Okay, okay. Even I'm not going to go there. But it is always better to win these games than lose them. New Head Coach Jim Zorn went out there with a game plan... and it worked.

Gimme a J... (Image from here.)

Okay, you got me again. Its the preseason. The 30-16 win over the Colts means little. What matters is there were no injuries. (QB Colt Brennan and OT Stephon Heyer were both limping around at different points... but if that's all the injuries, count this as a victory.)

I'm not even going to go as far as, say, Yahoo! Sports who said that Colt Brennan, "the record-breaking quarterback out of Hawaii" was able to "change the game." Wow.

Now, some people might say I'm just using the name Colt Brennan to get hits... but I don't get any less money for doing that. Or more money. Or any money. I'm using the name Colt Brennan simply because the kid showed up to play. Using stats (John Madden be damned), we see that Colt Brennan had himself a day: 9 of 10, 123 yards, 2 TDs. He got sacked once (for 1 yard because he held the ball too long) but he played pretty well. Surprisingly well.

But, again, its the preseason. The top 3 players for the Redskins: RB Marcus Mason, S Chris Horton and Colt Brennan. Which of those 3 will score the winning points on Opening Day? I thought so.

It was an exciting game. I have S Chris Horton as my Player of the Game, a slight edge over Colt Brennan only because Horton played in both halves and made plays on defense and special teams. (Member the opening kick?)

It was a good way to start the year. But it doesn't mean anything... except that football is coming. And that, my friends, is always something to talk about.

First off, sorry for my absence. I work. A lot. But, like General MacArthur said and Arnold paraphrased, I shall be back. Err, something like that.

Anyway, Training Camp is the place where we finally get to see the team that was put together in the offseason. Draft picks, veteran signings and trade-brought players (word up, Jason Taylor) alike will be together. And, hopefully, everyone remembered their alarm clocks.

So, without further ado... the three biggest camp battles as I see them:

#3. The Cornerback Position. This is going to be interesting. Springs and Smoot are set. Rogers is out for a while. Leigh Torrence filled in pretty well last year (as long as he wasn't covering Randy Moss... apparently that's a bad matchup.) Rookie Justin Tryon is in a great position to step in a be the #3 guy. This could be an important position, especially with Jason Taylor putting pressure on the opposing QB, because there might be more than a few balls thrown early and up for grabs. Tryon is younger and more athletic, Torrence has no learning curve.

Advantage: Torrence early, Tryon before the end of the year.

via media.scout.com

via cache.daylife.com

#2. The Wide Reciever Position. This seems kinda weird to be in the top 3, but the new West Coast offense, especially the variety that new Head Pooba Jim Zorn came from in Seattle, employs 3 and 4 WR sets frequently. If heathy, Moss and ARE are #1 and #2... for now. The interesting part come after those two. Rookies Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas are both the prototypical WR bodies that NFL GMs drool over. They are fighting for the 3rd and 4th spots. Anthony Mix has the 5th spot locked up so no need to even discuss the others (sorry Burl Toler, Billy McMullen, Maurice Mann, Horace Gant, and (regretfully) James Thrash.) James Thrash was a Gibbs guy, through and through. I just don't see him being a Zorn guy.

Advantage: Thomas over Kelly, Mix over the others, Thrash as the #6 guy, if Zorn keeps 6.

via www.nfldraftdog.com

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#1. The Safety Position. Newcomer Stuart Schweigert and old hand (despite going into his 3rd year) Reed Doughty are fighting it out to see who gets to line up next to LaRon Landry. Schweigert was a part of some very good Oakland defenses under Rex Ryan and has plenty of experience. Doughty stepped up big last year after the death of Sean Taylor and became a fan favorite... at least around these parts.

Advantage: Doughty.

via media3.washingtonpost.com

As I stated in SP's earlier post, the punting "competition" isn't a battle at all. Durant Brooks is the new punter. Get used to it (and better field position.)

