Redskins taking a chance with Safeties

1niksder · Post by **1niksder** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 2:56 am

ASHBURN -- They could all make a comeback, each returning to past glory after a couple down seasons. Or they could each do what they've done recently, continuing a career fade and leaving the Redskins in the same spot they were at season's end. In need of safeties.

For now, though, the Redskins -- and the safeties they signed -- can dream. So Brandon Meriweather could find a home after two teams in the past year felt he wasn't good enough. And Madieu Williams could become a viable player once more after little playing time a year ago. And Tanard Jackson could return to his status once upon a time as a young safety to watch after getting hurt in 2011.

"The safety spot is now very competitive," Jackson said.

That's the optimistic view. The skeptical side has another word to describe the safety position: Unstable.

But that depends on none of the three newcomers helping out. It could be that one or two of them come through, and if that's the case then the Redskins would benefit. They also have Reed Doughty and DeJon Gomes as backups and drafted Jordan Bernstine in the seventh round.

If all goes well, then Meriweather -- a two-time Pro Bowler on his third team in a year -- will start at strong safety. Williams and Jackson both are considered more free safeties, though the Redskins want their safeties to be comfortable playing deep or near the line.

Meriweather is an intriguing talent because he last made a Pro Bowl in 2010. Numerous league sources, though, cautioned against expecting too much from him. He's considered talented, but these sources each said they did not like his instincts. That led to him getting burned more in Chicago's two-deep system, but even the Patriots, who cut him last summer, tired of his style.

"He fits our system a lot better than he did in Chicago," Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said, "and I can see that on the practice field."

Doughty said, "Brandon they brought in to start. He's extremely talented. He has a knack for the ball. If we make sure we communicate and don't give up anything, he can be special."

Williams, though, has stood out during the offseason workouts. Shanahan long has said it's tough to analyze safeties until the games start. But Williams consistently breaks up passes in practice.

"He's extremely, extremely bright," Shanahan said. "You can tell he's a student of the game. He can anticipate routes before most veterans can see them."

Williams said starting only three games with San Francisco in 2011 and seeing minimal time in most games did help him grow as a player.

"There's a lot you can take away from the situation," Williams said, "like how passionate I am about the game and how much I missed not being out there. Even though I wasn't out there, I made a conscious effort to make sure I was mentally engaged."

Jackson is coming off two tough seasons with only 12 starts combined. He's coming off shoulder surgery in January (he was cleared to resume workouts last week) and also missed a combined 56 weeks because of drug suspensions.

"Being accountable, being responsible for your actions," Jackson said he learned of his time in Tampa Bay. "I dealt with things in the past, and I like to put it behind me. I'm starting a new regime."

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:02 am

I think safety is where the cap penalties hit us the hardest. Both because we couldn't sign better players, and also because we couldn't draft them since we had to fill other needs through the draft and not through FA.

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:42 am

Irn-Bru wrote:I think safety is where the cap penalties hit us the hardest. Both because we couldn't sign better players, and also because we couldn't draft them since we had to fill other needs through the draft and not through FA.

Agreed. I think this will be the position that really hurts us. I fear that the defense is going to regress... But, the hope I have is that having Jenkins back brings such a boast to the front-7 that it negates the weaknesses on the back end.

- I also hope that Meriweathers transition into a scheme that fits him is smooth.

- If Minifield continues to impress, I wouldn't be shocked to see him starting sometime this year. That'd push Hall into restructuring his contract.

- I hope that Tanard pans out here.

SkinsJock · Post by **SkinsJock** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:10 am

I agree also - I'm hearing a lot of whishing and hoping regarding the secondary

I do think that Raheem helps here and hopefully the play of the front 7 negates some of the issues with the secondary

andyjens89 · Post by **andyjens89** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:57 am

I'm really not that worried about the safety position. We've been using stop-gaps for years now. Meriweather and Jackson are good players if they keep their heads on straight and allow the coaches to do their jobs. Williams is getting older, but it sounds like he has been impressing. Doughty just isn't fast enough and is a liability in coverage. He is a good tackler and great special teams guy, but I'm glad we could get some competition back there. The younger guys, Gomes and Bernstine, should be in the mix as well. I could see Gomes starting within the next year or so, he just needs to improve. Bernstine sounds like a decent player, but I expect practice squad if nothing else.

the poster · Post by **the poster** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:29 pm

SkinsJock wrote: I do think that Raheem helps here and hopefully the play of the front 7 negates some of the issues with the secondary

what play of the front 7? You dont have a star pass rusher like a Ware or a Babin or a Tuck or Pierre-Paul.

You have a pair of "ok" pass rushers. And your defensive line can be run all over.

riggofan · Post by **riggofan** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:31 pm

andyjens89 wrote:I'm really not that worried about the safety position. We've been using stop-gaps for years now.

That's a fair point. If nobody steps up, the safeties will probably play about as well as they did last year. Which admittedly wasn't great.

I agree with whoever said there is a lot of wishing and hoping going on too. I'm personally hoping Merriweather comes through for us.

rskin72 · Post by **rskin72** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:36 pm

As I posted in another thread the other night, our secondary situation is probably the most unstable of any area on the current team. Listening to NFL radio yesterday.....Moving the Chains.....a Redskin caller and the guys talked about our secondary.....and the prognosis was not optomistic, with Tim Ryan stating that (in his opinion) JAckson and Williams were done. They did not think highly of our other free agent acquisitions in the secondary. Did not mention draft picks, however, or undrafted fa's. They did mention, however, that our front 7 looked stout, and that could take some pressure off of the secondary. They mentioned DHall playing different secondary positions as well.

