The Redskins and Patriots, coming off of two very different seasons have been practicing together in training camp leading up to their preseason opener on thursday night. Both teams had very important training camps albeit for very different reasons. Instead of a recap of a game where Tom Brady and DeSean Jackson won’t be playing for their respective teams, let’s examine a list of questions for both teams and how they answered them during the game. For reference, outside of any specific questions about the 3rd(and lower) string players, this examination will be limited to the starters and the backups.
Redskins. They’re coming off an extremely disappointing season where they won three games and Mike Shanahan’s reign resembled the last days of a dictatorship where the strong man is eventually executed by a kangaroo court. They brought in Jay Gruden to fix things and handed the sinews of power over to Bruce Allen(who was assisting Shanahan run the team into the ground). So the word of the offseason was “rebuild.”
-How does the pass rush look?
Orakpo had a coverage sack(aided greatly by Ryan Kerrigan flushing the pocket), but the first two units looked so-so on the rush. Kerrigan looked the best of the starters as a rusher, Murphy looked the best for the rest of the game.
-How does the offensive line look?
Shawn Lauvao looked quite good, Trent Williams either looked bored or soft. The rest of the line was uneven. On the second unit, Morgan Moses had a couple early penalties, but was strong throughout the game. He sustained his blocks and didn’t give up any leakers. Josh LeRibeus looked like a waste of playing time. Tom Compton, who’s been a preseason warrior, looked like he’s done in the NFL.
-How much zone block are they running?
About 50% zone block and 50% run blocking. The incumbents on the offensive line are a zone block line. The new acquisitions are man power blockers. Expect a lot of switching back and forth this season until Gruden gets his man power guys in as starters, then they’ll go Man full time.
-How are the inside LBs and Safeties looking?
Keenan Robinson looked quite good and will be calling the defenses in the place of London Fletcher. The rest were just JAGs. Perry Riley didn’t play much but his name wasn’t called much when he was in.
-Where are they lining up Trent Murphy?
He played 5 tech DE, 4 front DE(strong and weak side), he played ILB(as a blitzer), OLB, rush OLB and LEO. He looked raw, especially when asked to cover in the flats, but he was very impressive as a defensive player. Expect to see a lot of Murphy, especially in the sub packages.
-How does the 3rd down 4 front look?
It looked better when they ran a LEO set, the straight 4 front didn’t generate much pressure. The problem is that they’re trying to get more value out of Barry Cofield and Jason Hatcher, both of whom are better pass rushing at DT than in the 3 front set. So Haslett decided to throw in this wrinkle of having Orakpo, Kerrigan and Murphy on the field on the same time(at an OLB spot and both DE spots) and get some rush out of the aforementioned Cofield/Hatcher. It’s not a bad idea, but a team thats constantly working on learning the 3-4 base set is losing time on that working on a whole different defense for passing downs.
-Which defense is their base set?
3-4 Cover-2 with their zones set back deep. The only two noticeable changes are the aforementioned 4 front/LEO looks on passing downs(also known as the Sub Package) and more run blitzing. Outside of the changes, this isn’t any different than what Haslett ran last year and said he wasn’t going to run.
-Which no-name rookies/young players in the 3rd string are showing something to work with?
Ryan Grant: the 5th round rookie WR from Tulane has been turning heads in camp and its not hard to see why. While he doesn’t have much speed or size, he may become an Earl Bennett type WR who just runs such great routes and has such good hands that he’s productive.
Lache Seastrunk: Seastrunk flashed the kind of speed/athleticism that has been lacking from the Redskins for years. Despite being 4th-6th on the depth chart right now, don’t be shocked if he’s the starter(or 3rd down back) within two years from today.
Silas Redd: He’s probably a better fit for a pure zone blocking offense, but Redd has talent. He’s going to be completely buried on the depth chart and won’t last long in DC if he’s put on the practice squad.
