1st

gibbs picked this guy because he went on a mission for 2 years

It's their own fault for not taking him with their previous pick. Lil' Palmer would have still been on the board for them, and even if he wasn't... who cares?

Ecker

Strengths:
Has a good frame and there is room to add weight...Excellent hands...Knows how to get open...Hard worker with a good motor...Will high point balls...Still has some upside...Real nice body control and ball skills...He's naturally athletic...Aggressive.

Weaknesses:
Does not have the ideal bulk that you look for...Needs to get stronger...Was not very productive...Provides little in terms of running after the catch...He is not fast, quick or explosive...Lacks a burst...Older than most prospects...Average blocker.

Notes:
Took a redshirt in 2000 and then he left school for two years to serve a Mormon mission...Was not given many opportunities to shine in the Wolverine offense...A bit of a sleeper...Hails from a program known for sending tight ends to the pros.

Draft Grade - Day 1: A

Draft Grade - Day 2: F

Draft Grade - Overall - C

Patrick was listed as a TE who could go late in the first day or early in the second. Ecker a free agent. The Scout scores on ESPN listed Patrick as a 77 and Ecker as a 30. Ugh! We should audibled and taken a player at another position.

how do you give day one an A? I could see giving Landry and A, but only one pick does not make an A grade. As for day two, hard to argue with an F, but i guess we will have to wait and see who turns out. The problem is, you look at all the areas of need we didn't address, esp D-Line and depth on the O-Line and you look at what other teams did with their 7+ picks... we are only going to be worse a few years from now as the current team gets older and we don't have guys step up to fill holes.

"Out of here?"

Come JLC, stick around and get some info on the kids that just got picked. Give them a call, give their coaches a call. Don't just stick us with an article full of your opinions on their picks and what Coach and unnamed NFC GM have to say about them.

Do your job.

aside from Landry, none of our picks were particularly good athletes. not that those workout warrior picks work out necessarily, but we seem to be betting on guys who were neither that productive in college nor terribly athletic with lots of "potential" to make the leap to the pros. Even Palmer apparently lacks good arm strength according to the reports. I don't get it. As usual we go for big-program guys from LSU, USC, Michigan... no one from the U this year?

Bahhh... Jason did a fine job.

Anyways, if they were hoping to address depth at TE, and they liked Patrick, the Deleware TE, at all then their last pick in th 6th round was clearly the time to take him. And so time will tell if Palmer was worth the pick.

I guess all we can hope for now are some diamond in the ruff undrafted free agent linemen, along with news that a real GM is being hired.

Did Vinny get fired yet?? ESPN reports he is suppose to go after the draft. Well we are done, so give him the boot!

"Big" Delaware TE?

He's 6'3" 252.

That's H-back material.

'Skins already have one.

His name is Chris Cooley.

Ecker is 6'6" 275 lbs.

The blocking tight end.

So....put in a way *real* Redskins fans would understand:

Chris Cooley = Clint Didier
Tyler Ecker = Don Warren

J-La, thanks for stepping up with a ton of posts this weekend.

I forgive you for being a no-show up here on Friday night.

I'll be honest, I don't know anything about these second-day dudes beyond what I've read here on the blog. Just hoping one or two of them contribute something sometime, which is how low I set the bar for second-day dudes. Not going to make expectations high just because we didn't have picks 2-4 this year.

Goodness, not a single D lineman. That is beyond surprising, it's a bona fide stunner.

We MUST be thinking about grabbing D line help after the June 1 cuts, right? Right?

Actually, Didier was bigger than Warren, but you made your point well.

Do your job.

Posted by: Cornelius | April 29, 2007 04:51 PM

Jason's job is: newspaper reporter.

So read the newspaper tomorrow. That's YOUR job. Otherwise, STFU.

To be honestI think we should have crosby with the early 6 and patrick with the late 6 to address holes we had to fill. Kid Palmer WTF

you guys are unreal, actually being upset with these day 2 picks. This team will stink this year no matter who they drafted. baring another trade we will be picking top 5 next year.

Is Jason 'supplemented' for the blog? I was under the impression that he didn't get a whole lotta kick backs for what he does unless being the "#1 WaPo blog" counts for something besides a little respect from Wilbon.

Be patient with the info... we didn't get an interest story about campbell until midway through this season. Its not like these guys are going anywhere. If you can't wait to find out about LBC and the stormin mormom TE, do your own research.

Thanks for the info this weekend Jason.

-your loyal brown-noser,
Dorf

This was kind of a Boofer draft: Landry and a guy named Dallas.

LBP actually (Little Brother Palmer)

I'm happy so many of you enjoy JLC's blog. I do too.

I'm extremely dissapointed in his newspaper stories, though.

He did a decent job with the draft, in predicting the Landry pick.

But now I'm expecting a simple story with no new information in tomorrow's paper about the day 2 guys.

Very disrespectful of you to tell me to "STFU." I've been reading the Post for my entire life and am watching the sports page decline by the day. Since the Post makes it harder than any other paper to email their staff, this is where Jason has made it possible for me to air my grievances.

JLC is a good guy, but the Post's Redskins coverage has become very lazy since Nunyo took over. I believe he could do better and am hoping he listens.

Saying that he is "Out of here", assuming "here" means Redskins Park after Gibbs presser is lunacy in my mind. I could sit and watch the draft all day, and then watch Gibbs presser and write an article.

If by "here" he means the blog than forget the previous paragraph.

respect for coming back and defending yourself...

it says "EMAIL JASON" right at the top his blog. Let him know your thoughts. He has always responded to my emails and I'm sure would appreciate input.

Cornelius, I disagree with your opinions of J-La's coverage skillz, and on the other subject you raised I would just ask if you've tried to e-mail him directly.

Like Dorf and a bunch of others up here, I have had good luck pinging Jason via e-mail. For such a busy guy -- and he works his butt off -- he spends a lot of time on this blog and keeps up with e-mail as well.

