Excitement – Good and Bad – At Redskins Training Camp
If the first day of training camp is any indication, we Redskins fans are going to have an interesting year. The team lost defensive end Philip Daniels for the year but added veteran sack machine Jason Taylor.
This seems like a net gain for the team. Daniels was well-liked by his teammates and his fans. But Taylor is younger and will definitely add some excitement for opposing quarterbacks. He’s going to have to move to the other side of the D-line, which will be a bit of an adjustment for him but he’s a smart player and he’ll adapt. This is definitely an upgrade for the D-Line. Daniels had 2.5 sacks, 37 tackles, and 4 forced fumbles in 15 games last year. Taylor, on the other hand, had 11 sacks, 55 tackles, and 4 forced fumbles in 16 games. Good stuff, there.
The ‘Skins didn’t pay dearly for him either. They gave up a second round draft pick next year and a 10th round pick in 2010. As a bonus, Taylor apparently didn’t want to renegotiate his contract when he came over, which means that he’s a Redskin for the next two years (and the team has some space to work on a new contract if they want to).
I imagine that Taylor is relieved to get away from Bill Parcells who seemed to hate him from Day One. I hope he’ll fit in well around Redskins Park. If he does, he could be another strong leader around which a very good defense could coalesce.
It ought to be exciting. I like this deal a lot. I’m only sorry that it took a season-ending injury to make it happen.
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Category: My Beloved Redskins
My father rarely let me watch TV when I was a child. But football and tennis were the exceptions. And I got to watch Jim Zorn. Zorn was a great quarterback with a great receiver and not enough time to throw. But he still kicked ass. I'm not sure if he's the right guy to make the Redskins great, but I have to respect him for who he is and what he's done. I will give him my utmost respect when the Giants kick the Redskins ass.
I thought that Jim Zorn could have won a Super Bowl if they had given him an offensive line and more receivers than just Steve Largent. And a defensive line.
The Giants, huh? I guess that twice a year I'll think of you and wonder how you're handling the news of another 'Skins victory.
I'm sorry, I meant to say "the Super Bowl champion New York Giants." But I must give credit where it's due. You called the Giants win, and I didn't have faith. But what saved the Giants was that they were down by 4 instead of 3. If the were down by 3, they would have gone for the field goal and missed. Because they were down by 4, they had to rely on Eli. Turns out, he's a good guy to rely on. I always thought he had potential, but he used to make stupid mistakes. He seems to have gotten over that. But let's be honest, the hopes of Giants fans have often been thrown on the hard rocks of reality. And often that reality has been the Redskins. And if Jim Zorn can thwart the Giants dreams, more power to him.
It's okay. We all lack faith now and again. I don't see my faith returning much so long as Vinny "The Oaf" Cerrato is the GM and Dan Snyders bestest buddy. I'm not thrilled with Zorn as a head coach. I don't know that he'll do badly, but Gregg Williams is the guy who was by far the best person for that job.
But, we'll see. It ought to be an entertaining year in the NFC East. The 'Skins seem to be going "run and gun". The Giants are defending their title without Jeremy Shockey, which I think was a fantastic move for them. The Cowboys have improved yet remain pure and undiluted football evil. The Eagles…umm…Donovan…err…still have Westbrook to gain nearly every single yard they'll gain this year.
I revel in the fact that the Eagles stick with McNabb. He's a great player, but the team does better without him. I'd be worried if the Eagles still had Garcia. He's safely removed to the Bucs, so I can sleep soundly.