Three days before the draft, Rocky McIntosh succumbed to the pressure. And he finally said the words his fiancée had waited to hear after a long engagement: I do.
There wasn’t time for a honeymoon, however; just a trip to his parent’s house to await his fate. There’ll be time for a honeymoon later. Besides, what he’s hoping for is a long honeymoon in Washington. The Redskins, in need of a weakside linebacker, hope for the same.
The Redskins traded up in the second round Saturday to select McIntosh, who played linebacker at the University of Miami. Though Warrick Holdman is the likely starter at weakside, it’s McIntosh who is the potential long-term replacement for departed LaVar Arrington.
“What he did was great,” McIntosh said. “I’m just glad they picked me up. I’m used to the pressure, but I know what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to go out there and work.”
McIntosh is the fourth player from Miami on the roster. The others — Santana Moss, Clinton Portis and Sean Taylor — lobbied the Redskins to take him.
“I was out on the practice field last week,” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said, “and Santana comes over to me after practice and says ‘Coach, we need to add something.’ What’s that? ‘On the draft, we like the linebacker.’ Of course, if Sean Taylor likes him and Clinton likes and Santana likes him, that’s good enough for us. Our scouting department put the stamp on him, too.”
McIntosh and the other rookies will attend a minicamp this weekend at Redskins Park. It’ll give the coaches an opportunity to see how much the players can digest of the playbook. But they clearly like what they’ve seen of McIntosh on film and in workouts.
“He can play all three downs, he’s also a very good cover guy,” Gibbs said. “And he can run, so that was important for us. He’s very bright and sharp and we felt like he fit with us.”