But Cornelius, it's absolutely appropriate to air your grievances up here. Hope I didn't mean to say otherwise. Every day is Festivus up here.

And spirited debate is what keeps us going.

Honestly, I've been more... frustrated with the picks the Skins made in this draft than upset with them.

I wanted us to target a DL (if a late-round project, a DE, if not... well, anywhere on the DL) somewhere... well, we didn't. Oh, well. I don't have a problem with Landry (we needed a starting safety, though I thought we needed a DL more). I don't have a problem with the linebackers (we needed LB depth, especially with Washington's and Rocky's injury history, and the talent at LB by the 5th round was even enough that any of a bunch of guys would be okay), I was just hoping we'd get a DE project. I don't have a serious problem with taking a project QB somewhere in the draft to be our #3 this season, and Palmer doesn't look half-bad for a #3 project; it's just that, well, why didn't we go for a DE? I identified several who could have been taken in that position who would be decent projects (CJ Ah You, Chase Pittman, etc.).

However, this TE pick puzzles me, unless we intend to carry 3 TEs this season; I think Yoder should be our backup TE behind Cooley after a reasonable performance last season, so why are we picking up this nobody? Did we actually draft him for the practice squad, or what?

this draft sucked for the skins.what happened to getting d-linemen.cerrato has to go and snyder needs to sell the team to someone who knows football,like kent cooks son.i give our draft a d-.i would give it an f but landry is a good pick.

we didnt need another te we have yoder and cooley.

OK OK, one man's opinion is another man's a** hole... is that the way it goes?

How many of your geniusus spent 60 hours a day scouting college players?

I am a bit puzzled by the TE pick, but who cares, its a 7th round nobody. Like I said before, they obviously have plans to address the DL needs some other way. Plus, a good secondary, that the skins now have, will offset a bad DL. Grilliams now has some players to pull off his blitzing packages that we didn't see at all last year. This team is not that far off. Offense came around last year, CP will be back, and they have strengthened the D considerably. They needed depth at QB, and given the age of our backups, it had to be this year.

Trust in JOE

Yoderfan - Amen, I hoped they would take a flyer on at least one d-lineman. The TE and QB are real headscratchers although Kiper and Jaws both seemed to think the QB has potential.

On the bright side - the skins still have all their 2008 picks intact. It's a freakin miracle.

Tyler Ecker a solid blocking tight end. They can get rid of some of their age at that position. He's 6 foot 6 and can leap but apparently doesn't time them well. Sounds like he could make a great target over the middle with some coaching. A decent pick.

Maybe they could have selected a better QB than Palmer. Still, if any remain available after the draft expect the Skins so pursue them.

Yes they still have serious problems on defense:
1. Shut down corners.
2. High round Pass rushing run stoppers at defensive end.
3. Another tackle to shore up the line given Sala've's injuries.

Rome wasn't built in a day. It will take 1-2 more good drafts to achieve that. That will require not succumbing to temptation and signing high priced lower round draft picks as free agents by the owner ... killing the cap. And trading draft picks. Allen did indeed trade draft picks ...
but mostly for HIS PROVEN defense from the Rams. Many free agents are now mostly cast offs who were problems for their old teams.

The draft is the only safe, cap friendly way to improve this team.

monkalicious - I agree with you to a point. The big thing is their defense didn't just slip a little - they went from top 10 to 31. That suggests the need for more than a little tweaking. Maybe sighning a couple UFA's will provide a stopgap for the dline. Who knows.

YES they get an A.

Day 1: A.
Day 2: A.

Why? They didn't make any silly trades that would have surrendered even more draft picks. Snyder was reined in: THERFORE, total grade: A+

skinswest, do we actually have ALL our 2008 picks? I thought somebody alluded to having already traded one of them away (prior to draft season), but I hope I misread that.

Actually, Didier was bigger than Warren, but you made your point well.

Posted by: | April 29, 2007 05:06 PM

Didier was bigger but he played the H-back spot.

Warren was the blocking tight end (ie "3rd tackle" as he's been called).

"60 hours a day scouting college players?"

Posted by: monkalicious | April 29, 2007 05:56 PM

that is impossible, there are only 24 hours in a day.

Good to see the skins load up at their biggest position of need, D-Line.

We'd have to be having a look at the free agent DE's now wouldn't we? wouldn't we??

Nate - if they traded away one of the 2008 picks I missed it. I was under the assumption that they went into this draft with all 2008 picks intact and didn't see any subsequent trades. I hope I'm right.

Greetings to all my dawgs in the house. I love the second day picks the Redskins made. The Pitt backer is nasty, and teams clearly passed on him because he was short and didn't have a great 40. But otherwise, he produced like crazy in the Big East and should fit what we do well. Love the USC kid, who dropped for medical issues during the junior season, and Carson Palmer's brother. I thought really solid. To everyone clammoring for a d-tackle in round 5 and 6, it is so hard to do. That guy Montgomery we got last year sucks and has no upper-body strength and gets pushed around. It's just a hard position to find in the second part of the draft.

I would have LOVED if we could have done something to get into the 2nd round and take Branch. To me, would have given us an A draft. But I'll be content with Landry. What a monster.

Mark my words, this is going to make Sean Taylor so much better and you will see the true breadth of his talent this year now that he has someone worthy of his gaze in the secondary.

We have the T1000 of secondaries that can do anything a coordinator wants. Okoye, Adams, Anderson were not going to answer our needs on the d-line boys and girls. They aren't ready for Sundays yet. Fischer built his Super Bowl Titans around a secondary just like this. He did have Jevon Kearse but really the secondary was naaaaasty.

I love you all.

