Opening Day draft grade?

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by redskinjim

both recievers picks were a waste. we need help at safety where we could have gotten kenny phillips whome we will see playing for the giants thursday night.

Great post.
Given huge hole that ST's death has created in the center of our defensive backfield, and combined with my opinion that that Doughty is not the long term answer, I have serious concerns about our defense. I hope I am wrong.
Doughty has to be protected and former coach Williams was a master of helping Doughty, Doughty is the weak link. Our defense has holes that will be exploited at times this year. I am worried about the most basic skill a decent defense has to have, stop the run. I do not see the players there, namely our depth on defensive line, LB's and most importantly safety IMO is very suspect.
And our FO decided to go offense on most of our picks this year. Picking a second string TE high is a luxory pick a super bowl contender uses, not the current Redskins.
Plus add in that our backup WR's outplayed our awesome WR draft picks.
One telling fact is if you put S. Moss, ARE and Doughty on a draft board, it is clear who the lesser player and weakness is.
It is not good in the short term and a risky gamble to cut better players in favor of draft picks that are not playing well right now. We may have some misfires early in the season. I hope not.

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by RMSkins

If I had to give grades to our rookies just based on preseason results mine would be:
Devin Thomas F: He looks flat out scared when he is on the field. Tenative on Kick returns, let's the ball come to his body instead of catching it with his hands, and from what we're hearing he can't grasp the playbook. Hopefully Devin can turn things around, but it doesn't look like we'll be seeing to much productivity from him in a few years. I think he has a 50% chance to be a flat out bust.

Malcolm Kelly F/Inc: Have to give him an F because he can't even get on the field. Chronic health problems have to concern the FO. If Kelly can ever get healthy I think he will end up being more productive than Thomas.

Fred Davis B-: I would like to see improve his blocking, but he looks to be a keeper. I expect Davis to be the most productive out of the "big three" this season.

Chad Rinehart C: Looks great one game looks awful the next. I do like his versatility on the line though given that he can play Tackle and Guard. Hopefully he can become more consistent.

Justin Tryon F: Has a big mouth, but he can't back up any of his talk. I have no idea how he made the roster. Almost every time I saw an opposing receiver catch the ball I would see Tryon running behind him.

Durant Brooks C-: Was outperformed by Frost in the preseason which isn't a very good sign. I will give Brooks the benefit of the doubt, but he hasn't shown me anything yet.

Kareem Moore B-: Needs to work on his angles a bit, but I fully expect him to become a major contributer with us. He showed me that he can come up and play the run, he's a solid tackler, and he looks decent in coverage. So far he's probably the pick I am most excited about. I am a bit concerned with his knee though.

Rob Jackson C+: A prototypical speed rusher. I like his hustle, but he seems to disappear a lot. He also needs to work on his run game.

Chris Horton B-: I think Chris, like Kareem, will become a major contributer for us in the near future. He needs to work on his tackling a bit, and he wasn't really tested in coverage to much, but he is a good blitzer and he can play special teams.

Colt Brennan B: Definitely the most productive player out of all the draft picks. So far Colt looks like he can contribute at some level in the NFL. I think Colt is going to end up being a good #2 in his career, who knows, maybe he can become a starter, but he still has a lot of work to do before he can achieve that.

Remember, before anyone decides to blast me, that these grades are based PURELY off of preseason performances, and things that the coaches have said about the players.

Nice post. I think the C+ on Jackson might be too generous. If he is a prototypical speed rusher then how come he only got to the passer once (against Indianapolis) and only when he was completely unblocked. Ideally he should have gone on to the practice squad.

Your point on Moore and his taking bad angles is spot on. He took some horrible angles against Carolina and is a big reason why long runs turned into long touchdown runs. But he also showed some athleticism and you can improve the other stuff.

[EXoffender]

Opening Day Grade? C. Davis will be a solid pro but has to prove himself with limited playing time right off the bat. He will do just that. Rinehart is best suited as a G and looks good there. Moore and Horton are promising special teamers and backups. Jackson was a good depth pick and a backup plan for drafting Calais Campbell in the 2nd (oh, we didn't draft Campbell you say?). Brooks should pan out and Brennan feels like a future winning-QB. Tryon right now, looks lost but, should get better with more practice and coaching. Did our scouts know the extent of Kelly's injuries? It looks like there's only one rookie WR who's really playing like they were worthy of a first round grade and I think that under the circumstances of having a new offense and a roster without much depth at WR, that drafting Thomas and Kelly (+Davis) wasn't a terrible idea. We lost Philip Daniels after the draft right? Doesn't drafting Brooks seems to be a wasted pick now that four year veteran punter/holder Frost stepped it up just recently? Who knew? You just got to go with the team you're delt...

