With Bailey gone, Smoot ready to be Redskins' top CB
With Darrell Green hinting at retirement, the 2001 Washington Redskins were in search of a starting cornerback to play along side Champ Bailey, then in his third season.
So the Redskins selected Mississippi State’s Fred Smoot with the 14th pick in the second round; the apparent heir to Green, a sure-fire Hall of Famer.
Smoot studied. Smoot watched. Smoot started.
He studied Green’s nuances and work habits.
He watched Bailey lock down and carry out Green’s teachings.
And he started 42 of 45 career games in his short three years in the NFL.
“I’m ready to be king,” said the always-loquacious Smoot.
But gone is the iconic Green, resting in retirement after 20 years of league service.
Gone is Bailey, shipped to Denver along with his four-time Pro Bowl
status.
And looming ahead on a difficult NFC East schedule wait 6-foot-3 Terrell Owens, 6-foot-3 Amani Toomer and 6-foot-4 Keyshawn Johnson, each for two games.
The 6-foot-4 Randy Moss, 6-foot Hines Ward and 5-foot-11 Joey Galloway each wait outside the division for one game.
“I told Champ I’m challenging him for the number one spot [in the league],” jabbed the 5-foot-11, 174-pound Smoot.
No one is denying Smoot has talent. The Jackson, Mississippi product led Washington in interceptions in each of the last three seasons and boasts 13 picks for his career.
He was named the Redskins’ Quarterback Club Player of the Year in 2003 and was also honored with the 2003 Ed Block Courage Award for starting 13 of 16 games despite several injuries.
Smoot backpedals just as quickly as he blabbers, but things might be quite different this year.
Smoot will bump and run with the most talented wideouts opponents have to offer.
He will anchor a slot in the secondary that has slipped over its last two years.
In 2002, the unit finished fifth in the league in passing yards allowed with 205.2 yards. In 2003, the unit finished 13th in the same category with 206.6 yards allowed.
The defense allowed 19 touchdowns through the air, 6.18 yards per attempt and a completion percentage of 57.3 in 2002.
Last season, the defense allowed 23 passing touchdowns, 6.94 yards per attempt and a completion percentage of 59.0.
But Smoot said he’s ready to lead his team. He indicated third-year safety Andre Lott has grown tremendously.
“He went from a child to a grown man as far as the playing aspect,” said Smoot of Lott. “He’s one of them players that people need to watch this year. He’s going to make a lot of plays.”
Along with Matt Bowen and Sean Taylor, Smoot has the hard-hitters to back him up.
But Taylor also has endured the hard-hits through a summer littered with negative
headlines.
Two days after being drafted by the Redskins, Taylor fired his first agent Drew Rosenhaus.
Then the NFL fined him $25,000 for leaving a mandatory rookie symposium.
Later LaVar Arrington smashed Taylor in the face with a shaving cream pie causing an eye irration and a missed day’s workout.
Taylor then fired his new agents, Eugene Mato and Jeff Moorad, one week after signing a six-year contract worth a maximum of $40 million.
And finally, Taylor suffered a right knee sprain in his first workout with the Redskins, which forced him to miss part of training camp.
The difficult summer has strained Taylor’s relationship with the media.
“No I’m not answering no questions ever,” barked Taylor to a television reporter outside the team’s facilities. “I’m not talking any day.”
That’s alright Taylor. Smoot will talk for you.
“He’s not bringing his off-the-field problems on the field,” Smoot said. “I think he’s being really professional while he’s doing that. I hope everything off the field gets better as soon as it can, especially before the season kicks in.”
But before Tampa Bay comes to Washington for the Redskins’ first game of the season, Smoot again will watch Bailey lock down and carry out Green’s teachings in Monday’s Hall of Fame game against the Denver Broncos.
“It’ll be fun to see my old right shoe and my old left shoe,” Smoot said of Bailey. “It’ll be real fun to be around him. It’ll be the first time we look at each other in different uniforms. It’s football baby.”
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