As always, hit up the comments. What's your biggest position battle?

Yahoo! Sports has a weekly rundown on all the NFL teams, and the report for your Washington Redskins came out today. Inside it is all sorts of fun information, like how Buges is defending Jansen and Thomas against calls of their untimely demise and how Zorn says that Alexander might have to go both ways... again.

But the best part of the article is the closing quote, from special teams coach Danny Smith regarding Cooley:

"He’s a knucklehead. He messes with me all the time. He’ll say, ‘Do you want to see it? Do you want to see it?’ I say, ‘No, we’ll work it tomorrow’ and he’ll snap three perfect ones, laugh his butt off and go. The kid can do anything."—Special teams coach Danny Smith on Pro Bowl tight end Chris Cooley being one of his emergency long snappers along with right tackle Jon Jansen.

Yes, Cooley is Ethan Albright's backup. Yes, that is Ethan "I'm the worst fucking player on Madden" Albright. This is an interesting part of the depth chart that I didn't know. I wonder who, between Cooley and Jansen, is 2nd string and who is really, really the emergency backup long snapper.

Think it is a concidence he's talking to the kicker? (Image from here.)

Anyways, that's your Redskins news for now. I've got to go get ready for apartment hunting and then work. Oh, and Danny Smith, yes Cooley can do anything.

[Note by TexSkins, 05/12/08 2:57 PM CDT ] Skin Patrol types faster and writes better.

As part of the plan to create sports news (specifically NFL news) when there is none to feed to global machine that is ESPN, the Mouse Ear NFL Division has released the first (of many) versions of the NFL Power Rankings.

There are some interesting things here. First, the top NFC team in May is the NFL Champion New York (football) Giants the Dallas Cowboys? Wait... you're telling me that the team that won the Super Bowl and has only added pieces is not only the second best team in their conference, they're the second best team in their division? Is it because TO is now a TV Star? Or is it because Romo butchered "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley worse than Harry Carey ever did? I mean, it has to be something like that, since it can't be on the field where the Giants won... in Dallas... in the playoffs... before winning the Super Bowl.

I mean, I can understand having the Patriots, Colts and even the Chargers ahead of the Giants. I don't like it, but I can understand it. But I think you almost have to have the Super Bowl champs in the top 5 in May, don't you?

From the ESPN article:

Our voters, who also include staff writer John Clayton and Scouts Inc. Insiders Jeremy Green and Keith Kidd, had diverse takes on what offseason moves mean to various teams. The Titans ranked as high as 10th in one voter's opinion, but rated only 22nd in another's. The defending champion Giants are the best team in the league, according to one selector; another ranks nine teams ahead of Big Blue.

Now, on to your Washington Redskins, who are 14th... one behind the Eagles in May. As Matt Mosley, one of many Dallas Cowsheep transplanted in Bristol even though he still lives in Dallas who wrote the blurbs for the NFC East puts it:

Too many questions: a new coach, young QB and a pair of rookie WRs. Hard to get a good read. (MM)

And by "hard to get a good read" he means last place in the NFC East in May. They are ahead of some playoff teams (Bucs, Titans) and in e top half of the rankings... but not by much: the Bucs are #15 (end of the top half) and the Titans are #16. So, basically, this means the football experts in May have the Reskins at, what? 8-8, 7-9? They don't specifically put a record down... but to finish last in your division and to be the 14th best team, and 8th in the NFC, means you are about middle of the pack.

I don't specifically disagree with the 14th overall ranking and predicition a 4th place NFC East finish in May for the Redskins, but I do have a problem with almost all of the rankings... from about #4 down. But that's it for now. What says ye?

I'm kinda playing with the words there, after Chacon tied a MLB record when he got his eighth straight no-decision to start the year, tying Dick Stigman's 1965 Twins start. In case you're wondering, the MLB record for mostconsecuative no-decisions is 10 by Randy Lurch in 1977 for the Phillies. (A big ol' hat tip to Jim McLennan over at AZ Snakepit for the learning and for getting me to look up some of this stuff.)

