After tonites game how many DB's wil be kept?
 

including safeties??

Ade makes it ya think?

thanks
B

It depends on how many DBs Gibbs will allow on the game-day active 45 man roster. It's up to him -- and generally, it'll be a toss-up between the defensive backs and H-backs and TEs as to how many of each will see action on game day.

Starting corners are obviously Smoot and Springs. The first nickel back will either be Ade Jimoh, Walt Harris or Rashad Bauman. Rufus Brown, Ryan Clark and Garnell Wilds are all bringing up the rear on the depth chart and all but perhaps one of them will make it past the final roster cuts.

Taylor, Bowen, Lott and Franz make up the safties.

We'll know a lot more by tomorrow afternoon.

We know Coach Gibbs has to cut some of the running backs( Carwright, Simon, McCollough) and I think CB's Ade Jimoh and Rashad Bauman are up in the air. Todd Franz isn't playing too much at SS and veteran CB Walt Harris has to get healthy. Overall, I think most of the players that will be cut will come from from OL, DL and Special Teams. I hope WR Gari Scott makes the team along with Kheri Campbell.

before preseason I thought we have great depth at corner. There were articlas about how we could match up against three and four receiver sets as good or better than anyone. But with harris hurt, ralph brown ended up sucking, bauman hasnt panned out. Looks liek we dotn have great depth afterall. I think our coaches are putting a lot of cards into our first sting now, hopefully we will have a healthy team.

Thing is I don't think Gibbs is a project type coach. Unless Williams convinces him he sees something players like Baumann and Jimoh, I think they'll go with solid if unspectacular vets ratehr than 1st or 2nd year players (i.e. Harris instead of Jimoh), even if they are a little banged up. Remember Gibbs goes with tough players, even if they are a bit workmanlike - Riggins wasn't exactly a finesse player now was he!

Which also makes me think he'll keep Mcullough over Cartwright or Simon - the kid is real fast and seems durable enough.

Depth in the secondary is starting to look questionable. Don't forget that other teams have a lot of players to cut and there will be some surprises. There may end up being one or two players out there that end up knocking out someone that makes this cut after Sunday... maybe even at running back. I'm sure that Gibbs would like to have that guy like Riggins or Riggs to hit the hole on tough downs. I think Rock could do that if he puts the weight back on. I have not seen him drive the pile the way he did last year since he cut the 20 lbs.

After watching the game again (saw it live at FedEx, then got to watch it again on TV this morning), I'm going to go with the following DBs:

CB:
Smoot
Springs
Harris
Rufus Brown
A. Jimoh

Safety:
Taylor
Lott
Bowen

That puts Wilds, Bauman, Franz and Clark on the cut list. I would expect Wilds to be signed to the practice squad if he isn't picked up by another team.

Harris is a savvy vet, and a guy that will be a very solid nickelback once he gets back into game shape, which should be soon.

The reason I'm putting Rufus on the final roster is that he has looked very solid in run support, and he appears to have better coverage skills than Wilds at this point.

Now I can hear the chorus of boos and snickers when I mention Jimoh's name, but I really think you guys are being a little hard on the guy. Having watched this kid in a lot of practices, both as a cornerback and special teams player, as well as reviewing his play in the preseason games, I really don't see what you guys think is so horrible about him.

The negativity towards Jimoh seems to be mostly a product of some misplays on his part last season, and to judge him solely on a few plays that went wrong in his rookie season in a poorly designed defensive scheme, I think is a little harsh. I really think his coverage skills have improved a lot, and he's only going to get better as he gains experience and improves his recognition and technique. But he is also another corner that has good size, is very good against the run, a good blitzer with a lot of speed, and a solid special teams player. Those are four qualities that make a young defensive back a good candidate to grab a roster spot on Gregg Williams' defensive unit.

I've seen Wilds make too many mistakes, while Bauman, Franz and Clark simply haven't made enough plays to outshine Rufus Brown and Jimoh.

