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Alexander will visit Redskins

Posted: Adam Schefter | Adam Schefter | Tags: Shaun Alexander, Washington Redskins

Former NFL MVP Shaun Alexander will visit the Washington Redskins on Tuesday and undergo a physical with the team. If all goes according to plan, Alexander could be a Redskin by the end of Tuesday. The Redskins are seeking another back with Ladell Betts nursing a knee injury. Alexander had drawn interest from the Bengals and Saints, but neither had opted to sign him. Now the Redskins could. Tuesday could be Alexander’s day.

With Betts hobbled, Redskins host former MVP Alexander

funbuncher wrote:Seems like a slap in the face for us to rush out and sign a Betts replacement. This reminds me of the Duckett signing. At least we won't lose any draft picks. Hopefully this is just rumor.

Cartwright is an extremely under-rated back. I know I'll get slammed for this, but I actually like Rock's ability more than Betts'. He's got more "burst" than any back on our team (including CP) IMVHO, and he has paid his dues. Give the rock to the Rock.

No, I am not his agent or related in any way.

Dude the Duckett TRADE was awful. We are not going to have to give up anything for him but a veteran minimum. I could not care less about this transaction Betts barely carries the ball anyways (even though he is a awesome backup) and if he passes the physical why not?

Fios wrote: Also, Marcus Mason is on a practice squad for a team who is desperate to find depth at running back, he's not a viable NFL back at this point.

i'm not sure where you are located geographically, but i have the misfortune of being stuck in Raisins country. and while there is no doubt that their passing game is at least as woeful as ever, the one thing that has really shined in their offense is their surprisingly good results from their RB depth. they drafted ray rice and he was looking very promising in the preseason and ran well in the first game or two as they waited on mcgahee. but who came out of nowhere to run even better was laron mclain, who has been so good he is now a big part of the ground game (and the almost exclusive goal line option) regardless of the health of mcgahee.

the backups are doing so well that obviously they have much more faith in their #3RB to do well filling in than we do-- mcgahee is in and out of the lineup, but marcus mason just sits on the practice squad.
whereas for us, betts gets banged up and we are hitting the panic button for Shaun "Yes, i AM Completely Washed Up and Utterly Useless, and i Will Gladly Prove It If You Are Stupid Enough To Waste Your Time and Money by Giving Me a Chance" Alexander?????

sorry, i know that came out angry. obviously not mad at you, but i am just going to go INSANE if we do something this monumentally stupid. signing alexander would just prove that all the naysayers have been right all along and snyder has not learned anything and is just using the team as his Years-Out-of-Date Fantasy Football League team, and will never ever stop doing so.

why am i so against this? aside from the fact that he is a washed up veteran with absolutely no value whatsoever, compared to a sparkling young player who could be groomed into a real gem? because:

i have yet to see anyone acknowledge the fact that Shaun Alexander can not possibly be in anything remotely resembling "Football Shape", even if he is in good physical condition in general. it takes a MINIMUM of a few weeks of getting out on the field and getting hit before players get into football shape.

***if betts is only supposed to be out 1, 2, 3, even 4 or 5 games, Shaun Alexander will literally be able to contribute ABSOLUTELY NOTHING during that span.

marcus mason, on the other hand, has been practicing football against a tough defense (ours and the ravens) every week for months on end. he will be ready go get on the field the day he signs his contract.

not to mention, mason is a much better running back than alexander at this point in time. what's the knock on mason, that he can't block? can't play special teams? NEITHER CAN ALEXANDER!!!

if they sign him instead of mason i'm quite serious when i say there must, MUST, be an urgent rally of some sort around redskins park. if we let him get away with something like that now, it will never, ever stop.

i'm going to go ahead and assume that it is all just a crazy rumor, because it's just a decision that would be so insanely illogical it must be just another typical espn-style "dan snyder said to be offering New York to cover the 700 billion dollar wall street bail-out in exchange for the rights to michael strahan" type of rumor. [/b]

Seems to me that the point here is that by the time it would take Alexander to get into football playing shape and learn "our" offense, Betts injury should be healed by then. So, if they do decide to sign for that interim period, how much help can we really expect him to be?

VetSkinsFan wrote:I know they said Mason couldn't learn much, but it's not hard to call simple plays for him when he would be in. Whoever comes in should stil be 3rd fiddle to CP and Rock, wouldn't they?

I'm really not digging Alexander coming here, but I trust Zorn. If Zorn thinks it's a good idea, then I will be objective.

Keep in mind, Mason would have to know who to pick up on blitzes, which can KILL you if not executed properly.

There is a reason they kept Rock and this is it...It's a slap in the face to Rock to bring in a back who has been out of football as long as Alexander!

Thundersloth wrote:

VetSkinsFan wrote:I know they said Mason couldn't learn much, but it's not hard to call simple plays for him when he would be in. Whoever comes in should stil be 3rd fiddle to CP and Rock, wouldn't they?

I'm really not digging Alexander coming here, but I trust Zorn. If Zorn thinks it's a good idea, then I will be objective.

Keep in mind, Mason would have to know who to pick up on blitzes, which can KILL you if not executed properly.

I think that's Betts defining weakness vs CP's strength.

DEHog wrote:There is a reason they kept Rock and this is it...It's a slap in the face to Rock to bring in a back who has been out of football as long as Alexander!

Rock is our ST standout. I honestly think that was the main thought for him. He may surprise us, who knows. I imagine that we'll find that out regardless against the Browns. I don't think any back can come in and learn enough in 4 days to get carries.

VetSkinsFan wrote:

DEHog wrote:There is a reason they kept Rock and this is it...It's a slap in the face to Rock to bring in a back who has been out of football as long as Alexander!

