2012 Training Camp Competitions Open Discussion

[Chico23231]

The most impactful competitions in TC:

1. Entire Secondary. I think Chase could start, that's all im saying. Our safety play will improve this year, which is very exciting.

2. Interior Line...I think we coulda upgraded here in the offseason, but we went young which is fine, but Kory L injury is a huge issue, Chester is average, Monty is average. Wouldnt it be nice if someone could step up and take one of their spots?

3. WRs. Gonna be fun to see how these guys slot 1-5 or possibly 6. If we keep 6, then WR is primed for an UDFA to take a spot. I expect AA, Austin, and Aldrick Robinson to be fighting for their lives. Banks is already gone imo.

[HailGreen28]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

Banks is already gone imo.

Originally Posted by 30gut

I'm concerned that we're just chasing ghosts with Meriweather/Jackson. Which isn't unlike what we did w/ Atogwe except that he could actually play, just had a spot of bad luck w. injuries. In fact I would rather have restructured Atogwe then signed these Meriweathe/Jackson.

M. Williams was heathly and available but was striclty a special teammer last year.

You could argue that Reed Doughty is the most productive S on the roster and he's coming off a bad year.

Dejon Gomes is our lone bright spot, but is he ready to handle the responsibility of being a starting NFL safety?

Jordan Bernstein is my sleeper to make the squad.
I like the combination of size and speed he brings to the table.
And he has the versatility to provide depth to 3 spots CB/FS/SS.

Love the breakdown on safeties. I think this is a bigger weakness than corner. Doughty's past what prime he had. Love his effort on D and teams last season, and hope he stays, but if he's starting even at SS next season, we have major issues.

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by HailGreen28

Love the breakdown on safeties. I think this is a bigger weakness than corner. Doughty's past what prime he had. Love his effort on D and teams last season, and hope he stays, but if he's starting even at SS next season, we have major issues.

When Reed is being mentioned as the best safety on the roster, you know you have by far the worst safety play in the league.

I think Merriweather, Jackson and Williams are obvious very low risk stop gaps. Id like to see Gomes to take that next step.

[30gut]

Originally Posted by HailGreen28

Love the breakdown on safeties. I think this is a bigger weakness than corner. Doughty's past what prime he had. Love his effort on D and teams last season, and hope he stays, but if he's starting even at SS next season, we have major issues.

Thanks and I agree that S is a bigger weakness then corner.

I think most fans still judge/base their opinion of Reed from back when he took over at FS after ST21 rip and played poorly.
But, Reed has actually become decent/starting caliber SS.
The advanced metrics bear this out.(football outsiders/profootball focus)
You say Reed's past his prime (and last year was a down year for him) but even last Doughty was still better then Meriweather/Jackson/M.Williams.

I'm ready for a youth movement at Safety.
At least the mistakes youth makes are teachable moments.
A mistake from a veteran is just a reminder that they're not that good.
I know its a longshot but a defensive backfield of Doughty + Gomes or Doughty + Barnes or Doughty + Bernstein would be alright with me.

Aging, struggling, freelancing, headcase, poor tackling safeties scare me.

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by 30gut

Thanks and I agree that S is a bigger weakness then corner.

I think most fans still judge/base their opinion of Reed from back when he took over at FS after ST21 rip and played poorly.
But, Reed has actually become decent/starting caliber SS.
The advanced metrics bear this out.(football outsiders/profootball focus)
You say Reed's past his prime (and last year was a down year for him) but even last Doughty was still better then Meriweather/Jackson/M.Williams.

I'm ready for a youth movement at Safety.
At least the mistakes youth makes are teachable moments.
A mistake from a veteran is just a reminder that they're not that good.
I know its a longshot but a defensive backfield of Doughty + Gomes or Doughty + Barnes or Doughty + Bernstein would be alright with me.

Aging, struggling, freelancing, headcase, poor tackling safeties scare me.

Please tell me why the Shanny's go out and get least talented players to start over Reed? Reed is a backup at best. Another instance of stats lying to ya.

[30gut]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

Please tell me why the Shanny's go out and get least talented players to start over Reed? Reed is a backup at best. Another instance of stats lying to ya.

I wasn't aware anyone had been named or given the starting job.
Shanahan is all about competition and if Meriweather, Jackson or M.Williams prove to be better then I'm sure they'll start.
And my guess as Shanny's thinking behind bringing in those players is the hope that they can resurrect their careers and return to a level of play that might only exist in the past.
If Meriweather or Jackson could return to the players they were 2 and 3 years ago it would be sweet.
All, I'm saying is that I doubt it.

When you compare each player you would be lying if you said that last year any of them played better then Reed. (that's despite the fact that Reed had a bad year.

Personally, I think we should placed greater priority on addressing the safety position then we did.

But, short of that if all things are equal I want to see youth.

BTW-
football outsider/profootball focus go to great lengths to ensure the validity of their metrics

[artmonkforhallofamein07]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

The most impactful competitions in TC:

1. Entire Secondary. I think Chase could start, that's all im saying. Our safety play will improve this year, which is very exciting.

