Up Next: Bring On the Rookies!
By Gary Fitzgerald
Redskins.com
April 28, 2005
Redskins coaches will get their first look at the team's 2005 draft class, including first-round picks Carlos Rogers and Jason Campbell, this weekend in a three-day Rookie Camp this weekend at Redskins Park.
Note: the Rookie Camp is closed to the public, but you can follow all of the action here on Redskins.com.
Seventy players, including undrafted rookie free agents and those on a tryout basis, will be in attendance. The Redskins will hold a 90-minute practice each day during the weekend, instilling in the players the basics of the playbook and evaluating how quickly they learn the schemes.
"What we hope they will take from this would be a complete notebook on all of the basics," head coach Joe Gibbs said. "They will have the basics of the offense and the basics of the defense. We will give them as much as we can."
The weekend is also an introduction into the Redskins' practice regimen, particularly for those six players who were drafted by the team last weekend and the 12 players who signed as undrafted rookie free agents earlier this week.
The Redskins announced their crop of undrafted rookie free agent signings on Wednesday: defensive back Ray Custis (Maryland), wide receivers Steven Harris (Arkansas), Tiger Jones (Louisville), Rich Parson (Maryland) and Jason Samples (Troy State), offensive linemen Brett Hodge (Nebraska-Omaha) and Scott Paffrath (Missouri), tight ends David Kashetta (Boston College) and William Palmer (Notre Dame) and defensive linemen Aki Jones (Fordham), Tyler Luebke (Iowa) and Jerome Nichols (Wake Forest).
"We will have the rookies here for the indoctrination program, then after that we'll get back [with the veterans] and close in on our OTA days pretty quick," Gibbs said.
Headlining the list of rookies are Rogers and Campbell. The Redskins used the ninth overall selection in the April 23-24 NFL Draft to take Rogers and the 25th overall selection to take Campbell. Both played their collegiate ball at Auburn.
Rogers got a head start when he visited Redskins Park during an interview process in early April, prior to the draft. He sat in meetings with coaches and players.
"I got a little taste of the defense from the meetings," Rogers said. "It is basically the same thing that I am used to from Auburn. I like the attitude of the coaches. They want you to come in and work. Nothing is given to you as a first-round pick. I have to work and that is one thing I am about--working for a position."
Campbell is coming in eager to soak up the experience of his first NFL camp.
"My goal is to come in and learn as much as possible as quickly as I can," he said. "I'm going to just be competitive and work hard every day. When your opportunity comes, you just have to make sure that you are ready."
The unsigned rookies attending the camp on a tryout basis are the following:
Zach Mills, QB, 6-2, 220, Penn State
Alex Green, DB, 6-3, 200, Duke
Chris Kelley, DB, 6-0, 204, Maryland
Ron Frazier, DB, 5-11, 204, Shepard
Nygel Rogers, DB, 6-0, 220, Appalachian State
Phillip Geiggar, DB, 5-10, 191, Texas
Derek Tatum, DB, 5-10, 193, Kentucky
Corey Yates, DB, 5-9, 179, Southern Miss
Cameron Essex, DB, 5-10, 188, Memphis
Roland Colbert, RB, 5-5, 198, Howard
Sammy Maldonado, RB, 5-11, 224, Maryland
Tyrone Hall, RB, 5-11, 240, Norfolk State
Bobby Keyes, CB, 5-10, 171, Alabama-Birmingham
David Musa, CB, 5-10, 180, Tuskegee
Lionel Green, CB, 6-1, 183, North Carolina
Clenton Crossley, RB, 5-9, 234, South Florida
Jonathan Combs, RB, 5-9, 230, Texas College
Mike Sanders, LB, 6-1, 239, Howard
Zak Keasey, LB, 6-0, 236, Princeton
Malcolm Postel, LB, 6-1, 231, Pittsburgh
Patrick Orah, LB, 6-0, 232, Fordham
Mikal Baaqee, LB, 5-10, 232, Virginia Tech
Dewitt Newkirk, LB, 6-1, 252, Elizabeth City St.
Dominique Richardson, OL, 6-5, 301, Howard
Jon Alston, OL, 6-5, 306, South Carolina
Brandon Harston, OL, 6-1, 314, Minnesota
Adrian Gonzalez, OL, 6-5, 328, Louisiana Tech
Amos Lamb, OL, 6-4, 320, North Greenville (SC)
Chad Bandeira, OL, 6-3, 298, Kent State
John Strickland, OL, 6-3, 309, South Carolina
Will Rabatin, OL, 6-0, 310, Louisville
Ryan McClellan, OL, 6-6, 320, Mansfield
Pedro Holiday, WR, 6-1, 179, Middle Tennessee State
Darrell Dowery, WR, 5-11, 171, Kent State
Steve Suter, WR, 5-8, 191, Maryland
Andrea Gause, WR, 5-8, 200, South Carolina
Scott Morris, WR, 6-2, 205, Jackson State
Jerel Myers, WR, 5-11, 180, LSU
Tom Ridley, TE, 6-4, 252, James Madison
William Frisby, TE, 6-8, 235, Miami
Chevon Troutman, TE, 6-7, 240, Pittsburgh
William Palmer, TE, 6-3, 260, Notre Dame
Mike Walter, TE, 6-4, 240, Minnesota-Morris
Kevin Eli, DL, 6-2, 273, Maryland
Charles Howard, DL, 6-2, 259, Florida State
Jason Capers, DL, 6-3, 257, South Carolina
Jemelle Cage, DL, 6-0, 284, Louisiana Tech
Ben Lynch, DL, 6-2, 288, West Virginia
Brian Godfrey, DL, 6-1, 300, Slippery Rock
Redskins linebacker Devin Lemons and defensive lineman Nic Clemons are also participating in the three-day camp.
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