Preseason Opener: Washington Redskins

Dear, loyal fans--both of you,

I would formally like to apologize for my absence in the past week. I, like Dan, have been extremely busy. While Dan's being busy constitutes kicking back on the beach, sipping a Shirley Temple and listening to the Orioles game on the radio combined with the eloquent crashing of waves, I have been scurrying around and getting my things together to make the 1,500 mile move from North Jersey to Miami, FL.

Now, that being said, let's talk DC football.

The Redskins officially kick off their season tonight at 7:30 in M&T Bank Stadium taking on their "Beltway Rivals," the Baltimore Edgar Allen Poes...

Now, you may be thinking, "Oh, it's only a preseason game, these don't mean anything, they're just a perfect opportunity for my favorite player to get hurt," well, you're basically right. Coach Zorn is aware of this and has said Portis and Haynesworth will not be in action tonight...

(Insert your own personal sigh of relief here)

On the other hand... This is the first time you get to see your favorite rookies in game action, and it should be great to see. For the Redskins, the names to keep your eyes on are: Brian Orakpo and Marko Mitchell... The Ravens worth noting are Michael Oher and Lardarius Webb. With this in mind, it should be noted, it's expected Orakpo and Oher are set to face off head to head--literally. I hate to brag, but this means Joe Flacco/Troy Smith/John Beck are going to have a 6'3 263 lb beast charging at him on every snap... With the necessary size, speed (4.6 40) and strength (515 bench, 600 squat, 380 power clean), Orakpo has the physical makings of being a defensive monster... I don't care what kind of sad story (although I cried... a little) you bring to the table, Rak is gonna have Oher on his back all day. Now, this is purely speculative, but the camp reports suggest I may be right here.

Moving on, reports out of Ravens camp have Joe Flacco as being horrid, and noting his backups (Smith, Beck), I expect a few picks from the Skins' above average secondary of DeAngelo Hall, Carlos Rogers, LaRon Landry and Chris Horton.

OK, I'll stop bashing the birds and take a look at my own team's faults. The o-line is in less sync then a kindergarten band class; expect a lot of sacks (right where we left off). The kicker battle is being fought between a man who's nickname is Shaun Miss'em and a man who has been on 8 different teams, Dave Rayner. It's some accuracy and no leg vs no accuracy and a big boot. I guess I'll take a flier on those 50 yarders; I'm rooting for Rayner (it's actually so I can rape in Madden '10). Both should, hopefully, see action tonight, with Rayner getting more looks, as our coaching staff has yet to see him kick against a live rush. Aside from that, the boys from ol' DC are remarkably solid. Unfortunately, the o-line and kicker are two of the most pivotal positions on a football team!!!

In other news, the "Cult of Colt" should be happy as Coach Zorn has said that all four of the Redskins QBs are expected to see action. It's clear Jason Campbell has all but locked down the starting job, but the real action is going to be behind him, where Todd Collins, Colt Brennan and former Mizzou star, Chase Daniel (Being 5'10 (reincarnation of Doug Flutie?!) is what killed all hope of his being drafted) are battling to put themselves in some order into just 2 spots behind Campbell.

Coach Zorn, amongst others, continue to insist Collins has that backup job, but they're full of it, and here's why:

• We haven't signed Jason Campbell to an extension, or even discussed one, despite his impending free agency.
• In combination with our dabbling in Jay Cutler, Byron Leftwich, Mark Sanchez and Michael Vick, it proves our being less than committed to Campbell.
• Todd Collins is 37 years old.
• Colt Brennan has yet to see a single snap in-game.
• Both Brennan and Daniel clearly have more upside than the fossil who led us to the '07 playoffs.

All this in mind, Colt Brennan will probably begin to deteriorate, both mentally and physically (much like Matt Leinart), should he continued to be isolated from football like this... He threw 50 touchdowns in a season at a division 1 school (along with 30 other NCAA D1 records), he had a better preseason than any QB last year and he's having a better camp than CAMPBELL, let alone the other backups. I'm not saying cut Campbell and throw Colt into the fire. Just give him that backup job, and get Collins (and his $2+ mil) out of Washington... It's time for a youth movement at QB. Colt has all the weapons to be a premier player; he showed it in college and he's showing us now, move him up, Coach!! Once this is done, Chase Daniel can be our third QB, stashing away a wild card for the future.

All right, so remember to keep your eyes on the rookies (especially the Orakpo-Oher matchups), both QB situations, both receiving corps, the Redskins' O-line, Rayner vs. Miss'em and the Ravens' D (post Ryan era). This should be a good one.

I'm not even going to predict a winner or score... That's crazy, but you know who I'm pulling for.