Foolish, Foolish, Foolish, no reloading on either offensive or defensive line except for a throw away TE. Another late round QB and late round Linebackers. We've got six and seventh round linebackers coming out of our ears. Anyone remember Robert Mccune, or the Kid Grilliams liked out of Stanford that never made the team. Or his son's Ivy league roomate? Or Reed Doughty. These six and seventh rounders are probably going to be jokes. How many picks have we spent on three positions in the last three of four years, QB, LB, Saftey. It's sickening, you must put picks on the offensive and defensive lines. High rounders...

Don;t tell me baby Palmer isn't another Gabriel Hamden. The skins should just shipp all those guys right to NFL Europe. The second day was an "F".

What a terrible job of drafting!!! Not one pick was used to address any of the glaring needs on the offensive or defensive lines. This FO is a joke & is one of the poorest run teams in all of pro sports. Cant wait to trade all of next years draft picks to address the needs on both sides of the line.

Nate, Gibbs indicated in his presser that they have all of their 2008 picks and that was something they are happy about. He also said that was a good thing in case they need to make a trade in the future (or words to that effect). Note: he did not indicate they are planning to make a trade - just said the picks will come in handy if something happens.

Lisa - I hope future potential trades doesn't mean Briggs - at least after drafting 2 LB's today - not saying I expect these guys to be anywhere near his level - just hate the redundancy of the whole thing while the needs on the dline go unaddressed.

The 2007 draft is in the books for me and I must report that we're at 51,135 posts. Great work, everyone!

This wasn't such a bad draft!!! I would have liked to get a D-Lineman with that second 6th round pick though.

Let's wait and see!

There were rumors that they traded an 08 pick to Atlanta for Duckett along with the 07 they gave up. I guess untrue.

skinsrule - I thought the same, maybe when he said the '08 picks were intact, he meant he hadn't traded any through draft weekend.

I thought we traded one of our '08 picks as part of the Lloyd deal? Not 100% on that though.

Day 1: C
Day 2: F
Overall: F

We didn't address our needs on the defensive line or sign any quality guy to develop as an offensive guard or tackle so we aren't SOL if Samuels goes down.

We continually ignore our most basic glaring needs.

Late round picks need time to develop through coaching within the same system - something this 'skins team has only recently been able accomplish.

Let's pause and notice: this team is entering a fourth consecutive season with the same head coach!!!

Amazing. If this continues, its possible some of these late round picks might develop into regular contributors.

it is sad when we have to be relieved just because the Redskins didn't trade away next years picks. USC LB; What. Blades; like the pick, solid MLB (which we need). Little Brother Palmer; ok, what the heck worth the pick if he has potential (in the event Soups doesn't pan out). I won't even address the last pick, enough said...

Just revisited the entire draft, and from the 5th round onwards, there aren't too many DE's or DT's drafted, and of the ones that are, none of them really stand out as something we've missed out on, so I guess we can't be too harsh on the FO about it. Now it's time for them to get their butt into gear and get onto the undrafted players. There were quite a few decent players who went undrafted, especially at the cornerback position. A few DE's too, someone DE's like Xavier Jackson - Missouri (character issues) and Victor Degrate - Oklahoma State or even a big DT like Walter Thomas.

Check out what Pasquarelli writes:

"And how about the Washington Redskins, who just about elevated redundancy to an art form, selecting LSU safety LaRon Landry, arguably the draft's top defender, with the No. 6 overall pick? Landry is a potentially brilliant player, but even with the resurgence of the safety position in the NFL, he may have been a luxury, given that Washington already has a safety in Sean Taylor, the fifth overall pick in 2004. Washington is the first team to use two top-10 picks on safeties, a fact that mattered little to Landry."

What a freakin jerk.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft07/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2852567

Top needs ... O line ... D line and WR. The Skins mgmt does not attempt to address any of it. Not even a shot at a diamond in the rough. The QB pick is a mystery. For nearly 2 years the staff barely coached Campbell. Imagine they will not do anything with Palmer and eventually cut him. Seriously ... makes getting rid of Ramsey ... a competent backup ... look even more stupid.

Pasquarelli also wrote:

"And so, the unobstructed view from deep in the recliner in front of the big-screen television: Free-falling Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn sorely needed a haircut along with a parachute."

PLEASE tell me HE didn't have the nerve to critique someone's hair. What a moron. I don't like Quinn and everything, but Lennie P cannot go there. He just can't. Ugh...

Do we even have a FO?...

omg...i haven't laughed so hard...not at just at the above comments but most of what i read was funny stuff. sad but funny.

that's all we can do folks. is make fun and keep laughing otherwise all of you would be on valium/good shti like me.

that is until the professionals come in and relieve these monkies.

as far as addressing the "needs" at D-line and cornerback and linebacker and O-line and WR (taller than 5'9" and doesn't need a pacifier) and...
vinny said that they're going to invite about 200 FA's to the park. "strength in numbers" he said.

diddy, looks like vinny's your student or the other way around. he doesn't believe in the draft either.

vinny and joe think that they can unearth a diamond out of scrap heap but not from the draft.

justme, you're mean. but absolutely right. HE CAN NOT GO THERE! no he dinn!

lisa, skinswest, skins don't have all of their picks in 2008. go back and watch that 45 minute "pressy" before the draft...he says so and then he corrects himself.

and i think it's the 3rd round pick they're missing from the great TJ duckett trade.

i could be wrong. but it's in that video.

seriously pesky ows me money. i think he just plaigerized/stole my "work" on here.

pesky, if you're reading this. first: remove all your pics off the internet (cuz you're about to get hammered). and get lawyered up cuz i'm about to sue your...

Watch a little Sopranos, a little Entourage, and hug it out people.

5 more minutes...

cornelius, i don't know what the issue is with jason saying "see ya". but if the El Presidente, the head coach, the dude who makes all the decisions, can get on a chopper after making ONE PICK, in the MIDDLE of a draft, how can you criticize jason?

don't worry jason will be there chasing after every limo that leaves IAD all the way to the park.

smack, 2 more minutes...oooooooh 1 more minute...i hope my everything let's me watch...and not watch oprah and Neti Pot.