[EXoffender]

Originally Posted by SC Skins Fan

Nice post. I think the C+ on Jackson might be too generous. If he is a prototypical speed rusher then how come he only got to the passer once (against Indianapolis) and only when he was completely unblocked. Ideally he should have gone on to the practice squad.

Your point on Moore and his taking bad angles is spot on. He took some horrible angles against Carolina and is a big reason why long runs turned into long touchdown runs. But he also showed some athleticism and you can improve the other stuff.

Jackson has a least two sacks this preseason. I agree with you both. Moore can improve but, who knew that Landry would be down for so long? In hindsight, maybe looking to stay in the first round and drafting a safety would give a lot of security now but, a even better scenario would've been drafting Tyrell Johnson from Arkansas State (Minn) in the second.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by EXoffender

Opening Day Grade? C. Davis will be a solid pro but has to prove himself with limited playing time right off the bat. He will do just that. Rinehart is best suited as a G and looks good there. Moore and Horton are promising special teamers and backups. Jackson was a good depth pick and a backup plan for drafting Calais Campbell in the 2nd (oh, we didn't draft Campbell you say?). Brooks should pan out and Brennan feels like a future winning-QB. Tryon right now, looks lost but, should get better with more practice and coaching. Did our scouts know the extent of Kelly's injuries? It looks like there's only one rookie WR who's really playing like they were worthy of a first round grade and I think that under the circumstances of having a new offense and a roster without much depth at WR, that drafting Thomas and Kelly (+Davis) wasn't a terrible idea. We lost Philip Daniels after the draft right? Doesn't drafting Brooks seems to be a wasted pick now that four year veteran punter/holder Frost stepped it up just recently? Who knew? You just got to go with the team you're delt...

frost was punting better, but still hitting line drives and giving up big returns.

C.Davis = F.Davis i assume, and i like him as an instant offensive boost too.

[That Guy]

jackson does have two sacks... 1st one came at indy, which doesn't show up on nfl.com without clicking on the game log link (only shows 3 most recent games on the snapshot profile)

Rob Jackson: Game Logs

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by Luxorreb

Please grade the Redskins- Zorn, Snyder, Cerrato and their draft choices as a whole at present. Skins kept them all, how many will actively contribute and at what price?

Likely contributors this season include:

• Durant Brooks
• Fred Davis

Possible Contributors:

• Malcolm Kelly (if he ever gets healthy)
• Devin Thomas (if he learns how to run a 6 yard route on 3rd and 5)
• Chad Rinehart (solid depth if OL has injuries)
• Rookie safeties (mostly on special teams)

Rob Jackson probably won't get PT, but could help on special teams. If Colt Brennan is called on this year, that would be very bad, indicating some calamity at the QB position. How Tryon is still on this team is beyond me.

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by EXoffender

Jackson has a least two sacks this preseason. I agree with you both. Moore can improve but, who knew that Landry would be down for so long? In hindsight, maybe looking to stay in the first round and drafting a safety would give a lot of security now but, a even better scenario would've been drafting Tyrell Johnson from Arkansas State (Minn) in the second.

You're right on Jackson. I missed the Jets game because I was studying for comps so that is why it didn't come to mind I guess. He still didn't do much to impress me during the games and my impression was that he was actually slower off the ball than I'd like to see. But he's a 7th round pick, so obviously he's not going to be Dwight Freeny. Maybe a C+ graded on a curve (i.e. accounting for his low draft status). I still think he could have made it through waivers pretty easily and could have spent the year on the practice squad. Which would have allowed Billy McMullen to hang around.

I agree with you that Tyrell Johnson looks like a good idea in hindsight. He went 43rd, though, so that would have meant skipping on Thomas and taking Johnson at 34. I think most of us were pretty excited about getting Thomas at the top of the 2nd.