Redskins excited about new safety
By Mark Zuckerman
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Clinton Portis couldn't stop talking about him. LaVar Arrington couldn't wait to meet him. Vince Wilfork couldn't think of a bad thing to say about him.
All of which convinced Joe Gibbs that Sean Taylor was the player to take with the No. 5 pick in last weekend's NFL Draft.
"I've always felt this about football players," Gibbs said yesterday as he formally introduced Taylor as a Redskin. "The best people to ask about what kind of person or what kind of player a guy is are his teammates."
Every former University of Miami player Gibbs spoke to about Taylor in the last three months raved about the All-American safety. Wilfork, a defensive tackle and fellow first-round pick, gave an unsolicited plug for Taylor when he spoke with Gibbs at the scouting combine in February. And Portis, the Redskins' new star running back and a former Hurricane himself, tried to put in his two cents to Gibbs every chance he got.
"Every time I'd go to have a discussion about football players, all he'd do is go, 'Sean Taylor, Sean Taylor.' That's all he kept saying," Gibbs recalled with a laugh. "I think it's a tribute to him that his teammates thought so much of him."
It's not just Taylor's college teammates. Moments after yesterday's press conference at Redskin Park, Arrington made a beeline for the stage, gave Taylor a big, welcome hug and exchanged cell phone numbers with his newest teammate on defense.
Washington's three-time Pro Bowl linebacker said he wouldn't have thought twice about drafting Taylor over the club's other top target: tight end Kellen Winslow II.
"I think if you take a critical look at our roster, it was an easy no-call to go for Sean," Arrington said. "I don't think a player like Sean Taylor will come around for quite some time. When you have an opportunity to get a player like him, you go after him. You've got to take him."
For his part, Taylor is letting others do his promoting. He appeared humble at yesterday's press conference and spoke of wanting to become a small part of the Redskins' storied tradition.
"I've seen all the great players and coaches that have been in this organization. I'm just happy to be here," he said. "I think I'm moving into a situation where it's a program that's building to be great."
Taylor figures to make an immediate impact on Washington's defense, beginning with this weekend's minicamp. The 21-year-old rookie will be penciled in at free safety, allowing veteran Matt Bowen to move to his more natural strong safety position and bumping Ifeanyi Ohalete from the lineup altogether.
Taylor's presence at the back end of the Redskins' defense should allow assistant head coach Gregg Williams to run his preferred, aggressive schemes. With Taylor manning center field, cornerbacks Fred Smoot and Shawn Springs can play tight, man coverage, leaving Bowen free to crowd the line of scrimmage and defend the run.
"Just watching the films of Sean play, he'll do very well in this system," Bowen said.
The Redskins know where they will be able to find Taylor on the field during his rookie season. They don't know yet, however, what number he will be wearing out there.
Taylor wore No. 26 at Miami, which just happens to be the same number Portis wore with the Broncos and the one currently worn by Ohalete.
The rookie seems to be perfectly willing to give uniform seniority to his veteran teammates.
"[Portis] is the guy with all the years under his belt," Taylor said. "If he wants the number, he can have it. I'm just happy to be here. I'll get a new number. There's a lot of them out there."
The number that could be of more importance to Taylor this summer is the size of his signing bonus. Cornerback Terence Newman, last year's No. 5 draft pick, got $6.51 million in bonus money from the Dallas Cowboys as part of a seven-year, $20.1 million rookie contract.
It remains to be seen how much agent Drew Rosenhaus is able to procure from Redskins owner Dan Snyder for Taylor.
"I couldn't tell you how negotiations are going to go. I don't have a crystal ball," Rosenhaus said. "But the Redskins have a very good group to work with. I'm very optimistic. I have every expectation that this will go smoothly."
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