Redskins very slowly moving toward youth
Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:57 pm
Redskins very slowly moving toward youth
By JIM DUCIBELLA, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 30, 2006
The Washington Redskins enter tonight's season finale against the New York Giants as the oldest team in the NFL, with 18 players age 30 or older. Seven will start against the Giants, and only the benching of 36-year-old quarterback Mark Brunell and injuries to safety Troy Vincent, 35, and defensive tackle Joe Salave'a, 31, keep that number under double figures.
In a league where the average career lasts 3-1/2 seasons, that's a dangerous precedent to set.
But while coach Joe Gibbs makes no bones about preferring experience, the Redskins have begun something of a youth movement.
Actually, it's more of a youth crawl.
Between the active roster and injured reserve, the Redskins have 15 players 25 years or younger. Nine play positions critical to Gibbs' hopes for the future: quarterback Jason Campbell, running back Clinton Portis, tight end Chrisey, receiver Brandon Lloyd, defensive tackle Kedric Golston, cornerback Carlos Rogers, safety Sean Taylor, kicker Shaun Suisham and linebacker Rocky McIntosh.
Expanding the age limit to 27 adds another 13 players, including running back Ladell Betts, receivers Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El, defensive end Andre Carter, guard Derrick Dockery, defensive end Demetric Evans, safety Vernon Fox and punter Derrick Frost.
On offense, those players have combined for 1,998 of the team's 2,088 rushing yards and all 12 rushing touchdowns. They've accounted for 2,614 of the team's 2,906 passing yards and 14 of 16 touchdowns.
On special teams, they've made 98 of 242 total tackles, while Suisham is 8 for 9 in field goals and has made all eight extra points.
Younger players have not had the same impact on defense. Washington's young vets have contributed 432 of 1,052 total tackles, made one of the team's four fumble recoveries and two of six interceptions.
If Gibbs is perturbed by the last of those statistics, he hasn't let on. Following Washington's overtime loss to St. Louis, in which the Redskins surrendered 579 yards, he heaped praise on his special teams, Suisham and Frost before adding, "We've got a bunch of guys making statements about the future and what we can build around."
Start with Campbell, 25, who in six starts has matched the eight touchdown passes Brunell needed nine games to throw. His completion percentage is a mediocre 50.6, but Gibbs says the second-year pro from Auburn possesses the trait he most admires: the ability to throw deep. "We could help him more," Gibbs said last week.
Actually, he has plenty of help in Portis, 25, a Pro Bowl-caliber back with 6,453 career rushing yards, and Betts, 27, who this season has crossed the 1,000-yard mark. His offensive line has allowed 18 sacks, among the fewest in the league. Campbell has a rising star in
But the other two receivers, Lloyd, 25, and Randle El, 27, have combined for 52 receptions and three touchdowns, stats Gibbs hoped to see from Lloyd alone.
Defensively, Golston, 23, has been the team's biggest surprise. A sixth-round pick out of Georgia, he has 54 tackles, half a sack and five quarterback "pressures."
Carter, 27, has started to come on with 36 tackles in his past four games. Evans, 27, Ryan Boschetti, 25, and rookie Anthony Montgomery, 22, have been bit players, yet have proven they can start.
With the average age of stalwarts Salave'a, Cornelius Griffin, Renaldo Wynn and Phillip Daniels at 32, and depending on what the team does in the offseason, Carter and Golston represent the foundation for a line badly in need of fresh blood.
At linebacker, McIntosh, 24, made his first start last week and responded well, with eight tackles. "It was a real step up," Gibbs said.
The Redskins enter the offseason with McIntosh as the only young, starting-caliber linebacker. The rest are Marcus Washington, 30, Warrick Holdman, 31, and Lemar Marshall, 30. Khary Campbell, 27, is a special-teamer. The secondary has youth in spots, though Taylor, 23, and Rogers, 25, have struggled all season and Fox, 26, is better suited to special teams. Shawn Springs, 31, may move from cornerback to safety, which would leave a huge void.
Finally, the Redskins appear to have productive young kickers. Suisham, 24, added in December, has built a strong case for returning next season, missing only from 50 yards in nine field goal tries. The 26-year-old Frost's gross average of 42.8 is nearly 2 yards better than his career average, and 26 of his 78 punts have been downed inside the 20.