This streak is kinda funny. The Astros are 4-4 when Chacon starts. He has a 3.53 ERA and has gone 5+ in every game. Before today, the Astros had scored 30 runs in game he started. His 35:23 K:BB ratio isn't great and his 47 hits allowed isn't eye popping. His WHIP coming into today was 1.38, which is down from his career WHIP of 1.50... but not significantly down. Same for his BAA (.244 coming in, .260 for his career.) Moral of the story: Chacon has been good, but not anything that much idfferent than his numbers coming in would suggest.

Now, if I told you in ST that in his first 8 games Chacon would go 4-4 with a 3.53 ERA and 5+ innings in all 8 starts, how many of you would have taken it? Baseball is a funny game sometimes.

Jason Campbell "tweaked" his hamstring at practice and head coach Jim Zorn couldn't be happier. From the article:

"I have him sinking down a little bit," Zorn said. "It’s a change, and so I was kind of excited about it—not that he tweaked his hamstring, but just the fact that different things are happening."

Kind of excited? More like hella excited. That's right... I went with hella.

AOL Fanhouse also has the story. And they lead with "it is a bit unusual when a head coach is actually pleased when he starting quarterback gets hurt." A bit? More like... you guessed it, hella unusual. Now, I understand that Zorn is changing some of the things JC does, especially pre-snap, but it doesn't seem very productive to have him to the point of tweaking his hamstring. I wonder if the QBs in Seattle got injured after working with Zorn...

The article also mentions ARE and his knee's floating-body-freeness. And after a few days, we might have found out what those floating bodies actually were:

Randle El said the knee was swollen after minicamp practice Saturday. An MRI found loose cartilage, possibly the residual effects of getting the knee banged in a couple of games last season, and he had arthroscopic surgery Monday.

Yep, I'm letdown. Floating bodies totally built up for something, well, hella exciting. A lot more exciting things than "loose cartilage" can be described as floating bodies.

Oh, and hella kinda buried in the article was the tidbit about the fact that "running back Clinton Portis sat out with a minor hip flexor strain." Now, it has been suggested that Portis might have hurt himself racing Landry, but, for now at least, I'm not buying it. Even Jason Reid over at the Redskins Insider quotes Zorn as suggesting it was the race, but I still think this is more of a veteran-getting-out-of-the-last-day-of-practice-for-a-while thing than a Landry-ran-me-right-out-of-my-hip thing. Maybe its just me.

That's it for now, enjoy your Mother's Day weekend. (Yes, that was me reminding you to go buy some lame card or flower to appease your mother on the one day a year that she specifically gets to be appeased, despite the fact that we all know that mothers are appeased 24/7/365. And yes, it is a made up holiday, just like Valentine's Day, where you have to buy some worthless piece of crap to somehow "prove" that you care for you mother. But do it anyway because the alternative is so much worse. I mean, I got over it without being bitter about it... and you can to.)

In other injury-related news, SP was finishing up school this week, so I'm sure he's off in some gutter somewheres. Wish him luck.

I bet you're all like WTF, mate? I know I was. But, the surgery was "only" an arthroscopic knee procedure that should allow him to be ready for training camp. I say "only" because knee surgery and wide reciever never go together in a sentence without some pause. I'd prefer my WRs to be knee-scar-free just like I prefer my tits breasts to be scar free. Isn't that right, Tara Reid? (Totally NSFW and definately not safe for after lunch.)

The Yahoo! article mentions that the surgery was to remove a "floating body" that was causing discomfort and was discovered after an MRI. Hmm. Floating body, eh? Must be a technical term. I'm sure if you ask nicely, SP will take a study break and give you a detailed illustration of what, exactly, a "floating body" is. Pins and needles, my friends... I'm on pins and fcuking needles.