Ted Bolser: Gruden ran a lot of Ace formation in this game(2 WRs, 2 TEs and a RB) so they need multiple TEs to make that work. Bolser was known in college as a special teams ace and he also flashed good potential as a blocker and receiver. With Niles Paul struggling to make the team, Bolser has a chance to take that 3rd TE spot.
-How did RG3 look in his brief time in the game?
Statistically, he wasn’t great. He floated one swing pass that could have been a pick 6. Redskins fans should be ecstatic about one thing though: he never looked to run the ball. On every pass play, RG3 stood tall in the pocket and got the ball off to his hot read if his reads were covered. When they used a read option formation, RG3 didn’t have an option to run. This is not to say that he’s never going to run again, but the days where he would have 100+ rushes in a season are probably over. And that’s nothing but a good thing for his career in DC.
Patriots. New England was disappointed by their finish in 2013. Even though they were one of the top teams in the league, not making the Super Bowl(especially at the hands of Peyton Manning) stung. Tom Brady ain’t no spring chicken anymore and the offseason reflects this. The Pats are loading up for one last run under him before he hangs up his cleats.
(Quick note: since so many of the Patriots’ starters and contributors sat this game out, there will be fewer questions for them)
-How did their pass rushers look against Trent Williams?
Michael Buchanan faced him in Williams’ only drive of the night and did quite well against him. Part of it might have been Williams’ boredom with the preseason, but Buchanan showed enough throughout the night(although Morgan Moses stone walled him) that he should be in the mix for sub packages.
-Can anyone be a deep threat?
It’s not Brandon Lafell, which is bad since he was brought in to stretch the field. McDaniels puts a lot of faith in Kenbrell Thompkins and that he’ll be able to provide that deep ball threat, but his hands are just far too inconsistent to be that threat so far. Consider this a work in progress.
-Who’s replacing Brandon Spikes and his run stopping ability?
Jamie Collins will get the starting job at Will due to his pass rush ability, but you should put money on James Anderson getting more and more playing time on running downs. He’s a solid vet who’s had 100+ total tackles three of the last four seasons.
-How much has the offense changed from the 2 TE sets that they ran with Gronk and Hernandez?
They’re no longer run and gunning it with the TEs instead of the WRs. That was the hallmark of the double Pro Bowl TE attack. Now they’ve switched to a run heavy/medium route attack that smells interestingly like a Zampese/Norv Turner offense that focuses on a single star TE to move the chains. While they don’t have a prime RB like Zampese and Norv liked to ride into the ground, they do have a stable of young RBs that they will try to squeeze 400-500 carries out of.
-Did any young players stand out?
Malcolm Butler: Butler has been given a chance to be the nickel back and starter while Browner misses four games to start the season. Butler was put out on an island all game long and did decently well. He struggled with Ryan Grant’s tight routes but he dropped Kirk Cousins’ first pass(because he hit the ground too hard) and generally kept his side of the field clean.
Jimmy Garoppolo: The skills are there, the footwork is advanced, his arm level is pro ready and he doesn’t hesitate when throwing the ball. It is clear as the summer sun why the Pats took him over a number of players so high. And the comparisons with Tom Brady might be apt(although that he doesn’t have Brady’s pure arm strength). Look this kid, he’s going to be a quality starter in the NFL.
Brian Tyms: While the Pats’ coaches trying to find a deep threat somewhere between the more known WRs they may have found one on the waiver wire. Tyms is big(6-3 220) and fast. He flashed these tools against the backups when he had a long catch towards the end of the game(he was even interfered with during the play) and a circus TD catch called incomplete earlier(that could have been reversed if challenged). He deserves a bigger opportunity in the later preseason games against better competiton.
Steve Beauharnais: While the Pats are looking for that run stopping LB to replace Brandon Spikes’ skill set they should give strong consideration to this young player. He was a 7th round pick from 2013 who played on special teams primarily, but given the chance thursday night he showed that he can jam up the running lanes.