At No. 9, Cornerback Is No. 1 Concern
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:49 pm
At No. 9, Cornerback Is No. 1 Concern
Redskins Wrap Up Player Evaluations For NFL Draft
By Jason La Canfora
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 14, 2005; Page D03
By the end of business hours today, Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs expects to have completed the team's grades and player evaluations for next weekend's NFL draft, ending a lengthy process in which hundreds of players were analyzed for their physical ability, intellect, attitude and intangibles.
The Redskins, who hold the ninth pick in the first round (and no second-round selection), have identified cornerback as an area of immediate need after the departure of Fred Smoot in free agency, a topic Gibbs has addressed in recent weeks, and are expected to choose between Adam "Pac-Man" Jones (West Virginia), Antrel Rolle (Miami) and Carlos Rogers (Auburn). All three either have visited Redskins Park or have trips planned, and all are expected to be selected in the top half of the first round.
The Redskins hope to land a cornerback in the NFL draft and are considering Miami's Antrel Rolle, top left, Auburn's Carlos Rogers, top right, and West Virginia's Adam Jones, bottom. (AP)
• The Redskins will face the Cowboys on a Monday night.
• The Redskins will likely target a cornerback with the No. 9 pick.
• LaVar Arrington and Santana Moss spoke with Joe Gibbs, pictured, but Sean Taylor won't return his calls.
• Arrington is angry with the Redskins about how they have handled his knee injury.
• Santana Moss and Sean Taylor have not been at the voluntary workouts this offseason.
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• League schedule, by date
• League schedule, by team
• Survey: Who should the Redskins take with the ninth overall pick in the NFL draft, April 23-24?
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Given their spot in the draft order, the Redskins must be flexible, as trades and unexpected selections by other teams could complicate their plans. Washington also has brought in top wide receiver prospects to Redskins Park, as well as Maryland defensive lineman Shawne Merriman, who is projected by many as a top 10 pick. Gibbs said the team will spend next week assessing how it expects the top eight picks to unfold and examining the possibility of trading up or down, but by today it expects to have a consensus on how it will pick should it stay at No. 9. Doing so has required more than measuring heights, weights and times in the 40-yard dash.
"The first thing is always character issues," Gibbs said. "We spend a lot of time with that, and that's the reason it is so hard. Everyone says, 'How can you miss that [player]?' And yet in life how many times do we miss hiring somebody based off a résumé or what school they came from? . . . You've got to somehow go into their background and see what kind of a person that is, and that's a very hard thing to do."
Given the off-field travails of safety Sean Taylor since being picked fifth overall from Miami last April, the Redskins aim to be extremely thorough, and a team source indicated recent struggles getting Miami products Taylor and Santana Moss to attend workouts at Redskins Park is certainly being weighed with regard to Rolle.
Jones grew up idolizing former Redskins great Darrell Green and has a strong relationship with cornerback coach Dwayne Walker, according to his agent, Gary Wichard. Upon completing his visit to Redskins Park on Friday, Jones called Wichard and, according to the agent, told him, "I want to be a Redskin." The friendship between Wichard and Vinny Cerrato, Washington's vice president of football operations, will not hurt his cause.
Jones, a junior, does not have great size (5 feet 10) and may need to bulk up from 187 pounds, but has the physical presence Gregg Williams, assistant head coach-defense, demands. Jones also is a superior return man.
Jones's tendency to sacrifice technique to make a big play could work against him, and one team source indicated that where once Jones was seemed the clear front-runner, Rogers is now a strong candidate.
Rogers, a senior, is bigger (6-0, 196 pounds) and has four years of experience playing at a high level, compared with Jones's two. He does not hit like Jones, however, and is less effective against the run.
Williams uses three corners in many of his schemes, and Washington has only two experienced cornerbacks on its roster. One of them, starter Shawn Springs, said he expects the team to pick a corner high in the draft ("I think they want to add some youth and depth to that position," Springs said). The team has made no advances on any free agent cornerbacks or those on the trade market. League sources said the Redskins made one initial inquiry about Miami's Patrick Surtain long ago but did not follow up.
Cornerback "would be an area that you would say that you're trying to do something" in the draft, Gibbs told reporters during league meetings in Hawaii late last month, "but we may have to go with young guys."
Salary cap concerns likely will preclude Washington from trading up, but trading down and adding a second-round pick is an option (wide receiver Rod Gardner remains trade bait). The Redskins also have brought in wide receivers Mike Williams (Southern California), Matt Jones (Arkansas), Mark Clayton (Oklahoma), Troy Williamson (South Carolina) and Roddy White (Alabama-Birmingham), and held a private workout with Edward Simms (William Penn), sources said. League and team sources said the Redskins view Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards as the top offensive player available and have contacted his agent, but did not bring him in for a visit because they believe he will be taken before they pick.
Teams picking this high regularly bring in 10 to 15 prospects for meetings, sometimes merely to gather information. Last year, the Redskins brought in offensive lineman Robert Gallery, knowing he would be gone before they picked.
Redskins Note: The Redskins announced reserve running back Rock Cartwright re-signed, leaving them with three restricted free agents. Cartwright signed his qualifying offer, while quarterback Tim Hasselbeck, defensive back Andre Lott and defensive lineman Demetric Evans have until tomorrow to garner an offer sheet from another club, or their rights revert exclusively to Washington.
Redskins Wrap Up Player Evaluations For NFL Draft
By Jason La Canfora
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 14, 2005; Page D03
By the end of business hours today, Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs expects to have completed the team's grades and player evaluations for next weekend's NFL draft, ending a lengthy process in which hundreds of players were analyzed for their physical ability, intellect, attitude and intangibles.