I love the second day picks the Redskins made. The Pitt backer is nasty, and teams clearly passed on him because he was short and didn't have a great 40. But otherwise, he produced like crazy in the Big East and should fit what we do well. +++Governor

Saw the kid on TV and once in person. Blades will make the team and can be a nasty special teamer and solid backup LB for a year to learn under Fletcher.

The rest, who knows, but Landry and Blades will do some hitting.

len pastabelly is a fat disheveled slob

I'm back... rough weekend in KC.

I dont get all of you up in here pissed off.

Do we need o-line help??? Where? Todd Wade can play any T position and anyone who actually watches the Skins would have known that b/c he played a little last year and did VERY well. Its is widely believed that any "old joe" (pun intended) can play guard and we have a few of those and its obvious thats the intention for DD's old spot.

D-line help... we still need help on the line, but there wasnt anyone at #6 who was worth the pick, especially when a talent like Landry is there. Landry also fills a need and makes our secondary much better. For everyone who wanted to trade down,you need someone to trade with and I fully believe the Skins tried very hard to trade out of that spot.

In the later rounds you gotts find ST contributors and possible "upside" guys. Just b/c we need a d-lineman doesnt mean you grab one when someone with much more talent is available. I dont know squat about these LBers, but if they were rated significantly higher than any of the available DL prospects then those picks were good ones.

I dont think its worth it to b**** and moan about 5th and 6th rd picks, when most people have no idea about those prospects. We had a significantly abreviated draft b/c of past sins that cant be fixed. But what the Skins did do was hold on to all of their picks in 08 and didnt give away too much for a Briggs trade. I think they did well... and our secondary should be SOOOO much better this year!!!

Ahhh, Did the Skins dissapoint? We havent put pressure on a quarter back in 2 seasons, and we didnt even take a DE or DT in the ENTIRE draft. HAHAHAHAH! Let's go 8-8 here we go! Let's go 8-8 here we go!!!

WAFJ!!! Am I the only one not drinking the Kool Aid???

This is the worst draft. Snyder, Gibbs and Cerato-the three stooges.

During the weeks leading up to the draft, they profiled Blades on the NFL Network on Path to the Draft. Seems like a good kid and a hard worker who's serious about being the best player he can be. From everything I've been able to find out about him, he sounds like an absolute steal.

It's to our benefit that people held his size against him. Too bad for them. As a tall woman, I learned long ago that vertically challenged men work much harder. LOL

And spirited debate is what keeps us going.

Posted by: Nate in the PDX | April 29, 2007 05:37 PM

What about the cocaine, Growlers, Porters, Stouts, and the threat of being called a Hamster?
"Spirited Debate" don't come into it, Mate.

Praises of March past
Turn sour as season fails
Fortunes reserved now?

I agree with IM. I think we did OK, and just because we didn't address D line issues with the draft doesn't mean it won't be addressed. Considering the age and injury problems at LB, I can't believe we are all b*tching about developing some depth (finally).

I guess my question is who or what 2008 picks are they going to trade away to pick up a DE? Or do they already have someone in mind they believe will get cut June 1? The latter being a much risky strategy of course.

I went down the current Redskins roster, and... well, honestly, I guess we do have some developmental talent on the DL already. Anthony Montgomery and Kedric Golston with some game experience, Joe Sykes and Vaka Manapuna from last year's practice squad, Canadian League Standout DE Chris Wilson, all to go along with now-healthy Salavea, Griffin, and Daniels and a now re-learned the DE position Carter. On the OL, well, my only question is 'who's starting in Dockery's spot?' I think we've actually got a number of people who are capable of the role -- Pucillo is a decent spot starter and 6th lineman (3rd TE) for jumbo packages, Wade is okay, Lefotu is probably a year away but might be able to spot-start, Fabini...

The Lines must be infused with high-end fresh talent, but... we MIGHT be able to limp through another year with what we have. We could have used a new possession WR, but it's still possible that Lloyd and Randle El could play well enough to earn at least some of their contracts. We DID need a second starting safety to pair with Taylor, unless we wanted to go with Fox again, so I can't argue with that. And we DID need more back-up linebackers. And we DO need a new 3rd QB, considering Brunell and Collins' ages.

Again, I can't really argue AGAINST any of the picks we've taken -- everything we took (save perhaps the TE, which I just don't understand unless we want three tight-ends on the team again) was a position of need -- it's just that I feel we took lesser needs rather than greater needs.

First Round - B+. They made a solid pick at a position of need (although not the most pressing need). They did not mortgage the future by trading next years picks. I cannot blame them for failing to trade down - none of the teams picking high in the draft was able to trade down (it's the salary cap era). Not enough for an A, but a solid B+.

Second Round - B. At first, I thought what are they smoking? What about the needs at OL, DL, and WR? But then again we had picks in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. It is hard to get a starter so low - teams draft projects or special teamers and hope that one or two would exceed your expectations (like Golston did last year). I have no problem with picking linebackers because it addresses two needs. It helps special teams and depth at the LB position, particularly considering injuries to Rocky and M. Washington. As for the QB position, we have Brunell, Collins and Bramlett as back ups, but Brunell and Collins will be gone after this season or earlier. So the team needs to groom a back-up QB who knows the system. They will work with two young QB projects (Bramlet and Palmer) and hope that one of them pans out. Plus the kid they drafted is Carson Palmer's little brother (the genes are good and he probably received similar training as his big brother prior to college). He may have been picked a round too early, but it is hard to argue that using a sixth round pick is a huge reach. The only pick I am not sure about is the TE. The kid they picked is tall (6.6 or so) but somewhat slow. Perhaps, they hope to throw him jump balls in the red zone.

