Mark Solway

Five to Watch: Bucs

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Many fans consider the fourth preseason game to be ‘a waste of viewing time’ because so many starters will not only not play much, they will not play at all. However, it may be the game where the most NFL roster positions are decided, as the second and third stringers battle it out for the right to back-up their often more heralded teammates. Sometimes the games can be a little less polished, but they can also often be a little more hotly contested.

Here are five Redskins that I’ll be paying close attention to, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tonight:

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First Cut Is The Deepest

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The Washington Redskins announced today that they have waived the following players from their 90-man roster, to get down to the required 75: RB Lennon Creer RB Antwon Bailey OL Chris Campbell QB Jonathan Crompton WR Samuel Kirkland LB Monte Lewis G Nick Martinez TE Beau Reliford OL James Lee OL Tony Moll K Neil … Read more

Helped and Hobbled Causes: Colts

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After the Redskins impressive 30-17 dismantling of the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Redskins coaches got a further look into how the Redskins 53-man roster is going to break down in a few weeks. Here are a few guys that either helped or hobbled their causes:

Chris Wilson – had the best game of any Washington Redskin on Saturday, at least in my opinion. After sitting out 2011 and not playing football, Wilson looks hell bent on being employed in 2012. On top of Wilson’s sack that resulted in a safety, he also had three quarterback hurries and seem to be wreaking havoc in the Colts backfield nearly every time he rushed. If he wasn’t on the fringe of people’s 53-man before Saturday, he should be there firmly now. Wilson’s raw pass rush ability is very valuable depth, especially with Brian Orakpo knicked with an injury to the same area that limited him last year.

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Things I Think I Think I Know

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Does my title confuse you? I am calling this things that I think I think I know, because they are preseason lamentations, and reaching solid conclusions from such vanilla observances, can often be sticky. They are things that I know that I saw, I just don’t know how much weight that can be granted, given the overall practice nature of the NFL’s preseason.

1) Kirk Cousins has a future in the NFL. He put on an impressive performance on Saturday night against the Bears, tossing three touchdowns, and shredding the Chicago defense time after time in the second half. Pretty impressive for a guy seeing his first real NFL game action. He looked poised and comfortable, and really seemed to have a firm grasp of his reads, and the Redskins offense.

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Game Thoughts: Bears

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I absolutely hate preseason – I tweeted as much during the game – it’s like watching four Injury Bowls in a row. Unfortunately for the Redskins, their 33-31 loss to the Bears was no exception – Brian Orakpo and Brandon Meriweather left the game with first half injuries. MRIs for both players will likely tell a better story this week. Other than that, it was a typical preseason game – filled with highlights and lowlights. Here are some observations:

A lot of people were excited by Brandon Banks 91-yard punt return for a touchdown, and rightfully so, it was an exciting play. But many people in Redskins Nation seemed to believe that him doing so, guaranteed himself a roster spot. I don’t think so. Obviously, the return won’t hurt his claim any, but the Redskins already know that Banks can be a great return man – after all, it’s his third consecutive preseason with a return TD. The Redskins coaching staff told Banks he would have to take a wide receiver spot if he was going to make this team – returning a punt doesn’t do that. Banks definitely flashes brilliant play-making abilities at times, but will it be enough to make this team in 2012?

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Twitter Contest: Redskins Rides

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Well Redskins fans, it’s that time of year again – time for Redskins Rides! What an uber-cool thing for Redskins fans to do!

We wanted to make sure that everybody knew about the event this Sunday at Redskins Park from 12pm-5pm, so we’re having a contest!!

Redskins Rides were kind enough to give us two tickets to give away for the event, where you will meet up with THN’s own Jake Russell, and pick up your tickets!! (Would it be too much to ask that we take a picture when that happens please!)

So what do you have to do to enter the contest?

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Neild Lost For Season

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Mike Shanahan announced today, that Washington Redskins defensive tackle Chris Neild, has a torn ACL and will be done for the season.

After a Cinderella rookie campaign that saw the West Virginia product get drafted with the next-to-last pick in the NFL Draft, only to not only make the Redskins final 53-man roster, but make a considerable and valuable contribution in his first year. He appeared in 15 games (162 plays), registering 10 tackles, and two sacks.

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Who Popped, Who Dropped?

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The Washington Redskins kicked off their 2012 season last night, with a 7-6 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo. Pre-season games are usually littered with vanilla play-calling, and vanilla packages, but that doesn’t mean that players can’t help or hurt their chances of making a football team. Here are some guys that may have tipped the scale in one direction or another last night.

Popped

Robert Griffin III

Hard to believe that a guy riding the top of a see saw could actually raise his value even more, but the kid from Baylor just continues to prove that he truly has what it takes to not only play in this league, but perhaps one day be special. It isn’t that he did anything physically that blew the doors off or anything, but he most certainly did not look like some rookie tossed into the fire either. It’s hard to peg whether his poise, or his leadership was more impressive, but there is absolutely nothing about the number 10 to suggest that this is his first year in the league – other than public record of course.

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Tonight’s Top 5 Watch List

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Everybody likes to watch different elements in the preseason. Here are the top 5 guys that I’ll have my eye on tonight:

RGIII

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He won’t play much… it might be vanilla… he might hand the ball off half the time or more. Does any of that really matter?

Absolutely not. A new era begins for Washington tonight. Regardless of the lack of importance of the performance or the results, don’t try to tell me that Robert Griffin III isn’t the numero uno thing to watch tonight.

I’ll be watching him even when he’s done playing and just standing on the sidelines. So will you.

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