I'm very curious about this "floating body" in ARE's knee. I mean... how long has it been there? How did it get there? And is there significant tissue decomposition to prevent identifying the vic or even to recover any evidence? Who has two thumbs and loves his CSI marathons? This guy. (For the record, Horatio then Gil then whatever Gary Sinise's character is named... in that order. You can argue, but it won't do shite matter.)

Anyway, so now ARE's knee is "floating body" free and he should be all put back together again by training camp. Zorn, who knows about "floating bodies" and the like, gave his professional prognosis as "three to four weeks." Zorn continues:

"When they went in, whatever they found they will fix, and we will get him back going," Zorn said.

You know, Danny is really cutting corners. First the offensive coordinator, then the head coach... now he's got Zorn running his arse around giving medical opinions. Talk about scrambling ability. I wonder where all this saved cash is going?

The article finishes with news on Doughty and Golston. Doughty missed practice to be with his son, who is apparently doing much better. Honestly, you can't help but root for this guy. If he's not trying to keep his job, he is off staying with his recovering child. I don't know how he ever sleeps... kinda like Zorn. Hmm.

Golston did not practice because of a sprained ankle suffered over the weekend. Never fear, Dr. House Zorn is on the case:

"His ankle is still swollen, so he can’t run," Zorn said. "No use in getting him out here running around."

Well put. In all my years of writing, I've never found a better way to end than with a quote from someone else. So, we'll end with that. Hit up the comments. I'm out like Tara Reid's plastic surgeon ARE's "floating body" SP's chances at becoming a lawyer a blogger whose analogies have run dry.

Well, new Head Coach Jim Zorn's first mini-camp went without a hitch... except if you consider one of your brand new rookies over-sleeping a hitch. Taking off from where CaptChaosSidekick begins with his so very minimalist "not a good sign," we dive right into the article:

"Everybody was scouring," coach Jim Zorn said after the practice. "Nobody heard from him, so there was one of two scenarios: either there was some real trouble and we needed to find him, or he screwed up. I haven’t even got to talk to him yet. I know he has been found. I believe it is more in the ‘I screwed up’ category."

That's one way to make a first impression on your new employer. To his credit, Zorn played it off as no big thing... but you have to think that Davis is going to get a firm talking to at the very least. Oh, and its a good thing that it happened in mini-camp... because, uh, I'm sure the veterans on the team will let it go and forget it by training camp. Or, at least by the preseason. Or, at the very latest, never. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Davis has 50 some odd alarm clocks in his locker at this very moment.

The most interesting (if subtle) part of the article is also from Zorn:

"He just had a setback," the coach said. "Hopefully everybody will learn from the lesson that he is having to learn right now about what it is going to take to get to a place on time, to be responsible."

Now, you could very well read over that as just a slip of the tongue. But I think that was a very deliberate, and very clever, way of warning the whole team that things of this nature won't be tolerated. Young people make silly errors in judgement (like driving drunk into New Mexico with an ex-stripper to pick up what might or might not be her child whom she might or might not have joint custody of and bringing said child back across state lines) and young football players also make the same types of errors in judgement. That's why they're called rookie mistakes. You just hate to see your one freebee burned before the summer. Or before signing a contract even.

In any case, that was the big news of the training camp. That and the Clinton Portis - LaRon Landry footrace. Read more over at Redskins Insider. The winner? Depends on who you ask. Smoot claims Landry... but he's such a DB homer, he can't be trusted. Rock Cartwright called it a very diplomatic tie. (What is this, a montessori pre-school?) The article takes Landry's side. But Zorn was already talking rematch:

They'll race again. I bet it's not over.

By the way, who you got in a 40 yard sprint? Portis is sneeky fast... but Landry's just straight up fast. Oh, and that was right after Zorn denied Portis's request that it count as an OTA. Not on Zorn's watch.

That's it for now. Hit up the comments.

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