I think that they hope to fill the OL and DL needs by the veterans cut by their old teams. You can pick a solid player, who was cut due to salary cap considerations. Trotter, for example, helped Eagles's woeful run defense after Redskins cut him. Plus with the DT position, we already have two young projects - Golston and Montgomery. WR is a need to the extent that we lack a big WR as the red zone threat. Santana Moss and ARE are very good #1 and #3 receivers, perhaps they hope that Lloyd will bounce back after a miserable last season.

Overall, a solid B. The best news is that we still have all of our next year's draft picks.

I'd grade the draft a D, but as all of us know, the real grades don't come out until year 3 of these player's careers. At least we didn't pass on Quinn and taking that gimp from Ohio State! At least we can pencil in one win against Miami in week 1. Cleo or Chet Lemon will not beat us. Neither will a one legged Culpepper or a dazed and confuzed Trent Green. Think of Taylor and Landry drawing straws to put Green into retirement if he's traded to Miami and starts week one.

1] A guy named Ray has begun posting.
He and I are not the same Skin's fan.

2] I now believe the Skins FO felt that the DL is so bad, they should not draft a DL in round 5, 6, or 7.

They are going to make a couple of cuts to save some $$$ and they will sign:
1 OL
1 DL

Players who have experience that can help them right away...

Yoderfan, good post. I could not have said this better myself. I only saw it after I posted my post.

Oh yeah, at least we're not Philly taking a QB with our first pick and trading their number 1 to a division rival. Maybe Andy Reid is smoking the same stuff that got his kid in trouble?

Cam Cameron is not going to start game one with a QB who has done nothing.

They must already have some agreement w/ Trent Green and are working on contract small print.

You notice they drafted a QB in rd 2, thus it is going to be Trent Green on week one.

And if we don't improve our DL Trent Green will look more like Phil Simms than Chris Simms playing the Skins.

I don't know why everyone was so intent on getting the Delaware TE. From scouting reports, it sounds like he's a blah receiver who's about as interested in blocking as a prima donna WR. Not to mention that he's soft and not an over-the-middle guy. Meawhile, again from scouting reports, the guy they actually took (Ecker) is an even worse receiver but bigger and a much much better blocker, plus he's tougher.

Frankly, if I want a 7th round TE to succeed in the NFL, am I going to draft a soft non-blocker who's a mediocre-at-best receiver, or a complete non-factor receiver who's huge, tough, and willing to block for a living? I think the answer is obvious.

Yoderfan and M - thanks for 2 well thought out posts. Agree with pretty much all you said.

From Howard Bryant:
As a top-10 pick, Landry will challenge for a starting job, but he faces serious competition. Pierson Prioleau, the safety who missed the 2006 season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on last season's opening kickoff against Minnesota, is a favorite among coaches, especially Williams.

I don't like the sound of that. This dude is hands down better than Prioleau. He better be the opening day starter.

I guess my question is who or what 2008 picks are they going to trade away to pick up a DE? Or do they already have someone in mind they believe will get cut June 1? The latter being a much risky strategy of course.

Posted by: Paps in Manila | April 29, 2007 10:30 PM

Seems like they are still shopping Springs around. Could be they are still planning to deal him for some DL. Wonder if all the people complaining here would want to trade our best CB when healthy for a DT/DE. I wouldn't. Let's roll the dice with Carter, Daniels, Wynn, Griffin, Golston, Joe Sallie, and Montgomery. Maybe we can pick up a June 1 cut. It can't be worse than last year and we know the secondary and LB's are gonna be better.

Hail.

I was really hoping the Skins could draft DT Marcus Thomas from Florida today. He is no question a Rd 1 talent and the risk would have been worth it with our DL being as bad as it was last year.

I love Coach Joe, but don't tell me coverage was our greatest problem.
Does anymoe think Tiki Barber thinks our greatest weakness on D was coverage?
The Titans certainly didn't think so either.
How about the Rams and S.Jackson?
Yes sir ree, they gave up on the run game and passed the ball on us all day, huh?

There will be a FA pick up or two for the DL.

What was Cameron's record at Indiana? Like I said, at least we're going to win the first game. We've got the schedule and talent to go 11-5 this season.

I was really hoping the Skins could draft DT Marcus Thomas from Florida today....
Posted by: Redskin Ray | April 29, 2007 10:49 PM

-- I heard that Denver is going to get Maurice Clarett out on work-release to 'coach Thomas up' on the character side.

I'm a transplanted Skins fan living in Floriduh and that kid from UF would smoke a bag of oregano if you put it in front of him. This isn't Cincy. That's why every team in the league passed on him over and over.

I believe Renaldo Wynn just restructed his contract, so he is going to be staying folks.

Perhaps Philip Daniels who just played in his tenth or eleventh season, I believe is on his way out, and they will sign a FA DE after June 1.

Denver took Marcus Thomas in the 4th Round.

I didn't say he was worth a first day risk, but no question a rd 1 talent is worth the risk of a second day draft pick.

Although the rumor is now that Tike Barber would like to come back for at least two games next season so he can get another 400 easy rushing yards on his career stats.

Wynn is robbing the bank, I'm sure he was happy to take anything at this point just to have a job.

Maybe if we had a fourth round pick...oh wait. Point taken.

Cameron was 18-37 from 1997-2001. He made Antwaan Randle El into an all-American, but had no players on defense.
His real clain to coach-itude is that he was the Michigan QB coach for Jim Harbaugh, Todd Collins, Elvis Grbac, and (I vaguely recall) helped recruit Brian Griese and Tom Brady.

If he got 1% commission on those contracts, he'd be sailing with Jimmy Johnson.

Was it me or did Cameron look like an idiot at the Fins' draft day party?

