Redskins training camp has been in full swing and we are now mere days away from a Redskins football game! (albeit preseason), so time for me to dust off the laptop and get my thoughts out to you guys as we collectively wait for Thursday night to arrive.
Before getting into the blog properly, can I start by commending our very own Chad Ryan on his fantastic coverage of Redskins training camp, LIVE from Richmond. He made the bold move to head over to Richmond and not only has he provided Redskins fans with a wealth of tweets, photos, podcasts and more, but he has also become a bit of a celebrity! He no doubt has had the time of his life mingling with the team, media and fans – I’m only a little bit jealous! Maybe next year!
So, congratulations Chad, a job well done!
On the eve of training camp the Redskins signed Ryan Kerrigan to a 5 year, $57.5M contract extension rewarding our star linebacker for his consistently excellent play.
This is of course fantastic news and I don’t recall seeing a single negative post or tweet about this – Kerrigan is one of the best loved Redskins and I am extremely happy that we have locked him up to an extension as he enters his prime. To me, the deal is fantastic value for a player of his caliber – #91 is one of my favorite defensive players and he will be the face of our defense for years to come, much like JJ Watt is for the Texans.
The other BIG news at the start of training camp was the Redskins signing of Junior Galette, a talented pass rusher who had recently been released by the New Orleans Saints due to off field troubles.
Whilst the Kerrigan deal was universally approved, this one has Redskins fans divided.
A few hours before writing this news came out that the civil suit against him had been dismissed – which is obviously good news. He is apparently still under investigation by the NFL regarding a 2013 video which appears to show him striking a woman with a belt during a group scuffle on a beach – as far as I am aware no charges have been filed. This is the Redskins after all, so I am sure Roger Goodell will still find a way to suspend him.
From everything I have seen/read recently, Galette is grateful for the 2nd chance and is keen to reward the Redskins and their fans for having faith in him.
Cutting him will cost the Saints a reported $17M in cap space over the next 2 seasons. Should it be necessary for the Redskins to do so, it will be at a fraction of that price, with Galette signing a 1 year league minimum deal worth $745,000.
Scot McCloughan firmly believes in this guy, he has taken ownership of this move and I doubt he would make such a move if he wasn’t 100% sure it was a good move.
Galette has 22 sacks in the last 2 seasons, at the price we have paid that is an absolute STEAL!
Think about it, we paid $11.45M for 1/2 a sack from Brian Orakpo last season! Orakpo has 21.5 sacks over the last FOUR seasons! For $745,000 we’re definitely going to get our moneys worth and then some!
What has some Redskins fans up in arms are the obvious character concerns – my take on this is … not every player on every team is going to be a choir boy, we had a few players with character issues on our Superbowl teams. If he messes up he’s gone.
Let’s not forget that DeSean Jackson arrived here with “character concerns”, he has been a model citizen, so lets give this guy a chance. Galette seems truly glad of a new start and I for one will cheer him on, hopefully he will repay my trust by not screwing up off the field.
Training Camp
Given the fantastic coverage of training camp by Redskins Capital Connection I am sure you know most of what has been going on in Richmond, but here’s my thoughts on a few of the talking points …
Brandon Scherff – is the past few days our 1st rounder has been playing more at RG than the RT position that we drafted him at. Word is that he feels more comfortable at RG and it has been said by many that he could project to better at that position in the long run.
I don’t care what position he was drafted at, if ultimately him being at guard is better for the Redskins, then yeah I am all for it – we got the most talented offensive lineman in the draft, if the best offensive line coach in the league wants to have him at guard then we play him at guard, if he wants him at tackle, we play him at tackle.
Matt Jones – all I can say is BEAST! Can’t wait to see this guy play this year! The guy plays with an aggressive, violent style which will be fun to watch. That run where he trucked the Texans DB (that apparently lit the fuse that would ultimately end in the fight between the Redskins and Texans) was a thing of beauty!
Talking about the FIGHT, it’s great to see that the Redskins won’t be pushed around this year and that the guys have each others backs! As Pot Roast said, we’re gonna be the hammer, not the nail.
RG3 – he’s having himself quite the training camp this year, easily the best QB at camp. Regardless of whether there is a legit QB competition or not, he’s winning it! I said last season that it’s generally the 4th season when things really click for a QB and it’s looking promising that the scenario could ring true for Robert Griffin III. His footwork is noticably better, his reads that bit quicker and he is getting the ball out quicker. Of course what happens on the practice field and what happens in a game can be vastly different, but I am cautiously optomistic of a resurgence from RG3 in 2015.
Against the Browns he is reportedly going to play “at least a quarter”.
Injuries – to me, this has been the most worrying part of camp, we seem to be picking up a LOT of niggling injuries. It probably isn`t drastically different from most years, but I guess it feels worse because of who they are (DeSean, D-Hall, Breeland, Culliver, Amerson, etc). The fact that all of our top 4 corners have been injured at some point is a bit of a worry – especially when they were all out at the same time! Hopefully everyone can recover and we can enter week 1 with as close to a 100% team as possible and see what we really have here.
That’s all for now, I’ll be back after the Browns game with my thoughts and reactions on how we fared.
Hoping for a great game with some standout performances from our guys and NO INJURIES!
In the mean time, check out Anthony Raposa’s article on what to watch for in Thursday nights game.
Click here!
Thanks to those of you out there who make this fun, I always love chatting to fellow Redskins fans – just remember to be respectful, I’m not gonna waste time if you’re looking to troll. We all support the same team, but we CAN have differing opinions.
As always I can be reached on twitter @ReadOptionBlog or via email [email protected]
Till next time,
Hail To The Redskins!
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