The Redskins, who hold the ninth pick in the first round (and no second-round selection), have identified cornerback as an area of immediate need after the departure of Fred Smoot in free agency, a topic Gibbs has addressed in recent weeks, and are expected to choose between Adam "Pac-Man" Jones (West Virginia), Antrel Rolle (Miami) and Carlos Rogers (Auburn). All three either have visited Redskins Park or have trips planned, and all are expected to be selected in the top half of the first round.
The Redskins hope to land a cornerback in the NFL draft and are considering Miami's Antrel Rolle, top left, Auburn's Carlos Rogers, top right, and West Virginia's Adam Jones, bottom. (AP)
• The Redskins will face the Cowboys on a Monday night.
• The Redskins will likely target a cornerback with the No. 9 pick.
• LaVar Arrington and Santana Moss spoke with Joe Gibbs, pictured, but Sean Taylor won't return his calls.
• Arrington is angry with the Redskins about how they have handled his knee injury.
• Santana Moss and Sean Taylor have not been at the voluntary workouts this offseason.
_____ On Our Site _____
• Redskins 2005 Schedule
• League schedule, by date
• League schedule, by team
• Survey: Who should the Redskins take with the ninth overall pick in the NFL draft, April 23-24?
_____ E-mail Newsletter _____
Looking for Redskins coverage you can't find anywhere else? Sign up for our free e-mail newsletter.
_____ NFL Insider _____
• Post's Mark Maske on all things NFL -- only on washingtonpost.com.
_____NFL Basics_____
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Team index
• NFL Section
_____Free E-mail Newsletters_____
• Washington Nationals
See a Sample | Sign Up Now
• Redskins
See a Sample | Sign Up Now
• Maryland Terps
See a Sample | Sign Up Now
Given their spot in the draft order, the Redskins must be flexible, as trades and unexpected selections by other teams could complicate their plans. Washington also has brought in top wide receiver prospects to Redskins Park, as well as Maryland defensive lineman Shawne Merriman, who is projected by many as a top 10 pick. Gibbs said the team will spend next week assessing how it expects the top eight picks to unfold and examining the possibility of trading up or down, but by today it expects to have a consensus on how it will pick should it stay at No. 9. Doing so has required more than measuring heights, weights and times in the 40-yard dash.
"The first thing is always character issues," Gibbs said. "We spend a lot of time with that, and that's the reason it is so hard. Everyone says, 'How can you miss that [player]?' And yet in life how many times do we miss hiring somebody based off a résumé or what school they came from? . . . You've got to somehow go into their background and see what kind of a person that is, and that's a very hard thing to do."
Given the off-field travails of safety Sean Taylor since being picked fifth overall from Miami last April, the Redskins aim to be extremely thorough, and a team source indicated recent struggles getting Miami products Taylor and Santana Moss to attend workouts at Redskins Park is certainly being weighed with regard to Rolle.
Jones grew up idolizing former Redskins great Darrell Green and has a strong relationship with cornerback coach Dwayne Walker, according to his agent, Gary Wichard. Upon completing his visit to Redskins Park on Friday, Jones called Wichard and, according to the agent, told him, "I want to be a Redskin." The friendship between Wichard and Vinny Cerrato, Washington's vice president of football operations, will not hurt his cause.
Jones, a junior, does not have great size (5 feet 10) and may need to bulk up from 187 pounds, but has the physical presence Gregg Williams, assistant head coach-defense, demands. Jones also is a superior return man.
Jones's tendency to sacrifice technique to make a big play could work against him, and one team source indicated that where once Jones was seemed the clear front-runner, Rogers is now a strong candidate.
Rogers, a senior, is bigger (6-0, 196 pounds) and has four years of experience playing at a high level, compared with Jones's two. He does not hit like Jones, however, and is less effective against the run.
Williams uses three corners in many of his schemes, and Washington has only two experienced cornerbacks on its roster. One of them, starter Shawn Springs, said he expects the team to pick a corner high in the draft ("I think they want to add some youth and depth to that position," Springs said). The team has made no advances on any free agent cornerbacks or those on the trade market. League sources said the Redskins made one initial inquiry about Miami's Patrick Surtain long ago but did not follow up.
Cornerback "would be an area that you would say that you're trying to do something" in the draft, Gibbs told reporters during league meetings in Hawaii late last month, "but we may have to go with young guys."
Salary cap concerns likely will preclude Washington from trading up, but trading down and adding a second-round pick is an option (wide receiver Rod Gardner remains trade bait). The Redskins also have brought in wide receivers Mike Williams (Southern California), Matt Jones (Arkansas), Mark Clayton (Oklahoma), Troy Williamson (South Carolina) and Roddy White (Alabama-Birmingham), and held a private workout with Edward Simms (William Penn), sources said. League and team sources said the Redskins view Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards as the top offensive player available and have contacted his agent, but did not bring him in for a visit because they believe he will be taken before they pick.
Teams picking this high regularly bring in 10 to 15 prospects for meetings, sometimes merely to gather information. Last year, the Redskins brought in offensive lineman Robert Gallery, knowing he would be gone before they picked.
Redskins Note: The Redskins announced reserve running back Rock Cartwright re-signed, leaving them with three restricted free agents. Cartwright signed his qualifying offer, while quarterback Tim Hasselbeck, defensive back Andre Lott and defensive lineman Demetric Evans have until tomorrow to garner an offer sheet from another club, or their rights revert exclusively to Washington.