Left end Phillip Daniels is 34 and coming off three surgeries. Left tackle Cornelius Griffin is 30 and has been plagued by bad hips the past two years. Right tackle Kedric Golston is not a great athlete who wasn't expected to play much, let alone start, as a sixth-round rookie last year. Right end Andre Carter had two sacks in his first 11 games as a Redskin after being given a six-year, $30 million contract last March. And Washington didn't add a lineman in free agency.
Meanwhile, the Redskins signed reliable middle linebacker London Fletcher, former starting cornerbacks Fred Smoot and David Macklin and veteran safety Omar Stoutmire as free agents.
Also, Washington is planning to start career right tackle Todd Wade at left guard and must choose between free agent bust Brandon Lloyd and the underachieving Antwaan Randle El at No. 2 receiver.
However, although Washington's linemen produced just 13 sacks last season as the defense plunged from ninth in 2005 to 31st, the Redskins used their only pick in the first four rounds of the draft -- sixth overall -- on another defensive back, LSU safety LaRon Landry.
"(Defensive line coach) Greg Blache feels good about (the line)," said coach Joe Gibbs, who didn't take a D-lineman in the entire draft. "There wasn't pressure for us to do something there."
Landry is the third top 10 defensive back Washington has taken with a top 10 choice in the four years since Gibbs came out of retirement in 2004, joining safety Sean Taylor (fifth pick, 2004) and cornerback Carlos Rogers (ninth, 2005).
Landry said that he and Taylor, who went to last year's Pro Bowl as an alternate, will be "the best safety combination ever."
Gibbs wouldn't go that far but raved about Landry, whose brother, Dawan, started for Baltimore as a fifth-round safety in 2006.
"There are definite similarities with Sean," Gibbs said. "They can both really run. They can cover a lot of field. They're both ballhawks. They're big and really good tacklers. LaRon's very aggressive. When he makes up his mind to go, there's not a lot of hesitation. He's gone. It will be interesting to see how he fits in with Sean."
Considering Taylor's struggles alongside Adam Archuleta, Troy Vincent and Vernon Fox last year, it will be interesting. However, the Redskins would have been much smarter to go with the best of a trio of veteran safeties -- Pierson Prioleau, Omar Stoutmire and Fox -- while adding a top young lineman to help fix the Redskins' most serious problem.
BEST PICK Even though the Redskins were in more need of a defensive end and a defensive tackle, Landry is a superlative athlete. He gives the Redskins four top 10 picks in the secondary, joining cornerbacks Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers and safety Sean Taylor. If Landry can cover well enough to allow Taylor to roam, they could be a dynamic duo.
COULD SURPRISE Blades knows he's not the superb athlete that his father -- safety Bennie, the third pick of the 1988 draft -- but he makes up for that with intensity and instincts. Blades is third in Pitt history with 433 tackles and if he progresses could eventually succeed London Fletcher, soon to be 32, as Washington's middle linebacker.
A closer look at the Redskins' picks:
Round 1/6-- LaRon Landry, S, 6-0, 213, Louisiana State
The best of a fine group of safeties in the draft, Landry was the Redskins' favorite defensive player coming out of college.
Round 5/143 -- Dallas Sartz, OLB, 6-5, 235, Southern Cal
A three-year starter on the strong side, Sartz is quick enough to have led USC in sacks in 2006 but needs to improve in coverage.
Round 6/179 -- H.B. Blades, ILB, 5-11, 236, Pitt
The son and nephew of NFL players, the short but instinctive Blades will be groomed behind free-agent pickup London Fletcher, 31.
Round 6/205 -- Jordan Palmer, QB, 6-6, 231, Texas-El Paso
The younger brother of Cincinnati star quarterback Carson Palmer has a big arm but questionable decision making ability.
A friend of mine recently asked me this and I couldn't really argue with him because I don't know enough about the topic. He asked me if any NFL team has ever put a Sumo wrestler on the OL? All these huge men do for a living is push people. He said it would be unstoppable on the GL. I don't know about that but I couldn't help thinking about it. Why not
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Reading threads on a lot of these message boards there is a growing opinion that Snyder sucks as an owner. Which he does. DC has become the spot to get paid big money and lay down and not perform. Season after season we have seen All-pro athletes come here on free agency, collect boat loads of money and just stop playing at a high level. Our owner is not a football owner-- he's a billionaire with
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Former Redskins QB Joe Theismann says Jason Campbell will make the Pro Bowl this year. I hope he is right about this. If Jason makes the probowl then that would mean we have a good shot at making a run into the playoffs. What do you all think. Will he make the pro
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This is Zorn's second year as the Redskins head coach. Finishing 7-9 was a step back from the year before but I expected that from a first year coach. I know starting out 6-2 and fininshing 1-7 did not bold well. I know some people thought he should have been fired at the end of the year for the way they ended. But what do the Redskins
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Off the Redskins sight in an interview with Colt he said that he was going to get a lot of snaps in the preseason-- the majority over other qb's on the roster. I think this is a step in the right direction for the team. I think they should get him more active for game situations and play against first string defenses for the limited series
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Heres a link to the nfl.com story on Jason Campbell, looks like the guy is already getting his excuses lined up for a 2010 depature.Check out the video in the top right corner to see how NOT TO READ A DEFENSE
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News out of Denver is that Brandon Marshall is seeking a trade from the Broncos. My question is do you think the Redskins should tried to be involved with making a team for the troubled but talented WR.
Multiple sources have advised us that Portis shows little or no respect to coach Jim Zorn, and that the situation bubbled over at least once during the team’s OTA sessions, with Portis telling the coach off in front of other players.
Said one source: “Portis totally has no regard for [Zorn] and thinks he’s above everyone.”
Personally, I think he could create more havoc as a DE.. and if they really are pressed on making him a LB maybe they should look at an eventual switch to 3-4 or at least a hybrid 4-3 3-4 system. It's a lot tougher to dominate and dictate play from sam backer than it is from DE... he just wont be in every play like he would at DE.
Skins fans, I have read so many articles and heard so many analysts speak the past two months, and not one of them is predicting the Skins to have even a .500 season. This is so frustrating, living in mediocrity while clowns like Romo and Phillips steal all the airwaves as America's team. How can you annoint a team as America's team when they have not won a playoff game in years? What do you
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Despite all the relentless battering at Campbell throughout his tenure with the Redskins the guy has showed more class than I know I could. The guy just continues to be a class act. Hes been nothing been badmouthed and talked about being replaced in the past few months and he hasnt had a bad thing to say about the organization
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I was just wondering what ever happened to Trung Candidate? He was a great player with the Rams, who I have been a fan of for a long time, and I was upset when we traded him to the Redskins. He wasn't the biggest person but he has crazy break away speed. As far as I remember
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I haven't been on here in awhile because this time of year, I see people begin to bash Jason Campbell. I happens without fail regardless of what type of previous season he had. Has anyone forgot this dude has had 4 different offenses since he has been with us? Is anyone aware how long it takes a QB to define an offense in this
its being reported that the Raiders are getting ready to outright cut Michael Huff their 2006 first round pick. He played strong saftey for them last year, but I thought he was a corner/saftey coming out of texas
