1. Willie Parker gets his shot Friday, but should one game determine all for him? Here’s the thing: we already know who Parker is as a running back. He offers some speed, but he’s not a good pass protector and his hands are questionable. One game won’t change that; even if he picks up a couple blitzes. Could mean he just got lucky.
2. The same is true of Larry Johnson. If the Redskins want him to be a better pass protector, shame on them. He’s never been one; he won’t start being one now. Could he improve? Yes. But not to the point where they could trust him to save Donovan McNabb from a blitz. What troubled me about Johnson was his lack of burst and inability to make guys miss at the line.
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3. After that game, you had to add running back depth to wide receiver depth as two main issues for this offense. That said, I’m intrigued by Keiland Williams. Right now, just as a project guy. But he does have some skills; he once was a five-star recruit out of high school.
4. It’s also hard to judge running backs in practice. The good running backs make guys miss at the line, or move the pile. In practices where there isn’t full contact, it’s hard to evaluate how effective they are.
5. Johnson had seven games with 11 carries or less last season; he averaged 2.8 yards or less in five of them. And in the last three years, he’s had 15 games of 12 carries or less and averaged 2.8 yards or less in nine of them. Just another way of saying he needs a lot of carries. If Clinton Portis gets hurt, he may get them; if not, then he won’t. But the Redskins obviously knew this.
6. Malcolm Kelly is not practicing again. Looked like he might give it a go as he ran some mini-sprints with the receivers. But once they started performing drills, he stepped aside and returned to his sideline work.
7. Dennis Morris rode the stationary bike. Not sure yet what his injury is.
8. Mike Sellers maintains hope that he’ll play Friday vs. the New York Jets.
9. Sellers had a good quote this morning, when asked if he watches Hard Knocks on HBO, “We have enough soap operas here on this team, why watch someone else’s?”
10. One reason Andre Carter does not explode into blockers the same as Brian Orakpo? Carter says his strength is his hands; he loves using the rip move to get inside (inside arm swings up and outside arm knocks the defender to the side). You can’t do that if you go straight into a blocker.
11. Vinny Cerrato blamed Sherman Smith in part for Albert Haynesworth coming to Washington. Said on 106.7 The Fan that Smith vouched for Haynesworth having spent time with him in Tennessee. However, it wasn’t hard to find anyone around the league who would have said the same thing: Be careful. There’s no way the Redskins didn’t know this; it took me one call to hear someone rip into his character. One call. The Redskins owner wanted Haynesworth; he gets what he wants. Maybe Smith gave a poor report, but maybe the Titans handled the whole situation better, too.