At the Redskins 80th tour at Norfolk Naval Base, DHall and a couple of others had good things to say about Merriweather.......so he has made a positive impression with some of his teammates.....maybe he took them out drinking.

Concur that our money situation could have impacted our selection of secondary FA's.....but it just seems like we welcomed a lot of players with huge question marks at an area that was already weak. Hopefully there will be some keepers within the FA group.

Apparently, Minniefield had a pretty good day at OTA's yesterday.....hopefully he can develop quickly as well.

burgngold4life · Post by **burgngold4life** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 2:44 pm

Poster, shut ur hatin azz up boi.

Ur team is garbage.

And u come to another franchise's fan message board and bash our team to make ur pathetic self feel better.

U a lame son.

andyjens89 · Post by **andyjens89** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 2:46 pm

Come on....

SkinsJock · Post by **SkinsJock** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:23 pm

dftt

the poster · Post by **the poster** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:33 pm

burgngold4life wrote:Poster, shut ur hatin azz up boi.

"hatin"?? your team was 5-11. what's to hate. nothin.

And u come to another franchise's fan message board and bash our team to make ur pathetic self feel better.
son.

I'm not bashing, I'm simply stating facts and opinions. it's not my fault youre not smart enough to understand that difference.

and btw, Im not a fan of any team. so keep thinking I like the giants or cowboys or browns

cowboykillerzRGiii · Post by **cowboykillerzRGiii** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:17 am

:yawn:
Who farted?
B&G4lifeson check smack for dftft

brad7686 · Post by **brad7686** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:57 am

there is no possible way that they can be worse than Reed Doughty and random guy, which is what we've been using at safety ever since laron landry became injury prone.

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:15 am

cowboykillerzRED wrote: dftft

I saw what you did there...

skinsfan#33 · Post by **skinsfan#33** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:52 am

rskin72 wrote: At the Redskins 80th tour at Norfolk Naval Base, DHall and a couple of others had good things to say about Merriweather.

Were you at that tour stop? I'm a retired Senior Chief and did two ships company tours on a ship that NOB was it's homeport. Not to mention 16 total years in the Norfolk/VaBch area.

As far as the safeties go, they really don't have to be too good to improve on a gimpy Landry, OJ, and whomever else we trotted out there. If we get slightly above AVERAGE play from our safeties we have improved.

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:07 pm

skinsfan#33 wrote:I'm a retired Senior Chief

You can always identify a Chief Petty Officer by the permanent bend in the right index finger... from holding a coffee cup.

True.

crazyhorse1 · Post by **crazyhorse1** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:13 pm

the poster wrote:
SkinsJock wrote: I do think that Raheem helps here and hopefully the play of the front 7 negates some of the issues with the secondary
what play of the front 7? You dont have a star pass rusher like a Ware or a Babin or a Tuck or Pierre-Paul.

You have a pair of "ok" pass rushers. And your defensive line can be run all over.

Hate to agree with a troll, but I do. RGIII is going to have to light up the scoreboard. We vastly overrate our defensive front seven and the secondary
is suspect. I think Minnifield is going to be a stud, however. I think the same thing about Royster on offense. I would like to believe in Helu and Hightower, but don't.

Deadskins · Post by **Deadskins** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:28 pm

Why would you do that? You could have just as easily made the same point without feeding the troll.

DarthMonk · Post by **DarthMonk** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:56 pm

SkinsJock wrote: I do think that Raheem helps here and hopefully the play of the front 7 negates some of the issues with the secondary
what play of the front 7? You dont have a star pass rusher like a Ware or a Babin or a Tuck or Pierre-Paul.

That would be the play hoped for here in the prior post:

Chris Luva Luva wrote:But, the hope I have is that having Jenkins back brings such a boast to the front-7 that it negates the weaknesses on the back end.

DarthMonk

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:31 pm

Deadskins wrote:Why would you do that? You could have just as easily made the same point without feeding the troll.

Thank you...

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:36 pm

DarthMonk wrote:
SkinsJock wrote: I do think that Raheem helps here and hopefully the play of the front 7 negates some of the issues with the secondary
what play of the front 7? You dont have a star pass rusher like a Ware or a Babin or a Tuck or Pierre-Paul.
That would be the play hoped for here in the prior post:

Chris Luva Luva wrote:But, the hope I have is that having Jenkins back brings such a boast to the front-7 that it negates the weaknesses on the back end.

DarthMonk

And, ya'll do so well for a while... then...

DarthMonk · Post by **DarthMonk** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:42 pm

Countertrey wrote:
DarthMonk wrote:
what play of the front 7? You dont have a star pass rusher like a Ware or a Babin or a Tuck or Pierre-Paul.
That would be the play hoped for here in the prior post:

Chris Luva Luva wrote:But, the hope I have is that having Jenkins back brings such a boast to the front-7 that it negates the weaknesses on the back end.

DarthMonk

And, ya'll do so well for a while... then...

?

Note the quote. Going after part of a post and not the one who posted it.

DarthMonk

Deadskins · Post by **Deadskins** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:04 pm

Same thing. Food is food.

skinsfan#33 · Post by **skinsfan#33** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:05 pm

Countertrey wrote:
skinsfan#33 wrote:I'm a retired Senior Chief
You can always identify a Chief Petty Officer by the permanent bend in the right index finger... from holding a coffee cup.

True.

I'm more of a lefty when it comes to coffee, but the same hold true