Lott and Bowen are both versatile safeties, capable of playing the free or strong sides, and in my mind, are essentially interchangeable next to Taylor. Yes, Bowen has shown little reason to keep him around as a coverage safety, but Lott fits that bill, and I expect Lott to be inserted as the pass situation safety, while Bowen becomes more of the blitzing, run-stuffing safety when Williams puts eight men in the box. Let's not give up on Bowen so quickly. He may prove to be more effective in this defense.

Crisp, no Todd Franz?

[QUOTE=smootsmack]Crisp, no Todd Franz?[/QUOTE]
If they keep 4 safeties, then yes, Franz would be one of them. I don't know if there's enough room, though, with the number of LBs and CBs I expect them to keep.

whats rufus browns background? is he a rookie?

[QUOTE=SKINSnCANES]whats rufus browns background? is he a rookie?[/QUOTE]

yeah, he's a rookie from florida state. I'm hoping he makes the team and runs an INT back for a touchdown, just so I can hear an announcer say "The Ruf, the Rufus on fire!" Ok, that was awful, I'll stop now.

anyone goto any games two years ago, I beleive it was two years ago. Anytime Arrington would make a play they would play that "we love LA song." It drove me nuts, its a stupid song. I also wanted Arrington to make his own name for himself and not just be considered an LT wanna be.

Joe Crisp, the reason people are hard on Jimoh is because the CB position has been one of the cornerstones of the Redskins defense. From Ken Houston, Vernon Dean to Darrell Green we have always had excellent one on one coverage backs. Jimoh is like a shadow boxer. He's looks very good in the gym. However, when he gets an opponent in front of him his skills seems to deminish. The first time I saw Jimoh in a regular season game he was beaten for a TD. The second time I saw Jimoh he was beaten for a TD. This year in preseason I saw the same thing. His lack of experience shows when he's matched up against better receivers and not practice squad players, he 's a step behind. I like Bauman, but he's got get healthy.

[QUOTE=SUNRA]Joe Crisp, the reason people are hard on Jimoh is because the CB position has been one of the cornerstones of the Redskins defense. From Ken Houston, Vernon Dean to Darrell Green we have always had excellent one on one coverage backs.[/QUOTE]
Believe me, I'm very well versed in the history of the cornerback position for the Redskins. The thing is, we're talking about a dimeback here, not a shutdown starter. Jimoh is more than adequate as a 4th corner and special teams player, and that's why he made the final cut.

[QUOTE]
Jimoh is like a shadow boxer. He's looks very good in the gym. However, when he gets an opponent in front of him his skills seems to deminish. The first time I saw Jimoh in a regular season game he was beaten for a TD. The second time I saw Jimoh he was beaten for a TD. This year in preseason I saw the same thing. His lack of experience shows when he's matched up against better receivers and not practice squad players, he 's a step behind. I like Bauman, but he's got get healthy.
[/QUOTE]
Again, this is a second-year player we're talking about, and an undrafted one at that. [i]Of course[/i] he struggled last year, but that was his rookie season, and it was painfully obvious that the defensive unit as a whole-- and the defensive backs in particular-- were poorly coached. How else would you explain the struggles the [i]entire secondary[/i] experienced last season, including Bailey? Jimoh has unfairly become a goat for disappointed Redskins fans, and it has blinded many of them to the improvements he has made since the season we'd all like to forget. Where you might see two or three plays where Jimoh has struggled, I see five or six other plays where he looked very good.

The new coaches obviously see a kid with very good physical skills who is intelligent, coachable and hard-working. That's what I saw when I watched him in the minicamps and training camp, and those qualities are precisely what this staff is looking for. I'm not saying this kid is going to be a great player, or even that he will develop into a starting-caliber cornerback. But he fits the mold of the kind of player these coaches want on the roster, and these coaches are good enough to help him reach his full potential.