Notes From Redskins Training Camp

The new redskins training camp is:

• Really Nice: it has two easily accessible fields where fans can not only have a natural grass hill to sit on but also a flat area for up close looks and signatures. There is also a nice 3 level area at the far end which is perfect for lawn chair seating and the “kids zone” occupies the area behind this which makes it conveniently/inconveniently out of the way (depending on ones point of view) from all the viewing areas.

• Really Hot: it has little to no naturally occurring shade.  The old Ashburn site had two long stands of trees which fans could at least  stand or sit under to escape the heat.

• Still To Small:  This Saturday is Fan Appreciation Day.  Historically this event attracts well over twenty-five thousand fans.  There were about seven thousand fans at Mondays practice.  Multiply that crowd (pictured above) by 4 and you get a park full of human sardines.  IMHO.  The only way they can accommodate that many people is to use the far practice field (on left) for fans. With no hill on that side and lack of stands (maybe they will bring in some) and of course no shade, views will be limited – and steamy.

• Really Good Parking: On the other hand, parking should not be a huge problem.    With VCU stadium parking lots available about a mile and half away and planned shuttle service to and from the site, this should be a welcomed improvement.  Also, with lesser crowds on Monday, we were able to park within 2 blocks of the facility and easily walk.

• Really To Far Away:  I wish it was closer.   Ashburn was at least convenient to the northern Virginia area and still reasonably close to DC and Maryland. Richmond is at least 1.5 – 2 hours away.  But I will give them this, the location in Richmond, at least my perception of it on Monday, was that the facility is conveniently located near major roadway and highways. Namely interstate 95 and 295. Roadway accessibility and adequate parking was always an issue in Ashburn.

 

Eleven and Sixteen Equals:

Hopefully for both, the answer is 53 – as in part of the final 53 man roster.

Aldrick Robinson is once again number 11 on the roster and number 16 (who by the way wore number 11 in college) is undrafted free agent Skye Dawson from Texas Christian University.

Both of these players are having really good training camps.

I often join in on a pickup game or two with the kids in the neighborhood, especially when they need an extra body to even things out or somebody to toss them the ball.  There is one particular neighbor kid who runs like lightning and when I am filling in as QB, I always say he makes me look good.  Well, any receiver who makes a QB look good, is worthy of a consideration to make the team or at least special teams or perhaps the practice squad.

Robinson has really stepped up his game from last year greatly improving his route running skills and is attacking the ball even better than he did last year as a Redskin.  Monday he routinely gained separation and got past deep coverage.  On one particular route, and subsequent adjustment, he made the QB look like a genius on an under thrown pass in heavy coverage.

Skye Dawson, at 5’9” 183 lbs, he is not one of those “big” receivers( neither is Aldrick) – but he is fast, has great jumping ability and fantastic hands.  I wish I had taped a couple of his plays but alas, kid duty and conversations got in the way.  However, suffice it to say he was one of the players who consistently beat the deep coverage and on one particular play made a leaping, twisting, one handed grab in heavy traffic – yes the pass was under thrown.  It was a beautiful play.

The Hits.

Plain and simple – It was good to be out near a football field and not only see some good football action. . .

but to hear it as well.

The defensive rushing drills were especially good to witness and Brian Orakpo is back in action sporting a new Bane inspired face mask.

 

The Deep Ball.

I mentioned this before.  The receivers were able to beat the deep coverage.  This is a good sign for the offense.  Not so good for the defense.  However, some defenders such as Josh Wilson were able to show flashes of good closing speed and ability.  It sometimes helped (the defense) that the QB’s have yet to get completely in sync with their timing and reading their receiving corps because I’d say at least half the deep passes were either under or over thrown.  It’s early in the practice season and everybody has yet to get into full football shape, so hopefully both the offense and defense will be able to improve with the deep ball plays.

 

RGIII:

Looks fine with the limited activity he does. It is amazing to see him out there running so soon after that devastating injury.

RGIII loves to fire up the fans and of course the fans love to get fired up!

And everyone hangs around to the very last second in hopes of getting that all important and coveted signature.

Buried somewhere in that mass of fandom is my 7 year old son who came within feet of RG3 and a coveted signature – that is before RG3 decided to walk away to another group of fans. 😦  Oh well, there is always next year.

 

Kirk Cousins:

Because of RGIII and his limited activity, Cousins is looking better and better all the time.  Don’t be surprised to see him at least start the season. Yes I know everyone is talking, and expecting, RGIII to be all in for week one but after last years game management debacle against the Seahawks, I would not be surprised to see the Skins take a “lets see if we can run this offense with Cousins” approach – at least at first.

Rex Grossman:

Remember him?  He is still on the team.  And we all know what to expect with good ol’ Rex.  That is why it was so much fun to see the defense get faked out of their jockstraps when he ran one of those read option plays.  Once he got to the outside, Rex had nothing but day-light in front of him and easily made the first down – about 10 seconds later . . .

The crowd cheered ! I think I even saw Rex smile on that one.