and special teams contribution. Right now, it's probably:

1) Gaffney
2) Armstrong
3) Moss
4) Austin
5) Hankerson
6) Banks

Stallworth is essentially going to have just one game against first teamers to make his case two weeks from now.

The other thing I'm going to bring up here is that, value wise, can Moss actually bring more to this offense than any of the following players: Gaffney, Armstrong, Austin? I'm wondering if playing TA over him might actually make the offense more potent. I don't know what we have in TA just yet, but Moss looks like the kind of player who will find the void in the zone underneath and be a dependable safety valve, but he can't beat man coverage any more, and he doesn't appear to be able to turn the corner to get the sideline on younger DBs.

I just wonder what Moss' value on this team will be outside of getting the ball against the blitz. He's clearly a more valuable receiver than Hankerson is at this point, but I don't know if that necessarily means he should be playing over him. And I won't like it if Niles Paul gets released because we made the mistake of giving Santana a three year contract.

I'm so tired of Gtripp's negativity. Dude. If you're so smart you'd be a f'ing coach in the NFL. Child please. Do you just like disagreeing with people? I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Thats all you do. If someone says " wow our D looked great " you come back with some bullshit nobody noticed or cares about. Go follow Dallas. You're welcome for everyone on this site who feels / felt this way , because I know I'm not alone here. There's some GTripp ass kissers on here that will say blah blah blah. He's a sports writer for blah blah blah. A person who is brilliant at writing , which he clearly is so I won't take that away from him doesn't mean he's brilliant at the sport. Yeah he knows numbers and shit but I don't give a ****. I thought we looked pretty good last night. He probably has never played a snap in his life. Us fans , are excited so let us be. No need to be a Debbie Downer.

:doh: Man, if you're tired of Gtripp, put him on your ignore list. Nobody's forcing you to read his opinions.

Banks is a lock because a team has no use for 6 offensive receivers. He'll come in on offense at times as a wrinkle. As the team's primary returner, he's unchallenged at this point. He's probably the team's best "offensive" player. And Shanny loves him.

No idea where you get that notion. Everything I've heard has been the opposite. (mostly due to his attitude)

He wasn't even a lock last year when we had crappier WRs.

I'm so tired of Gtripp's negativity. Dude. If you're so smart you'd be a f'ing coach in the NFL. Child please. Do you just like disagreeing with people? I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Thats all you do. If someone says " wow our D looked great " you come back with some bullshit nobody noticed or cares about. Go follow Dallas. You're welcome for everyone on this site who feels / felt this way , because I know I'm not alone here. There's some GTripp ass kissers on here that will say blah blah blah. He's a sports writer for blah blah blah. A person who is brilliant at writing , which he clearly is so I won't take that away from him doesn't mean he's brilliant at the sport. Yeah he knows numbers and shit but I don't give a ****. I thought we looked pretty good last night. He probably has never played a snap in his life. Us fans , are excited so let us be. No need to be a Debbie Downer.I don't really mind you being critical of my opinions, but this would be the most negative post in a long thread, so I would hope you're doing this to be ironic.

I don't really mind you being critical of my opinions, but this would be the most negative post in a long thread, so I would hope you're doing this to be ironic.

It just seems to me you thrive on disagreeing with the masses. Which is your prerogative but dude c'mon. Did you really think we looked that bad last night? I was on a high after watching the game and I was waiting for the GTripp bashing. Listen, you're a bright person, some stuff you write is really articulate but you're just really a pessimistic person.

GTripp, i do apologize for the attack. Maybe I'm just alittle excited for the season. :)