Ok. So Jason Taylor is a Redskin. And he will play at least two more years, the time remaining on his current contract. According to Taylor, "I'm here to play ball, and play ball as long as I can."
At only 33 years old (that's two years younger than the man he is replacing due to injury, DE Phillip Daniels, for those who are having a hissy fit over this deal) it would not be a surprise to most football people if he were able to play another four to five years.
For the Redskins this could be a sheep in wolf's clothing (some would reverse that of course, making it a wolf in sheep's clothing). A sheep that could well spell a serious run into the playoffs this year, and even deeper in coming years.
"Taylor is undersized". So? There are many great ones who have been "undersized". He has always been an every down player, and his durability is unquestionable. He has heart. He has character. He is a team leader type of guy who can back up what he says with his play on the field.
He brings 11 sacks from last season to the Redskins. Making the Redskins one of only THREE teams in the NFL with at least two players with more than 10 sacks last season. The other two? How about division rivals? That's right, The G-Men and The Boys.
Fred Smoot and Shawn Springs just got upgraded as well. The Redskins were terribly thin at corner back coming into the season because of the injury to would be starter Carlos Rogers.
By adding pass rush without needing to blitz, the secondary just got MUCH better. There is a certain Fox Sports color analyst and Sirius NFL Radio host who always says: "Show me a pro-bowl cornerback and I will show you the pro-bowl pass rusher in front of him." This should be fun. Congratulations Shawn and Fred.
After the second day of training camp reports are that Jason Campbell looks pretty sharp. But according to Jason Campbell, he is not throwing the ball well.
He needs to relax, and stop putting so much pressure on himself. He is critiquing himself to "the Nth degree". And Head Coach Jim Zorn must be loving it. Zorn probably doesn't have to point out Campbell's mistakes very often, Campbell beats him to it.
Fred Smoot sprained his ankle on the first day of camp and Zorn had told the media afterwards that he expected Smoot to be out no more than a week.
How about no more than the evening. He practiced fully on Monday. And by all accounts looked great. Shawn Springs has shown everyone that he is not done yet either. Let's hope he holds up another year or two as well.
Redskins training camp is shaping up to be very interesting. New faces, new schemes, new methods, even new "Z-Shades" too. HC Jim Zorn has designed his very own sun screens for his players (apparently some sort of new way of setting up a tent that is quite novel).
While several players admitted to being very skeptical about Zorn's masterpiece of engineering, they were all very appreciative of it's effectiveness after the first day.
It's been a very busy two days of Redskins training camp. With many more days and practices to come, I can't wait to see what happens next.
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