Rock is our ST standout. I honestly think that was the main thought for him. He may surprise us, who knows. I imagine that we'll find that out regardless against the Browns. I don't think any back can come in and learn enough in 4 days to get carries.

I understand that...but that the Skins cut Mason, said to me they were prepared to go into the season with Rock as our third RB.

Hmmm... kinda torn on this one, as in, I can see both sides of the situation. I'm not all that high on Alexander and I've always liked Mason.

But.....

How many carries has Betts been getting? If signed, it's not like Alexander would be required to carry the load, his use or role would be very limited anyway. Zorn and Stump know Shaun very well and Shaun probably knows the system and what Zorn and Stump want from the RB position, even though the running game isn't exactly the same as it was in Seatle.

You never know, maybe Shaun has been working his tail off trying to get another shot at playing. He could come in in great shape and extremely motivated, a powerful combination. For a player that may see 10 to 15 carries at the most... if that, I'm not overly concerned about the "football shape" argument. Shaun has been around, he knows what to expect.

On the other hand, as I previously mentioned, I've always liked Mason and would love to see him get a shot and do something with it. But if Zorn, Mitchell and Sherman pass on Mason, perhaps they've seen something they don't like. They're the ones that should have the most insight.

I agree wilh dcd ! I think this is more of a FO move than a request from Zorn to find a backup plan for however long

Now if that is the case then it is really showing that the FO is still making decisions that they have shown they are hopeless at.

Snyder and cerrato need to leave the football decisions up to the coaches and stay out of their way.

IF this is something that Zorn and the other coaches have decided I would be very surprised as it just does not seem like the right move to make based on how long it will take Alexander to really be ready and especially a guy who has shown he's not a complete football player.

I really think they are worried about Rock getting hurt. He is one of the best kickoff return guys in the league, if he gets hurt speeling Portis, then what will they do? WE can't afford to lose him on special teams.

One of the articles said that they could always release Alexander when Betts gets healthy. What's the harm in that? What if Betts injury is more serious than we know?

I like it, older vetran...yes, but knows this offence, would be a great backup to Portis.

die cowboys die wrote:if they sign him instead of mason i'm quite serious when i say there must, MUST, be an urgent rally of some sort around redskins park. if we let him get away with something like that now, it will never, ever stop.

What are you planning to do about it?

I think it's an OK move. We've seen the other KR options -- and they're less than stellar.

Makes Rock that much more valuable right where he is.

But I totally get how he must be wondering "What do I have to do?"

SkinsJock wrote:I agree wilh dcd ! I think this is more of a FO move than a request from Zorn to find a backup plan for however long

Now if that is the case then it is really showing that the FO is still making decisions that they have shown they are hopeless at.

Snyder and cerrato need to leave the football decisions up to the coaches and stay out of their way.

IF this is something that Zorn and the other coaches have decided I would be very surprised as it just does not seem like the right move to make based on how long it will take Alexander to really be ready and especially a guy who has shown he's not a complete football player.

Why would you think this is a FO-derived move? Both Zorn and Stump Mitchell are very familiar with Shaun Alexander. They're probably very comfortable with him. I'm not sure why you'd think this wasn't a joint decision.

this is a good move, a vet RB that knows the system, but what it does show me is that the LB46 knee is not good

I do not think that anyone who saw what happened with Alexander (and especially Zorn and Mitchell who were close to it) would want a guy like that as part of our team - this is not a guy who made yards without an exceptional line (especially Hutch!) - he just plain does not play hard and these guys should have seen that - that is why I think this is a FO deal.

This guy is not going to help - it will still take him a few weeks to be able to contribute & there is no way we will be better off with him and his limited contributions -

SkinsJock wrote:I do not think that anyone who saw what happened with Alexander (and especially Zorn and Mitchell who were close to it) would want a guy like that as part of our team - this is not a guy who made yards without an exceptional line (especially Hutch!) - he just plain does not play hard and these guys should have seen that - that is why I think this is a FO deal.

Do you really think that Snyder/Cerrato won't listen to the coaches; i.e., if the coaches say we think he sucks and won't help us, you think Snyder/Cerrato would spend the money to sign the guy anyways?

Bizarre to think that.

This guy is not going to help - it will still take him a few weeks to even be able to contribute and there is no way we will be better off with him and his limited contributions - my 2 Cents

Oh I completely agree with you here, I think he sucks.

I don't see this as anything more than coaches getting people they are familiar with.

Al Saunder brought in Collins. Jim/Stump are bringing in Shaun.

Recent history has shown that Snyder and Cerrato do seem to be paying attention to the coaches and the football people - I am only saying that I think that IF this guy is brought in - it would appear to me that decision would not have been made by Zorn and Mitchell as in my opinion that does not make sense - this guy is not as good as the media made him out to be - he had a terrific left side of a good offensive line to run behind and Zorn knows that.

Now if Zorn and Mitchell saw some stuff about this underachiever that we are not aware of I will be happy to be proven wrong but this just does not seem to be a good decision for just a few weeks - must be more to it.

TJ Duckett anyone?

JansenFan wrote:TJ Duckett anyone?

What does he have to do with ANYthing? We are not TRADING for Shawn Alexander, we would be picking him up for the Vet. Minimum I would think. With that said, i would still Bring back Marcus Mason. Im not a coach and obvioulsy they know much more than me, but EVERY single game that guy played in he made an impact for us. I know he had that fumble on the kickoff return, but everyone makes mistakes, see Leigh Torrance and pete kendall...

NJ-SKINS-FAN wrote:this is a good move, a vet RB that knows the system, but what it does show me is that the LB46 knee is not good

This is Gibbs ground system that's implemented this year, not something brought from Seattle.

IF we do sign him, anyone think he would try and buy his number from Doughty?