Redskin Ray,

I can't believe they'd keep Wynn over Daniels. When Daniels is healthy (or not, actually), he's much more productive than Wynn, who hasn't had a sack he didn't have to share the credit for since the 2004 season. Great locker room guy by all accounts, but almost nothing left in the tank on the field of play.

Enjoying the string tonight...Gotta agree 100% with last post.

Watch out Mel Kiper Jr., seems like everyone's an expert now.

I can hear the Fox wonder broadcast team now with a whining Siragoosa on the sideline this fall.

"Guys," "the Redskins spent a lot of focus in the offseason upgrading the secondary and the the linebacking corps, but don't they know it all starts in the trenches? These NFL QB's if they find time, and you don't pressure them ,they will beat the best DB's out there..its just the nautre of the game and the rule changes that prohibit contact on the wide receivers."

The sad thing is, he will be right. He'll be fat and ugly, but he'll be right...

maske on channel 5 in a few

what a dork

this just in......

the redskins blow

Redskins Ray,

Coverage was a freakin huge problem... how many receiving yds did the rams have against us??? They smoked us in the air...

DL is an issue, but there is certainly a little bit of a chicken and the egg issue here and it isnt going to be made perfect in one short-handed draft. Point blank: we got the best defensive player in the draft which was also a position of need.

Landry won't start for the first 7 weeks anyway.

I see a lot of negativity surrounding our draft picks. That means I have done my job. I am a draft expert. Got to get to bed, lots of yard work to do for Dan tomorrow.

FYI, pete prisco from sportsline makes the following comment rating the pick a C-

I don't like this pick. First, the pick should have been defensive end Jamaal Anderson. Second, I think Reggie Nelson will be a better NFL safety. Landry will be okay, but in-the-box safeties, which he is, struggle in the wide-open NFL these days.

Jason's day two wrapup is up:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/29/AR2007042901560.html

The Redskins last year set a league worst record for fewest turn overs and if I am not mistaken, a club worst for sacks. This indicates woeful line play, particularly from the rush end.

The "vote of confidence" from Gibbs and Blatche in the current defensive line makes me want to vomit. Three projected veteran starters have missed an approx. combined 40+ games over the past two seasons due to injury. Griffen, Wynn, Daniels and Salvea are all past prime and likely to become injured.

A little refresher on Golston and Montgomery. When they were in the game together "in the middle" we gave up like 325 yards to woeful Tennesee, most of it right up the gut. These two projects don't start on other teams, particulary Montgomery.

For those who feel "all set" on the O-line with Todd Wade, just look back to seasons past when Randy Thomas crumbled and the run game folded in the play-offs. Jansen has ankle/ligament problems and thumbs both surgically repaired. Samuels always has one bad ankle. Wade stepped in at tackle last year and looked good. I'm not sure he's got the quicks to pull and destroy people like Dockery did from the guard position. The o-line depth is still a question mark for me.

The odds of moving Springs have to be MUCH decreased at this point, right? He's the #1 corner on the depth chart, and relative to what we saw on the market he has to look like a good deal even without restructuring.

I'm heartened that we stuck with Springs since I think the secondary lived and died with him last year, and I believe he'll be healthy. Springs, Smoot and Double Move becomes Double Nickel (and the Dime). The Reaper and The Praline at safety to start, unless Lando is ready from the jump.

DTC-- are you sure it wasn't the clams? Sometimes, they make we want to vomit. Football geek drafting weekend not so much.

Nate -- re: Springs, you would think so, and being set at safety takes away a bit of leverage with him (as safeties make much less than CBs in general). But there wasn't much opportunity to upgrade over the weekend... it will be interesting to find out what the exact terms of ATLs potential trade was.

Another idea for the haters... look, nobody is claiming that the holdovers from '06 are all faultless as is. Everybody has to be better. Everybody. The TEAM has to be better, no matter who we acquire, if we're going to succeed. Coaches have to be better, every player from top to bottom has to be better, we have to be luckier as far as injuries... but come September I for one think we're going to see that better team take the field.

Yeah yeah, I'm just rambling at this point, I'm at an airport bar (for the moment, I am in fact Nate in the PDX!) fumbling around for shti to comment about. Blah blah blah. As usual.

But I don't get all the damned negativity up here. So much outright disgust and anger and venom at these guys for doing their jobs. Yeah, they've made a bunch of bonehead moves! Yeah, it's virtually impossible to trust them! Whatever! You cannot rate a draft immediately after it occurs. It takes time. And I for one have the time.

Drop the "Lando" crud.

It's Landmine "He blows people up."

Regarding all the gnashing of teeth over who did or did not get picked by the 'skins in the 6th and 7th rounds.

Since 2000, the 'skins have made 16 picks total in the sixth and seventh rounds.o
Exactly two have done doodley squat: ROck Cartwright and Kedric Golston

Dude, Lando blew up the second Death Star. It doesn't get any bigger than that.

Speaking of names, yours is almost as silly as mines.

re: o-line, I'll take ours over Dallas, NYG, and Philly even with a potential question at LG. More importantly, I'll take Portis and Betts over all the other NFC East backs.
They didn't have enough picks to fix everything (I know, who's fault is that?), and o-line is not in bad shape.
Wade has a chance to start at LG, he's had enough time to let his knee get back to normal; the ex-CowPie can probably still play a bit, and there are a couple of undrafted OTs that might make the move to OG, and even if you doubt the rest of the coaching staff you'd have to say that Bugel has done pretty well the second time around, particularly after Ray Brown came back to assist.

Good thinking Nate. Here's a quote from the Cowboys re: the approach to this year's draft. "Mr. Impatient is gone". Let it all play out. I'd be hard pressed right now to predict whether the Cleveland Browns had the best draft or the worst draft ever.

All right y'all. Heading to the gate. Catch up with the blog tomorrow from Eastern climes.

HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!
HAIL VICTORY!
BRAVES ON THE WARPATH!
FIGHT FOR OLD D.C.!

The light sleeps with Sean Taylor on.

Has that one been taken already? If so, I apologize.

SMACK -- I did that one on the drive to 20,000; but an occasional refresher is perfectly acceptable:

Sean Taylor sleeps with a night light.
Not because he's afraid of the dark; the dark is afraid of Sean Taylor

Sean Taylor once received a 15-yard penalty for hitting a receiver in the soul.

Well,
The worst case scenario used to be getting hit by Sean Taylor.

Now you can get hit by Sean Taylor and LaRon at the same D@mn time...I don't want to think about, I may throw up.

The world is one of the seven wonders of Sean Taylor.

I suck at this.

SMACK,
It's fun though, isn't it?

I'm with Nate, we need some help on the DL.

It is. I'm only allowed to do it because I worshipped the guy when he was at the U.

SMACK,
Is that why you're an RI poster?
Bet the girls don't have a blog like this.

(But seriously...I guess it's possible to be fan of Dallas and Washington; I just never met heard of one in the last 40 years.)

I heard Micheal Vick has 5 or 6 pets, and they're all named Sean Taylor, ST1, ST2, ST3...

(I suck at this too)

As far as I know, the girls do not have a blog like this. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. This is a damn good blog, so I try to act as an ambassador from the Cowboys nation.

So I get to park illegally up here, and I am exempt from paying $9 a beer.

Sean Taylor's conscience has a tiny secret compartment. It contains Michael Vick's conscience.

lame

Getting to park illegally is a god-send. I used to do it all the time, but it came at a price. Expensive beer is criminal.

Oops, gotta go.

Sean Taylor's car has airbags......to protect his dash.

JASON--any of these guys inkable?

While you lazy louts were snoozing, I was scanning for FAs the skins should try to sign. Hey, if there's ONE jewel in here, it's worth it, and while all were overlooked...it would be nice to sign them in positions of need.#

DAN MOZES C WVA 6'2" 291. KALIL TYPE. THOUGHT TO BE SMALLISH.#

TIM DUCKWORTH 305 guard Auburn Hey Auburn works for The skins #

DAVID BALL WR NH. Sleeper pick 6'1" 205 Possession TYPE with great hands, broke Jerry Rice's 1 AA records#

BRENDON CARREY P 42.6 KOFF GUY TOO and CAN hold Syr#

COREY ANDERSON FB 6'3" 260 Tenn. Road grader likes to hit.#

JUSTIN HICKMAN Rushbacker UCLA DE 6'1 254 12.5 sacks last year#

MKRISTO BRUCE WSU 6'6" 268 11 sacks 16 TFL #

Kost, you see the Arsenal match today? The usual theatrics, and Fulham equalized. And then Adebayor placed a phenomenal shot. Time to get whatever we can for Henry and go with the kids. 10L I'll take it.

I feel bad sending down a team with Dempsey, Bocanegra, and McBride, but Americans just can't cut it quite yet.

I believe Fulham is still just safe of relegation zone (Watford, Charton West Ham)... but maybe not for long. And those Yanks may find time on other EPL teams.

SMACK - The team just needs some good on-field leadership, we've struggled in that area since we let Patrick Viera go.

I hope Fulham is safe, Paps. I do want Americans to do well. I have a couple of friends who know Jay Demerit of Watford. Great guy, as I've heard, but it looks bad.

kost, Vieira was great, of course, but Fabregas is unbelievable. It's the finishing, and that started with Henry. That guy doesn't work for his chances. Viduka, Kewell, those are some good aussies. Rooney, Ruud, Klose, these guys really work for it.

Arsenal recently lost a game in which they had 29 shots on goal? Inexcusable.

Sean Taylor's car has airbags......to protect his dash.

Posted by: kost52 | April 30, 2007 01:43 AM

Good on ya. LOL.

Peter King - And H.B. Blades going in the fifth? The Redskins stole him. Just stole him.

And the circus continues...

There have been repeated rumors among NFL scouts and execs that the Redskins might shake up their scouts and personnel department, all the way up to vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato after the draft, but Gibbs quashed the notion. "I felt like it's been a pretty smooth operation, so I don't know where the rumors come from."

I think that Ian Scott is still available in Free Agency. He'd do well in a rotation system I bet.

Sean Taylor is from a small town called Knockareceiversheadoff,Fla....and he's getting homesick.

Sorry I missed out on all the fun over the weekend.

Dealer you really need to take a deep breath my friend.

I am not all that upset with the pick. Yes, I would have loved for us to trade down. Since we didn't and we didn't blow any future draft picks. And he was the best player we had ranked I can live it. Plus if we suck next year at least we get to enjoy the Reaper and L2 lay the wood on people. lol

I'm good with this weekend. Sustained period of offseason rationale behaviors. Very Raven-like in their drafting ... going for best athletes rather than fan-presumed 'needs'. Last year, they loaded on DTs, but some maturation period is required. They seem to recognize the need to take a mulligan on drafting LBs, aka "Dale Lindsay's guys" (Simon, Newberry, McCune). Ffffff to peeps pissed off for not drafting "project" DTs and DEs in the late rounds. They had one chance to find a guy to prepare as a starter and that guy replaces Ryan Clark from the 2005 campaign. Landry is a fine choice. After that, the move to reload guys ready for special teams play (i.e., LBs and large TE) is a good move. VERY good move to think about competing the #3 QB spot. Bramlett has one camp left to show he's ready to be the Skins' Brady-to-be. JLaC is absolutely right. This season, the #2 QB position is being competed for one of two old guys and #3 QB is being competed by one of two young guys. After this season, the #3 guy steps up to be the #2 guy and, the season after that, he's got to be ready for a QB controversy if we need one.

