Ten players who made an impression throughout camp. Doesn’t mean they’ll have great years, but it does mean they’ve either improved or looked good this summer:
1. Brian Orakpo. I love watching how low he gets around the edge; tackles will hate it. He consistently gets underneath the pads, especially of tall tackles, of which there are many. He’ll force tackles to bend lower. When they get tired in the fourth quarter, that will be more difficult. I also have no problem with the Redskins not having him play end every down. His skill is rushing the passer; if he’s battling 330-pound tackles all game, what will he have left? He has much more to learn as a linebacker, but he is smart and does not need to be told twice what he must do. I also like watching him on stunts; very economical with his footwork.
2. Jeremy Jarmon. Love how quick his hands are; much better of a player than I ever would have imagined. Now hearing he would have been a second-round pick next season. He needs to increase his number of pass-rush moves, but the Redskins appear to have a promising player to eventually replace Phillip Daniels.
3. Albert Haynesworth. The big fella does not go all out every play. Not that I blame him considering he gets double teamed all the time in full-team work. He dominates in one-on-ones and he’s more competitive than I imagined. He wants to win those one-on-one battles something fierce.
4. Andre Carter. He seems to be a half-step faster this summer than in the past. Maybe his offseason workouts focusing on speed have paid off. Maybe the Redskins’ line is a step slower. Regardless, Carter looks like he should rebound from last year’s tough sack-number season.
5. Antwaan Randle El. Now, I don’t expect him to be anything other than a No. 3. If he’s the Redskins No. 2 wideout, the offense will struggle again. But he has played well in practice. No receiver has stood out more. He’s a lot like James Thrash used to be: a player who brings the same energy to practice and games. Makes him stand out more in August (as he did last summer). He’s better in the slot.
6. Phillip Daniels/Cornelius Griffin. Both have looked strong. Daniels is fully recovered from his knee problems and Griff should be relieved that he’ll see many fewer double teams.
7. Malcolm Kelly. Not that he’s been fantastic, but he does get noticed. He provides a wide radius for a quarterback and a big target for 6-foot-5 Jason Campbell, who often overthrows the little guys. Of course, we all know the question on Kelly: can he stay healthy? That’ll get asked until he plays a 16-game season. If he does stay healthy, we expect good numbers.
8. Randy Thomas. Same as with Kelly; when healthy he looked good. Maybe Thomas looked better in comparison to those who replace him when he can’t practice (Chad Rinehart), but his fundamentals were sound – good base, excellent punch. I’d say if something happened to him the Redskins are in trouble. However, that phrase can be applied to every starting lineman.
9. Chris Cooley. He’s clearly Jason Campbell’s favorite target. He’s not their most explosive player, but he does move the chains and those guys are great to have. If Kelly or Devin Thomas or Fred Davis come through, then Cooley may be able to do more after the catch, without two guys hovering near him.
10. DeAngelo Hall. Love the guy. In practice he did a solid job in the slot; does a nice job not budging his ground when receivers get into his body, allowing him to break quickly. Just has a knack for the ball as he showed in practices. Still waiting for the negatives with him.
One last thing: I just joined the 21st century and now can be followed on twitter. www.twitter.com/jwkeim. For my next trick: figuring out the Ipod (actually, i think i got that one down).