2. Interior Line...I think we coulda upgraded here in the offseason, but we went young which is fine, but Kory L injury is a huge issue, Chester is average, Monty is average. Wouldnt it be nice if someone could step up and take one of their spots?

3. WRs. Gonna be fun to see how these guys slot 1-5 or possibly 6. If we keep 6, then WR is primed for an UDFA to take a spot. I expect AA, Austin, and Aldrick Robinson to be fighting for their lives. Banks is already gone imo.

4. QB - I think this will be a battle to watch and as excited as I am for RG 3 come game 1 in the regular. I am just as excited to see who Cousins is in the preseason ( remember we are just talking about preseason football but at least we get that for a few weeks before the fun starts ).

[REDSKINS4ever]

Originally Posted by artmonkforhallofamein07

4. QB - I think this will be a battle to watch and as excited as I am for RG 3 come game 1 in the regular. I am just as excited to see who Cousins is in the preseason ( remember we are just talking about preseason football but at least we get that for a few weeks before the fun starts ).

Something tells me that Grossman will outshine Cousins. If Cousins somehow plays better in preseason than Grossman, I still wouldn't be surprised if Cousins is still third string by the first game of the season.

[RGIII]

Originally Posted by REDSKINS4ever

Something tells me that Grossman will outshine Cousins. If Cousins somehow plays better in preseason than Grossman, I still wouldn't be surprised if Cousins is still third string by the first game of the season.

That's fine and dandy. You want Grossman to push Cousins (and Griffin). Grossman understands his role regardless where he falls on the depth chart.

[CultBrennan59]

The Achilles Heal of this team is our safeties. If you want me to be more specific, its going to be SS. FS I'm also worried about, but if Tanard returns to his form of a season ago, anything close to a pro-bowl caliber form from Tanard and that solves a big portion of the problem. I do think Chase Minnifield will be (judging by what I hear from coaches and reports) our top nickleback. Josh Wilson started to get going at the end of the season in our defense. He should be fine. Its Dhall I'm more worried about. The guy played awful last year. He knew it. He even said 'cut me'. Not exactly encouraging. The good news though is that he is the most experienced veteran in our secondary (or is that the bad thing?). Dhall though is one of the most two-faced CBs in the league. One play he gets burned for a TD. The next play he gets a nice INT. We'll have to see how he does this year but sadly I don't see him doing anything pro bowl like this year, more like how he did last year, just maybe a few less bone head plays. Anyway its SS I'm the most worried about. Who starts? Dejon Gomes the 5th rounder from last year that played some but didn't really do anything starting worthy. Is it Reed Doughty the guy who is slow, gets burned, and should just stick to ST's, even though he's the most experienced veteran safety on our roster. Or is it Brandon Merriweather the 2X pro bowler who is still a F*** Up off the field, got demoted in the bears secondary last year, but is the easily the most talented of the 3...?


The most exciting thing in training camp to watch (Not named Robert Griffin) will be watching Niles Paul's transition to TE. That speed and strength will be very interesting into his transition. He could be similar to Aaron Hernandez (or he could be a julius thomas..exactly). Either way it will be interesting.

[Daseal]

Most people have hit my big 3 already:

DBs: Interesting to see how the CBs and Safeties pan out. I think this is probably our thinnest unit talent wise. Would love to see Tanard Jackson and Merriweather play up to their potential, but that's a utopic view of that position.

WRs: We infused a lot of talent into this position. I'll be extremely curious how the depth chart works out. I'd love to see Garcon and Hankerson as the starters with Morgan coming in as our 3rd and Moss as our 4th. Not sure what we'll see there, but I think the depth chart here will be intriguing.

TEs: Maybe our strongest unit. I think Davis is the starter, but really want to see if Cooley is healthy and what Niles Paul has. I've been hearing nothing but good things about Paul as a receiving TE.

The OL gets honorary mention. I think they came a long way last season. Towards the end of the season our backups really gelled and got some real experience. I think we're stronger there than we're given credit for -- my only huge question mark is RT, especially Brown.

[Chico23231]

Starting safeties: Jackson, Merriweather > Gomes,Reed. If Medieu Williams can stay healthy, he can have an impact too.

[FrenchSkin]

QB: Grossman has not said his last word yet...

sorry, just kidding.

Actually I think the Helu/Hightower competition is going to be quite intense. Hightower was unstoppable till he got hurt but hell, then Helu was great !

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by FrenchSkin

QB: Grossman has not said his last word yet...

sorry, just kidding.

Actually I think the Helu/Hightower competition is going to be quite intense. Hightower was unstoppable till he got hurt but hell, then Helu was great !

i dont think we'll have much of a "competition" at RB. They'll all get regular playing time. Assuming everyone stays healthy (and they wont), the split between hightower/helu/royster will be 40/30/30. in other words, don't own any of them in a fantasy league.

[CrustyRedskin]

Originally Posted by FrenchSkin

QB: Grossman has not said his last word yet...

sorry, just kidding.

Actually I think the Helu/Hightower competition is going to be quite intense. Hightower was unstoppable till he got hurt but hell, then Helu was great !

I like your thinking newb! Welcome!! Look out this year NFL, cause we're gona Storm the Bastille on your as$%^&!!