Good draft. For those ready to kill themselves for not picking a DE in the first round ... it was the choice of replacing Ryan Clark or Phil Daniels. Landry was a safer/better prospect at safety than Anderson was at DE. With a second or third rounder, the Skins' business model says find the starter DE competition in free agency. Look for that DE and another CB to come to the roster in free agency.

The only bad news, and its horrible news, is that there was a devastating fire that nearly destroyed the Eastern Market last night. That's my neighborhood (SE) and I nearly wept looking at it this morning. Likely arsonists.

Meant to say "without a second/third rounder the business model says go to FA for starter competition."

I'm home sick today and the blog is a ghost town... since when did this turn into a weekend blog and everybody goes to work on Monday and gets all their work done with efficiency and diligence??

That's not my blog. Cindy, get us a new thread. It's time for a revival!

Vinny C's car trouble:

Vinny Cerrato car is in bad shape.
He bought 4 new Goodyear tires last month. He also paid for expensive shocks and struts last week.
But his car needs a new engine and muffler immediately or the car will no longer run.
So this weekend Vinny went to his mechanic and bought 4 new Goodyear tires and new shocks and struts.

Dorf -- looks like someone has a case of the Mondays!

There's a price to be paid for the drive to 50K on Friday. I figure if I put a good three hours in today, I'll be good to blog after lunch.

So how is everyone feeling this morning...

I missed most of the blogging this weekend because I dont have a computer at home.

Burning Questions:
1. Will PDSquared go back, keep #6DoubleL, or adopt a new, Laronesque moniker?

2. Will 4-12 change his name now?

Big time case o' the Mondays. (I mean, who says that?) Hey Diesel, did you know a Jeff Hollar back in the day? I think you guys are about the same age.

I got a final tonight and some journal responses to type to finish off the semester, so its probably best that the blog is quiet.

Drive to 50k about killed me. I'm lucky to be alive. I'm paying the price now. Thanks cload.

Name changes confuse me. As well as race and gender issues (MV Dame's a dude???)

Woman confuse me in general.

"Case of the Mondays" is another classic line from Office Space...

Jeff Hollar sounds familiar. He a Blue Streak? I graduated from HHS in 95.

Hey, Cheyenne, as long as those things are still in their silos, we're having a good morning...

The only bad news, and its horrible news, is that there was a devastating fire that nearly destroyed the Eastern Market last night. That's my neighborhood (SE) and I nearly wept looking at it this morning. Likely arsonists.

Posted by: dcsween | April 30, 2007 09:23 AM

Sween, this is a really sad news. How bad is the damage? My family and I woke up last night because of the sirens, but could not figure out what was going on.

Yeah Diesel,

He's my chiropractor. We talk Blue Streaks and weight lifting in between adjustments. Good guy. Can't rememeber what year he was, but around the same time I'm guessing. Maybe 92/93?

cload, i got it... Here's my favorite:
"I told those fudge-packers I liked Michael Bolton!"

Went through some of the articles from the weekend...

Les Carpenter drinks his own pee

For anyone that went to the draft party at FEDEX...how was it?

cheyenne,

Indoor plumbing?

M, maybe the brick walls can be retained, not sure how much of the metal supports in the roof, but other than that, its destroyed. The inside of the south hall is a shell. The north hall (where they have the rugs and the art stuff) was undisturbed b/c of a fire wall.

Jason, if you're checking in, any word on Vinny's fate? Bobby McCray? There still seem to be quite a few good undrafted guys. I still like Geoff Pope (Howard) to come in to compete on the return game. How many rookies can they sign from among the undrafteds?

packers' draft slightly befuddles me, but not necessarily in a bad way.

i hate brady quinn, the gum-smacking, full-of-himself wonderboy w/ nasty, greasy, unkept hair. i hope he winces everytime he thinks of a.j. hawk ravaging his sister - which i'm sure is a lot. cuz he sucks.

i'm sad i have to now force myself to dislike ad.peterson and calvin johnson. and the bears got olsen, too... some new, young offensive weapons to watch a couple times a year now.

oh, and as long as you guys are workin on your practice squad, pick up john stocco, baby!

Are you asking if we have indoor plumbing here in exotice Cheyenne, WY?

If Washington isn't able to come back. And MacIntosh's knee doesn't hold up they will unfortunately go for Briggs. Asante Samuel
is also a hold out.

Randy Moss went to New England for a 4th round
pick. This draft was deep in receivers. If they
had a couple more choices higher up they might
have picked one up.

D-line will have to wait until next year. Cover
corner will still come first. Springs will likely be gone. QB is still a problem. No reliable back up.

Im not sure I wouldnt consider Brunnell a reliable back up. If he had to come into a game late in the third or the fourth I think he can manage the clock and get some things done.

Surely i think he is a great option in an emergency.

Sean Springs for Michael Strahan?

getting more talented player (Landry) to a defense that needs more talent (impact) could be a good move. I glad they picked him over the d-lineman that were there at 6. Once they start playing for real we will know.

If we stand pat at dl we need to find a third down de, could be a june cut or a trade.If and its a big if, the current crew stays healthy and and our young tackles improve we will improve vs the run.

Cheyenne

you just set that joke up. I had to.

New Post!

Vinny C's car trouble:

Vinny Cerrato car is in bad shape.
He bought 4 new Goodyear tires last month. He also paid for expensive shocks and struts last week.
But his car needs a new engine and muffler immediately or the car will no longer run.
So this weekend Vinny went to his mechanic and bought 4 new Goodyear tires and new shocks and struts.

Posted by: Diesel | April 30, 2007 09:58 AM

You failed to mention that Vinny owns a Porshe but the only engines available at the parts store were made to fit a Geo Metro and they were all out of mufflers. However, the Tires and Struts fit perfectly and were better than the ones he had prevously purchased.

Brunell is a very capable back-up... as long as he heals okay. Dont let your hatred for the man blind you.